Testing the UA Apollo x8p Audio Interface | Analog vs Digital

[@TheArtofGuitar]

I just recently picked up the Apollo x16 and the Neve OPX and am currently in freakin' heaven.

[@crestiferj2689]

the apollo on board preamps sound really nice just by themselves...but then to be able to color them with all the various mic pre emulations is just sick. i'm an old school analog guy, but ua is the first company to really nail these sounds in the digital world. so impressed with this apollo stuff.

[@GoodVibeTribe]

I went all UA three years ago. Console 2.0 is great. Improvements for 3.0?? The ability to physically move the channel strips wherever you want them. A bigger headphone mixer. Maybe 6 mixes instead of 4? 2 more aux’s for a total of 4 The ability to save a Console mix preset and not be required to go to show/hide inputs and turn on/off the needed channels. Rick I’m posting my 3.0 wish list on your review since you are a major center of influence and “Spanky and the gang” might read it. Thanks for all your efforts! You will love the UAD platform!

[@tonysync5198]

Still can’t move Channels wherever you want them, but I would say cue mixes are much improved.

[@billyhughes9776]

I've been a UA Apollo user since '12 -- I still have my original silver QUAD and a newer 2nd gen unit. Love em. Great vid.

[@rowegardner9673]

That Helios sounded killer... can’t wait for that SSL bus compressor video! Keep the gear videos coming!

[@JeffSchmidtJRS]

That Helios is my next purchase from UAD. Wow. Just wow.

[@underworldent4817]

the helios is great

[@tweedguitar9103]

Thankyou rick for the Beaton book 2, it fills in alot of gaps for me, and the time and effort you have put into the object is beyond comprehension . sincere gratitude, from your new student, tweed

[@ellamiss4613]

Thank you for this. I recently upgraded to an Apollo 8x and now I am learning how to use the consule

[@kassandjohnbolles3522]

I've been on this platform for a while and I love it. The value is insane. The plugins alone represent hardware worth thousands more than the interface.

[@matthewroach4729]

I'm glad you mentioned why you were playing chords. Whenever I try gear in guitar stores I always play certain chords to test harmonics, instead of shredding or showing off in the typical form of people in guitar stores including the employees lol. I care about how well the 3rd 4th 5th and 6th strings on the guitar sound together when testing gear. You'd be surprised how often tone is diluted or muddy even on expensive guitars, amplifiers, and pedals when playing certain chords. If I can't hear "good" tonal harmonies from an E9 chord with either clean or added effects, then I usually will avoid a product. You don't have to sacrifice tone quality for compression, even with genres like metal. Guitars I consistently use to test gear are, anything from the Fender Professional series, and anything from the PRS S2 series. The pickups in those guitars are consistent, and have great tone qualities for testing products imo.

[@tkdunn]

I just bought a new Apollo Twin and am delving into the world of UA plugins - this video shows the potential. Just Wow! I gotta get that Helios plug-in - man that sounded great! 🤓🤓

[@rogerloydmccoy]

Great video. I seriously needed this. I just bought the twin Mkii and x8. Perfect timing

[@jorgiewtf]

Just bought the Helios 69’plugin. Been thinking about it since this video first came out. Can’t wait to track my Jubilee through it!

[@DoctorMcFarlandStudios]

I had the Apollo Quad Core but I sold it and got the Presonus Studio Live Series III. I like having physical faders to move around.

[@ralphguzzoactorproducercom4417]

Love this channel I learn great things every time and its unique in the way you interact with art and technical thoughts , theories and real practical application - this makes it so great ! Thanks Rick.

[@munivemusiccreation9371]

UAD has a lot of quality properties, and the fact that they process inside the box is awesome, but the real thing is still smoother in my opinion.....Great video!

[@MarkBlasquez]

Spanky! Great to see you and Rick together. Just met him at NAMM. Small world. Great work Rick. I'm picking up one of these next week.

[@JRandallS]

I own the UAD Apollo and the 4-710d, so I hate to say it but the hardware Neve absolutely sounded the best to my ears. Though that middle (to me unknown) plugin was thick and lush as well.

[@kreadr6151]

Great video guys. A good point for all us to remember is it all starts at the source. Your guitar sound is a beast................Enjoyed Spanky mentoring the mentor, lol.

[@christiancanalita6487]

I LOVE that guitar tone!

[@AndreaMaccianti]

I love my Apollo and their plugins are rocks! 🤘👊 Awesome video as always Rick! Cheers from Sardinia! 😊

[@standardmagic366]

Please Rick, more of this kind of stuff

[@Chord_The_Seeker]

Great video, as always, Rick. Given the title it would be nice to hear the UA vs the real 1073 in a more direct A/B comparison.

[@christopherjbutler]

Once Rick is more accustomed to the Apollo / Console specific workflow, it would be much easier for him to set thimgs up apples to apples and do a soecific a/b with his normal quick video edit cuts. This seemed to be a discovery / self edification video for him that he wanted to also share with us (in case there are others in the same boat.) But i agree, the thumbnail title suggested it was more of the former rather thsn the latter

[@JPM777]

Sounds great. Congrats, Rick!

[@rhill109]

I use the Neve Preamp on all my channel inputs. I could be crazy, but it really does make everything sounds better.

[@agesonjohanesburg2915]

Do you put it first in the chain on the track? Do you turn your interfaces gain knob down? Thx

[@rhill109]

@@agesonjohanesburg2915 I usually don't use it in Unison mode when recording. I've made a few basic channel insert chain presets that work for me. Neve Preamp to Studer A800 is the most common one I use. The Studer plugin over a bunch of tracks does add hiss(which, if you think about it, is hilarious). The Neve is probably the UAD plugin I use the most, including the 1176 and LA2A. I'm a Cubase user and the stock EQs have always don't the job for me.

[@GRequinBlanc]

Wish you had shown the physical wiring for us visual guys

[@xrtjrp-ix1rb]

Thank you Brother... always love seeing your material.

[@johnbach2380]

Man I love the Helios and how the API sounded.

[@blackcatdigi7034]

Great video and super timely! Just picked up a Twin MKII and a x8 that arrived earlier this week, myself. Getting away from all the Avid proprietary hardware and looking forward to comparing the Unison versions of mic pres. Cheers!

[@SuperSlus]

Rick "I'm gonna do a video on that" Beato

[@Tazmanian_Ninja]

Logan "I'm gonna do a comment on that" Haynes

[@MaynardOwns]

Delete please. This ain't JRE.

[@Henry-uv9xu]

😂😂😂😂😂😂

[@AdamCasada]

I could run a channel off the video ideas he's never done

[@thogameskanaal]

This is really interesting, seeing all this tech work together to make a nice sound. I would love to have a studio like Rick.

[@Mike2of5Martin]

Spanky!!! Great to see him on the channel!!

[@podcastbunker]

When I worked in radio in the 70’s and 80’s we used UA all the way.

[@numanuma20]

The nice thing about the Apollo is the ability to record with effects. I'm really considering going with a 500 series setup as well with a compressor, EQ, and the DBX sub synth.

[@numanuma20]

Rick please do a video on mixing for KZbin.

[@lownotesinc1962]

...yes! Please, do a video to demonstrate how you record a drum kit (multiple inputs) through UA Console, into Pro Tools soon!

[@citytonightproductions]

Great vid Rick!

[@chrispicha]

I liked the Neve plugin the best. Sounds more natural than the Helios IMO

[@JacksonTaylorandTheSinners]

I have the X8p. It’s an amazing piece of gear.

Awesome job guys. Thanks for all you do Jason(Spanky)

[@jmcd7386]

Another Awesome video Professor Beato! I liked the set and production you are mastering another art. The art of video production I did notice the lighting and fades between shots. Good job

[@amdenis]

Amazing video, as always-that Helios did sound very special. One thing, I just brought this up in the recording studio to listen, and you have a little noise floor and reverse gating issue going on (i.e. low level 60 cycle, and a upward expansion). I hope this makes sense, and I’d say more if I knew the details of your setup there. I hope you love the new Apollo as much as we do- between them and Focusrite Red, the sound and workflow is amazing.

[@zazoomatt]

Very Nice Rick ! Enjoy .Grow !

[@Aquatarkus96]

fun fact, the 1073's germanium ancestor 1053 was the inspiration behind the title for 10538 overture by ELO

[@EJROCKER1]

Aquatarkus, Also speaking of germanium. The Beatles also used Chandler's made with germanium parts. Resulting in great tone.

[@Aquatarkus96]

ED WENZEL Yes such a great vintage sound on germanium gear. Wish I could afford just one

[@EJROCKER1]

@@Aquatarkus96 I happen to think API rock also.

[@michelemolinari2940]

Hi Rick, I can't thank you enough for your hard work. I really appreciate it. A tip for you, if you like it: don't put a light right into the camera, even if you need a backlight for the shooting . So much love

[@oscarallen8484]

Accidentally started playing this at half speed and i can’t stop

[@HustonSingletary]

I have an x8p as well synced to a Twin Mk2. Spanky is the man. An amazing human and and killer guitarist in his own right. Great comparisons and breakdown guys.

[@rustyvst]

You are going to love the UAD world

[@gregoryabat3948]

Spanky! Good to see you. Rick you are going to love console once you used to it. I use it everyday. If only there were 8 cue busses. 😋

[@NigelFortune]

“Hello everyone this is my friend Phil Collins” 😹😹

[@michaelsmith1380]

"Hello everyone this is my friend Spanky" is pretty amazing on it's own.

[@Aquatarkus96]

tbh I would not be surprised if that happened

[@evanthompson4241]

Rikkousa That would be awesome.

[@Fletcher883]

@@rikkousa I'm absolutely certain you are the first person to even suggest someone would say that.

[@GeoZero]

That Helios has some badass mojo bite.

[@siddharth_r1]

10:15 - No unison plug ins (Direct to Apollo) 10:25 - Neve unison plug in 15:20- Real Neve hardware (not the modelled plug in)

[@solarpoint1]

Great content Rick! Appreciate the studio side of guitar almost as much as guitar! Almost!

[@frank0563]

Loved the Helios....Real 1073 sounded better to me...

[@TLMuse]

Not (yet) a UA user, so it was cool to learn more about their Console s/w here. Re: Console vs. the mix window, in Logic you can't easily track with plug-ins, e.g., by putting the plug-in on your recording channel. That plug-in only affects the track on playback. If you want to track with plug-ins, you use the logic "environment" or you have to do somewhat complicated routing through a bus track in the mixer (I think this may be easier with PT). It looks like Console solves that problem more easily.

[@leftaroundabout]

I think the main point is that the Apollo can do the processing with almost zero latency, which would inevitably get unstable on a PC. A decent DAW should actually be capable of tracking with plug-ins without any difficulty though (just with higher latency); Cubase and Reaper do this just fine at any rate. Just as I said, as soon as the processing is done on the CPU you'll have to contend with noticeable latency, so DSPs on the interface definitely make sense. I just wish UAD actually made these DSP's user-accessible for _creative_ purposes with an open programming interface, instead of cashing in on stupid emulation of the products from their days of glory. But, apparently engineers like just that, oh well...

[@TLMuse]

Agreed; a common complaint about tracking using Logic's environment to insert plug-ins is that the latency is unacceptably high.

[@RobRippa1]

Awesome video Rick. Spanky seems cool to he reminds me of mr strickland from Back to the future.

[@julianchan6269]

Rick! You the man!!!!

[@gitarman666]

Howdy Rick, I’m late to the party as usual But when you highlighted your focus points 6:10 How to use console? How to plug directly into its mic pres? How to route it to outboard gear? Great questions that I for one would love spanky to still address I have my Twin X and a new X6 and like you although I read the 250+ software manual and the 70+ page hardware manual It’s much easier to see it performed by the competent and experienced hands and guidance of Spanky. Or now 2 years on Mr. Rick B. I’m sure you got it down by now so help out a brother P.S. happy new year hope your all Covid free!

[@jwallguitar]

Thank god!! Just got this today

[@chrispicha]

Loved this video!

[@MisterRorschach90]

I dream of having an x16, x8p, and a solo or twin for monitor control and for looks. Lol the x16 will just have a bunch of uad 6176 and 710s with la2a compressors so I can choose between both or use both at same time. I also dream of having a custom built uad console with all that plus faders, touch panels to control plug ins with real knobs, a built in ox box, as well as all their pedals connected. Like a one stop shop console that does everything I want it to do to record my band.

[@mxvidstosee]

The Hardware seemed to be louder in level and brighter, which tricks you out, as mentioned in the video. Was this the case ? A loudness meter would have helped....

[@nucentury08]

Just picked up Apogee Symphony Desktop and a WA73 warm audio the best sound the Built in DSP and Dual path monitoring and print FX 🚀🚀🚀

[@BakerSynth]

The reason they did not show how to wire up the SSL compressor is because it would take a considerable amount of time. It would have been very helpful to have Spanky go through the nuts and bolts of Apolllo X hardware integration. I have a new Apollo X multi-unit set up and a hardware mixer with outboard gear and it took a lot of trial and error to get everything set up and fully functional. i have an Allan Smart CLA bus compressor in my 500 series rack and it is "killer" as Rick Beato would say. That SSL Vibe. Only a true Music producer/mixer would have had the look on Ricks's face right before he told Spanky to turn the attack to a faster setting. You could see it was really bothering him. I felt his pain. That being sad, it was challenging to route the UA Console's inputs into my mixer mixbus to be able to use the C1LA compressor on all the channels summed. Nice to have when I am tracking and writing to get a sense of a finished polished sound of a song. Easier to figure out when mixing down and going straight into my mixer channel without the UAD plugins inside console for real time DSP. Using the UAD plugins in my DAW during mixdown which you do not need an Apollo interface. But you do need a physical UAD device. There are alot of tricks to use with UAD Apollos. Once you wrap your head around it there are many possibilities. Then it becomes fun.

[@fredmanteghian5913]

I have a hardware UA LA-610 and find plugging my electric guitar into that for some mild compression and EQ and then into the UA Apollo (Apollo 8 in my case) and launching one of their plug-in amplifiers in the Unison slots works really well. I’m using a simple hardware pre-amp which limits your possibilities which gets you to your desired sound faster. And the low latency of the Unison plugin spots make getting to a perfect sound pretty easy. I have two favourite plugin amps. I’m not a heavy distortion fan like Rick, so I use the Marshall Bluesbreaker which has some really nice Marshall clean settings. Also love the Fuchs Train 2 which is really versatile and doesn’t sound like a “train wreck” at all :). Rick hope you get to video record how you make UA Console feed PT (dude, please upgrade to 12!!) and how you route it back to the UA Console (hint: PT output to Virtual 1 and Virtual 2 in UA Console). If there’s more that your UA bud can share it would be great!

[@BakerSynth]

Well said. Use an outboard pre into Apollo plugs. I've done that. But i do like the idea of using the Apollo unison pres because everything is recallable. Also you can save an entire channel strip as a preset. Physical patchbays are so 1970s. I guess that is why I continue to upgrade my patchbay with 100s of patchpoints. Pricey. But the better the patchbay, the better use of my hardware to integrate withe the Apollo Converters. I keep on telling myself that my AMS 1073 DPX pres sound better than their Unison 1073 pre. Like the hardware is more 3D, focused, and has more air. But sometimes I feel I can not tell the difference. I guess for $2300 an AMS Neve 1073 DPX channel, it might be close. But I am really hoping a used vintage 1073 pre for $8000 or whatever they go for today's prices has a sound that you can not capture with a plugin and UA's harware with Unison. i am sure if I owned a vintage 1073 or a Telefunken V76 I would tell myself that the UA emulations do not even come close. With all this great gear I just make poor music compositions I write sound more of a high quality. Very close to the "Pros"s. Now if i could just get software to play guitar like Eddie Van Halen that would be perfect.

[@rafalvarezsevilla]

12:34 SPOON MAN!!!!

[@mtchampion1831]

That's Jason S. aka "Spanky", great guy.

[@AveMcree]

Yeah and he works for UAD... So how is this not sponsored?

[@TavaresProject]

Excellent vid... I think we need a part 2

[@jasoncatlyn7331]

Thanks for the video!

[@NablusRain]

You’ve Got friends in high places Rick ... Thumbs up

[@troublesomecorsair]

Loving the Antelope Audio Orion with the 4 extra analog ins and comparable plugins. Maybe comparable? I don't know for sure.

[@ernieg]

Wait a min ! I thought he was going to show how he wired all that. Insert

[@atvcampersabo285]

Killer guitar tone

[@FKA_Skull]

10:23 and 15:18

[@theeveningdrive8643]

How did you physically hook up the Neve pre amp? XLR? 1/4 in? I am trying to utilize an external Neve also and want to bypass the pre amps in the interface. What are your suggestions>? thanks....

[@AdamGotheridge]

Just brutal guitar sounds!

[@xaosnox]

I really wish I could find a video that explains how to use Console 2 in a live situation. It's kind of tricky figuring out how the sends work and how to do things like double an instrument, etc. all in Console. One of the great things about Apollo and Unison is that it's fast enough to use live, but if you search for tutorials on how to do it, all you get is a bunch of stuff about Ableton Live and UAD.

[@onlygknows7793]

Good luck

[@Doyledrumz]

The actual Neve preamp sounds wetter. The plug-ins sound drier but still awesome 👍

[@jamesvoos2432]

Dang! now I have to buy the Helios Plug! Great video, guys Like the low-mids on that plug.

[@batheavy2834]

It’s a very nice bit of kit that leads you into UAD plugins via low latency and therefore quite some high level priced plugins. Get your money out.

[@saminekunis8680]

I have 1 question for the Universal Audio Guy.......will the unison amp really combine with the neve 31102 plug in......bc the only reson i would buy it is to reproduce the killer drum and guitar intro of the making of Meteora record which of course was recorded on a vintage 8068 console. I could some the drums out through a 8816 summing mixer which has the same design, transformer, as the 80 s console’s. Of course there is an old AMS neve reverb unit and probably a lexicon room algorithm to get close to the NRG room. Since i am about to get the gear for my new studio would you think that this would be a way to replicate this epic sound bc buying a used 8068 for over 300 grand is not possible for me right now. Musically I’m into modern metal like LP, Metal Core and Djent.....greetings 🥁🎹🎶

[@peterpicker850]

The hardware (unfortunately) killed in my book, but damn that Helios had some KILLER color!

[@RodneyWallaceDynamoC]

The real deal is still better, feels so good!

[@ManCaveStudio]

Rick, I am getting ready to purchase an Apollo X4. How do you physically wire the outboard bus compressor to the Apollo?

[@kevinacres1699]

Good video I would love to use UAD products but outside of my pay grade.

[@chadfayrobinson7537]

I guess we are not visual learners lol !? I really wanted to see your screen towards the end of video... Anyway keep up the good work.

[@Stonefist.]

Hey, that's Jason!

[@soundsfromscratch8531]

Nice! Just started my own music channel. Thanks for being an inspiration!

[@psunie]

Hey Rick you cut your console screenshot right when you are talking about routing the SSL compressor

[@TyRobertsmedia]

Hey Rick, great vid. I've been using UA forever in my studio (in Tucker)... and I'm still running through a older mac aluminum tower (with all the headaches), what is your control room CPU now? You didn't say... Thanks!

[@johnstitt2615]

Rick and Spanky. Good vid. Did you say Hackintosh ? .........lolol. 🤣🤣🤣

[@gurusurya6684]

Rick has an older video about the making of his Hackintosh...

[@AJbassist]

lol i was asking on someone else comment about this , you put this out perfect :)

[@teddinardo8944]

I want a shirt also ,all of it ,thank you all at uad great job

[@jasonfanclub4267]

Great video

[@truthseeker1906]

Did I miss something? Explanation of video @5:59 is How to use console, how to plug directly into it, how to use outboard mic pre's to get in and out of the system. But 3/4 of the vid I'm listening to plugin comparisons and the last quarter covers nothing about routing in and out of the Apollo to external gear and etc. Nice vid but a bit disappointed

[@JoelBouchillon]

I concur ....

[@theoversouls]

Yeah, it seemed like a bunch of missing stuff, and no camera when they ran the SSL outboard.

[@crestiferj2689]

damn that silver jubilee sounds amazing. also, nice stp riffs at the top there, rick. haha.

[@manmythlegend078]

Love the channel Rick. Probably my fav videos are the What makes this song great series. As a guitar nerd and someone that likes to play the guitar as a hobby one thing I’ve noticed on your channel is you have not talked much about Stevie Ray Vaughan. Do you mean he’s the baddest mofo that ever picked up a guitar. One thing I would like to see is a video with your thoughts about him and what makes him great? Not just one of his songs but a guitarist profile. To me he’s a guitar god

[@wyattalexander4041]

Spanky trained good by UAD always using the word simple / easy to sell a product yet it’s anything but IMO ..... otherwise this video would exist right 🤔 Glad you know a guy to actually walk you through this I’ve read through Manuel and am still Having issues setting up because nobody actually talks about how to route IO outputs and change Protools default setting to recognize that change to be able to use DB-25 as extra out put for a headphone mix.... yeah cue mixes sound great why does nobody actually explain how to set that up ????! It is anything but straight forward and that information wasn’t in the Manuel it was from days of research. Also 16:15 interesting that is not showed where he is changing the input and output the part that is actually helpful to see....

[@recyclopse855]

Please do a video detailing the routing!

[@ZiadSidawi]

17:50 not tricking anybody...but the bypass is much lower in volume.

[@therealdjap]

I always like watching your videos. I need to come to ATL and check out that rack first hand :) I have been using Apollo since it came out and I love it. I'm broke because of my UA plugin addiction, lol. I'm kidding. Great investment tell Spanky he did a great job.

[@tylerbrittan593]

Rick playing some Alice In Chains! Rad!