Apogee BOOM Watch Before You Buy! Audio Interface Test Vs SSL & ... Symphony?

[@theovannieuwenhuizen5756]

What a nice surprise to find a clear and honest review. Really enjoyed your way of comparing both units. You come across as knowledgeable and experienced. Thanks for sharing!

[@cuomomusiccreation]

Thank you very much for the compliment Theo! I'm glad you like my style ... I'm relatively new to this so it's great to know that I'm on the right path. Cheers

[@vasupanicker]

fantastic video. just today before watching this, i decided to keep the Boom over the UAD Volt 276 and UAD Apollo Twin x Duo. this was after ~4 hours of testing over 3 days, using BD DT 770 pro 80 ohms and Sennheiser HD 600 (primary cans). my use of the Boom is primarily as a headphone DAC, as most of my creativity is sound design in a DAW, with little to no recording/capturing. the Boom’s headphone DAC I thought was significantly better than that of UAD Volt 276. I also testing the Apogee Groove, and found its output to be better than the Volt’s. It shouldn’t be much surprise that the Apollo’s headphone out was the “best”, but I won’t be needing any of the UAD plug-ins or inputs, so no need to pay that price.

[@cuomomusiccreation]

The more I use the Boom's headphone amp, the more I like it. I haven't tried an apollo in a couple of years, but I'd imagine the Boom to be on par with it. Congrats on the purchase!

[@SmartyAnalyse]

Very impressive review, your fluency is stellar. Keep it up

[@cuomomusiccreation]

Wow, I appreciate the compliment! Let me know if there's something else you'd like me to cover on the channel. Thanks 🙌

[@bk3artistlabel834]

Amazing video, I'm blown away by the Boom quality

[@cuomomusiccreation]

Thanks! Yes, I still haven't heard anything close in this price bracket when it comes to the Main outs and headphone out quality.

[@lalitpaul]

Very nice comparison. I bought Apogee boom. And it's amazing.

[@cuomomusiccreation]

Thank you for the comment @lalitpaul I'm glad you liked the vid!

[@SalParadise]

brill...especially the bit about da conversion etc..most reviewers don't go into such depth. thanks

[@cuomomusiccreation]

Thanks a lot... I'm glad you appreciate the insight!

[@monkmusic5994]

Finally, a review that is not too biased. Bought the Boom for 180 bucks new. Get it if 1 input is ok.

[@cuomomusiccreation]

Thanks for the comment! I'm unbiased... and probably broke because of it 😆 Excellent price!

[@monkmusic5994]

@@cuomomusiccreation you deserve much more. The review is excellent. I bought the Boom after watching it... An influencer you are 😃

[@cuomomusiccreation]

@@monkmusic5994 I appreciate it. They say it takes 5-10 years for a youtube channel to take off... so looks like I have at least 3 more to go haha. I'm glad you made the choice though! It's worth it for the monitoring quality alone 👍👍👍

[@alexnadalpiantini]

Best review so far!

[@cuomomusiccreation]

Thanks a lot! Yes, I think I'm getting better at this KZbin thing :D

[@Hardjaxl]

First time on the channel and oh my. Everything about this video is great. Thank you Fritz. Subscribed.

[@cuomomusiccreation]

Thank you Alek K, I appreciate the comment! It's good to know that I'm on the right track... More to come in 2023 🎆

[@chandlerclement1365]

Love your style of review, super helpful!

[@cuomomusiccreation]

Thank you very much for comment Chandler... I'm glad you took away some useful info!

[@Jalmaan]

Would the boom be a good DAC for my home studio? I produce electronic music and I would put it in between my computer and my behringer control2usb as I don't hear as much detail as I know my monkey banana gibbon 5's (and 10) can produce. I would like to use the input of the interface for synths such as my gameboy (for which I have an arduinoboy to turn it into a midi instrument) and I'd like to invest into a yamaha an1x and maybe things like an access virus. Or would you recommend to get a different audio interface for my usecase?

[@cuomomusiccreation]

I could actually see the DI (instrument input) on the boom working quite well on synths. Even though it wasn't perfect for the springy, sorta funky guitar part that I tested it on, the slight warm nature would probably translate well to electronic instruments. Also, the DAC is nice and revealing in the mid - upper midrange, which will help mix decisions for any genre of music. Thanks for the question Jalmaan!

[@Jalmaan]

@@cuomomusiccreation Sweet! Thanks so much for the response! :)

[@cuomomusiccreation]

@@Jalmaan Sure thing, Good luck on the music productions!

[@Mrfpsara]

Your observations are on point, I just got a boom and comparing the sound to my universal audio and focusrite, I can hear that sizzle/harshness on the highs and the lows are more punchy and controlled. the boom honesty is helping me make better mixing decisions. I had a duet years ago and that apogee mojo is still there, like a nostalgic old love coming back…

[@cuomomusiccreation]

Thank you for the comment Bash AR... it's true, good D/A plays a big role to help aid in mixing decisions. The more I use the BOOM, the more I like it, and it definitely has the Apogee mojo! Cheers...

[@KevinCoblerOfficial]

Hi thanks for your input which universal audio interface were you using before?

[@vewilli]

Super, superer, „superest“. This is my (Austrian) comparison. 😜 This presentation is a reason to subscribe. 👍🏻👍🏻👏🏻👏🏻🙏🏻

[@cuomomusiccreation]

Superest compliment 😄 Thanks GAD, I'm glad you like the video and thanks for the sub!

[@marcoscaze]

Nice review! For listening to music through active monitors or headphones, would the Apogee boom be better than my Scarlett solo 3rd gen?

[@cuomomusiccreation]

Thanks for watching and for the question! After thoroughly testing The BOOM, I'm of the opinion that it's a worthwhile upgrade to the entire class of interfaces that the Focusrite lives in. 👍

[@stingylizard]

Thanks--enjoyed this review,all good points. The Boom was our foray into Apogee with mixed feelings. Quality DAC and headphone amp,like you said. It's an excellent headphones in-the-box kinda interface but the either/or speaker out option is pure folly. Grrr. As was the registering and plugin upgrade hassle. The preamps on our Zoom L-8 sound about the same,too bad the L-8's DAC doesn't match the BOOM. Our studio uses Antelope Audio Synergy 4 interfaces,previously RME. Apogee isn't our thing,but hey...we'll keep the BOOM as a sweet soundcard! Thanks for confirming 100% our experience.

[@cuomomusiccreation]

I hear ya... if there's one thing that I think I should've been a little harder on in hindsight from this review, it would have been the preamp. It's definitely not the best, but WOW I'm still blown away by the DAC/Headphone amp.

[@MilkoOfficialChannel]

The SSL sounds lacky in the most relevant frequency spectrum. You can’t fix that with EQ. The BOOM wins for me both line and mic, you can work brightness out of the BOOM easy, you can’t add the lack of body so nicely out of the SSL.

[@djteknovibe93]

I think the fact the SSL sounds as though it has more upper mid-high frequency level can make people think the SSL sounds clearer, the Apogee seems to have a more neutral sound and i'm listening on Alesis M1Actives mkII monitors which are widely known to be excellent (albeit old) monitors with a very good flat frequency response apart fromn a little muddiness in the lower mid or mid-bass region. But i've managed to sort that out by treating my room acoustically a bit and use acoustic foam plugs in the ports which Alesis advised in order to get a less boomy sound and they work.

[@cuomomusiccreation]

Totally. Raised upper mids are often mistaken for a "clearer" sound. It's comparable to how sonic maximizers back in the day were just adding a bit of harmonic distortion to the upper mids... and people thought that distortion made the sound "clearer".

[@djteknovibe93]

@@cuomomusiccreation I know all about sound I used to be a sound engineer.

[@alexdoyleguitar]

For a guitar player recording with amp sims but also amps would this be an upgrade over the Audient mkII stuff?? Or something like the SSL a better option? A great review btw, I’ve watched it a couple of times already.

[@cuomomusiccreation]

In my opinion, the MkII Audient stuff is probably a better interface overall than the Boom. However, where the Boom beats everything in its price range is the Monitoring quality. This includes the D/A and the headphone amp. Thank you very much for the encouraging comment btw! I haven't had much time lately to make new content, but there is more on the way.

[@josephdaniel7777]

Hi.. I really enjoyed the video.. I was wondering if you'd also review the duet 3, and compare it to the boom and symphony...

[@cuomomusiccreation]

Hi Joseph, thanks for watching and for the comment! I'd imagine that a test like that would be very close between the Duet and the BOOOM, since the components on both units are "from the same family", and that's a quote from the horses mouth. The specs on paper are slightly different though... it would be interesting to do a head to head of all Apogee products in the future... although it might make me go insane haha. ... or more insane at least🙃 I'm real glad you liked this video, thank you!

[@josephdaniel7777]

@@cuomomusiccreation lol yeah I can't imagine how stressful it must be.. I actually learnt a lot from your video.. learnt some specs and terminologies that I really needed to know about.. your video is unique.. different from what's out there ...I'll take your word for it.. they shouldn't be far apart...thanks aswell..

[@cuomomusiccreation]

@@josephdaniel7777 Thanks a lot man... I appreciate the compliment! I'm not ruling out the Apogee head to heads, but there's some other stuff on the back burner to take care of first. Cheers 🍻

[@josephdaniel7777]

@@cuomomusiccreation ah, can't wait to see em.. cheers

[@alexnadalpiantini]

If you use it with Logic Pro, can you tell what controls can be controlled from Logic Pro’s audio device control in the channel strip

[@cuomomusiccreation]

I haven't tested that... this review was more broad. I will check into it though!

[@gTbeats_]

The Apogee is great for Mixing but the SSL seems better for tracking, the preamps just sound better

[@justindavidcuomo]

THANKS! 👍👍👍

[@cuomomusiccreation]

You too! 😁

[@andreaperelli5323]

It'a really nice product for the price

[@cuomomusiccreation]

Absolutely! Thanks for the comment.

[@followyourpassion8378]

Great and entertaining review! Is it possible to use the BOOM with an older iPad (Air 1, iOS 12) without the Control App? Use case: recording stereo line in Cubasis and listening to DAW playback on the BOOM through headphones.

[@cuomomusiccreation]

I'm sorry to say that I don't know for sure if the Boom will work on older iPads... but knowing Apple I'd gear towards no, since they love their planned obsolescence and all 🙃 Sorry I can't help, but thank you very much for the compliment and I'm glad you liked the video!

[@followyourpassion8378]

@@cuomomusiccreation cheers

[@followyourpassion8378]

@@cuomomusiccreation Cheers. These control apps are what's keeping me from buying a new interface. But, I guess, as you said obsolescence rules. Or else you could be very happy with an old Apogee Quartet. Btw the BOOM costs more than a used Duet 2 in my country. Since I use an iPad Air 1 with cubasis 2 (all waves plugins purchased), I can't run the newer Apogee control apps or upgrade to Cubasis 3, for that matter. Maybe hardware multitrackers have their place, is it time to revive my old Roland VS880EX? 🙂 Did you ever consider a Sound Devices Mix Pre II with Musician Plugin for recording?

[@cuomomusiccreation]

@@followyourpassion8378 I haven't used a Sound Devices unit in a long time, so I can't comment on that. Honestly, if I had some older equipment that still worked great then I wouldn't see a problem with buying a used Duet 2. Hey, it's got more features than a Boom...

[@williammc5113]

Great review, i think i watched three times. Its made me rethink my decision to not grab a Boom. After watching Julian Klauses hard core break down of it and its above expected noise floor, i was a bit surprised.. Though in your vid "if i am not mistaken "you seem state that is comparable to the ssl2+ noise floor. If that is the case then I might change my mind. I have an ssl2+ and though it's not perfect its been a good workhorse. I am just looking for better conversion/referencing. Thanks again for the awsome review.

[@cuomomusiccreation]

The preamp is definitely not the star of the show when it comes to the BOOM. It's by no means bad though... although I did conduct my test through the lens of a creator and don't get as scientific as Julian does. The conversion however, especially the D/A (both the headphone and monitor outs) is really good considering the price. Thanks for the comment!

[@williammc5113]

Thanks for replying to my comment, you rock brother.

[@cuomomusiccreation]

@@williammc5113 Sure thing man, thanks a lot!

[@iowalks]

let’s say you have 1k what would you get? Audio interface, mic for singing and acoustic, headphones. Also if I get a bass without an amp can I learn through the interface with low latency?

[@cuomomusiccreation]

As far as the Bass going through an interface at low latency, then the answer is yes. Almost all available USB interfaces these days can accommodate this. If you plugin and are hearing a delay between your playing and what's coming out of the speakers, then you can set the latency manually in your DAW to 64 or even 128 without a super noticeable latency. Also Logic for example has a low latency mode button... and many interfaces have a monitor knob or button that changes between the usb signal and the direct signal, the direct signal having no latency. The choice of interface and mic gets a little tricky due to the vast market. However, you can usually find the Slate ML-1 at sites like Reverb for around $499 new, or less used. It will cover a wide variety of microphones with its very good models that come with it. Then for the interface maybe the Boom, the SSL 12, the UA Volt series, or something in the Audient ID MKII series would all be great choices depending on your needs.

[@iowalks]

@@cuomomusiccreation thank you for this reply

[@seanaylward]

I love my fritz - there are no acceptable substitutes

[@cuomomusiccreation]

Stoney!!

[@bobkabala8407]

thank you

[@cuomomusiccreation]

Thanks, glad you like the vid!

[@wenchirue]

I bought it and I regret it right after experimenting it's flaw! I wish I could watch your video earlier.

[@cuomomusiccreation]

Sorry to hear that! I find it to be the best sounding D/A in its price range if that helps though...