I love my Apollo 16!

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Mbira

Well-known member
Joined
Jun 4, 2004
Messages
2,422
Location
Austin, TX
Well I finally upgraded my trusty old Audiofire 12  to an Apollo 16 firewire because I have been getting more and more into modular synths, and I send CV out to the modular with it.  Holy cow-I really love this thing!  That's all-just wanted to say somethign I'm grateful for...ha! 

Also, starting to really get back into DIY and took a look at the White Market....jeez you guys have REALLY stepped it up a notch!  Wow!  That 500 series rack stuff looks amazing.  I might have to build some of that.
 
I must concur that the UA Apollo interfaces are top notch sounding. I have one in my home studio.

Mbira, I was intrigued by your name so I clicked on your links as I love Mbira music from Africa. In the 90s I ran a studio in Chapel Hill, NC which was also the home of an indie label called Music of the World. I recorded a bunch of sessions for them including an album of mbira music with Ephat Mojuru and Dumisani Maraire, both from Zimbabwe. That was one of the most inspiring sessions I ever recorded. Those cats are in touch with the spirits!
 
Oh very cool!  That album with Ephat and Dumi must have been "Shona Spirit".  That was a great record-great job!  My favorite track is the last one where they were playing two different tunings together-they sounded great together.  I'm guessing you probably know that sadly both of those gentlemen passed away some time ago. 
 
The apollo stuff is quite good. They do a great job durning the modeling process to come up with very nice sounding, very close  plug in's of the real thing.

It's cool. They have done their homework for sure.
 
Mbira said:
Oh very cool!  That album with Ephat and Dumi must have been "Shona Spirit".  That was a great record-great job!  My favorite track is the last one where they were playing two different tunings together-they sounded great together.  I'm guessing you probably know that sadly both of those gentlemen passed away some time ago.

Yes, Shona Spirit. My friend Bob Haddad, producer of the record, told me of their passing. They were each very special musicians, deep into their craft.
 
surfkat said:
Yes, Shona Spirit. My friend Bob Haddad, producer of the record, told me of their passing. They were each very special musicians, deep into their craft.

They were!  I remember when I first met Ephat in Zimbabwe in...it must have been 1998....Total chance meeting where I was walking down a neighborhood street by myself playing the mbira and a group of people were walking towards me from the other direction.  I little short man got close and stopped and said in disbelief "you know how to play that thing?!?".  That was Ephat.  We became friends then.  He was still teaching at the school of music there in Harare then and was just restarting his great electric band "The Spirit Of The People".  Good times!
 
pucho812 said:
The apollo stuff is quite good. They do a great job durning the modeling process to come up with very nice sounding, very close  plug in's of the real thing.

It's cool. They have done their homework for sure.

That is true but on the first version at least there is a slight limitation depending on how you use it.  I have a client who runs an analogue console.  He had the idea of buying two Apollo 16's so he could use their i/o on his insert points and use the plugins with his desk.    Great Idea 16 channels of UA plugins per box for a relatively cheap price compared to buying a single real 1176 for example.  However when you use DSP with them you get 16 ins but only get 8 outputs thus reducing the number of channels of plugs you can use.    If you then daisy chain the 2nd Apollo from same computer you now get 32 ins but still only 8 outs.  He wound up having to use 2 computers (one for each Apollo) to get 16 outs.    I realise this probably isn't UA intended way to use the Apollo, but this isn't a point they advertise...    That said the UA reverbs do sound particularly peachy.
 
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