Apollo FireWire

Worth every penny! Went for the duo instead of the quad - big mistake. The vintage analog plug-ins are so amazing I am already maxing out the existing processing power.
The mic pres and A/D conversion are great. My studio just got leveled up. All good.

Hal

Simply amazing! It works just like it suppose to!!

Incredible piece of gear. My workflow is really improved since I can commit to UAD plugins as Studer or Neve 88RS while recording. A true blend between analog and digital workflow. Total Recall is like having every time a full desk setup for a specific track. The console and routing could be improved, and I bet it will be in the next software releases. But really worth every penny, Being able to setup headphone mixes with also processing on them for artist to monitor all in one small tiny box .. I'd buy it immediately .. uh thanks god i have it already!

Very Impressed!

I was expecting a unit that will not disappoint on the analogue front end, well was i pleasantly surprised, the converters are as they say 'open' and the front panel is stunning! i saw people making comments about the converter price point because the UAD platform was built in, well all i can say to that is let's take the Apollo as the Apollo and not sub section it, everything is what was advertised and the sound is exquisite, the console app performs flawlessly and the plug ins are definitely in a category all their own! My experience thus far has been 'Wowish' to say the least! Definitely a worthwhile investment!

No point in a long review as I'm sure you can find more than enough info online.

However, I want to say that I am very happy with my Apollo Duo. It has operated flawlessly out of the box, I haven't had a chance to test the mic pres but the real revelation has been being able to track with the plug ins. I do a lot of sound scoring, so playing guitar with beautiful space echoes and lexicon reverbs with no latency is amazing.

I'm now lucky enough to have the LA2A and 1176 hardware units, and this bit of gear is right up there in terms of quality.

Well done UA!!

I can' fault this. it's the most powerfull soundcard I know of, and it runs solid as a rock.
I,ve tried to make it buckel, I just can't. it runs better with protools than AVIDs own and with the upcomming thunderboltcard I dout its conna be bettered anytime soon

I've used the Apollo for a live :
- 3 mics SM58 ( hip hop vocalist )
- 1 mic BETA87 ( beatbox )
- 1 stereo line in ( 4 Deejays )
With treatments in real time ( demo plugin at this time ), I've recorded about 5 hours of those 5 tracks with a quality I couldn't explane...videos comin soon !!!

This is the best sounding interface I have ever owned BY FAR. While I was waiting for it to arrive I tried cutting some drum tracks with my old Presonus and M-audio interfaces. Then I cut some tracks after the Apollo arrived. Even before adding any effects, the difference in sound was night and day. The drivers have been solid. Round trip latency performance is quite good, and the bundled effects sound wonderful. I can't wait to purchase more plug-ins. I am looking forward to buying the Studer A800, as well as some reverbs delays, and channel strips.

The hardware and software interfaces are elegant and robust, easy to use and yet very powerful. The mic inputs on the back sound quite good, they are significantly nicer than the preamps on my Mackie Onyx 800r. The instrument inputs on the front panel also sound amazingly good.

I cut a short jazz standards demo with this thing, and people keep asking me what studio I went to to record my demo! I didn't even put much effort into mixing it really. Apollo seems to be a major milestone in digital recording from where I stand.

Apollo = AMAZING!!! I previously had the RME Fireface 800... and even though I feel that it was a top notch recording interface, I am already so much happier with the Apollo. I am absolutely in love with the UA Console.... it's brilliant!! The pre's and converters are pristine! And who could forget to mention the ability to stack UAD plugins during tracking, mixing and mastering! Thank you Universal Audio. You have made it that was sweeter to write and record music!

The Universal Audio Apollo is a beautiful machine. Aesthetically it's gorgeous. The front panel and the multi-colored meters makes it fun to look at. Also, it's built like a tank. I love the design and the feel of it. The console software is probably my favorite. It truly makes recording like the good old Analog days, but better. The console itself is very clean and neat. It's easy to use and the recallability is a great asset.

The sound is very good and almost on par with the Apogee Ensemble (in my opinion). The mic preamps are very clean and good also.

My only disappointments with this unit is I wish it had inserts and sends for the mic preamps so one could insert and external EQ or compressor.

If you're thinking about getting one of these, look at this machine as a UAD audio interface and not just a Universal Audio interface with included UAD processing. I say this because the console application only runs UAD plugins and currently the routing options are pretty limited. The main focus of this machine is UAD plugins. It's not a problem if you love these plugins, but it you don't you may want to consider how you could use it in your workflow, or maybe another unit.

What I think is the greatest asset is how it affects my workflow. It makes recording fun again. I don't have to futz with all the technical stuff with this box, It just works. The plugins work perfectly in console. The latency is extremely low in console and in your daw (mine is Logic).

A really great, slick studio tool which has sped up my work rate with mixes and sounds brilliant to boot. Also, I have made a demo review of the Apollo which is on YouTube:

http://youtu.be/XB46OvLN_70