wayne_rowley
Active Member
Hi. My current setup is a 2018 Mac Mini with a UAD Arrow. This has served me very well over the last 4 years. I've never really got into UAD plug-ins but I do use the bundled ones when recording.
I've recently added a hardware synth (and may add more in future), which I can plug into the Arrow inputs, but I need to swap them around when recording microphones. I'd like an interface with additional inputs.
I have a couple of options in mind and I'd appreciate thoughts/opinions of others:
1. Sidegrade to UA Volt 476. This has two mic inputs and two line inputs which I can use for the synth (or a small mixer if I add more in the future). The built in vintage mode and compressor should compensate to a degree for the missing plugins, but these are not unison pres and I will lose some sound quality I suspect. On the other hand quite a cheap interface, and there is currently a deal that bundles some UADx plug-ins!
2. Upgrade to a UAD Apollo Twin Mk II. Although still 2-in it has optical in and my synth has SPDIF optical out. As I add more synths I could expand with an ADAT expander. Again, there is currently a deal to get some additional UAD plug-ins on top of the bundled ones. But it is much more expensive!
Thoughts and questions I would like help with please:
- The Apollo Twin Mk II is Thunderbolt 2. I know I can get an adapter but I'm worried about backwards compatibility on future Macs. Yet the Twin X is even more expensive!
- If I kept my Arrow but didn't use it, I could still keep using the UADx versions of my plug-ins with the Volt I assume (and Luna)?
- For the price difference between the two I could subscribe to UAD Spark for several years. A better option? Surely the days of DSP-driven effects are numbered with the power of current and future CPUs. So it comes down to the Unison pre-amps and converters. - Are they really that much better on the Apollo than the volt?
Thanks,
Wayne
I've recently added a hardware synth (and may add more in future), which I can plug into the Arrow inputs, but I need to swap them around when recording microphones. I'd like an interface with additional inputs.
I have a couple of options in mind and I'd appreciate thoughts/opinions of others:
1. Sidegrade to UA Volt 476. This has two mic inputs and two line inputs which I can use for the synth (or a small mixer if I add more in the future). The built in vintage mode and compressor should compensate to a degree for the missing plugins, but these are not unison pres and I will lose some sound quality I suspect. On the other hand quite a cheap interface, and there is currently a deal that bundles some UADx plug-ins!
2. Upgrade to a UAD Apollo Twin Mk II. Although still 2-in it has optical in and my synth has SPDIF optical out. As I add more synths I could expand with an ADAT expander. Again, there is currently a deal to get some additional UAD plug-ins on top of the bundled ones. But it is much more expensive!
Thoughts and questions I would like help with please:
- The Apollo Twin Mk II is Thunderbolt 2. I know I can get an adapter but I'm worried about backwards compatibility on future Macs. Yet the Twin X is even more expensive!
- If I kept my Arrow but didn't use it, I could still keep using the UADx versions of my plug-ins with the Volt I assume (and Luna)?
- For the price difference between the two I could subscribe to UAD Spark for several years. A better option? Surely the days of DSP-driven effects are numbered with the power of current and future CPUs. So it comes down to the Unison pre-amps and converters. - Are they really that much better on the Apollo than the volt?
Thanks,
Wayne