#46
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Here's an example, using the UAD Apollo. The UAD Console software lets you choose mic vs line (-10 or +4dBu). As you can see in the screen shot, the mic channels have gain, phantom power, pad, etc. Those set to line have nothing, since you're bypassing all that. Any channel can be set to mic or line. The preamps in the UAD are quite good, and you can also use UAD's unison preamps, which emulate various vintage preamps in the device. But you can also just bypass them if you have something you like better. Screen Shot 2021-06-02 at 12.36.01 PM.jpg
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Music: Spotify, Bandcamp Videos: You Tube Channel Books: Hymns for Fingerstyle Guitar (std tuning), Christmas Carols for Fingerstyle Guitar (std tuning), A DADGAD Christmas, Alternate Tunings book Online Course: Alternate Tunings for Fingerstyle Guitar |
#47
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Prior to 2010, one of the biggest complaints about ProTools was that in order to use the software you had to own a Digidesign (later AVID) interface. UA seems to be mimicking what AVID finally moved away from. They released a daw last year (Luna) but in order to use the daw, you have to own a UA interface. On top of that, they're creating plugins that are proprietary to that daw. Once they get people invested into enough of the Luna-only plugins, it becomes very hard to move from UA to an interface made by someone else without taking a huge loss on those plugins that you will no longer be able to use. And the proprietary plugins seem to be their focus right now. And if anyone is wondering if you can simply sell them to recoup some of your money, UA doesn't allow for the selling of individual plugins. You have two choices in that regard, you sell ALL your plugins or you don't sell any. I still own a UA Octo satellite so I can still use the plugins I own, all of which are non-proprietary but, having recently sold my Apollo X16, I don't see myself ever going to back to a UA interface.
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Jim 2023 Iris ND-200 maple/adi 2017 Circle Strings 00 bastogne walnut/sinker redwood 2015 Circle Strings Parlor shedua/western red cedar 2009 Bamburg JSB Signature Baritone macassar ebony/carpathian spruce 2004 Taylor XXX-RS indian rosewood/sitka spruce 1988 Martin D-16 mahogany/sitka spruce along with some electrics, zouks, dulcimers, and banjos. YouTube |
#48
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My favorite system was an RME AES-32 interface (only), then a separate A/D (Crainsong HEDD) and then external preamps. Total flexibility to choose each piece of the chain. I had to drop that when I got the trashcan Mac and PCI cards were no longer supported, and just decided to go with the Apogee Ensemble Thunderbolt, all-in-1, which is also very nice. I mostly use the Apollo just for the DSP, for the plugins - which have always been proprietary and required UA hardware as far as I know. They work great, so I'm happy to use them where they make sense. I've used the preamps/interface enough to know it works very well for me, too, but I'm better setup to use the Ensemble.
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Music: Spotify, Bandcamp Videos: You Tube Channel Books: Hymns for Fingerstyle Guitar (std tuning), Christmas Carols for Fingerstyle Guitar (std tuning), A DADGAD Christmas, Alternate Tunings book Online Course: Alternate Tunings for Fingerstyle Guitar |
#49
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Jim 2023 Iris ND-200 maple/adi 2017 Circle Strings 00 bastogne walnut/sinker redwood 2015 Circle Strings Parlor shedua/western red cedar 2009 Bamburg JSB Signature Baritone macassar ebony/carpathian spruce 2004 Taylor XXX-RS indian rosewood/sitka spruce 1988 Martin D-16 mahogany/sitka spruce along with some electrics, zouks, dulcimers, and banjos. YouTube |
#50
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#51
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I got my Apollo with the intention of using it live - for better effects in a live setting. I quickly discovered how painful using a laptop on stage was, so the Apollo went in my rack. It's actually been handy for livestreams, since I can place plugins on the inputs easily and can use the UAD plugins I like. But for recording, I use the Apogee and the Apollo just functions as DSP during mixing.
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Music: Spotify, Bandcamp Videos: You Tube Channel Books: Hymns for Fingerstyle Guitar (std tuning), Christmas Carols for Fingerstyle Guitar (std tuning), A DADGAD Christmas, Alternate Tunings book Online Course: Alternate Tunings for Fingerstyle Guitar |
#52
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As for summing boxes, I've yet to hear one that does anything worthy of the price. The Dangerous 2 Bus+ was the only one that grabbed my interest but not because of the summing. It has some fx adjustments on it that you don't typically see on a summing box and I thought those sounded interesting in the videos I've seen but there's not enough there for me to drop $3K on one. Quote:
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Jim 2023 Iris ND-200 maple/adi 2017 Circle Strings 00 bastogne walnut/sinker redwood 2015 Circle Strings Parlor shedua/western red cedar 2009 Bamburg JSB Signature Baritone macassar ebony/carpathian spruce 2004 Taylor XXX-RS indian rosewood/sitka spruce 1988 Martin D-16 mahogany/sitka spruce along with some electrics, zouks, dulcimers, and banjos. YouTube |
#53
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Probably true. To the extent I use them, I kind of prefer Console to the Apogee Control. Both seem limited compared to the RME software. Maybe it's just that I spent more time with it, but I miss the full routing matrix in RME's TotalMix, which just seemed more flexible and straight-forward. Fortunately, I don't really use either one very often, and Logic exposes the basic controls for the Apogee.
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Music: Spotify, Bandcamp Videos: You Tube Channel Books: Hymns for Fingerstyle Guitar (std tuning), Christmas Carols for Fingerstyle Guitar (std tuning), A DADGAD Christmas, Alternate Tunings book Online Course: Alternate Tunings for Fingerstyle Guitar |
#54
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I really appreciate the participation of you all in this thread. I believe the best path forward for me is to consider replacing my current Scarlett 2i4 with an interface that has higher quality mic preamps that can be bypassed if in the future I want to add external mic preamps to the recording chain. Good options from UA, SSL, Apogee, and others will now be my focus of research.
I learned a lot here. Thanks again.
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Doerr Trinity 12 Fret 00 (Lutz/Maple) Edwinson Zephyr 13 Fret 00 (Adi/Coco) Froggy Bottom H-12 (Adi/EIR) Kostal 12 Fret OMC (German Spruce/Koa) Rainsong APSE 12 Fret (Carbon Fiber) Taylor 812ce-N 12 fret (Sitka/EIR Nylon) |
#55
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Jim 2023 Iris ND-200 maple/adi 2017 Circle Strings 00 bastogne walnut/sinker redwood 2015 Circle Strings Parlor shedua/western red cedar 2009 Bamburg JSB Signature Baritone macassar ebony/carpathian spruce 2004 Taylor XXX-RS indian rosewood/sitka spruce 1988 Martin D-16 mahogany/sitka spruce along with some electrics, zouks, dulcimers, and banjos. YouTube |
#56
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Yes good luck remember GAS also stands for Gear Acquisition Syndrome
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Enjoy the Journey.... Kev... KevWind at Soundcloud KevWind at YouYube https://www.youtube.com/playlist?lis...EZxkPKyieOTgRD System : Studio system Avid Carbon interface , PT Ultimate 2023.12 -Mid 2020 iMac 27" 3.8GHz 8-core i7 10th Gen ,, Ventura 13.2.1 Mobile MBP M1 Pro , PT Ultimate 2023.12 Sonoma 14.4 Last edited by KevWind; 06-03-2021 at 09:39 AM. |
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Chuck 2012 Carruth 12-fret 000 in Pernambuco and Adi 2010 Poling Sierra in Cuban Mahogany and Lutz 2015 Posch 13-fret 00 in Indian Rosewood and Adi Last edited by ChuckS; 06-03-2021 at 01:49 PM. |
#58
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Great discussion here. I'll throw another option in the audio interface mix if you are looking at upgrading, the RME Babyface Pro. I have had one for a handful of years and love it. Its USB powered, no breakout cable, everything is built into the interface. Two XLR inputs with pre's, and two line ins. Also an ADAT in, so you could get a preamp with ADAD out which would give you 8 more inputs or something like that.
I also have a pair of Gefell M300's, Michael Watts was at least partially responsible for my buying decision, I love the recorded tone he gets with them. RME's driver support is supposed to be quite good, and their Totalmix virtual mixer is easy to use. Something worth considering if you are going that route. The Apollo units also look cool though. Being able to try (and buy) their proprietary plug ins would be fun. Next on the list for me is a preamp to give me some more inputs. That Sebratron is tempting...
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http://wwww.celticfingerstyleguitar.com Albums: The Isolation Waltz Noone Lasses Youtube Music on Spotify |
#59
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OP has some nice condensers. Hard to go wrong with those.
I felt like I got better sound when I moved from the Scarlet to the UA Apollo X4. However, I never plugged the Scarlet in since and did no AB comparisons.
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Alvarez: DY61 Huss and Dalton: DS Crossroads, 00-SP Kenny Hill: Heritage, Performance Larrivee: CS09 Matt Thomas Limited Taylor: 314ce, 356e, Baritone 8 Timberline: T60HGc |
#60
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OP checking back. Well I made a move and I went somewhat "big".
The robustness, simplicity, and performance of the Sebatron Axis 200VU Tube Mic Preamp as recommended by Jim1960 seemed too good to pass up so I ordered one from Soundpure that gets delivered tomorrow. I came to the conclusion that I really need dedicated line in options totally separate from mic pre-amps on an the audio interface so I am replacing my Focusrite Scarlett 2i4 with the Motu Ultralite Mk 5 USB interface. This interface has six line inputs in addition to two mic inputs. The A/D converters on this interface have excellent specs. My recording chain will consist of the mics - Sebatron - Motu - PC/Reaper. There is the option of mixing with the Motu's CueMix software and DSP capability. The other audio interfaces that were in play for me were the RME BabyFace Pro and the UA Apollo Twin & Solo models. The Motu seemed a better fit than the BabyFace for my needs and the reviews for the Windows/PC versions of the Apollo units seemed to be either love/hate (not so on the reviews of the same units when used with Mac OS). I think I have bought the last mic preamps and interface I'll ever need. I'm looking forward to learning how to use these tools. Thanks again to you all who offered advice and recommendations.
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Doerr Trinity 12 Fret 00 (Lutz/Maple) Edwinson Zephyr 13 Fret 00 (Adi/Coco) Froggy Bottom H-12 (Adi/EIR) Kostal 12 Fret OMC (German Spruce/Koa) Rainsong APSE 12 Fret (Carbon Fiber) Taylor 812ce-N 12 fret (Sitka/EIR Nylon) |