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Post by indiehouse on Jun 18, 2019 18:23:34 GMT -6
Apollo X8 from Sweetwater on sale for $2,500 right now with 4 free "choose your own" plugins that's a pretty killer deal actually. In my mind, puts it on equal footing with something like my Presonus Quantum, and the UAD Satellite I have to use with it, in terms of what you get for the price. For the normal $3,000 and "basic" starter plugin pack, I would pass. I guess this is part of their big half yearly sale or whatever. I’m not seeing that. I’m reading “purchase a second qualifying Apollo Interface and you’ll receive a UAD Custom Plug-In Bundle — letting you pick up to 3 UAD plug-ins of your choice for free”. So, you have to buy 2 interfaces to receive only 3 free plugins?
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Post by donr on Jun 18, 2019 18:24:47 GMT -6
The UAD Twin Quad Mkii is a really elegant solution for mobile recording. Just took mine to LA and ran some sessions with a very discriminating and well known artist and his manager who were blown away with the experience. One UA twin mkii, one tiny rolls headphone amp, a 414 and four headphones - I was able to create up to three different headphone mixes (one via the headphone jack, one to the alt 3/4 output and one through the main console mix through the monitor outs if needed. We utilized two separate headphone mixes and tracked with plugins. The results were outstanding. It’s amazing what can be done with this little box. I am going to throw a different perspective into this discussion as well. I previously used antelope converter’s. I found them to be a little sharp and unnatural in the highs. No matter how much I compensated with EQ, I could not get rid of the strained highs. The Twin Mkii and all of the blackface second generation UA Apollo units have proven more useful to me in recording. The sound of their conversion is much more musical to my ear. And In my studio I track with high-end converters as well including Burl and Hilo. I would not hesitate to use the twin quad for tracking important sessions. Once again, it’s incredible to have the type of flexibility, control, and features in a unit that small, especially for mobile recording. drsax, would you briefly OT explain how to (perhaps with a screen shot) how you set up the alt ¾ output in the UAD Twin? I've never grokked how to use it in my Twin Duo Mk I. I also want to ask you how many plugs the quad enables you to pile on one input, I can do two but not three tracking plugins on one mic input. Even with the Mk I, I have no issue with the conversion, it's musical, and I use it, especially with the Townsend Sphere mic. No one would ever say, "Heyy, that track isn't hi-fi enough," even as other converters I have are a little more open.
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Post by Guitar on Jun 18, 2019 19:15:40 GMT -6
Apollo X8 from Sweetwater on sale for $2,500 right now with 4 free "choose your own" plugins that's a pretty killer deal actually. In my mind, puts it on equal footing with something like my Presonus Quantum, and the UAD Satellite I have to use with it, in terms of what you get for the price. For the normal $3,000 and "basic" starter plugin pack, I would pass. I guess this is part of their big half yearly sale or whatever. I’m not seeing that. I’m reading “purchase a second qualifying Apollo Interface and you’ll receive a UAD Custom Plug-In Bundle — letting you pick up to 3 UAD plug-ins of your choice for free”. So, you have to buy 2 interfaces to receive only 3 free plugins? Oh dang. That's kind of a bum deal. Guess I didn't read the fine print, I wish there was a finger wag emoticon for UA and Sweetwater.
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Post by Guitar on Jun 18, 2019 19:17:11 GMT -6
If you're gonna buy two brand new Apollos, I mean come on, you probably can afford a couple of plugins I don't like this stuff from UA, it's a little bit insulting compared to other brands' deals.
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Post by drsax on Jun 18, 2019 20:46:36 GMT -6
The UAD Twin Quad Mkii is a really elegant solution for mobile recording. Just took mine to LA and ran some sessions with a very discriminating and well known artist and his manager who were blown away with the experience. One UA twin mkii, one tiny rolls headphone amp, a 414 and four headphones - I was able to create up to three different headphone mixes (one via the headphone jack, one to the alt 3/4 output and one through the main console mix through the monitor outs if needed. We utilized two separate headphone mixes and tracked with plugins. The results were outstanding. It’s amazing what can be done with this little box. I am going to throw a different perspective into this discussion as well. I previously used antelope converter’s. I found them to be a little sharp and unnatural in the highs. No matter how much I compensated with EQ, I could not get rid of the strained highs. The Twin Mkii and all of the blackface second generation UA Apollo units have proven more useful to me in recording. The sound of their conversion is much more musical to my ear. And In my studio I track with high-end converters as well including Burl and Hilo. I would not hesitate to use the twin quad for tracking important sessions. Once again, it’s incredible to have the type of flexibility, control, and features in a unit that small, especially for mobile recording. drsax, would you briefly OT explain how to (perhaps with a screen shot) how you set up the alt ¾ output in the UAD Twin? I've never grokked how to use it in my Twin Duo Mk I. I also want to ask you how many plugs the quad enables you to pile on one input, I can do two but not three tracking plugins on one mic input. Even with the Mk I, I have no issue with the conversion, it's musical, and I use it, especially with the Townsend Sphere mic. No one would ever say, "Heyy, that track isn't hi-fi enough," even as other converters I have are a little more open. Sure - you can use assign a cue mix to the alt 3-4 outs. See this UAD article: help.uaudio.com/hc/en-us/articles/115003613643-How-Do-I-Send-Signal-from-My-DAW-to-the-Line-3-4-Outputs-on-My-Apollo-Twin-And you can use one unison plugin and up to 4 additional plugins in the non unison slots.
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Post by sirthought on Jun 18, 2019 23:24:43 GMT -6
I also want to ask you how many plugs the quad enables you to pile on one input, I can do two but not three tracking plugins on one mic input. Hi Donr, I have an Apollo 8p, so it's a quad. I've used as many as four plugins on one mic input channel. I guess it could be more if you decide to print stuff on the AUX channel. Can't think of what I would have used if trying five, but I don't like to track delays and reverbs normally. The number really depends on which plugins you choose. It's not uncommon for me to track all eight inputs with unison pres and maybe a compressor, as well as compression on a couple ADAT channels. That's if I'm doing say drums, guitar, and a bass or keyboard. The lower DSP legacy plugins are helpful here for adding just a touch of compression or EQ, but honestly I try to listen to what sounds best and I haven't hit the wall too often when tracking. I certainly have when mixing with a bunch of stuff and just a quad of chips. Add a satellite and I'm usually okay. Note perhaps that in the Capitol Chambers thread, Drew recently posted a screenshot of one of his vocal preset signal chains including SSL 4000 unison pre to the Townsend Labs Putnam Collection to the CL1B to the Maag EQ4. That's a pretty healthy amount of DSP for one channel, mostly because of the SSL.
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Post by sirthought on Jun 19, 2019 0:12:21 GMT -6
Hey @henry_Berg,
Congrats on getting the x8. I think you'll enjoy it. It sounds like you are really into the idea of UAD plugins so the 10+3 really is the best deal per plugin, and with the other analog classics deal you will likely have every plugin you could need.
Don't try to add up all the DSP % to sweat what will work on six chips. You'll go crazy. That DFC can do most of the work and you could use it on every channel no sweat, but hey that's no fun! Go for what feels exciting and will add the color you enjoy.
My two cents: I would get the unique and special Capitol Chambers over the 224. Both of the Lex reverbs are nice, but you probably only need one and the 480 might be a tad more polished sounding.
Personally I also really like Oceans Way, but more so for reamping tracks people send me.
Distressor is a really useful alternative to the 1176.
The bus compressors all really sound a bit different. I have the Vari-Mu and like it, but the SSL G is probably easier to learn and is likely what most people are hoping to hear.
I have the Ampeg VST-3 pro which is really versatile and can sound both vintage and modern. They give you a free 'classic' version of the SVT-VR amp with many fewer options, but it still offers quite a bit of value. If you want to lean vintage, maybe the B-15N would be a similar balance. The SVT-VR Classic does sound wonderful for rock stuff.
I'm a Fender amp owner and like the Fender 55 plugin. It does take time to learn, as the amp is more aggressive than clean, but you can find some nice clean tones. That's one I'm learning to try dry and wet on two tracks to balance stuff out.
You'll have for preamps the 610s, 1073 and VoxBox. All great options! API Vision is another really nice color, even if you don't want to use the full channel strip. You can use the preamp alone for less DSP. Also, some kind of saturation tools can be helpful like Culture Vulture or the Mpressor, or VSM-3. There are non-UAD options for those, but having one in your pocket for tracking might be nice. Plenty of good options, so you don't really miss out. Have fun!
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Post by Guitar on Jun 19, 2019 6:19:12 GMT -6
Monkeyxx, as I wrote, the x8 arrived today. Insanely fast service, to make it from Barcelona across the Mediterranean sea in just 24h! The x8 only has 6 SHARCS. I plan to use the 1073, Voxbox, Fender and Ampeg just for tracking. I liked what I heard on the Fender 55 for cleans. I have an Orange amp, plus all apollos come with the Plexi classic as well. For mixing, I plan to have the CLA MIXHUB as default strip (UAD's SSL is wayy too DSP hungry), and the DFC (18% per instance) for acoustic instruments and delicate tracks. Then it's all the FXs (480 takes 60%, Capitol 70%) like 8 of them (slap, 1/4 and 1/8 delays, ambience, plate, hall, chorus, drum room), and Compressors on selected tracks, 1176, LA2, 670. Then I'm not sure to get either the distressor or the CL1A, and which one for the Stereo Bus , SSL G or Shadow Hills (SH very low DSP usage). Oh, and 1 Autotune (20% DSP) in case I need it. I put it all on a spreadsheet to see how far I could go, this made me discard some UAD plugs, like the SSL ch strip, API and others. Spreadsheet is a smart way to go into a big buy like this. One thing that's pretty neat about the way people approach UAD plugins is a lot of us are very focused and deliberate about the choices, the demo process is very easy, so most of the time people end up buying exactly what they need. Congrats on the nice Apollo, that's one of the best interfaces you could have right now. Even in terms of native round trip latency. I never really got into tracking with plugins so that was a big reason I sold my Apollos. the Ampeg B15N into LA2A you mentioned is an incredible bass chain. Sounds ethereal, warm, classic, you have to try it. Like sirthought said the SVT-3 Pro is versatile and covers a lot of ground that the other two don't. The SVT is a rock monster, I just used it the other day. I also put the RAW (Proco Rat) plugin in front of it which was great, and which you will get for free. Then EQ to taste with API graphic, that thing is perfect for getting bass to sit in the right place. If you don't buy the API graphic maybe you could get a native one, the SPL "Ranger" series from Plugin Alliance, or you could do the Waves one. I don't even think about bass plugins any more since owning the three UAD Ampegs. The SSL plugin I originally fell in love with from UAD was the oldest one they make, now part of the bundle as a "legacy" option that uses much less DSP. Might be worth considering. Although you'd have to do a shootout with CLA MixHub to see which one works better. The SSL Unison preamp is one of the best Unison options also, it was my favorite besides the 1073. I agree about the SSL Bus Compressor it's one of the best things out there, if you use mix bus compression I would put it at the top of the list. This is one of those cases where a lot of the native stuff from other companies simply doesn't sound as good as the UAD. They nailed it in my opinion. Plugins like this one are where UAD is really worth the expense and hassle. Also forgot to mention the Helios, it's a bit of a beast, breaks up in such a cool way, real compressed and energetic sounding.
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Post by kcatthedog on Jun 19, 2019 12:28:40 GMT -6
The comment above: how many plug ins run on a quad: just remember while tracking each channel is dedicated to 1 ua sharc chip, so the limitation is actually somewhere below 109% as each chip is also losing some processing capacity to overhead( running console etc.)
The new X with 6 sharc chip means you can run roughly 30% more plugs ins on in total (adding in 2 more channels:from 4 to 6) while tracking.
As all ua dsp is available for mixing(again minus console overhead), theoretically again the X with 6 sharc chips let you run roughly 30% more plug ins.
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Post by Henry_Berg on Jun 19, 2019 18:43:43 GMT -6
Well I managed to borrow a TB3 cable from a studio and finally got to register the x8, getting the 5 FREE Analog Classics PRO, thx PureMix!!
Took it back home and plugged a 414 and a strat on the DI. On the Mic I used the 610 preamp, 1176 to catch peaks, LA2A for some body and a 140 on an aux, on plate 1 with a short decay. On the strat I used the Plexi on a clean setting and sent also to the 140. I plugged my Senn 280 phones and started to play.
WOW
Instant *SOUNDS LIKE A RECORD*, direct on my headphones! ALL the nuances of the voice right there, clear as water, with a wonderful ambience.
This x8 sounds STELLAR. It really is like plugging into hardware outboard, as long as I can remember. This thing is a steal, I'm so stocked.
On a side note, I didn't like the sound of the Marshall with gain. To be expected, actually. I've never found an amp sim that could compare to the dynamics of playing a real amp right near the speaker, letting feedback grow.
At the time of registering I was presented with usual offers of "10 plugins for €999". The current JUNE sale is 10+3, same with the other offers. WTF? I passed.
But got 2 discount codes and therefore bought the 3 AMPEG Amps for just €54!! The bx_tuner came FREE ;-) (i was looking for it very much)
Now I'm deciding which 13 plugins to get for €999. About a week to decide.
From my planned €1,600 (€1,200 Twin Quad II + €400 for 3+1 plugins), I'll end up spending €3,600 for the x8 and A LOT of plugins. FACEPALM!
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Post by Guitar on Jun 19, 2019 19:25:07 GMT -6
Very cool. The first time I plugged into an Apollo amp sim that was like a watershed moment, this is how computers are supposed to work, great feeling.
And then the conversion quality coming from something budget, big jumps again.
I don't recommend using the bx_tuner I find it finicky and inaccurate. I would recommend a free native tuning plugin that works very well called GTune by GVST.
Cheers
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Post by sirthought on Jun 20, 2019 0:40:51 GMT -6
Yeah Henry, that tuner blows big time. I find it impossible to use.
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