So, is the Twin USB still worth it? If you're willing to spend the money in the
The Apollo Twin is Universal Audio's most popular desktop audio interface. It's a 10-in/6-out powerhouse featuring two Unison-enabled mic preamps, a Hi-Z input, four line outputs, built-in talkback, high-pass filter, and more. Overall, the Apollo Twin is an elite-class, professional audio interface.
UAD Apollo Value
It's certainly many times more expensive than an entry level audio interface, but it's also worth every penny. In terms of quality, you'll never out grow it. In terms of plugins, it's a great deal. The two limiting factors are the number of inputs/outputs, and the processing power.
An Amazing Investment. It truly is a great investment, and does provide an incredibly clear sound even without plugins. There is a night and day difference between this interface and budget interfaces.
The Duo will be enough for most tracking needs but you will every now and then run out of DSP. Especially when you make up guitar chains with amps, pedals, delays and reverbs. It quickly eats up all the processing power and expanding with an UAD Satellite sadly doesn't help.
APOLLO-TWIN-DUO-USB 4 years of durability max.
UAD Plugins are expensive because of their hardware accelerator. It's a digital signal processor chip, not even an accelerator. It's not your regular CPU but rather a specialized one built to perform the kinds of computations required by those plugins at speeds much above those of your regular CPU. What is this?
All newly registered UAD-2 / Apollo products come with an included plug-in bundle free of charge. These bundles are a great way for new users to get started with UAD plug-ins right out of the box without the need for an additional purchase.
UAD software must be installed to use Apollo Twin X and UAD plug-ins.
Each Apollo X interface features six powerful DSP processing chips that offer over 50% more DSP processing power than previous Apollos. This means you'll be able to run more instances of UAD plug-ins during recording and mixing with near-zero latency.
The UAD sounds the tightest but has the least low end content of the EQs. The Waves has the largest overall boost - Probably due to characteristics of the Q leading into the mid range as mentioned on the drums shootout. The UAD and the Waves are very similar here with the Waves having a slightly mushier low mids.
All new and used UAD-2 / Apollo products come with an included plug-in bundle free of charge.
Users of Apollo Twin X can combine up to four Thunderbolt Apollos and six total UAD 2 devices adding I/O and DSP as your studio grows. Once you expand your studio with an Apollo X rack mount unit, you can use Apollo Twin X as a desktop monitor control with additional I/O and DSP power.
The cheaper interfaces are going to provide you with more of the natural tone of your voice or instrument/amp. The more expensive interfaces are going to add more of what was described above… color, warmth, depth, etc. Another major difference is the number of inputs and outputs the interface has.
After your Volt has been registered to your uaudio.com account, go to the Volt Software panel in UA Connect and click the GET STARTED button next to “Get your free UADx plug-ins”. If you do not already have an iLok account linked to your UA Account then you will be prompted to link one.
Connecting Apollo Twin to the computer
- The host computer must have an available Thunderbolt 3 port. - A qualified Thunderbolt 3 to Thunderbolt adapter is required.
In this configuration, your Apollo Twin instantly becomes a monitor controller for up to three pairs of monitors and can be used as a talk-balk mic controller during your session.
UAD Instruments
The UAD Spark subscription is available for $19.99/month ($149.99/year) with a 14-day free trial. Volt USB audio interface owners receive an extended 30-day free trial, and owners of perpetual UAD plug-in licenses receive corresponding native UAD Spark plug-ins for free.
Realtime Analog Classics Bundle
With the Realtime Analog Classics plug-in bundle, you get legendary compressors like the Teletronix® LA-2A and EQs like the Pultec® EQP-1A, stunning guitar and bass amp emulations from Softube, as well as UA's landmark 610-B Tube Preamp and EQ plug-in.
UAD plugins do sound spectacular. Their emulation of the Manley MasivePassive is quite possibly the best sounding EQ I've ever heard. Their Pultecs are great, and their LA-2A is rightfully the industry standard.
You can mix on-the-go with UAD plug-ins without having UA hardware attached. Native UAD plug-ins allow you to run as many instances of a plug-in as your computer can handle.
A more expensive audio interface can improve sound quality by using higher quality microphone preamplifiers (mic preamps) and analog-digital (A/D) converters. There are several other factors that can affect sound, like microphones, speakers and listening environment, which also need to be considered.