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Post by Bob Olhsson on Dec 14, 2020 17:01:21 GMT -6
(Apologies if you were referring to someone else's post, Bob.) I was referring to the common generalizations about USB and not your post.
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Post by mhbunch on Dec 14, 2020 17:38:05 GMT -6
Still loving our Apogee Symphony mk1. It just works and I never even think about it - also love the maestro mixer. Not so much a fan of the newer Apogee Control that I have to use with the Element series at my home studio.
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Post by Guitar on Dec 14, 2020 17:45:12 GMT -6
I'll put my personal voice in for the Presonus Quantum, that hasn't been tipped. Other than turning it on, I don't touch it. Just does its job. I have a fully modular system here so the only thing the interface does is line level inputs and outputs, at very fast latencies. Track "to tape" in Cubase with Softube Tape across every input channel. Can monitor any guitar amp, keyboard, drum instrument just fine through the DAW. No direct monitoring, I use a small Midas mixer for that. I have mixed feelings about Presonus. I had the sceptres a few years back. They were good monitors but had issues. Mine hissed like a snake and one of the drivers kept coming loose. A friend had one of their digital mixers. It sounded great as well but 2 channels died. Presonus support was a sloooooow process. One email back and forth a day. I’m sure the quantum is awesome, but I can’t bring myself to go back down that road. I hear you. I've had some bad or just lame Presonus gear too. I really like the Quantum and the DP88 though, they are on a different level to me. It's hard to shop any brand that has given you trouble so I get it.
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Post by wiz on Dec 14, 2020 17:57:33 GMT -6
One word of caution regards the Motu.
I had a 16a for a few years....stable sounds great. The software interface for routing....I hated it. Have a look at a couple of videos and see what you think.
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Post by nick8801 on Dec 14, 2020 18:15:16 GMT -6
One word of caution regards the Motu. I had a 16a for a few years....stable sounds great. The software interface for routing....I hated it. Have a look at a couple of videos and see what you think. Thanks Wiz, will do!
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Post by svart on Dec 14, 2020 18:18:03 GMT -6
It's a matter of interface design more than format. Every format has a delay but if it's aligned to the playback and input monitoring is routed in the interface, it's a non-issue. USB-1 was never designed to handle more than a keyboard and mouse, so it got a bad reputation. USB-2, 3 and 3.1 are fast enough to handle a monster interface. (emphasis mine) Exactly. But I was referring to the times when input monitoring is not routed in the interface. That's what I meant by RTL through the DAW. If svart and gwlee7 really can't hear the latency, then they're either monitoring through MOTU's DSP mixer, or their buffer setting is at like 32. At least that's my guess. (Apologies if you were referring to someone else's post, Bob.) I'm definitely monitoring through the daw. I double checked because I was also skeptical. It's also at 128. I tried 32 but it gave me issues.
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Post by tkaitkai on Dec 14, 2020 18:34:57 GMT -6
I vote Lynx or Apogee. Go for the best possible and have no regrets. And no money.
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Post by nick8801 on Dec 14, 2020 19:00:38 GMT -6
I vote Lynx or Apogee. Go for the best possible and have no regrets. And no money. Ha! I'm already there!
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Post by Ward on Dec 15, 2020 6:35:53 GMT -6
I vote Lynx or Apogee. Go for the best possible and have no regrets. And no money. You mean there are those amongst us who don't do that?
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Post by nick8801 on Dec 15, 2020 7:11:59 GMT -6
So basically you all are telling me to get the Titan.
Pretty evenly divided poll I’d say! Motu seems to be a good practical interface with sound quality that probably is equal but different than Apollo. Lynx would be the obvious step up, although there are some features I would miss as far most stand alone interfaces go. I did read somewhere that with one of the newer firmware updates you can control the level of a set of outputs with that knob. But it isn’t an attenuator per say, so you are probably still better off with a dedicated monitor controller. And of course I could sell the 16mkii and just grab a new x6 since that would basically be all I need right now in the studio as far as ins and outs. Probably a small step up in sound quality as well as gaining two mic pres. Lots of options that would all work depending on what I’m after. Anyone wanna by a 16mkii? Hit me up. I was also considering selling it with my plug-in licenses and starting over since I don’t use so many that I’ve picked up over the years. That’s a tough sell though, since most people would either already have many of them or not want the specific ones I’m selling. Thanks again for all the input.
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Post by phantom on Dec 15, 2020 7:37:18 GMT -6
That's basically it. MOTU and Apollo X will probably give you the same sound quality. Apogee has a sound to it that I, personally, enjoy. Prism and Lynx are somewhat an upgrade to those.
Good luck with your decision.
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Post by indiehouse on Dec 15, 2020 8:13:55 GMT -6
That's basically it. MOTU and Apollo X will probably give you the same sound quality. Apogee has a sound to it that I, personally, enjoy. Prism and Lynx are somewhat an upgrade to those. Good luck with your decision. But why then is an Apollo X16 $2K more than a Motu 16a? Even accounting for the UAD DSP, it's significantly more $$$. Are people that buy Apollo's suckers?
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Post by Guitar on Dec 15, 2020 8:22:21 GMT -6
That's basically it. MOTU and Apollo X will probably give you the same sound quality. Apogee has a sound to it that I, personally, enjoy. Prism and Lynx are somewhat an upgrade to those. Good luck with your decision. But why then is an Apollo X16 $2K more than a Motu 16a? Even accounting for the UAD DSP, it's significantly more $$$. Are people that buy Apollo's suckers? You really are buying DSP when you go with Apollo, I firmly believe that. As a raw "dumb" interface there are many that can match its sound at lower prices.
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Post by nick8801 on Dec 15, 2020 8:24:13 GMT -6
That's basically it. MOTU and Apollo X will probably give you the same sound quality. Apogee has a sound to it that I, personally, enjoy. Prism and Lynx are somewhat an upgrade to those. Good luck with your decision. But why then is an Apollo X16 $2K more than a Motu 16a? Even accounting for the UAD DSP, it's significantly more $$$. Are people that buy Apollo's suckers? Good question...Let's say Apollo uses slightly better components. I don't know if that's true, but let's pretend. Factor in what a hexa card would cost, plus all the extra marketing UA puts into their products and I think you get close to that difference. Maybe not 2k, but once you build up a brand like that, you can definitely ask for more money. What's the old BMW marketing thing...they don't cost more because they are better cars, they cost more because they are BMW's. You get my point.
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Post by jcoutu1 on Dec 15, 2020 8:25:09 GMT -6
That's basically it. MOTU and Apollo X will probably give you the same sound quality. Apogee has a sound to it that I, personally, enjoy. Prism and Lynx are somewhat an upgrade to those. Good luck with your decision. But why then is an Apollo X16 $2K more than a Motu 16a? Even accounting for the UAD DSP, it's significantly more $$$. Are people that buy Apollo's suckers? Edit: The ability to track with the UAD plug-ins and unison preamps.
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Post by phantom on Dec 15, 2020 8:26:19 GMT -6
That's basically it. MOTU and Apollo X will probably give you the same sound quality. Apogee has a sound to it that I, personally, enjoy. Prism and Lynx are somewhat an upgrade to those. Good luck with your decision. But why then is an Apollo X16 $2K more than a Motu 16a? Even accounting for the UAD DSP, it's significantly more $$$. Are people that buy Apollo's suckers? Uh, suckers? Not at all. Apollo is different than any other interface. It allows you to enter the UAD Ecosystem, it has Unison Pres and allows you to run a DAW, that it's impossible otherwise. Soundwise, my opinion is that they are very similar. You can't judge only on price.
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Post by indiehouse on Dec 15, 2020 8:27:23 GMT -6
And I'm asking myself this as well, as someone who is contemplating switching from a Motu 828ES/16a combo to an Apollo X6/X16 combo. It's a significant price difference. Even though I really hate the Motu routing software, is the money spent worth it? Will I even hear a difference?
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Post by indiehouse on Dec 15, 2020 8:31:00 GMT -6
I've got UAD plugs that I use with a satellite now. And I've had Apollo's in the past. It was fun to monitor with plugs, but I never printed them. I'd rather just track through the hardware I have now. But I will admit to being a sucker for the marketing. The X series Apollo's really do have a certain style/vibe that gets me. The Motu stuff just feels cheaper to touch. Cheaper knobs. Cheaper casing, etc.
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Post by svart on Dec 15, 2020 8:33:43 GMT -6
But why then is an Apollo X16 $2K more than a Motu 16a? Even accounting for the UAD DSP, it's significantly more $$$. Are people that buy Apollo's suckers? The ability to track with plugins. I can set reaper to record post-plugin..
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Post by phantom on Dec 15, 2020 8:43:18 GMT -6
And I'm asking myself this as well, as someone who is contemplating switching from a Motu 828ES/16a combo to an Apollo X6/X16 combo. It's a significant price difference. Even though I really hate the Motu routing software, is the money spent worth it? Will I even hear a difference? Will it sound better just going straight in? I doubt. Different enough to hear, especially if bypassing the pres? Maybe. But ease of use and feeling plays a great part in how satisfied you'll be with a gear. So, apparently MOTU is not the one for you. Keep looking.
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Post by Guitar on Dec 15, 2020 9:46:01 GMT -6
But why then is an Apollo X16 $2K more than a Motu 16a? Even accounting for the UAD DSP, it's significantly more $$$. Are people that buy Apollo's suckers? The ability to track with plugins. I track with plugins with my Quantum. Not "Unison Preamps" OK no I don't do that, but I don't need to.
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Post by Guitar on Dec 15, 2020 9:49:37 GMT -6
I once heard someone say that "value added" and "intangible" with a product just simply means brand reputation.
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Post by ragan on Dec 15, 2020 10:13:45 GMT -6
So basically you all are telling me to get the Titan. Pretty evenly divided poll I’d say! Motu seems to be a good practical interface with sound quality that probably is equal but different than Apollo. Lynx would be the obvious step up, although there are some features I would miss as far most stand alone interfaces go. I did read somewhere that with one of the newer firmware updates you can control the level of a set of outputs with that knob. But it isn’t an attenuator per say, so you are probably still better off with a dedicated monitor controller. And of course I could sell the 16mkii and just grab a new x6 since that would basically be all I need right now in the studio as far as ins and outs. Probably a small step up in sound quality as well as gaining two mic pres. Lots of options that would all work depending on what I’m after. Anyone wanna by a 16mkii? Hit me up. I was also considering selling it with my plug-in licenses and starting over since I don’t use so many that I’ve picked up over the years. That’s a tough sell though, since most people would either already have many of them or not want the specific ones I’m selling. Thanks again for all the input. I didn’t vote because I’m totally unsure what interface you should get, but most of these polls end up just being everyone voting for whatever thing they themselves bought. Which is of course fine. I have a Symphony MKII and really enjoy it. But it’s a lot of coin per channel. I think any of these options will get the job done for you and the differences between them will have zero impact on what it’s like to be a listener to one of your tracks. I wish the Symphony were cheaper but once I used it I decided I didn’t want to be without it and it was worth the dough (for me).
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Post by nick8801 on Dec 15, 2020 10:21:50 GMT -6
So basically you all are telling me to get the Titan. Pretty evenly divided poll I’d say! Motu seems to be a good practical interface with sound quality that probably is equal but different than Apollo. Lynx would be the obvious step up, although there are some features I would miss as far most stand alone interfaces go. I did read somewhere that with one of the newer firmware updates you can control the level of a set of outputs with that knob. But it isn’t an attenuator per say, so you are probably still better off with a dedicated monitor controller. And of course I could sell the 16mkii and just grab a new x6 since that would basically be all I need right now in the studio as far as ins and outs. Probably a small step up in sound quality as well as gaining two mic pres. Lots of options that would all work depending on what I’m after. Anyone wanna by a 16mkii? Hit me up. I was also considering selling it with my plug-in licenses and starting over since I don’t use so many that I’ve picked up over the years. That’s a tough sell though, since most people would either already have many of them or not want the specific ones I’m selling. Thanks again for all the input. I didn’t vote because I’m totally unsure what interface you should get, but most of these polls end up just being everyone voting for whatever thing they themselves bought. Which is of course fine. I have a Symphony MKII and really enjoy it. But it’s a lot of coin per channel. I think any of these options will get the job done for you and the differences between them will have zero impact on what it’s like to be a listener to one of your tracks. I wish the Symphony were cheaper but once I used it I decided I didn’t want to be without it and it was worth the dough (for me). Totally get all that Ragan. I'm mostly talking hypotheticals, and a lot of the responses have given me some different perspectives. I'm definitely selling the 16mkii as I need something smaller for my room right now. Just depends on how the stars align I guess!
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Post by ragan on Dec 15, 2020 10:28:25 GMT -6
I didn’t vote because I’m totally unsure what interface you should get, but most of these polls end up just being everyone voting for whatever thing they themselves bought. Which is of course fine. I have a Symphony MKII and really enjoy it. But it’s a lot of coin per channel. I think any of these options will get the job done for you and the differences between them will have zero impact on what it’s like to be a listener to one of your tracks. I wish the Symphony were cheaper but once I used it I decided I didn’t want to be without it and it was worth the dough (for me). Totally get all that Ragan. I'm mostly talking hypotheticals, and a lot of the responses have given me some different perspectives. I'm definitely selling the 16mkii as I need something smaller for my room right now. Just depends on how the stars align I guess! Yeah for sure. And I like following along too and hearing everyone’s various insights.
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