Hey everyone. Ive been comparing similar priced and spec'd interfaces from antelope and UA. The antelope synergy core and UA apollo x8.
There seems to be a fair amount of complaints on the antelope interfaces reguarding reliability (drivers software glitches), resale value, long term support, and life span. Antelope seems to come out with new versions much more often than other companies especially at that end of the market.
Antelope does have more connectivity options on the same interface madi, tb3, and usb3. which makes it less picky about the computer its connected to as opposed to the apollo. This isn't a deal breaker but does involve some consideration and planning, since a madi card from RMEis 1700$, and tb3 is just starting to be compatible with the new gen AMD chips.
Anyway any thoughts on sound quality, reliability, workflow, anything, related to these two manufacturers is welcomed. I would use this at a home studio for 2 years or so then possibly sell it for a flagship model in my new studio. Basic tracking, re amping, soft synths, and surround sound mixing, and playing video games/ watching movies for entertainment, would be primary uses. Essentially it would be the hub of an always on, multimedia work and entertainment system.
Having had technical issues with an 06' era Pro Tools m powered 7 system on a laptop at home, and issues with old mac pros and Mackie d8b's at the studios, it would be nice to have something that works without a lot of issues. Doesnt have to be bullet proof ala' RME, but i wouldnt be happy if there were more than very occasional hiccups.
Ultimate fidelity is welcome but not super critical since I'm not in a proper studio for listening, and these are mainly my own tracks ill be recording. For archiving and ultimate quality i will be choosing a low channel count mastering interface when i need it.
Comments
Makzimia, post: 462151, member: 48344 wrote: @kmetal Hi Kyle, A
Makzimia, post: 462151, member: 48344 wrote: kmetal Hi Kyle,
As you know I’ve been down both rabbit holes. Chris and I both found the Orion32 plus an RME card with Madi to be excellent and stable. I of course love my Apollo which I added tb3 to and moved from my Mac Pro to a MacBook Pro to use that.
I personally think unless you want the UAD madness, which I personally love :). The Orion and RME solution is solid, and prices on eBay for any choice is there.
Antelope of course were Aadvark originally and the Q10 back in the day of PCI cards was very solid. Drivers well.. when you push the limits of USB you’ll get collateral damage potentially. I’m still a huge fan of PCIe cards or thunderbolt as the best solutions. I’m biased :).
Cheers,
Tony
Thanks Tony. Its comforting to here that reliability shouldnt be a big concern. This lets me think deeper about feature sets. With AMD supporting TB3, i may be able to skirt the cost of a madi card, and put that money into a more powerful PC. One other advantage to TB vs madi, is madi is limited to 16 channels at 192k, TB3 is not.
Im on the fence about the UAD madness, because i tend to go quite mad with things, lol id end up trading my car for the new pluggin of the week!
If dsp supported vsti, i would be completely sold on hdx, uad, or antelopes dsp. Until that happens i still need a fairly powerful master computer to keep buffers low, since the slaves are sync'd to the master pcs buffer.
@Makzimia
How would you compare the audio fidelity of the orion vs the apollo? They are similar in spec.
@kmetal Yes on UAD plug-ins... I might have overdone it a bit ov
kmetal Yes on UAD plug-ins... I might have overdone it a bit overtime myself lol. I’m not necessarily the best person to answer about differences in fidelity. I’ve gone from the antelope plus rme and a dangerous music monitor st and event opals down to Apollo and my Mackie HR824 speakers and a Presonus Monitor 2 setup. I think I’m getting very similar. My mix quality has gone up though too, due to less engineer type stuff ( for me).
Keep in mind I was using external pres with the Antelope too.
Tony
I haven't tried or compared any of those products, so maybe I sh
I haven't tried or compared any of those products, so maybe I should not answer.. Humm I guess I'm still writing ...
A while back I did many searches for alternative interfaces for my RME FF800.
Didn't get cash to replace it yet but in the list, there was the Antelope Zen studio..
Having 12 preamps included seemed very appealing to me with DB25 8ch in/out and 2 Adat in/out..
This could be a way for me to augment my channel counts, get DSP and a jump of audio quality preamp and converters.
Where it hits the fan is their realtime mixer only has 4 monitor mixers this seems so limited after using RME Totalmix.
I looked into the UA x8 and x8p, they seems like nice units with 10 outputs and up to 16 analog inputs for the X8P
No midi.. ? might not be a problem for most people.
I haven't gone through the entire manual, but it also seems to have only 4 stereo cue mixes..
In the end, I'd probably sick with my long lasting love of totalmix with a Fireface UFX or Fireface UFX+ ;)
Talking of longevity and robust units.. RME is hard to beat. May be they are taken less seriously by the industry but I still love them.. ;)
pcrecord, post: 462170, member: 46460 wrote: I haven't tried or
pcrecord, post: 462170, member: 46460 wrote: I haven't tried or compared any of those products, so maybe I should not answer.. Humm I guess I'm still writing ...
A while back I did many searches for alternative interfaces for my RME FF800.
Didn't get cash to replace it yet but in the list, there was the Antelope Zen studio..
Having 12 preamps included seemed very appealing to me with DB25 8ch in/out and 2 Adat in/out..
This could be a way for me to augment my channel counts, get DSP and a jump of audio quality preamp and converters.
Where it hits the fan is their realtime mixer only has 4 monitor mixers this seems so limited after using RME Totalmix.I looked into the UA x8 and x8p, they seems like nice units with 10 outputs and up to 16 analog inputs for the X8P
No midi.. ? might not be a problem for most people.
I haven't gone through the entire manual, but it also seems to have only 4 stereo cue mixes..In the end, I'd probably sick with my long lasting love of totalmix with a Fireface UFX or Fireface UFX+ ;)
Talking of longevity and robust units.. RME is hard to beat. May be they are taken less seriously by the industry but I still love them.. ;)
RME has a 2ch mastering interface im interested in. They have a great rep for stability. So far they're current offerings are a bit behind the curve based on specs.
Fortunately i dont need more than one or two cue mixes so i dont have to worry much about that, but im glad you brought it up since i havent considered it.
Im gonna do my best to make sure the main pc has TB since several companies use that, and antelope has the highest channel count w TB.
Im saving up what i can, maybe something new will be out by the time i have the full amount.
kmetal, post: 462150, member: 37533 wrote: There seems to be a f
kmetal, post: 462150, member: 37533 wrote: There seems to be a fair amount of complaints on the antelope interfaces reguarding reliability (drivers software glitches),
Always & always the same...
buy a sandwich and afternoon you ate it tell the person there was not the cheese under the lettuce but you prefer it UPPER .., for sure ... the mayonnaise will never glitch !
reasonableness = simplicity = quality = antelope
unreasonableness = quantity = not quality = uad
so to resume, either you go with Apollo to the moon with mask and oxygen and previously you have burns 56000 km gas to go out the planet earth..
you enjoy the view behind the mask? Nice. You will not get any COVID-19 but I hope you will have enough oxygen until you stay up there..
well ... the cost & the bill is already made up !
I am an ‘Antelop’, feet on earth ! Plenty of grass and ? .... OXYGEN ! Good luck Armstrong !
ahhh.. what they don’t say :
Going out the planet earth , and even just passing the dead zone = 7000 km (12 miles) or 2,2966e+7 feet ... oh my G...
you die...
...
ahhhh... as grandma’ used to say :
Two peas in a pod ...
..
Gorgeous..
life is so simple...
@kmetal Hi Kyle, As you know I’ve been down both rabbit holes.
kmetal Hi Kyle,
As you know I’ve been down both rabbit holes. Chris and I both found the Orion32 plus an RME card with Madi to be excellent and stable. I of course love my Apollo which I added tb3 to and moved from my Mac Pro to a MacBook Pro to use that.
I personally think unless you want the UAD madness, which I personally love :). The Orion and RME solution is solid, and prices on eBay for any choice is there.
Antelope of course were Aadvark originally and the Q10 back in the day of PCI cards was very solid. Drivers well.. when you push the limits of USB you’ll get collateral damage potentially. I’m still a huge fan of PCIe cards or thunderbolt as the best solutions. I’m biased :).
Cheers,
Tony