We hope you enjoyed this guide to getting set up and recording with the Universal Audio Apollo x4! Looking for more tips and tricks to getting your studio set up? Hit those like and subscribe buttons! Thanks for watching!
These concepts are all quite fascinating, however, as a visually impaired user, I've got no accurate verbal representation of the UA console, the UAD metre and control panel or the Luna interface when it comes to Mac's Voiceover screen reader. I'm quite disappointed, in this regard, as I'm approximately 20 years in deep as an aspiring engineer and producer. I've witnessed many significant advances regarding software accessibility for blind users like myself and hope that some day UA will consider development strategies addressing this issue.
Best technical review video I have seen for a long time. Excellent demonstration by two professionals here, that show us how a product needs to be reviewed. It has not been annoying, even though the video is about 27 minutes! I was fascinated by it. Maybe talking could be a little bit slower, as it might feel rushed a little bit. However, I would rate this with 5 stars. Greetings from Hamburg, Germany.
@@oldmanhendo7183it is backwards compatible on Mac only so you can use it but you have to get a thunderbolt 3 to thunderbolt 2 adapter. You also won't get the full bandwith of 40gb but you will get the standard bandwidth of thunderbolt 2 or 1
Ive been busking and small giging for 10+ years. Being a full-time musician is a struggle just to survive. I would really appreciate some home studio recording equipment. I could then work from home and start the next phase of my music career.
Been using twins since they were released Can the X4 bypass the preamps? My twins can’t I have outboard gear like many others I would like to use my UA 610 Twinfinity preamp for example but don’t want the obvious redundancy of pre on pre
I found out through UA that only the rack units have the ability to bypass the UA filter, interestingly their flagship and most expensive units like the 16s don’t even have a place to insert unison Pres I guess at that levels th engineers are using high end outboard gear and instantiating regular uad2 plugs for tracking and mixing. I bit the bullet and picked up an X6 although they are the least expensive racks it was still $2,500 but now at least I can use my twin X as a remote an use all the dsp from both units and bypass the onboard preamps The X6 only has 2 unison inserts where the X4 has 4, I though the unison technology was the big selling point of the Apollo “thing” but I’m learning that they are geared towards small studio and bedroom producer use so it makes sense that they now have released the “Volt interfaces” as they are even less expensive than the twins and have some plugs built in with hardware controllers right on the interface So at that price point you can have UA gear and not have to pay Apollo prices but of course the limitations render it really just for small production
Does it make sense to connect a Yamaha 12 channel mixer to a Universal Audio Apollo X4 to have more inputs? Are any of the properties of the interface lost with this connection? Or, do the mixer gains the interface properties?
Hey, Jose. Thank you for checking out our RU-vid channel. Honestly, I would not hook a mixer to the x4. You would lose the ability to take every input individually and more than likely the preamps on the x4 are going to be a little cleaner. Personally, I believe you are better off just tracking into the x4 itself. If you need more channels, I would go in via the optical input on the back to add 8 more mic pres. Thanks, Grant Embury, Sweetwater Sales Engineer, (800) 222-4700 ext. 1647, Grant_embury@Sweetwater.com
I sold my Apollo Twin because I couldn't bypass the preamps. They want me to pay $2200 for an interface that can't bypass the preamps and plus the converters are subpar. I switched from Apollo to RME for these two reasons.
if you do the math a duo cost 900 and x6 has 6 so technically 3 duos so 900x3=2700 which you could get the x8 instead or x6 and get a used duo later to control the phatt one knob thing is cool btw dat first song sounding like the theme song to office space movie
Thanks for reaching out! You can't completely bypass the preamp on these. But, switching over to line input mode will adjust the gain structure of the preamp, and it's so clean that it works great in combination with external pres. If you have any questions, feel free to get in touch! Connor Smith, Sweetwater Sales Engineer, (800) 222 4700 ext. 1793, connor_smith@sweetwater.com
@@sweetwater Thanks for the info, thats what I thought as well. To bad there is no actual bypass though.. Im sure it will sound great going line in with my AEA pres :)
Hey, Sean! Great question! Since every setup is a little different, I'd definitely want to talk more about your whole setup to make sure we get you the correct piece. Can you give me a shout at the email below to discuss? Rock on! 🎶🤘 Cassie O'Hanlon, Sweetwater Sales Engineer, (800) 222-4700 ext. 3020, cassie_ohanlon@sweetwater.com
I HAVE A YAMAHA 12 CHANNEL MIXER AND I WANT TO BUY AN APOLLO X4 INTERFACE. IS IT AN INTELLIGENT DECISION TO CONNECT THE MIXER TO THE INTERFACE? OR THAT WOULD MAKE THE INTERFASE LOSE ITS SOPHISTICATED PROPERTIES?
Hello, Jose! You could utilize the mixer to add additional inputs to the Apollo, but the channels from the mixer would all be summed to a two track output and would occupy two channels on the Apollo. You wouldn't be using the nicer preamps on those two channels on the Apollo, but it would work if you needed those extra channels for live mixing drums or something like that. Thanks for the interest! Cody Kraus, Sweetwater Sales Engineer, (800) 222-4700 ext. 1766, cody_kraus@sweetwater.com
If I connect a guitar in 1, 2, 3, or 4 at the back, does it set it automatically to Hi-Z too or I need a DI box to do plug my guitar in the back inputs?
Hey there! Great question. You can actually only go Hi-Z on the separate inputs 1 and 2 on the front. If you needed more than that, then you would need a DI in order to run into any of the preamps/line level inputs on the back. I'd love to chat with you more about that to see how this would possibly fit into your setup. Would you mind giving me a shout at the contact info below? Rock on! 🎶🤘 Cassie O'Hanlon, Sweetwater Sales Engineer, (800) 222-4700 ext. 3020, cassie_ohanlon@sweetwater.com
Hi guys I’m looking for some advice on my Apollo twin x duo . I can’t see no signal from my bass guitar. I don’t know why it stopped working. Any help would be really appreciated 😢
So if I have a PC with Thunderbolt 3, which I do have (I use a maxed out Intel Nuc), will this unit operate as glitch free as it is here? I have heard about problems with PC/WIN10 operation. Is that rumor or or is there something to it? Also, does this unit allow for real time playback and listening or are we locked into always listening with a buffer or through DSP?
Sent an ARROW X back after struggling with it on Windows 10 using Thunderbolt 3. It would actually cause a kernel panic and blue-screen the machine. I was saddened cause I was looking forward to using it in the studio.
@@derekjcooper , what was Sweetwater's explanation of this?? Since this is not supposed to happen-- and since the Apollo is OFFICIALLY supposed to work with WIN10/PC--something like this seems to be unjustifiable. I am very interested to know what their response was and how they explained that these units do work with WIN10/PC. I had heard a number of similar stories as this and its terribly concerning.
Stupid question so bear with me: if I have both the direct Hi-Z plugged-in in the front and mic/line 3, 4 also plugged in; can I then also use the empty Mic/Line inputs 1 & 2 simultaneously? (Meaning all inputs front & back plugged in)
Hey, Parth! There are no stupid questions! 😃 Unfortunately, you cannot use Mic/Line 1 & 2 at the same time you're using Hi-Z 1 & 2. You do have to toggle between them using the input button on the front panel (or in the Console software), so you don't get extra bonus channels that way. You can use Hi-Z 1 & 2 at the same time as Mic/Line 3 & 4, though, but you're only totaling 4 channels in simultaneously. I'd love to talk with you more about your setup and see if we can find you the right interface for your needs. Can you give me a shout at the contact info below? Rock on! 🎶🤘 Cassie O'Hanlon, Sweetwater Sales Engineer, (800) 222-4700 ext. 3020, cassie_ohanlon@sweetwater.com
On the sweetwater information page, it says that for Mac, it's backward compatible with Thunderbolt 1 and 2. Only Windows requires an adapter for backward compatibility
Hello! Thank you for your interest! The UA Apollos certainly can work with windows computers, but there are a few more things you need to be aware of about your system to know for sure if it will work or not. UA has put together a nice list of everything to look for to make sure your system is compatible here: help.uaudio.com/hc/en-us/articles/215731443-Apollo-Thunderbolt-Windows-Compatibility If you have any other questions on it, feel free to give us a shout! Justin Sunday, Sweetwater Sales Engineer, (800) 222-4700 ext. 1966, justin_sunday@sweetwater.com
I'm about 90% sure i know its a yes but would and apollo x4 or twin be compatible with a legacy apollo rack unit (silver face). I got the thunderbolt 3 card on it as well. I wouldn't see why it wouldn't be compatible but can anyone confirm this.?
I have 2 rode podmics and an apollo twin duo. Should I use the 48v on the apollo with each mic? They seem to work fine without it but will my audio or mics be affected?
Thanks for reaching out! PodMics do not require phantom power since they're dynamic microphones, so you should leave your phantom power turned off. It shouldn't damage your mics, but it's best to leave it off regardless. Let me know if you have any questions! Connor Smith, Sweetwater Sales Engineer, (800) 222-4700 ext. 1793, connor_smith@sweetwater.com
@@houseofgraceworship You would still keep the 48v power turned off, since it's a dynamic mic you will never need to have 48v power turned on to use it! I hope this helps, let me know if you still have any questions. Thanks! Connor Smith, Sweetwater Sales Engineer, (800) 222-4700 ext. 1793, connor_smith@sweetwater.com
I'm confused, I can only choose between Mic or Inst IN for channel 1 & 2? So this product is called "X4" because it has 6 jack but only 4 available analog input channels?
Persona Nongrata I have a very crazy question which the answer is probably right in front of my face. So I have been in RU-vid and noticed that on the console app, some people have more than 2 silver knobs on top of their inputs. I have an apollo x6 and my console app setup with a silver knob above “analog 1” and “analog 2”. I’ve seen others analog 3-6 have the silver knob at the top as well. What am I doing wrong? How do I get those knobs above 3-6 as well?
How do you all expect to compete with other companies if you don’t have multiple monitor outs and not being able to completely bypass your pres. there are options available that are cheaper that can bypass theirs
Well, it's two different products. The SSL 2 is very simple to use. On the mac you just plug it and that's it, nothing to install. You only have 2 inputs on the SSL and no DSP plug-ins. I like my SSL 2 but it's very limited featurewise.
I would buy this if it came WITH all the plugins. But I have zero interest in buying an interface that comes with only 7% of the available plugins. I’m tired of waves and slate nickel and diming me after the point of sale. SELL COMPLETE PRODUCTS!
LUNA, if you are on a MAC. TB3 is probably here to stay for awhile. At least thunderbolt. At 40 Gbps, TB3 right now it is overkill. PCs are catching up. Of course Intel CPUs and now AMD. So it would be nice if UAD designs a Windows version of LUNA. But I will carry on with Cubase 10.5 . You can make good music on any modern DAW. But it would be nice to have more options, Especially with no added cost if you own Apollo X converters. Of course UAD is charging extra for add-on extensions. I wonder if Bill Putnam Sr was as crafty with sales and marketing as his son and his crew. Universal Audio is making the bucks off of me.
Nice but paying $1700 plus another 2K for the bunch of UAD plugins...Well ..and what am I supposed to do with my existing waves bundle ? I'd rather save money for computer upgrade so I can use the plugins I've already purchased along with my RME audio interface. But for the guys who just started recording and want to invest some bucks... getting this one is not bad idea I guess
I'm very critical of UA and their price policy, but this is unfair. You obviously don't have to buy their entire library of plugins. With this unit, as well as any other Apollo interface, you get a set of plugins that include absolute legends and will be enough for a couple of years before you feel the need for more. You get an LA2A, the 610b they're using here, a Pultec EQ and a bunch of other essentials. That's all bundled. You can still use your Waves stuff in the DAW. Oh, and Waves will send you a bill after a while to re-up your plugins. To me, that seems a lot less fair than what UA are doing.
UA proprietary plugins are nothing but ripoff IMHO. Besides four or six channels loaded with UA vst takes 50% Appolo CPU resources. On my machine that I built I can load ten times as much and the CPU won't even get to 15%.
Step 1 -- curse at UA for not including the thunderbolt cable . Congrats you now have a fancy paper weight. Step 2 --- order a thunderbolt cable and wait another week . Step 3. ---- realize thunderbolt 2 and thunderbolt 3 cables are different Step 4 ---- Order a TH3 adapter week another week Step 5. $80 to $100 spent on wires and adapters and Now you can get started
Thank you so much for the video 😊 as always Mr Gallagher is a top host. But, really, this out of tune guitar is awful, around 11 minutes, you should offer to your guitarist a tuner 😊
As usual ...more an advertisement than a real explanation video...how does CONSOLE thing work??? What is a cue??? Why do I not here am effect of the HP volume in the sends panel?? No explanation...nowhere... really sad..
i spent 3 days watching videos still cant figure it out it only goes to one virtual channel and sounds terrible lol. they need to make better videos for begginers