UA Apollo X8P - SonicLAB Review

[@magoostus]

Honestly the whole time Im watching this I can't get over how good the TV in the background looks, colors and exposure dead on, great job guys

[@elissitdesign]

Yes difficult to pull off. Probably dipped the TVs brightness

[@cymonalex]

I swapped my Apogee Symphony Mk1 and upgraded to the Apollo X8P, and haven't looked back ! Love it...

[@MathMilla]

Can you describe the difference in sound? I'm curious...

[@cymonalex]

Overall, I would say it’s cleaner. However, that’s not the reason I switched from my old apogee to the x8p. My main reason was to take advantage of the internal DSP processing and 8 mic pre’s... but also, to get away from the awful reliability I was having with the Thunder Bridge box! The universal audio so far, has been absolutely faultless and its ease of use with the software and compatibility with other UAD pre’s (4-710d) has just been perfect... I can now concentrate on my music without having to worry about my hardware !

[@cymonalex]

My Apogee failed twice and it was with the Apogee distributors for 6 months before I got it back! That was the nail in the coffin for their gear, as far as I was concerned. Love the UAD products... Have the 4-710 & plug-ins and the Apollo is 100% fault ree..(so far)

[@MathMilla]

Reliability is important. I couldn’t imagine going 6 months without an interface. I’ve been hearing great things about the 3rd generation Apollos. I may give it a try. I currently have an Antelope Orion 32+ but I’m not satisfied with the low end. It always seems lacking. My RME FF800 had better low end. The Orion excels in the higher frequencies.

[@cymonalex]

Math Milla well, all I can say is I go to my computer, I turned it on, and it works every time! And to be honest that’s pretty much what all of us just want… No latency, so easy to use, and sounds absolutely brilliant. I’m sure if you do take the switch, you’ll have no problems. Good luck

[@fuzzylightning]

This video helped me make the decision to buy my UAD Apollo x8p!

[@Only1Science]

I'd love to hear the Apollo and Lynx Aurora (n) comparison.

[@djchrisnobeat]

u are wrong u can use titan ridge Thunderbolt pcie card, whit some google help u can make it Work.

[@alieustiansamateh6401]

Apollo is upgraded 4 sure. But i hear a diffrence between them as mentioned in the video Prism is more open, but again compared the price it is amazing how well the Apollo does . Thanks alot!

[@claudius3124]

Thank you guys for that great video! I'm already a UAD user (Silverface quad) and was wondering about how the new X-series compared with high end stuff such as Prism. Of course, hearing it through KZbin is a little bit, you know... but at least the explanation is quite clear to me... Thanks again ! And have a great day :-D

[@grahamhunter2576]

I've been spending time with the the Unison preamps in my Apollo 8 and my synths & samplers, incredible results with non-acoustic instruments too.

[@elissitdesign]

I’d love to see videos with your setup with synths and samplers. There aren’t any on YT that I can find that show the Apollo X in use.

[@grahamhunter2576]

I only wish I had the time to make videos. Maybe by fall. I currently have 21 external sound generation units and a dozen effects processors using four patchbays and a few submixers, the cost of doing it all in UAD hardware is a lot more than I want to spend right now although I'd love to move there.

[@30killabeatz]

Listening to the prism and the Uq from my air pod pros they sound the same lol.

[@michaelcaplin8969]

God, that's a huge difference between the Prism and the Apollo in the drums. Not even comparable. A shame about the price of the Prisms. Good quality recorded sound is cheaper than ever, but the really high end sounding stuff is still beyond the average consumer and even a large portion of pro's.

[@Keyboardnut99]

Looking at buying one of these so great review guys!!

[@jeffhirata]

UA needs to buy symphony to have the ultimate interface and converters.

[@lamasteve6905]

Come to California and see the products !

[@elissitdesign]

Can anyone link up a video where they use the rack with several synths in a live rig situation. I can’t find any on YT. Thanks.

[@InXLsisDeo]

At 14:39 I can hear the difference on my laptop...

[@leesparey]

Would this work with the Sonnet Allegro USB-C PCIe card on a Cheese Grater?

[@boothbuster]

Of course just wanted to say - great job bringing in someone who could really test and possibly hear a difference! Now the question is, when will “007 Golden Ears - License to Thrill” be coming out to the theatres?

[@liothomasart]

This versus Antelope Orion32+ would love to have that comparison video

[@elissitdesign]

It exists on YT somewhere. My take-away is it's splitting hairs since most cases the music will be streamed online. Sure you can argue back and forth about quality but the end use should be heavily considered.

[@braincoral9866]

when will UA interfaces have Dante?? sigh

[@VoxJ]

PS. That phantom power is a ribbon killer is mostly a myth

[@Only1Science]

It was a problem for older Ribbon Mics, but total myth for new ones.

[@VoxJ]

Somehow, somehere every KZbinr and his granny has an UAD X he's reviewing in the pas week or so...

[@henrikpetersson3463]

Yeah, the X series has been especially popular amongst the grannies.

[@johnpenguin9188]

It’s a bit of a challenge to hear the “quality” of an audio interface on a KZbin video...

[@InXLsisDeo]

and yet at 14:39 I could hear it on my laptop

[@ramonkey2939]

So you can’t use the Apollo twin with that x8p?

[@elissitdesign]

Yes, older modules work in sync. Seen it in other videos.

[@IAM_Reedy]

What he has is an Apollo Twin, that won’t work. The Apollo Twin X Duo / Quad desktop can control the x8p and you can access the I/O and DSP on the twin X. You can also use the Apollo x4 to do the same thing. It’s key to remember in order to cascade, all system parts need to be in the X product line. I should also mention that in order to cascade you need to have at least rack mount version! You can only use one desktop interface in your rack. Alert: Going from desktop Apollo to desktop Apollo is not allowed! For instance an Apollo Twin X Duo can not be combined with a Apollo x4, because desktop models only have one TB3 connection. The rack mounts have two TB3 connections. Again all products have to be in the X product line. Such as: Apollo Twin X Duo Apollo Twin X Quad Apollo x6 Apollo x8 Apollo x8p Apollo x16 Trust me I had to learn this lesson the hard way so thought I would let people know the details UA doesn’t really tell you about. Also the x8p has 8 mic channels and 8 inputs coming from a DB25 connection. One would think you have 16 channels! Nope... when you use the DB25 port the system disables the 8 XLR ports on the back of the unit. So their claim of 16 “simultaneous” I/O is not correct, you get 8 inputs, that’s it. You have a choice to use 1/4, TRS, XLR or DB25 for connection. If you are looking to buy pay close attention to the model you are buying. The x6 rack mount comes with two XLR inputs which are unison enabled. The other inputs are instrument inputs, via 1/4 or TRS and can not use the Unison pre’s on these inputs. The x8 has 4 XLR inputs. The x8p has eight XLR inputs. If you intend to mic drums get the x8p or the x16. Keep in mind the x16 only has DB25 connections, no 1/4 or XLR on the unit itself. I hope this helps to clarify some things. 😊

[@jKHAHN215PA]

Macpro does Thunderbolt now

[@kingech_B15]

X Marks the spot

[@bobchris11]

Thanks for a great review!

[@BrunoWiebelt]

impressive ... not to be understod under one go

[@aksela6912]

The minute I hear someone talk about audible differences between ADCs and DACs I start to question everything else they might have to say.

[@sonicstate]

Why, do you not think any sound different?

[@aksela6912]

@@sonicstate Double blind? Not a chance.

[@bobchris11]

@@notgiven3114 I think it does matter. Better AD/DA on every track results in a higher quality mix

[@elissitdesign]

@@notgiven3114 Congratulations! You have good ears-so what...theres a little missing sparkle on the top that you'll here A&B the audio. When you consider end use, it's damn near pointless for 99.9999% of users and listeners. I get the feeling that a lot of negative reviewers are just bitter on spending so much on splitting hairs.

[@Jeremy-su3xy]

linux support please.

[@henrikpetersson3463]

I doubt that will ever happen.

[@Zazquatch1]

Almost €3.000 is a lot of money. If you are not making/earning your living with your equipment, this is way too much money. Still, it might be a really great investment for someone who is serious about his/her work. I compare my Apogee Duet 2 with the Apollo Twin in price and see that it still is a very good choice for us temporary users.

[@duojoshuacindy8545]

insane is very good this people know their stuff how ever, neve, ssl, apogee, audient, hmmm im going to say this, if you go back in history germans invented everything and asians or japanese copy what germans designed and made it cheaper and good, take cars for example, bugatti german porsche german benz and bmw german cars, asian suzuki kawasaki toyota mitsubishi i spoke with a technitian that tear down all this kind of electronic devices and he told me, anything i have here for repair that comes from europe or GERMANY is FARRRR SUPERIOR in the construction and build quality of the components inside, but pay attention, not because is from germany united kingdom or europe like focusrite, that does not mean is the best, but i promise you, if you find the BEST device from germany is LEGIT, the best device from UNITED KINGDOM IS LEGIT, also the time a company its been arround is a factor but not determinant factor, a young company can be wayy better than one of these old soldiers, what do i think about universal audio? they are doing an exellent job with this devices so convenient and portable, how ever hi end will always be hi end, i would buy this 8xp is so convenient affordable, bilie eilish recorded with that and won 5 grammy awards how ever they sent their records to be mastered with the pros, so yeah prism and the heavy hitters are better but not 10 grand us dollars better and you can do the job with unviersal audio a very professional job by the way.

[@kaybhee6]

duhh...

[@Rusty511]

Sounds like this guy was paid to praise a mediocre piece of gear. Heard no difference in the comparison.

[@sonicstate]

Er, surely thats what you'd want to know right? Does it sound as good as something costing 3X as much from a person who works professionally in the field. No UA incentive here. He was paid to do a review by us though

[@riktascale4]

Eh...thats the point. No difference between it and the "higher end" converter🤔🤔