The Apollo Twin X of Universal Audio is likely my favorite purchase in my career thus far
My wallet is still hurting, but in the end it was all worth it.
Blood, sweat and tears. That is how I would describe my first day after I received the one and only Universal Audio Apollo Twin X Duo for a shy 900 euros. My mind was telling me that I was crazy, "900 euros for an audio interface?!" Yes, it sounds crazy.
Click here to watch my unboxing & review video of the Apollo Twin X Duo
But there is something magical about the products of Universal Audio. Apart from being one of the most used brands by professionals in the studio, the company has a rich history with over 60 years of experience in innovative recording products. Some of the most iconic classical and widely used hardware pieces came from the hands of Universal Audio.
I think we can all agree that the sound of those vintage records from the 60's, 70's till late 90's is something unique. It has that warm and imperfect sound which feels so real and human. Just perfect.
But now the digital age of music has fully arrived, and hardware audio processing becomes less significant by the day. Lucky us; Universal Audio did not sit still during the last couple of years and has made its products affordable for the new kid on the block with their new Apollo Twin X Audio Interface.
Introduced in 2012, Apollo has become the new worldwide standard for professional music production, and has been used to record breakthrough albums by artists such as Kendrick Lamar, Coldplay, Dr. Dre, Brad Paisley, and many more. - (Universal Audio website)
But it doesn't stop there, Universal Audio has made it possible for us to use digital plug-ins that emulate their hardware counterparts, which sound incredibly close to the actual sound of the original hardware piece! In other words: We can now use 80.000 euros worth of hardware by spending 1000-3000 euros on the Apollo and their digital plug-ins!
Okay, clearly I am enthousiastic about the product. So why did I describe my first day after receiving my Apollo as blood, sweat and tears?
Well, my original intent was to use the Apollo on my Windows computer. Which is my main workstation at home. But Windows computers have, weirdly enough, very limited access to Thunderbolt 3. Even though it is a product of Intel. So I bought a PCI-Express Thunderbolt card, to make sure I have the adapter available to me. I went on to open my computer and install the PCI-Express card, but after a few minutes I realized that my motherboard did not have the right connection!
This meant that I needed a new motherboard and with that a new processor, just to have a Thunderbolt 3 connection! This would cost me another 500 euros!
But my wallet was still hurting. I didn't want to spend another 500 euros right away on an unintented computer upgrade. Luckily I had a Macbook Pro which I used for when I was on the road. And the new Macbooks have Thunderbolt 3 connections as a standard. Even though it is a product of Intel!
So I got the Apollo to work, finally. Time to test!
The Apollo is a very complete product, with lots of features (I will not go through them here, but I do in my review on YouTube). And the quality of the audio interface is phenomenal! You can hear all frequencies crystal clear and I was, for the first time, able to distinguish different low frequencies from one another.
With my old cheap interface I could barely tell the difference in the lower frequencies, it was all one mud. Now I can precisely hear which frequencies are troubling in the mix and I can fix it more precisely.
Last but definitely not least are the plug-ins that are included when purchasing the Apollo. If you didn't know yet: You need an Apollo or an UAD-2 interface to run Universal Audio plug-ins. I got the classic collection for free which is worth around 1000 euros! And boy what do these analog emulated plug-ins sound amazing. I redid my latest beat (called Wurli Vibes on my Beatstars page) with the new plugins and the difference between my old and new mix was astonishing! The mix was well balanced and had a warm, vintage feel to it. It was very pleasing to the ear on different devices, something that had been an issue with my mixes before.
The jump that I have been able to make in the quality of my mixes and my sound with this product is incredible and probably my most prominent leap from my investments. Chances are pretty high that I will never make a beat or a song again without using my Universal Audio products!
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