Members Anderton Posted December 4, 2012 Author Members Share Posted December 4, 2012 I installed the 64-bit plug-ins for my Quad card, but since the info wasn't Apollo-specific, I posted the results in the Powered Plug-Ins Pro Review thread. Check out posts #105 and #106. Bottom line: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members jan-mikael Posted December 15, 2012 Members Share Posted December 15, 2012 I am struggling to understand how I can use the Apollo to connect midi to my devices...I have a drum machine that I want to synch to a click in a session in PT 10...I am a novice when it comes to midi and am probably trying to do something that can't be done perhaps...Here's the chain:Session click: Thunderbolt to Apollo; SPDIF to Presonus mobile interface; midi out to drum machine...Any suggestions will be welcomed!Jan-Mikael Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Anderton Posted December 15, 2012 Author Members Share Posted December 15, 2012 Originally Posted by jan-mikael I am struggling to understand how I can use the Apollo to connect midi to my devices... I have a drum machine that I want to synch to a click in a session in PT 10...I am a novice when it comes to midi and am probably trying to do something that can't be done perhaps... Here's the chain: Session click: Thunderbolt to Apollo; SPDIF to Presonus mobile interface; midi out to drum machine... Any suggestions will be welcomed! Jan-Mikael As I said in post #112: There is no MIDI interface in Apollo; you would need to add a separate MIDI interface. MOTU has a 5-port (in and out) model called the Micro Lite USB interface. If you need only a couple ports, the M-Audio MIDIsport 2 x 2 gives you two ports. There are also a lot of 1 x 1 USB adapters, like from Alesis. If the FireStudio Mobile connects to the computer via FireWire and has its drivers installed correctly, you should be able to choose it as a MIDI interface. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Anderton Posted December 23, 2012 Author Members Share Posted December 23, 2012 Not only does it work, it works very well. I'll be putting Apollo through its paces on the Windows side of things in more detail, but preliminary results indicate that everything is rockin.' Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members jkleban Posted December 29, 2012 Members Share Posted December 29, 2012 Craig,I was holding back until WINDOWS APOLLO became available and am in the process of making the plunge. There are only a couple of FIREWIRE interfaces that have been qualified for the APOLLO by UAD (they are listing on their site). I am waiting for my FW800 PCI interface to arrive (hopefully) today and then I will be installing my APOLLO into my SONAR DAW system. I got the DUO since I already have a QUAD and a DUO PCIe in my system and didn't really need the DSP for a complete system.Anyway, I really like your in depth reviews and now this is twice your reviews have helped me make the plunge... the first with the OCTA CAPTURE and now the APOLLO.... Seems to me that the OCTA CAPTURE will be unnecessary for my needs since I only record one instrument at a time (and not drums) and the 4 PRE AMPs on the APOLLO will suffice. In as much as I like the OCTA CAPTURE, the APOLLO just fits better into my workflow and I love the idea of using the UAD plugs as tracking tools. This just might save me $10K in additional hardware for recording (500 series mic pre amps and compressors) and only time will tell but I do think that this has the potential to not have to build this expensive lunch box.Thanks again for your reviews,Jim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Anderton Posted December 29, 2012 Author Members Share Posted December 29, 2012 You'll still need a MIDI interface if you use MIDI, and the Octa-Capture provides that...so you might want to hold on to it, or sell it and use the proceeds to buy a MIDI interface and a nice dinner I'm holding on to mine because it can expand the V-Studio system when I need to record lots of simultaneous inputs. I tried using the two in MME mode and synching via S/PDIF, and had limited success in that while Sonar recognized all the Octa-Capture I/O, it recognized only Apollo's 1-2 ins and outs. WASAPI didn't work at all, and WDM/KS had clocking issues. Maybe something is misset and I'm doing something wrong... Very interesting about viewing Apollo as a way to replace 500 series modules, that's perceptive because it's fulfilling the same function - giving you high quality amplification and processing on the way in to your computer. BTW I got the Sonnet FW800 board that UA recommends. Works great, totally painless, installed without any issues. It's the kind of board that you forget is in your computer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members ben_allison Posted December 30, 2012 Members Share Posted December 30, 2012 What an amazing and thorough review! Craig, a few questions:1) I was pretty sold on the MR816, until I realized you can't bypass the pres, and that the "Master volume" turns down ALL outputs, not just ones used for monitoring... which is a HUGE bummer for using outboard during mixing.In your opinion, do you think the Apollo is better sounding (by that, I mean, more transparent/clear/detailed) than the MR816?2) Have you spent anytime with the Metric Halo stuff? I'm trying to determine, between the Apollo and the 2882, which has better conversion (from what I can gather, they're on par, but MH actually offer hardware updates as time goes on).3) One consideration: if I got a 2882, I'd also need a monitor controller: I'd get the Dangerous Source. Doing so gives me an extra 2 DAC's, which means I can use all 8 DAC's on the 2882 for outboard... BUT, the Apollo already has extra DAC's, dedicated to the control room, plus easy to access control room controls, making an extra monitor controller redundant (saving me almost $1000). So my question is this: would you have any reservations hooking your monitors up DIRECTLY to the Apollo, with no other controller in between?I ask because I've blown tweeter in the past; I had monitors hooked up to an interface, and accidentally bumped the firewire cable sending a DC spike to the monitors. Of course you're supposed to power up monitors last, power down first. But with FW interfaces, even if the volume is at 0, pops can still get sent if a cable is bumped, or if a brown out occurs... so I've been gun-shy about about going directly from interface to monitors, and wonder if the Apollo's control room design is a bit better thought out than some other interfaces.Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Anderton Posted December 30, 2012 Author Members Share Posted December 30, 2012 Originally Posted by ben_allison What an amazing and thorough review! Craig, a few questions: 1) I was pretty sold on the MR816, until I realized you can't bypass the pres, and that the "Master volume" turns down ALL outputs, not just ones used for monitoring... which is a HUGE bummer for using outboard during mixing. In your opinion, do you think the Apollo is better sounding (by that, I mean, more transparent/clear/detailed) than the MR816? I reviewed the MR816 several years ago...the unit went back to Steinberg in late 2009. So I can't do a direct comparison, and my auditory memory doesn't last three years But I'll say this: Apollo sounds exceptionally neutral and transparent. I can't image that the MR816 could outperform it, especially given changes in technology over the past few years. But also remember that while the MR816 has internal DSP, what you have is what you get...with Apollo, you can use different plugs for different purposes. 2) Have you spent anytime with the Metric Halo stuff? I'm trying to determine, between the Apollo and the 2882, which has better conversion (from what I can gather, they're on par, but MH actually offer hardware updates as time goes on). Sorry, have not used Metric Halo. 3) One consideration: if I got a 2882, I'd also need a monitor controller: I'd get the Dangerous Source. Doing so gives me an extra 2 DAC's, which means I can use all 8 DAC's on the 2882 for outboard... BUT, the Apollo already has extra DAC's, dedicated to the control room, plus easy to access control room controls, making an extra monitor controller redundant (saving me almost $1000). So my question is this: would you have any reservations hooking your monitors up DIRECTLY to the Apollo, with no other controller in between? The Source sounds great, but so does Apollo. I'll hook my monitors directly to the Apollo and see how it pans out, but I don't see any reason not to. I ask because I've blown tweeter in the past; I had monitors hooked up to an interface, and accidentally bumped the firewire cable sending a DC spike to the monitors. Of course you're supposed to power up monitors last, power down first. But with FW interfaces, even if the volume is at 0, pops can still get sent if a cable is bumped, or if a brown out occurs... so I've been gun-shy about about going directly from interface to monitors, and wonder if the Apollo's control room design is a bit better thought out than some other interfaces. First, your computer should connect to an uninterruptible power supply so you don't have to worry about power issues like brownouts. I've been using uninterruptible supplies for over a decade, and while I can't prove anything, I really think that they increase stability dramatically. I first discovered this with ADATs. Without UPS, they would glitch and do weird things. With a UPS, they ran smooth as silk. For $150 you can get something that will power a hardcore computer and Apollo. Second, disconnecting a FireWire cable during operation is problematic. You really need to set up your gear so this simply cannot happen...tape connections if necessary. Although people claim FireWire is hot-swappable, that's not 100% true and you could end up with a fried motherboard, not just a fried tweeter... Not sure if this answers your questions, but in the situation you describe, an ounce of prevention is waaaay worth a pound of cure! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members ben_allison Posted December 30, 2012 Members Share Posted December 30, 2012 Why had a UPS never dawned on me!!!Another thing I like about the Apollo: FW800 jacks! Most FW400 jacks are worthless... they're just begging to get unplugged. FW800 jacks make a far more sturdy connection.My fears are allayed! Thanks Craig. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members jkleban Posted January 1, 2013 Members Share Posted January 1, 2013 TB update for WIN 7....A user has claimed that he has the APOLLO working with TB in WIN 7.... using the current drivers in 6.4.The key is an ASUS MOBO with TB...His (MIGO) setup as follows and he posted on the UA Apollo forum:Apollo Quad with thunderbolt cardMobo=Asus P8Z77-V PRO/THUNDERBOLTProcessor=Intel Core i7 - 2600K @ 3,40GHzRAM=16gigOS=Windows 7 64 bitI am having Scott from ADK build me a machine to these specs and get the Apollo working with TB (3 - 4 week build time).I tried the FW thing in WIN 7 but after 3 different PCIe FW boards (all qualified by UA) I got NOTHING working on my existing setup. So, add me to the list of folks that have spent HOURS trying to get Apollo to work in WIN 7 (only I am giving up). I wanted TB anyhow and if this works, it will be awesome.Jim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Anderton Posted January 1, 2013 Author Members Share Posted January 1, 2013 Originally Posted by jkleban I tried the FW thing in WIN 7 but after 3 different PCIe FW boards (all qualified by UA) I got NOTHING working on my existing setup. So, add me to the list of folks that have spent HOURS trying to get Apollo to work in WIN 7 (only I am giving up). I wanted TB anyhow and if this works, it will be awesome. Jim - thanks for the update! TB with Apollo would indeed be awesome. But I can't figure out why FW didn't work for you. I popped in the Sonnet card, and it worked perfectly, and continues to work perfectly...no crashes, no issues. Weird. Getting Apollo to work with Windows 7 is one of the more painless updates I've done Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members tecknot Posted January 2, 2013 Members Share Posted January 2, 2013 Second that, Jim! I was going to take a chance on the ASUS laptop and hold on in hopes of Win TB drivers. Think I will give it a shot now. If it doesn't work out, I have USB interfaces I can use in the meantime, that is, in hopes TB Win drivers do happen.Much appreciated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members billybk1 Posted January 2, 2013 Members Share Posted January 2, 2013 Originally Posted by Anderton I popped in the Sonnet card, and it worked perfectly, and continues to work perfectly...no crashes, no issues. Weird. The biggest hurdle to getting the Apollo functioning properly on a PC via FW is having a working FW800 card installed. I had originally ordered one of the two UA recommended FW800 PCIe cards (Symba) and it took me days of trouble shooting to finally figure out I had a bum FW card (it would not stay locked @ FW800 speed). So I ordered the more expensive card (Sonnet Allegro FW800 PCIe) and it has worked flawlessly. After doing a bit of research on the net and talking to UA tech support it appears the Symba FW800 cards are hit or miss. They seem to have serious quality control issues. I recommend simply avoiding the cheaper Symba cards and spend a little extra on the Sonnet Allegro. Cheers, Billy Buck Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members dj mast Posted January 7, 2013 Members Share Posted January 7, 2013 how is the latency using native plugins within the daw or third party coz buying ua plugins gets very costly in that case omni thunderbolt looks cheaper . specialy on autotune in realtime how does opollo deal on the latency willing to buy it but not investing in there plugins coz i git many others including wave ... any comment on that Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members billybk1 Posted January 10, 2013 Members Share Posted January 10, 2013 Originally Posted by dj mast willing to buy it but not investing in there plugins coz i git many others including wave ... The main reason to buy an Apollo is for the real-time processing of UAD plug-ins on live input. That is why it comes with SHARC DSP's. The Apollo does not use (and cannot use) native FX in this fashion. If you never intend to use UAD plug-ins, then the Apollo is not really a good option for you. I already had a UAD-2 QUAD PCIe card and most of the UAD plug-ins already, before I even purchased mine. All my existing UAD-2 plug-in licenses automatically transfered over to the Apollo. So it was a great deal for me to get one. The other reason for me getting the Apollo was for the Thunderbolt capability which also directly benefits using the UAD plug-ins. So if you are not a UAD user or intend to be one, then the Apollo is not a good option for you. Now the Apollo does come with some stock UAD plug-ins and their current UA Apollo promotion gives you some steller UAD plug-ins free (Studer A800, Lexicon 224 & Neve 88RS) and also allows you to purchase additional UAD plug-ins (of your choice) for a fraction of the retail price. It is a pretty awesome deal if you are just getting into UAD plug-ins or are wanting to expand your UAD library: http://www.uaudio.com/promotions.html Cheers, Billy Buck Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members billybk1 Posted January 11, 2013 Members Share Posted January 11, 2013 Originally Posted by tecknot Second that, Jim! I was going to take a chance on the ASUS laptop and hold on in hopes of Win TB drivers. Think I will give it a shot now. If it doesn't work out, I have USB interfaces I can use in the meantime, that is, in hopes TB Win drivers do happen. There have been reports (from several Apollo Win users) on the UAD forum of the Apollo/Thunderbolt card working on a PC DAW using the latest UAD v6.4 Win version and a Thunderbolt enabled ASUS motherboard (Asus P8Z77-V PRO/THUNDERBOLT). This has not been officially endorsed, certified or tested by UA, but the interesting thing is the latest UAD v6.4 (Win) update seems to have the Thunderbolt driver capability for Windows built-in. If you are using a compatible Thunderbolt enabled PC MB it seems to be basically plug & play. There is even a new sticky on the UAD forum for Apollo users to report on working PC compatible TB MB's. I may be building myself a new PC DAW using the Asus P8Z77-V PRO/THUNDERBOLT. http://uadforum.com/showthread.php?1...s-on-Windows-7 Speaking of Apollo & Thunderbolt: I just saw this UAD Apollo Thunderbolt Real World Test video from some PT users (Russ & James from airusersblog) demonstrating using/abusing the Apollo/Thunderbolt @ 32 samples on a Mac laptop. It is quite amazing to see how well the Apollo actually performs when using the TB card compared to using the AVID HD Thunderbolt option when using PT10. Cheers, Billy Buck Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members sdpate Posted June 3, 2013 Members Share Posted June 3, 2013 Using Sonar X2 can you rely on the UA Apollo for mixing and mastering or should hang onto my ITB Quad cards?Seems to me I could replace a lot of outboard gear - like headphone amp, monitor switcher, boutique premaps, Lynx AD/DA converter in a home studio set up with this one box.How good, bad or ugly are the preamps to a Millennia Media H3VD?Same question only compare the AD/DA to a Lynx Aurora for 4 channels? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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