So, about two years ago I moved to a new apartment and I rebuilt my studio around a Universal Audio Apollo Twin. That would be my second episode with the UAD platform.. A few years ago, I had a UAD PCI card that ceased working one day, which made me stop using their plugins, until I got that twin.
My twin replaced a high quality eight channel interface (RME Multiface II), a mediocre dual channel preamp, a dual channel compressor and a monitor controller, all connected with a bunch of annoying cables. Anyway, since I only really record two channels at a time, I miss nothing!
To me the Apollo Twin is much more than just an audio interface with a DSP powered plugin engine. It is a device that helps me record better audio, quickly, easily and saves me a lot of time, space and headache. The layout of the hardware is really brilliant. For most common tasks you have dedicated hardware buttons, which I highly appreciate. It is small enough not to take too much space on your desk and large enough to be comfortable and not feel cluttered. The control knob is nice and big, which makes it both comfortable to drive and more accurate.
I you are on the market for a new recording interface, I highly recommend that you go to a local dealer and take a close look at one of these.
I/O
The Twin has two physical preamp input channels, each has the option of 48v phantom power, low cut filter, 20db pad and phase inverse function, all available on the hardware unit as well as the Console software interface. The first channel also has the option of Hi-Z input on the front panel, so you can connect guitars, basses and other instrument level signals using a TS plug. In addition to those inputs, the Twin can be extended with up to eight additional channels via an optical ADAT or S/PDIF optical connection on the rear panel (never used it).
For outputs, you have two balanced TRS connections for main monitor outs and two additional balanced TRS connections for anything else you may need. It can be a second pair of monitors, and external recorder, alternative studio mix, whatever you want.
The Console Software
The Apollo Console software mixer is one of the nicest soft mixers I have used in terms of layout, look and feel. It allows you to set up your recording sessions quickly and easily, including a separate headphones mix for tracking. The Twin mixer has two aux channels you can load with effects for more real time, zero latency monitoring while recording. I usually use one for reverb and one for delay while tracking guitars and vocals. In fact, ever since I have the Twin, I don't use my DAW monitoring feature anymore and always monitor through Console.
Other features of the Console include the dim and mono buttons you would expect to find in mixers and other more advanced options I'm not going to dive into here. Oh yes, and you can save your Console session configuration and recall it later to continue working just where you left off last time!
Unison Preamps
The Unison technology really makes soft preamp plugins come to life by interacting with the Apollo hardware preamps. The software preamp plugins control the impedance of the hardware and interacts with your physical microphone or instrument similar to solid hardware units. If you don't know what Unison is, go google it! To me Unison alone is a good reason to buy an Apollo interface, and here is why:
UAD amp / preamp plugins just sound very very good, regardless of how they compare to the original hardware they emulate!
Space saver - one small hardware unit, many top notch, super simple to use preamps (and compressors, EQs etc of course)
Allows you to record the processed signal and monitor it in real time with virtually no latency. This is what I do 100% of the time.
Why record the processed sound when you can record the dry signal and choose your preamp in later in the mix? Two main reasons:
I found that committing early forces me to concentrate on recording better audio and saves me a lot of headache in the mixing stage. It changed my workflow and the way I approach recording to the better.
Saves processing power in the mix stage, which is always good. Ever since I started recording that way, I have much less occupied inserts in the DAW mixer and I like it that way! Less knobs = less distractions = more productivity
Pros
Great audio quality
Great hardware interface design
Great control software design
Improved workflow - very neat form factor for small home studios
Unison is a huge deal to me
Not too pricy for what you get.
Comes with a very nice set of free top notch plugins, including the following Unison plugins: 610 preamp, Marshall Plexi guitar amp and Ampeg SVT bass amp
Can be extended with more inputs from other digital devices
Can be stacked with other Apollo interfaces
[2020 UPDATE] LUNA recording software free to all Apollo thunderbolt interfaces owners. LUNA has been released in April 2020, it looks very impressive from the few hours I have played with it and I believe there is a look more to come. LUNA comes with a few gigs of very impressive, high quality sample library and an instrument called Shape you can use to play them (includes piano, organ, drums, horns, strings and a lot more). The inclusion of LUNA makes Apollo interfaces a complete package.
Cons
I only wish Unison plugins would cost less - much less (but you really have more than enough to get started with the free plugs)
Verdict
The Apollo Twin is an amazing piece of technology in a very appealing package! It looks like a diamond, it delivers high quality audio and it is very well priced considering its value and competition. I think UA has completely nailed it with this one.
I would definitely buy it again if it was broken and I would recommend anyone who needs a small setup to do so.
Happy recording!
You might also want to consider the Twin's little, more affordable brother - the Solo. The Solo is very similar in functionality to the Twin. The main differences are that the Solo is bus powered, has two physical outputs instead of the Twin's quartet and doesn't have the optional optical input, which means it cannot be extended with more inputs (unless you buy more Apollo units).
Being bus powered, the Solo is more suitable for those who need a more portable solution, or simply those who don't need the extra I/O and want to spare the extra money. If the Solo existed when I purchased the Twin, I would probably get a Solo.