Universal AudioApollo X8 Thunderbolt 3 Audio Interface

I’ve had an Apollo Twin for 10 years, and it’s still working great, but after expanding my outboard collection I just needed more inputs. TBH I should have bought the x8, but after including a patch bay this one is just great! Not to mention I use a ton of UAD plugins, so chaining my old Twin gives me 8 cores of DSP for big mix sessions!

We have been testing out this unit and the plug-ins and so far we are very impressed. It integrates with ProTools seamlessly. Setup was easy. It has handled multiple plug-ins with ease with its processors. So far, I have nothing bad to say about it.

Perfect

👍🏻

I got this as an upgrade to my 9 year old MBox3 and thought it would be a huge step up. Turns out it's a step down.1) The mic pre amps are not half as good as they should be. When I a/b'd them with the MBox3, the same mic with the same amount of gain had significantly more hiss on the Apollo x6. Enough hiss that some mics that worked great with the MBox3 are unusable with the Apollo x6.2) The hardware build is very low quality for the cost. The knobs are plastic and buttons have a lot of wiggle that feels cheap.3) The software is buggy. The MBox3 never failed, ever. With the Apollo x6, about 2 or 3 times a day I get audio out, but no audio in. Even though the meters on the x6 show audio coming in, I don't see anything in the console app or in my DAW. The only way I know how to fix this is to cycle the hardware on and off.4) The included plug-ins are all old vintage stuff and not a mix of new and old. Vintage processing is nice for certain situations, but modern/clean processing is also very useful. Unfortunately you have to pay extra for that.

I cannot fathom any negative comments on this product. This is my second Apollo product.I am a Mac user so have no problems with it, it worked straight away no installation problems, no software issues!It is a little more complicated I believe for Windows users ( because Windows is complicated ) but contact Universal direct instead of the third party who sold it to you and universal support or the Forum will fix it!This machine is for consumers who are interested in the best sounding plugins , I wouldn't recommend it for beginners or hobbies as its expensive and you'd probably not understand it's sonic value., but as a sound guy and music producer Audio post mixer this is the best.Nothing comers near it. And it is worth every cent. So if you're ready to spend more to really sound better you cannot go wrong

After a few weeks of some issues, I finally got the Apollo x16 and x8p working well together. A few times I sat on hold with UAD tech support for over an hour waiting for someone to answer the phone (once it was 2 hours on hold after calling just 5 minutes after they opened their support). They must be busy fixing a lot of issues or very short handed. Their turn around on public forums is near nothing where their customers have posted questions and listed issues with no responses. Their staff si nice and friendly, when you get them, but be prepared to wait on hold a long LONG time.As for the gear, I have the Apollo x16 and x8p. I also bought EVERY plugin they have. All of them - which according to my account is over 162 plug-ins.The signal passes well and the sound is good for sure. I had upgraded from a Focusrtie Clarett expecting this to be outstanding in comparison, but it's really only a slight negligible improvement in sound. However, the Focusrite software is far FAR superior for routing IMHO, which is a huge surprise given all the hype around UAD Console. But after some research, I found many others offering similar reviews in comparison. Yes you get lots of outputs in the x16 and x8p combined, but the software ties your hands on how well you can configure it with only 4 cues to route multi signal paths too. Also, the ALT monitoring, only sends through one at a time. For some this might be fine, for, I found it useless. I wish I could us the Focusrtite software over Console. Focusrtie isn't fancy, but the routing is a breeze and very flexible. I spent a few days learning the Console, and finally accepted that it is just limited in comparison. Check the reviews, look deep and you'll find the same comments from many others.The UAD plugins are okay. But to be honest, I don't think they are really that spectacular. I have about 3,000+ plugins from many vendors. The UAD holds their own fine, but they are NOT much better then many others I have. Many I doubt I would ever use. And they are very expensive. Be prepared to spend a lot of money if you want them all.I spent more than $15,000 on this system and wish I never looked at it. I wish I never even knew about it. Huge regrets. Save youresefl the money and hasle and check out the Focusrite Clarett, save a LOT of money, get better routing and just as good latency. (yes the Clarett shows thee same latency with USB and I see with TB3). And seriously, the pre-amps on the Clarett are not as good, but they are very close in the ballpark, You'd be surprised.My comments here are very similar to many others I have found, but I think UAD and other suppress (Sweetwater included) these types of reviews. As an experiment, I am going to pose this on other sites as well, including UAD. You check and see if it posts.Oh man, I so wish I never bought this. Don't get me wrong, it is decent for sure, and the preamps are really good. No doubt. But it is definitely not worth the extra aggravation and loss of flexible routing ease at a huge price tag. Not even close to worth it.Summary:Pros:- great pre-amps. Unsion is great. Even the basic line ins on the x16 are really good. This is the best feature of the system.- Console app can handle some plugins and offer near zero latency (it is NOT zero). So, tracking is nice and that part is flexible- the hardware seems solid.- the staff is friendlyCons:- Expensive plugins - but only marginally average performance over others that cost much less- Horrible routing options. I mean horrible when you consider the hardware's capability and what Console does not allow you to do! Makes me wonder why even have the expensive outputs when they are so limited. This is my biggest gripe at this point. I needed to put my x32 back in action to do what it can't. grr!- their support is friendly, but you may need to take vacation day to a hold of them!

Supposed to work with Windows 10 on a PC. Does not. I have tried for 6 weeks top make this work; 1 week when it first got here, sent back to UA for a firmware update (need a mac to do a firmware update? Yup..) now after a week and a half of trying EVERYTHING to get this thing to work it is going back. Luckily Chicago Music Exchange has graciously agreed to a return/refund even past the 30 day point (after an initial "after 30 days, sorry" email.. I called and spoke with a person and fixed that) so 10 points Chicago Music Exchange, 1 point Universal Audio (mechanically it fit in the rack, so 1 point for that)Short version, unless you are on a mac, stay away.