Somebody stop me from buying an Apollo x8

icu81b4

I have a Universal Audio Apollo twin MkII which I extend with a Focurite OctoPre Dynamic, but the OctoPre is currently having its power transformer replaced, and whilst it's being repaired/serviced I am very tempted to replace it with the X8, especially with the offers of free plugins at the moment.

But I rarely track more than one person at a time and especially during this pandemic when I limit access to my studio. .....

What to do.... What to do. 

WiresDreamDisasters

No, sorry.

Get one.

They're amazing  

If it helps, the larger cards can run a ton of plugins, especially the X series with the Hexa-core processing. I can run 27 or so UAD Distressor plugins before I start to hit the limit.

icu81b4

Well that's not helping, does the plug in capability extend to the daw or just whilst tracking?

octatonic

You can use UAD plugins to track or to mix.

The advantage is you can monitor through them with near zero latency during tracking whilst using UAD plugins to mix.
In reality you need to budget at least a grand for plugins- I have almost all of them now and it was over £2.5k buying during the sales.

I have an X8 here in Geneva, and a UAD2 in my UK studio.
IMHO I still think Pro Tools HDX is better (one mixer, lower latency but a lot more money, Pro Tools only) but if you aren't prepared for that expense then go for it.

tekbow

Out of interest, the Octopre Dynamic is the one you can configure via ADAT to be expanded I/O  rather tha just input, right? I.e. you can send from the DAW to expand monitoring or re-amping?

icu81b4

@tekbow Yes, it has the line out capability, - it's a nice unit. 

tekbow

icu81b4 said:

@tekbow Yes, it has the line out capability, - it's a nice unit. 

Brilliant, was considering one of these

icu81b4

@tekbow Would you be interested in buying my OctoPre? 

tekbow

icu81b4 said:

@tekbow Would you be interested in buying my OctoPre? 

Can't at the moment sadly, funds are lacking. I was enquiring more with future expansion in mind

Jalapeno

Do it !

(You're welcome ! )

kjdowd

Absolutely. Do it. Amazing kit. 

icu81b4

Well thank you all for you help,  It arrives on Tuesday,   - it's annoying that thunderbolt cables aren't included tho' 

kjdowd

It is. An even more annoying when you realise that all the usb c cables you have to hand aren't thunderbolt cables. Not that this happened to me, you understand...

octatonic

icu81b4 said:

Well thank you all for you help,  It arrives on Tuesday,   - it's annoying that thunderbolt cables aren't included tho' 

By way of comparison, Focusrite Red series supply them with the interface.
Yes it sucks.