Universal Audio Apollo X VS. Focusrite Scarlett | Mic Pre Comparison!
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What did you think? What's your interface of choice?
I use a 16 in 16 out to DAW Alesis mixer. Cost $200 used
I liked A better tbh. It felt fuller and like a more complete sound to me.
I currently use a pair of Focusrite Clarett 8pre's in my home studio. I can't see myself upgrading until I require something like lynx or other high end conversion. The UA stuff is great for sure but their prices are a little over the top.
@@nickrobinson2276 I also have a Clarett 8pre and I'm really happy with it. Can't quite swing the cash for the UA.
The Apollo for sure. But I wouldn’t get the 3k one lol. I can get a twin for half that for just recording great guitar tracks.
If I close my eyes and just enjoy the music and not look for the difference, it's hard to even tell when the interfaces were switched! I guess I saw a meme the other day where the wife said to her husband: So you spent $5,000 just because you could "hear the difference?"
Anyway, thanks so much, Andrew, for making this video and saving me a ton of money, lol. I guess I'll stick to my Focusrite unless I begin to... guess what... hear the difference, haha!
Glad this video was helpful. Thanks for watching!
Ben 1 ay önce 18i20 satın aldım. Daha önce kullandığım tüm cihazlarla karşılaştırdığımda orta tonlar bariz kısık. Ama bu testte daha parlak bir orta ton veya yüksek ton! duydum. Air butonu ile ses biraz parlıyor ama olması gereken bu olmamalı. 18i20 gen 3 de saçma bir eq oyunu var. Bu haliyle bence bu cihaz ayıplı bir üründür. Neyse biraz daha kullanayım. Umarım daha fazla pişmanlık yaşamam.
I don't know about more than half the things you talk about here but it's nice to hear your passion come through dude. Nice vid 💪
Thank you so much man, can’t tell you how relevant this is to my current situation
I'm happy it was useful! I was pretty surprised myself.
After 10 tracks, the difference is even bigger and with a full session, you get the idea... Great review and thanks for your time!
Andrew LOVE the comparison videos, would love to see more like these. Keep killing it brother, always take new things away from revisiting these videos multiple times!
I noticed the boosted high end in the Scarlett and the clarity in the Apollo immediately. Great vid. I subscribed because of your honest review
I could hear a difference in the beginning of the tests, but once you started switching them seamlessly I couldn’t even tell. Great video! I love my Scarlett, but I’ve been thinking about upgrading - either a Clarett+ or an Apollo Twin.
At first, my gut reaction was to prefer A because it felt brighter. But by the second loop through, I had switched to B because the low-end and top-end information felt more balanced and I felt there was a lot more depth in the mid frequencies. Either way, both record great stuff!
My thoughts exactly
Hey Andrew, You are doing a really great job on these videos!
Thanks Jeffrey! I appreciate that!
Not an Apollo fan boy because when you spend that much money , I think I deserve a FREEKIN THUNDERBOLT CABLE in the box .
if you buy it from some dealers they will give you free of charge a thunderbolt cable!
@@Sliceofhaupia Yep, that's Westlake Pro baby!
Totally agree with you 😂 i just purchase a twin mono from amazon & when it arrives i was so excited for test it out.......i almost tear the box looking for the thunderbolt cable, then i waited another week till i can get one 🤣🤦♂️
HAHAHAHA
Sweetwater hooks you up for free!
Awesome test, thanks for the video! I like the blind test
I thought the blind test was great because it's not often you get one on youtube were the screen is just black. Gives people the ability to just LISTEN and not watch :)
Pretty close. I love your description of the acoustical differences. I have Audient asp880 that I connect with id44 for my drums and was on the fence with those 3 different preamps. Thanks for showing the difference between the two.
Love it man! I recently purchased the Apollo twin x duo. I'm excited to give it a try with some horn tracks. Thank you for this video!
Heck yeah, that's awesome man! You're gonna love it.
wow! I THOUGHT "A" WAS THE APOLLO... damn... guess I'm keeping my Scarlett ❤️
me too. same.
Totally heard the difference, but it kinda went away once in a mix. The Apollo’s cost benefit has more to do with processing flexibility in my mind, and is totally worth it when you get to the point where you need it.
Super helpful review man, thank you!
Glad it was helpful!
Honestly, I thought that A is a UAD, but you have to understand that with UAD you don’t pay 3000$ more only for preamps. You have dsp, software, plugins, and so on.
Exactly, also get Luna now too.
I would add to that as someone who has owned both Focusrite and UAD and loved both is UA does come with significantly better AD converters as well. I remember opening up a session I recorded through my Focusrite rack and then monitoring it through the Apollo and my mix with all Focusrite tracks just shrunk in width and depth. I think that's something a lot of people overlook, the Apollo has great conversion in addition to dsp, monitoring and plugins. It kinda makes sense why there's a big price difference.
You don’t need dsp If you have a good Pc, talk about plugins waves and slate digital has it all, UAD plugins go for $3000 and slate is $9.99 a month.
@@MrHumphrey2000 true. But keep in mind the option to track with effects at almost zero latency. Even with a full mix going on including bus processing.
@@AndrewMasters I was wondering when you use adat on the Apollo and connect it to another mic pre like the Scarlett etc. Does the dsp from the Apollo work on those pre's from the other unit? Like if you add plug-ins on the scarlett pre's etc. while recording will the dsp work on those or just the pre's on the Apollo? Just curious.
You are a legend, thanks for doing this!
Happy to help!
It’s definitely interesting for sure. As a dude in his house doing my own stuff the Scarlett is the better option. I use a lot of hardware so it’s line level anyways. With the amount of post processing in the daw we do it makes you wonder if it matters too much in the end result for the average listener. In my case no cause no one cares about my guitar songs anyways haha. Sweet vid dude.
Thanks man! Hahaha
I used an apogee symphony for several years with great outboard gear and ran a project studio with moderate traffic of clients. I think the quality level on most interfaces is now very similar with only that small bump that somehow justifies the extra thousands folks will pay--just like with most Mics. Some studios by that gear as they think their clients expect it or hey maybe they're doing well enough to spring for it. In the end very few are listening that closely for those details and money is better saved or spent elsewhere and work a lot harder on the songs and performance--it's what making music now so exciting we all can create and share and not have to buy cost prohibitive studio time.
Chill personality and informative 👌🏻 got my sub 🤘🏽
Awesome video!
Scarlett sounds tinnier but very clear. UA warmer and fuller. I started out doing most of my work on analogue gear and I’m always going for warm and full. I’m always trying to combat the brightness of the digital sound... maybe I’m just old school!!! Lol!! Stay blessed y’all!
There’s a way huge difference in price but not in quality. Thank you for
This video, you saved me money.
Good video! Definitely a bit of a difference, but like you said, the Apollo has all the processing and plugins with it and that's the real difference. Better headroom on the Apollo also makes sense at that price point. However, if the Apollo is out of budget (it is for me), then you can still do some really good work on the Scarlett. I currently have the Focusrite Clarett 8pre and I'm really happy with it. I also run my old Saffire OctoPre for the extra inputs when tracking drums like you do with your Scarlett.
I upgraded from a Focusrite Liquid Sapphire 56 to a UAD X8P, and can confirm that the hype is true. To be fair, it was quite a leap, considering how old FLS 56 is. It interfaces with Firewire (8) and it was really hard to find a long enough cable that would connect it to my machine (the rack was about 9 feet away).
I had my eyes on UAD interfaces like... forever, but did not intend to get one anytime soon. By the time UAD announced its flagship line would ship with Thunderbolt 3 connections, I had been saving for mixing, mastering and releasing an album on vinyl for a little over 2 years.
I decided to embrace my reality as a one-man-band-and-everything-else, drop those plans and do it all myself. The savings, along with some financing were invested, and I could not be happier! I'm spending a lot more time on my little home studio, learning a lot and most importantly - producing much more with more confidence.
I did release 6 singles with the FLS 56 and would have bought it again if I were back in time. Today it offers tremendous value for the money, if one can look away from the Firewire connection. I'm connecting it to the X8P like you're doing, so the Firewire is not a big issue in this configuration. It would be nice to be able to use the Focusrite utility without it, though.
Thought I'd post the link to my profile, for good measure. open.spotify.com/artist/0EiGue54P0MDdLnwCZ1nQp
Cheers for the video!
Thanks man as I am getting gen3 18i8 and my producer uses the twin so it was a great demo
VERY helpful video, especially since I also use a Scarlett 18i20 and have done for years. I'm very happy with the Scarlett but definitely thought there was more detail and clarity in the Apollo. It would be very interesting to hear the difference between the UA Neve and API preamp presets etc against the Scarlett as well, since those are considered some of the most sought after preamps in the industry. May be an idea for a future video? Cheers.
Interesting comparison! I have been using a Focusrite Clarett for a while and I also had this "familiar" feeling, which at first made me feel more comfortable with the Scarlett than the Apollo. Upon more focused listening I did pick up how much cleaner the Apollo was though. But the noise at the beginning of the recording on the Scarlett? That's kind of insane, I never had that much noise with mine, I think. That being said, the Clarett is supposed to have better pres than the Scarlett. Anyway great video and great channel (just discovered and subscribed!)
I have both a Universal Audio Apollo Quad and a Focusrite Clarett Octopre. I actually find that overall my Clarett sounds much more musical and glued on its own, even without the Air feature. In contrast, the Apollo preamps on their own sound a bit stale, but the Unison technology quickly fixes that and they sound incredible! I’m always flipping between both.
Really great to hear that difference in headroom. I could hear it really clearly on my phone
The difference in price is not just the sound of each. The extra money for the UAD piece is for access to their plugins.
@@jztreso Great point.
Would’ve been awesome if you put a snippet of the warm audio pres as a surprise in the end ;) Awesome video, love your channel!
When you multiply those little differences across all the instruments you're tracking...it compounds significantly.
Great video, thanks Andrew. FYI - the line input switch on the Scarlett series is actually just a pad. The signal still passes through the preamp so you'd probably get a better sound just going direct into the Apollo
Good vid man. Super helpful.
I have both. Its a style of music and audience question.
Honestly, I am blessed to have the option and wouldn't trade it for the world.
I'm currently saving money for a new audio interface and I'm stuck between a new scarlett or a univesal audio twin/arrow to track guitars and basses. The UA really stands out because you can record using the high quality plugins with unnocitable latency. Great video Andrew, cheers from Brazil!
For a couple hundred bucks more, get the Focusrite Clarett 8 pre. You'll love it and the preamps sound awesome. It meets you right in the middle in terms of budget, right around $1,000.00. I just got mine yesterday and I love it. I do want a Universal Audio Apollo interface someday though just for the input expansion, and of course, great plugins, software, and amazing pres that UA makes.
@@NewsToAstonish can i chained my focusrite with uad apollo x8 ?
@@1eidji652 Yes you absolutely can!
@@NewsToAstonish thanks you for your answers :) but with which câble I need to chained them ?
I think the accumulation of recording 30/40/50+ tracks to make a record is when you start hearing the difference. You begin to hear the depth, detail and character of a particular preamp and it contributes to building a 3D image but to be honest, I listened on my studio monitors and my headphones and they sounded slightly different but I couldn't confidently say that one was better than the other. Just very slightly different.
True. Yeah it's kind of a silly comparison because I didn't use the unison preamps.
Mind blowing I heard the difference on my tiny iPhone speakers !! 🤯
The difference was so tiny that you can fix the differences by using a plugin, moving the mic, or just doing eq. and have the same excelent, profesional and extremely clean and intended result with both. Technology is so advance right now, there is lot of competition.
At a certain point it really boils down to what speakers and Mic you use. I use both in multiple studios and can instantly tell the difference. But then again I've listen to both for 9 years. Once you step into the $1000+ per speaker/sub and mic range it really shows. But using anything sub $1000 on both ends it really is minimal in difference like you said.
Lol no, its a matter of quality, not only freq response.
Before you mentioned which was which I already knew 'A' was the focusrite and 'B' was the Apollo. Experience has taught me that sometimes you need a brighter mic pre and other times you need a warmer one. As for the price difference, that only becomes apparent when you really need to push them at either end of the extremes of really soft or really loud.
As far as sound goes, you usually can't tell modern cheap from modern expensive.
When you can tell the difference is when the situation requires the more expensive pre with more headroom or a lower noise floor. That is where your investment pays off and that is why really good studios will be needed for years to come.
One thing is certain though where we benefit from different pres at different price points is that they each offer their own thing in the process and sometimes you need a cheapy and most times you need the more expensive one, depending on what you want to do with it.
The world of sound engineering is very interesting and there is no one right answer.
nice work on this video!
Thanks man!
WOW!!! At first I could tell the A sound was so much better, then I was even more pleased to find out it was the focusrite interface (I have one).
I immediately heard the difference and liked B much better. It made me quite nervous because I have an Apollo x8p and was initially afraid that maybe I was liking the Focusrite more. But, of course, B turned out to be the Apollo.
Thank you for making this video Andrew! It just goes to show that us budget musicians can make great sounding music without shelling out a TON of money for the UAD. That being said the Scarlett is a stand alone so you get no extra assistance in recording tracking or mixing- and that’s where you have to put in the extra effort.
My pleasure!
@@AndrewMasters i bought three synthesizers two of them are stereo, so i need at least 5 inputs on the audio interface and unfortunately i can't spend on an expensive device right now, what do you think about getting a UA VOLT 4 and sheap Mackie mixer? Or should I take Focusrite Scarlett 18i8? in which case the sound will be better?
Immediate thoughts are the apollo sounds more natural and round. The high end "open"-ness of the scarlett, from my experience, will not process as well when you start to effect it.
That being said, for anyone comparing either, why are you making music? Is it your job, do you have paying clients?
If you're learning the ropes, an interface like the apollo will NOT be your bottleneck. Even if you're experienced and talented, it's a good choice.
If you have paying clients, who have expectations for flexibility and quality, or if you're a recording artist whose work people will invest time and money into and need a piece of equipment that will last over 5 years, go with something like an UA, antelope, RME, etc. soundcard.
If you're a hobbyist, whose most expensive mic is a Rode NT1a (good mic, just making a point), who works in an untreated room, etc, the focusrite will do exactly what you want. Use the rest of the $$ on microphones, treatment, or making your instruments sound better!
I own an apollo twin, and though I love it, think it's amazing what people get for so little these days. Great comparison!
Using the adat out made this shootout valuable. I believe the biggest difference between these two interfaces are the ad/da converters.
The UAD sounded just a little more 'open' to me if that makes sense. Both sound great though. I own the 18i20 and do agree about the noise floor. It gets very noisy very fast.
I too started out with an 18i20 around 2015. It served me very well. For the last couple years I used it with an Octopre, so I had 16 inputs with preamps for like $750? Not bad. As I got more gear the Scarlett stuff became wired in and less portable, so I bought a UAD Twin in 2018. And then I started to get used to the UAD plugins.... I used the Twin with the Octopre for a minute but there weren't enough hardware outputs for me on the Twin so I bought a used UAD x16. So now I've got 18 inputs, two with UAD pres, and I'm using a motley crew of outboard stuff in front of the x16. It's lots of fun and I love having options. Really though, I was fine with the Scarlett stuff. They sound great and were cheap and reliable. I still have them in a little rack as a portable rig. I can't bring myself to trust the light pipe ADAT connection. I've had some issues with pops and clicks now and again, so I'm stoked to be using all thunderbolt cables with my UAD stuff. But besides a few UAD plugins that I've come to depend on I don't know that I'm getting better sounds than I was before. It's all about improving my listening abilities now. One thing I really liked about the early days when all I had was the 18i20 and a few mics; creating was a bit faster and a bit simpler, and all I really had to work with to change my sound was the source or the mic placement. Pretty simple, and good for learning and listening and moving fast. I kind of miss that.
Thanks for the video!
A so smooth, love it
The big differences in the pre amps are the headroom and the quality of the cranked PRE amp, the DSP that you can use for plugins and yes, thats it,
Its not the same id you crank up the pre amp on the focusrite with a TLM 103 than a cranked up pre amp on the apollo,
Apollo will bring a fuller and bigger sound while not distorting nor create artifacts (taking care of the voice signal for sure)
Wow, ok Interesting!
I felt the panning separation from the focus was more discernible over the UAD. Very interesting.
Thank you! Im currently recording through an Apollo Twin and then via ADAT connecting a Begringer ADA8000 - thinking about updating the BEHRINGER to a 18i20.
Thank you for everything! ❤
Can certainly hear the difference, Apollo has better bass and sound altogether, but I certainly love the FR price a lot more. Tough to decide.
Focusrite’s have logarithmic pots, so dialing from zero to 100% isn’t an even increase in gain. Earlier in the dial will have less gain as you turn up. Once you get past a certain point, the gain increases significantly quicker.
In my opinion the mids were clearer with the apollo. A little fuller. Great comparison test!
Thanks!
I think B sounded warmer on the right side. But That is more of a preference thing for some. They both sound great. And if you can do just as good with one that is cheaper, I think that's a great idea! What ever you thought was better to your liking, choose that one because you will enjoy listening to it more.
I run a very similar setup room wise and gear wise to yours. I, too, upgraded from an 18i20 to the x8p. I couldn't be happier. I didn't do it because of the Unison technology or overall nicer preamps. I did it because I needed more flexible routing. Yes, I did want to get into the UA plugins. More importantly, I needed headphone cues for artists. I wanted to make vocalists more comfortable with some light compression and reverb if needed while tracking. The x8p changed my workflow for the better. I've tracked a ton of stuff on the focusrite that sounds fantastic. I think the apollo sounds better, but not 3k better. For people in small rooms working with themselves, the focusrite is fantastic. It's stable and sounds great. But for people who are tracking bands and need more inputs and routing capabilities, the apollo is a no brainer.
Totally agree! Great points
Ron Bates would love to know how you set up your headphones from the x8p!
@@azbuzzspy533 So I have everything running through a redco patchbay. Then I have a behringer headphone amp HA8000 that allows for two stereo cues to pick from. I think the HA8000 is extremely underrated. It's really the only thing I've found to be able to give two mixes and sound greats. Also, it's very cheap and well built. There are not a lot of headphone distribution systems under several grand. So I just do line outs to the ins on the behringer. I track 4-5 piece bands easily. I do all the routing via console. The whole setup is effortless. If I'm doing overdubs, I just route Pro tools to a virtual output and send the virtual output to the headphone cue in Console. I should add each headphone can select from mix 1 or 2. So, if I need to, I can have one mix with click and one with out. Love the whole system!! Feel free to ask any questions. I hope this makes sense. I've had a long day.
Ron Bates yeah that’s great thanks! I’m new to Apollo interfaces and just like different views on the best way to set up the studio
oddly enough, the scarlett sounded more 'open' in this example.
Thanks for doing this. I could definitely hear a difference single track, but once you stacked the two guitar lines all the differences went away. Both pres sounded good solo, but the differences went away on the multitrack.
I think your test demonstrates a good point - First, I listened on my iPhone X speaker (intentionally) .... and only heard the slightest of differences ... To my ear the Focusrite was a bit brighter but when you did the back to back tests at the end, it was really hard to hear a difference ... Second - as studio peeps we tend to be “gear sluts” and are always convincing ourselves that we need that little edge to make our music rise to the top .... (we are lying to ourselves!) ... in our brains we know that the key to a great sounding mix is to get the most out of the gear we have, developing our “ears”, and learning from the best in our business! Third, the real key to an interface, from what I e learned through research, is the sample rate (24/192) and AD/DA conversion quality. We can add sweetness, color, etc. before the “box”, in the box, and after the box this making any “bells and whistles that come with an interface nice, but not essential for a great mix .... Thanks for sharing your thoughts and doing this test. It’s a help for all of to be discussing these types of topics!
Two pre-amps sound very good. Actually I have a Motu 2408 MK3 and I am very happy whith your sound and preamps.
Excellent comparison video! I feel the same about how I had to wait for the second time around for my ears to settle in and focus. The Apollo had the definition and the Scarlette had the classic low/high end problem that most gear in that category usually suffer from. Is it a deal breaker? No. I've even gone as far as recapping my 18i20 completely through all the audio paths with higher end caps. I can sit here all day and tell you about it or you can take it to a tech. My guy charged me 300 and I feel like it was worth every penny. I bought my 18i20 for 400 through private seller. So a total of 700 hundred vs 3k+. It's not out of the question. And to be totally honest, I still want to get myself the X8 to have the work flow and color of the pre amps. The more vibe you have to play with the better. I also agree that drums sound great on the Scarlette. Thanks for the video.
Wow the scarlett had so much more dynamics!
LOL, no it didnt.
No.
@@ZenMountain I mean it's not really a matter of taste, but I guess everyone has it's own opinions haha.
I noticed that too, but it's his playing, not the interface.
I believe Focusrite is very good for drums mostly and the Apollo is good for everything!!! I think you have to be focused on what you're exactly doing with production then decide what works for you either Multitracking a band or just recording simple things like vocals etc.... Also keep in mind you get what you pay for. I have an Apollo Twin X and I'm about to get the Scarlett back for External Preamps as well. Together they do work very good I did a project or 2 with them together.
Even on my crappy laptop speakers there is a palpable difference. Like you said, it's a preference thing. The Apollo sounds warmer and bigger where as the Focusrite sounds more compact so there are more overtones in the Apollo's sounds, from what I can hear.
the noise floor and headroom are worth the extra price. a single acoustic guitar track doesnt show the huge benefits. take that guitar track and stack it up with drums vocals bass and a bunch of other layered tracks and that noise floor becomes more prevelant. i would buy an apollo for the same price if they werent doing the best plugins on the market on top of their top notch hardware.
There is a difference between the preamps, but you could get very close to the Apollo using EQ. As you state, if you are buying the Apollo, then it should be for the better performance specs and access to UA plug-ins. Thanks for the shootout!
I personally have a Focusrite Scarlet 18i20, and I also have a Universal Audio X8P and I Definitely love the UAD 8XP
I went from a Saffire to an x8p. The high mids in the Focusrite stood out to me right away. It hurts my ears a bit and I used to fight it mixing. That just goes away with the Apollo (not to mention how nice the unison preamp plugins sound). If you're going DI through an amp sim that high mid thing builds and gets worse (and for me more painful). It was worth it to me since I do some high gain amp sim recording. It's still great that people can get into recording with cheaper models and have something that sounds at least reasonable.
You should have thrown in a C using one of the Apollo's Unison Pre's as I think most people who own an Apollo are going to be using a preamp emulation(for the most part) Nice job though!
Most ppl are using at least the unison pres that come with it. It would cool to hear the difference since that is apart of the allure of buying an Apollo.
There is a significant difference, just never got a chance to actually test it and analyze the data included.
Yes there is a difference, apollo is slightly brighter. Thanks for the review
No problem 👍
A sounded more tinny like pierced highs B sounded more fuller had more clarity especially in the bottom register if you’re trying to get it right at source I would definitely say go for the Apollo but if you have time to go in a do lots of post processing then go for the Focusrite.
My thought was that B had more low end, but A having that "fake" top end is kind of a similar outcome? Either way, great video!
Thanks!
Thanks for the video. I can hear the brightness from the Apollo better. But I dont have the studio speakers and a mixer just my phone & Bose speaker. But... I do want to learn how to record on my guitars. And the Focusrite is going to be my choice after all my research (watching dudes like you and learning). Saving up for all the needed gear. Peace
The low end of the Apollo was what stood out to me but in a way it also makes its brighter high frequencies sound better too. Because of the more powerful and open low end the whole signal sounds livelier. The Focusrite is far from bad but is just a little thin and brittle for my taste. (Some EQ would help)
Apollo X has fuller LMF & HMF the 3rd guitar track was buried in the lush sheen of a Focusrite Mic pre, but it found a presence on the Apollo X pre. Both sound amazing, but you have to be careful with Mic and pre selection with the Focusrite because of thenatural sheen in the high-mids. UA and Focusrite are my go-to pres.
It's like the Apollo can see inside your guitar. If that makes sense. The sound is round and full and deep. Basically what I've never been able to achieve with years of junk. At least there's more affordable thunderbolt/usb c options now. Cool test.
I was debating the move to an Apollo, and went for the Scarlett. My decision was based on power to run plug ins. The UA could power that, so I was attracted to it, but now that the M1 Macs exist, I went with that option. The new Macs handle the power, and my work flow is good with that decision, and I am enjoying the 3rd gen 18i20
I have a new Focusrite Clarett OctoPre going into the adat of my X8p, and lemme tell you, they sound INCREDIBLE. For $699 I cannot think of a better investment for increasing preamp count. No joke, they stack up to my boutique preamps, API, Neve, etc etc. Plus the air feature is just so lovely. Anyway, just wanted to throw that out there! Scarlett and Clarett are leagues apart from each other in terms of quality. Maybe I'll do a comparison video! lol
I thought 'A' was cleaner, more focused! 'B' was a tad muddy but both were fine.
I have both and use them both!
I heard a little different, the Scarlett sounds a bit brighter and the Apollo sounds a bit cleaner. But both interfaces are nice and have good preamps. Nice video
Man this was a great video. If that's your unprocessed, most basic sound, I'ma give up I think :( I use a Focusrite Scarlett, a Martin guitar, great LEWITT mics, and don't sound anywhere near as good! Well presented man! Subbed, liked and shared!!
Glad it was helpful!
Thanks for making this video. I record with a Scarlett 2i2, and was considering an Apollo but the difference sounds pretty negligible.
If you cant hear the difference you just dont deserve to sound better
Yo Andrew are you using the Alpha 65's for monitoring? I got the same ones, love how much depth they have considering the entry-mid level price bracket. They beat out some monitors that were almost double the price when I tried them in the store.
I am. They are amazing. They translate super well in my room. I'm really happy with them!
I want the UAD Arrow, can't afford anything more and like that it's buss powered. I need to be mobile! And now that I've decided to only go in the box I want those Unison pre's...
From ridiculously windy & frozen Ireland! ☘️💪🏽👀👍🏽☘️
I know a film composer that works exclusively off of an arrow! Know your system and you can do anything.
@@AndrewMasters the understated "know your system" is very important when discussing the Arrow interface as it can run very few active plugins in your daw at once! They great with lower specification of DA conversion than the Apollo but sill good AD.
I got it right, what do I win?? :)
But seriously though, I could hear the difference on my iPad speakers outside with birds singing, but when you cut them both together the difference was less obvious. The UAD pre just sounded like it had a little more ooompf somehow. I ought to check out the difference between my Apollo Twin pres and the ones in my Focusrite Claret pre rack.
Jep, heard the difference. The noisefloor wasn't something that caught my attention, that was clearly the dynamic range through the full frequency spectrum. The Apollo sounds more transparent, more defined and more natural, like every single frequency is decompressed. The guitar you played sounded way more open on the Apollo, but still hell of a good job by Focusrite tho. I use the Clarett 8pre myself and I keep falling in love with it, every time I do recording with it.. wether it's instrumental, or vocals. But still, if I'd do an upgrade, it would probably be the Antelope Goliath III or the Focusrite Red 8pre. Since that's out of the way, nice video man!
Nice video. I use 18i20 and work well. If i need preamp for a guitar i use line6 pod go and the sound is incredible. Save 3k$. Apollo is a great stuff too but really more expensive
There's a HUGE difference. It's also important to remember that the total sum of all tracks combined, with a high noise floor, it adds up to a noisy & lower quality print.
The Apollo is the winner, as the mixed session will reflect a higher dynamic range, and lower noise floor overall, in the final mix. Cleaner, high quality print.
Whoa! I was not expecting to hear that much of a difference, especially since I'm using a pair of headphones that I've had on for about 3 minutes and sound WAY different to my usual monitors. The Apollo just shreds that Focusrite. If the Focusrite was B, I was about to cry. And the $2-3K difference includes all of the processors, plugins, real time monitoring and more. It's hardly fair to compare their prices. One is just some third rate pre-amps. The other has some second-to-a-few preamps and a whole truckload's equivalent of analogue gear. My investments in UAD Apollo and the Townsend Labs Sphere L22 were some of the wisest choices I've ever made. Everything's in a whole other league instantly.
Nice video. I would think the converters alone in the U/A would be far higher quality than the Focusrite. Also like others have said, you have way more features in the Apollo, like the plugin DSP etc.
I definitely hear the difference. Focusrite sounds darker and a little bit distant, but it still has a good sound. I live in Brazil so, paying the difference (we pay something like 9x more, you can buy a used motorcycle with that money) is not an option at all, which means I'll stick with my scarlett 6i6 first generation.
To me the UAD Apollo has more depth and meat to it. I have and Apollo 8, twin, Scarlett, Focusrite ISA two, and some Warm audio WA73's in saying this I prefer hardware mic pre's. As far as the UAD Apollo is at the $3200 your getting a lot more then 8 Pre's, the ability to use and have all the plugin's, unison mic pre's, world class A/D converters etc. monitor control for two sets of monitors
From my experience you'll really hear a difference with a large track count. Individually you'll hear a little difference but with a larger track count your mix and the tracks should sound smoother with the better mic pres and converters. That's my experience with having run a commercial studio and testing all kinds of mic pres, mics and adda converters.
Focusrite sounds as good or better and with the price difference, it's a no-brainer! Thanks for the heads up
I knew the answer right away. Recording just one input makes very little difference between the two preamps. I believe the Apollo will stand out if multiple inputs are recorded.
I just bought the 3rd gen Scarlett 18i20 and so far I like it. Sounds better then my old interface us-1641. I do hear the UA being slightly more open sounding and bit cleaner, but not by much. I was considering going for the Apollo, but now I think i'll just get a 2ch UA interface instead just for vocals or overheads.I think the Scarlett does just fine.