UAD 7.5 Software features 610 Tube Preamp & EQ plus BAX EQ Plug-in.

UA sent me an email announcing the release of their UAD Software 7.5 which features the 610 Tube Preamp and EQ plus the Dangerous BAX EQ developed in collaboration with Brainworx. It includes full 64 bit AAX and Mavericks support and they also updated their API Vision Channel Strip to use their innovative Unison Technology.

Here's the email:

Lots of great news to share today! 

With the release of UAD v7.5, we bring you the revered 610 Tube Preamp & EQ Plug-In Collection and the Dangerous BAX EQ Plug-In Collection for the UAD and Apollo platforms.

New! UA 610 Tube Preamp & EQ Collection — With UA’s new groundbreaking Unison technology, this new plug-in collection delivers the first genuine representation of the UA 610 preamp’s revered tube character —

• Includes the 610-A and 610-B Tube Preamp & EQ plug-ins, each with their own sonic attributes and feature sets
• Models 610-A and 610-B’s entire electronic path — including tube amplifiers and transformers, complete with circuit nonlinearities and dependencies
• Physical analog input impedance switching and front panel control of gain staging and other preamp parameters via Unison technology for Apollo Twin and Apollo DUO/QUAD owners

Unison Technology Overview -

• An exclusive analog/digital integration system already built into every Apollo mic preamp
• Enables Apollo mic preamps to sound and behave like the world's most sought-after tube and solid state preamps — including their all-important impedance, gain stage “sweet spots,” and component-level circuit behaviors
• Continuous, realtime, bi-directional control and interplay between Apollo’s physical hardware and UAD software preamp model

Additionally with UAD v7.5, the UAD API Vision Channel Strip Plug-In is now also Unison-enabled allowing Apollo users to capture the authentic circuit behaviors of the Vision’s timeless 212L preamp.

New! Dangerous BAX EQ Plug-in Collection — Developed by Brainworx, this premium “finishing EQ” offers world-class sonics, unique frequency curves and features  —

• Includes the Dangerous BAX EQ Mix and the Dangerous BAX EQ Master plug-ins
• Low Frequency cut filters dial-out unwanted subsonic frequencies, cleaning up low-end rumble and increasing headroom
• New Mid/Side function on stereo EQ Master version — not found on the original hardware

New! Platform Updates  — Full AAX 64 Support for Macs, OS X 10.9 Mavericks Compatibility, and Mac Pro Firmware Updates —

Also included in this release,  UA is pleased to announce full compatibility with Apple’s latest operating system, as well as full AAX 64 support for Mac users, with AAX 64 support coming for Windows 7 users this spring.

• Important note for Mac Pro users: UAD v7.5 includes firmware for Apollo DUO/QUAD, Apollo 16, and UAD-2 OCTO that enables these devices to be recognized by the new Mac Pro (Late 2013) when connected via Thunderbolt. This firmware has undergone preliminary testing and no issues were exposed, however it is not yet fully tested.

For more details on the release, or to download UAD v7.5 software, visit: www.uaudio.com/support/uad/75.html

Make sure you choose the correct hardware before downloading the installer for your setup.

Downloading now! 

Freebie Fri.: Producer SFX Free Pack & Nemesis FM Synth Giveaway.

ProducerSpot.com is giving away a free SFX pack on their site in return for following them on Twitter.

Visit their page and click on the Follow button to get access to the download.

"Get this Producer SFX Free Pack loaded with 30 awesome sound effects special designed for music productions. In this free pack you will find cool transition effects, risers, hits, alarms, sirens, reverses, up lifters and many more. Just listen the demo to make an idea about what you will get. If you want to give more flavor to your productions this collection is ideal."

ProducerSpot.com Free SFX Pack

They're also giving you a chance to win a free license for the Tone2 Nemesis Software Synth:

"Nemesis includes traditional FM synthesis as well as a completely new and improved approach to FM called NeoFM synthesis. NeoFM and several other innovative synthesis methods are exclusively available in Nemesis.

NeoFM is extremely powerful and intuitive. It is now easier than ever to get very good sounding results. The sound quality of Nemesis surpasses conventional synths, making it easy to locate the sonic sweet spot. 

Nemesis features an easy-to-use interface, which ensures that you will experience FM synthesis at its best and most entertaining. 

No less then 33 effects are available from the effects section, ranging from Reverb, Delay, Chorus, and Phaser, to Tremelo, Vibrato, Distortion, Amp-Simulation, Bitcrush, Degrader and Compressor."

Check out the Nemesis promo video:

The Awesome Channel Amplifier...no really, that's the name.

The "Awesome Channel Amplifier" from the Awesome Transistor Amplifier Company AwTAC for short) is unique among 500 series modules because it offers a passive LCR mix buss and an image switch in the Eq section. You can also build a mixer by combining multiple units in a 500 series rack.

From the website:

"The Awesome Channel Amp has an LCR passive mix buss (left – center- right selectable just like most consoles had up to the late 60′s, no pan pot) in the unit. Since it is a double wide module, we were able to use the extra set of I/O jacks for a mix buss. With a standard XLR cable, you can connect one Awesome into another and *POW* now you have a mixer. Just like that. The buss level, just like the paradigm of all lust worthy classic consoles with a passive buss, is conveniently set at mic level. After you’ve chained all your Awesome’s together, we’ve devised a special (awesome if you will) breakout cable that plugs into the standard XLR jack and delivers the Left and Right buss to the mic pre’s of your choice. This obviously sets you up for a myriad of tonal choices when both tracking with multiple mic’s mixed to a mono source (there are still *some* people that track guitars like this, right?) and mixing your stems (or tracks) from your DAW.

The mixing functionality is designed to work with all (every) 500 rack currently on the market. If it has a male and female XLR, you can use that rack to build a mixer out of Awesomes. Please inquire if you have a rack with TT jacks and we’ll come up with an easy solution for you."

FEATURES: 

Here are excerpts from a TapeOp Magazine review written by Chris Garges:

"Although there is certainly a general ’70s vibe to the unit, the Channel Amplifier is pretty much unlike anything else I’ve ever used from that period or otherwise. It can have an aggressive, API-like character and frequency response that’s useful on anything, but without the hard-sounding midrange. When driven with more gain, the fuzzy “out- front” character is somewhat similar to a Langevin AM16 [Tape Op #33] (especially with the Image switch set to Forward – more on that in a minute), but the accentuated harmonic content and apparent compression seem similar to a Telefunken V72 to me (especially on distorted electric guitar amps). The inductor-based midrange band on the EQ reminds me of the “large” size that you get from plugging into a Sphere EQ, while the high-frequency band seems to be reminiscent of many of the classic British equalizers of the period. Boost the bottom, and you start wandering into vintage Neve territory, but boost while engaging the gentle high-pass filter, and the bottom clears up in a really nicely- controlled way, allowing for an astounding array of low- frequency tone-shaping possibilities."

"As a standalone amplifier, the unit sounds great. The twelve- position input-gain knob is marked with line-level unity at 12 noon, and it switches from line to mic amp at 4 o’clock. An output transformer loading switch allows for additional tonal options that are varying degrees of different and/or noticeable, depending on the source material. The line amp on the unit is a really nice surprise and sounds fantastic when used as the sole amplifier on most high-output microphones. I’ve been using the line amp on different instruments in a mix with great results, too. Soon after I received the units, I sent a direct bass signal through one of them with the line amp running “right at the edge” of breaking up, and the result was amazing. The recorded DI signal sounded as if I’d used a mic on an amp and a bass with extremely articulate and much newer strings. There was a “shimmery” clarity that the bass had been lacking, and the Channel Amplifier helped situate the bass perfectly in this “big rock mix” without using any drastic EQ or outboard compression. The Channel Amplifier’s mic preamp has a semi- aggressive character that, when run hot, accentuates harmonic complexities. For me, this translates into musicality, much the way that symphonic percussionists are taught to accentuate harmonics with triangle playing technique. I find it tempting to run the mic preamp right at the edge at all times, but the large- ish steps in the gain range make it so that one little surprise in level can overdrive the units easily."

"The three-band EQ is a unique beast. Features-wise, it utilizes a Baxandall-type high and low shelf with three available frequencies each, and an inductor-based mid band with ten available frequency- selection points....the way the EQ works is based completely and totally, 100% on “sound” – and nothing else. As a result, the AwTAC features two 1 kHz and two 3 kHz points on the mid band, each labeled as “wide” and “narrow.” Generally speaking, the bands on these frequencies are all fairly wide. This is not intended to be a surgical-type equalizer at all, but it makes for an extremely effective tone-shaping tool. It’s worth noting that these EQs were meant to be boosted or cut to their full potential, and turning any of those knobs pretty much all the way in either direction works well without falling apart sonically. It just sounds good."

"Totally unique to the Channel Amplifier is the addition of an Image switch in the EQ circuit. This magic little switch provides additional sonic choice to the general tone of the EQ. The options are a full-range, pleasant sound that sits nicely within a mix, or a slightly more assertive sound that helps the signal “jump” to the front. In practice, one might record basic rhythm guitar tracks with Image set to Back, and then cut solos and single note lines with the switch set to Forward. At this point, the quieter single-note stuff steps out from the other guitar sounds without making any changes to guitar, amp, mic, preamp, or EQ settings. Cut lead vocals with the switch in Forward, background vocals with it Back. Make kick and snare drums jump out from the rest of the drum kit. This is a subtle but extremely useful and completely unique feature of the Awesome EQ."

Read the entire review here: 

Multiple audio samples of multiple recordings done with various microphones on vocals, piano, drums and guitar can be found on this page.

Take a look at this video that explains how the bussing works on the Awesome Channel Amplifier:

See the full specs on the Awesome Channel Amplifier here.

Price: $1599 direct from AwTAC. (You get a free Purple Audio 500 series Rack when you purchase 4 units).

Soundtoys MICROSHIFT

 Popular plugin maker Soundtoys sent me an email stating that the long awaited MICROSHIFT plugin has finally arrived. It is dubbed as the BIG brother to the Little Microshift that was offered for free last year:

 I've been using the Little Microshift and it's "big brother" has additional features that will make it a welcome addition to my plugin arsenal. Previously I used the Eventide H3000/4500 family of hardware processors to achieve the same effect (their current units are the Eclipse, H7600 and H8000FW).

If you already own the little Microshift you can upgrade to the MICROSHIFT for $49. If not the price is $89. Offer good till march 4th, 2014, after which it will cost $129.

From the website:

"MicroShift makes it wide. Be it vocals, synths, guitars, backing vocals or whatever you choose to run through it, MicroShift uses this classic studio trick to spread out, thicken up, or give a new space to any track you hit with it. Of course, the SoundToys spin takes it beyond the original with the new FOCUS knob that lets you push and widen specific ranges without affecting the rest of the track. Amazing for adding "shimmer" to a vocal, or "air" to a guitar. Control of the detune amount, delay, and a mix knob let you tweak the effect to fit just right in the track. MicroShift combines the classic sound of the hardware with new advanced features, and an intuitive interface. Simply huge."

Make sure to read the Authorization procedures as it has changed.

Here's a video of the Little Microshift by Neil of ProTools Expert that lets you hear how well the effect works and also talks about the history of the effect the MICROSHIFT is based on:

Tech Tues.: Phase and the Little Labs IBP.

This is a great explanatory video from Logic Pro Expert on Phase. The video shows how different degrees of phase inversion can affect sound and also discusses the difference between phase and polarity. It mentions a very important fact that phase issues tend to affect low frequency sounds much more drastically than high frequency sounds. (Keep this in mind when combining kicks, bass and 808s).

As the video states phase usually becomes an issue when recording the same source with multiple microphones but also comes into play when recording with both a D.I. and microphone at the same time or re-amping a previously recorded track that will be combined with the original. If you like to layer your virtual sounds pay attention to the phase. You can easily check by switching polarity on each added sound to see if it sounds better.

You can resolve phase issues in various ways:

1. Shift tracks in time to line up the waveforms.
2. Use the polarity switch on your console or a DAW plugin.
3. Use a variable phase unit such as Little Labs IBP. Available as Hardware ($575) or UAD-2 plugin ($99) which is my go to plugin when dealing with phase issues.

From the website:

"The IBP and IBP Junior easily eliminate the undesirable hollow sound when combining out-of-phase and partially out-of-phase audio signals. Designed as a phase problem solving device, the IBP Analog Phase Alignment Tool has quickly become popular among audio engineers as not only a “fix it” tool but as a controlling audio phase creative, tonal color tool."

FEATURES:

• Allows mics to be placed where they sound best individually.
• No compromising mic place do to phase problems when using IBP technology.
• Rack mountable, 4 units fit in a 1U space.
• Real time all analog phase sweep between 0° and 180º

IBP (Includes the above features plus all the following:)

• Internal super quality active direct box.
• Internal “re-amplier” to convert pro-level to guitar level (w/ or w/o phase adjust).
• Buffered instrument level output for driving long guitar cables.
• Splitting between two instrument amps with transformer isolation + phase sweep.

Here's a video demo of UA's IBP Plugin:

The Roland AIRA..... Game Changer?

There's been a huge buzz about this ever since Roland announced pre-NAMM 2014 that they were releasing the AIRA which is a new system based on Roland Classic synthesizers and drum machines some of which are still used today on many hit records. Some may say that the sounds of the original are available as samples or plugins and even hardware clones but I was still curious to see what Roland (as the original manufacturer) had to offer with the AIRA. As much as I love the convenience and features of software I still like the feel of hardware and I'm sure there are many others that feel the same. I also like that you can purchase the entire line or individual pieces as you like which is great for those on a budget.

The Roland AIRA consists of the:

• TR-8 which is an updated and revamped TR-808 and 909 in one unit. ($499)

• TB-3 Touch Bassline which is based on the classic TB-303 Bassline. ($299)

• VT-3 Voice Transformer ala VP-330 Vocoder Plus. ($199)

• System-1 Plug out Synthesizer based on the System 100 and SH-101. ($599)

The AIRA has been receiving great feedback now that actual units are being reviewed. Here's what they had to say over at djtechtools.com about the AIRA:

"we can confidently say that lovers of the old Roland gear being recreated here will not be disappointed with the sounds. While it is digital, all of the AIRA gear uses 32-bit/96kHz digital signal path, which means that you cannot detect any digital aliasing (notching) in the sounds, even during long, slow filter sweeps and LFO modulation."

and here's a video they made showing the AIRA being used in an actual performance at NAMM 2014:




also take a look at this extended video of the TR-8 by SonicState;

Roland AIRA Features:

TR-8:
• Newly developed Analog Circuit Behavior (ACB) technology allows part-by-part analyses   and  faithful recreation of tonality and behavior including the smooth variations of tone that occur when  you work the controls of each instrument
• Obsessive attention to detail – like reproducing the original TR’s unique variations in tone that occur when multiple instruments are entered in accented steps

TR Evolved:
• 16 stunning kits made up of 11 instrument types
• Control the intensity of the Accent function with a dedicated knob
• Per-step Gate Reverb and Delay effects with dedicated, real-time knobs
• Mix sources connected to the External Inputs
• Built-in Side Chain function creates rhythmic ducking and gating effects on External Inputs with per-step control
• Rec/Play modes have been eliminated enabling seamless pattern making and performance
• Real-time play of 4 different types of rolls (8th, 16th, VARI 1, VARI 2)
• Quickly Mute/Unmute individual instruments during performance or production
• Pattern randomizing and Pattern copy

TB-3
TB Evolved:
• Pressure sensitive Touch Pad
• Dedicated Tempo control with Shuffle and Tap Tempo
• Control built-in effects with smooth, responsive knobs
• Seamless switch between pattern creation and performance
• Enter steps manually or record real-time on the Touch Pad
• Random pattern generation and pattern modification with pattern copy

System-1: Plug-Out Synthesizer
• Advanced Arpeggiator with SCATTER jog dial offers 10 different phrase variations
• Variety of modulation (incl. ring modulation, cross modulation and oscillator sync)
• -12dB and -24dB filter types with independent high pass filters
• Crusher knob for modern edge
• Integrated Delay and Reverb effect units
• Tempo syncing for LFO and Delay
• Innovative thin keyboard with 25 normal sized keys

VT-3 Voice Transformer
• Voice characters: Pop and electro sounds with two distinct “AUTO-PITCH” effects; VP-330-style VOCODER sounds without need for a keyboard; Glitchy effects that sound like something broke (in a good way) with SCATTER o Loads of lo-fi character with MEGAPHONE and RADIO settings; Synthetic sounding voices with the ROBOT button; Synths you can sing with SYNTH, LEAD, and BASS
• Save your three favorite settings for instant recall
• XLR standard combo jack with phantom power and 1/8” inch powered mic jack
• Stereo outputs can be configured as separate mono Wet/Dry channels
• USB audio interface with loopback recording to overdub vocals on existing tracks and USB bus powered

The TR8, TB3 and VT3 ship in March but the System One will be released in June.

Freebie Fri.: Twisted Tools_S.O.S-LAYER 2 Sample Pack

Software manufacturer Twisted Tools is celebrating their 4th year and as an anniversary gift they're offering a free S.O.S-LAYER 2 Sample Pack based on their own S-LAYER Software.

"Twisted Tools is four years old and to thank you for your continued support we've put together a collection of 20 FREE KITS for Maschine, Ableton and Reaktor made up of over 160 samples created with Twisted Tools S-LAYER.
To top it off, S-LAYER will be on sale this week for 25% OFF. Just add it to your cart and the discount will be automatically applied."

"S-LAYER is a sample layering sound creation tool for Reaktor 5 that allows you to create, edit and play new sound combinations. S-Layer is perfect for creating complex drum sounds, impacts, whoosh and pass-by sounds."

The sample pack also provides the raw samples so you can use them in the sampler/DAW of your choice. Along with drum sounds they include sound effects. I auditioned some of the sounds and liked what I heard.



S.O.S-LAYER 2  FEATURES:

• 20 FREE kits (160 oneshots .wav files)
• Based on a selection of Twisted Tools S-LAYER preset kits Mapped and formatted for Maschine, Ableton Live and Reaktor Tagged Maschine files 

System Requirements :

• Approx. 219MB of disc space
• Internet connection for product download
• Any program that can read .WAV files
• Latest version of Native Instruments Maschine 2 for Maschine Kits
• Latest version of Ableton Live 9 for Live Kits
• Latest version of Reaktor 5 for Reaktor Maps

Visit Twisted Tools for more info on their products and additional freebies.

UA Apollo Twin End User Review

I previously posted about the new UA Apollo Twin that was announced at NAMM 2014. My good friend Dustin Kayser of Yay Area Entertainment in California wrote an enthusiastic review of the unit for me to post on the blog. Like myself Dustin is a big fan of UA and also owns a UAD-2 Apollo Quad.

Here's the review of the Apollo Twin Duo in his own words. It's not a technical review but rather his views and opinions of the Apollo Twin as an actual user of the interface:

"Straight outta NAMM & Scotts Valley, Ca- Universal Audio introduces the mobile solution for their groundbreaking Apollo interface called the "Apollo Twin" coming in two flavors: Apollo Twin Solo and Twin Duo. 

As a proud Apollo Quad owner i've always loved using the Apollo in the studio as my main interface but when it comes time to pick up and do some mobile recording i've always chosen to leave the Apollo in the rack in favor of my Duet 2 for portability (hey, I love the fact that I can fit a whole studio in my Book Bag lol). Like a lot of other musicians, producers and engineers I thought it would be nice if Universal Audio made something smaller similar to the Duet (minus the breakout cables) that included their revolutionary low latency recording feature which would make it a very attractive mobile interface together with their world class plug ins. Well UA delivered right in time for the 2014 NAMM show with the Apollo Twin. 

As someone who's an 80's baby I grew up in a time listening to music where I now understand and appreciate the benefits of Analog tape, consoles, compressors, equalizers, reverbs and the sound/colors of vintage gear etc. but also young enough to embrace the new cutting edge digital technology that models these behaviors and sonic palates while offering new sounds and an improved workflow as well as countless other benefits.

And while it can be argued that Analog (sometimes) still reigns supreme with sound quality you can't ignore the ability to recall a complex session with a lot of effects. When you factor in your Apollo Twin you now have a virtual studio of accurately modeled legendary channel strips, tape machines, compressors, equalizers, amps, plus the sound of the Ocean Way live rooms in a 2 1/2 lb device the size of a sandwich from Arby's- is nothing short of amazing! 

One of the biggest new features of the Apollo Twin is something Universal Audio is calling Unison Technology which allows them to model Preamps and their inherent behaviors. The first preamp to bear this technology is the classic Universal Audio 610-B. 

What makes this preamp technology unique is it's ability to work with the circuitry of the Apollo mic pres along with your mics and it does impedance adjustment. To be clear, UA says that it's real impedance switching not modeling. This is definitely an interesting feature and I look forward to see what other Preamp emulations they come up with in the near future!

Now getting to the good stuff. To test out my mobile rig I was using my Macbook Pro, Pro Tools 11, a standard Audio Technica Mic & a pair of Equator D5's connected to the monitor outs (located on the back of the Twin). I'll be the first to admit I'm no Hendrix but I hooked up my Strat to the Hi-Z input and immediately called up the 610 Preamp and played with the input gain, hi's, low's as well as the impedance until I found a tone that I liked. It was really satisfying to dial in a nice sound with the 610. I then added a Softube Amp Room plug followed by a Roland Space Echo with a touch a LA-2A, everything sounded great!

I had one of my artists come in and lay some down vocals. The low-cut filters came in really handy. A little bit of 1176 and a touch of SSL E-Channel Eq complimented the aggressive rap vocals nicely. I also had a singer come in and she layed her vocals as well. I ran her vocals thru the LA-2A to get some of that nice tube compression that complimented her voice and just a touch of EMT-140 Reverb to let the vocals sing in the mix even more. You can really dial in a classy sound in no time. I'm also looking forward to experimenting with the API preamps more later on.

The conversion quality of the Apollo Twin is excellent capturing audio up to 24 bit/192 kHz and even though my Duet 2 sounded great to my ears I really feel the sound of the Apollo's conversion is definitely a step up. The two Preamps are high quality and very transparent. On the front panel you have your controls for a low cut filter, 48v Phantom Power, 20 db pad, polarity inversion and stereo linking. The ability to capture sound in such a high quality but also shape it with these plug ins almost anywhere just reminds me that we're really living in a great time right now!

The controls are solid and well lit up. Muting is as easy as pressing the big knob and the dial turns red. I would have prefered that the big knob have a smoother stepped increment kind of feel like some other devices feature but to be real when the music's playing you really don't notice anyways. The digitally controlled analog monitoring overall was smooth and precise.

The Console app is great once you understand the layout. UA provides informative tutorial videos on their website. The plug in GUI's are beautiful with nice attention to detail. 

The rear panel features: an ADAT connection, 2 Mic Pre's/Line in's, 2 Line Outs, 2 Monitor Outs, Thunderbolt and Power switch. Goodbye Breakout cables! The Hi-Z input and Headphone output are located in the front of the unit.

On the downside some people may feel that only having a Solo or Duo processor is a bit power shy (I can't speak for the solo) but with my Duo I felt like I had just enough processing power for recording and experimentation on the go. Whatever else I might need during mixing I could simply re-allocate my resources in the mix for additional processing. The new 610 Preamp is also very CPU hungry as you can only run 4 stereo/8 mono instances on a Twin Duo but realistically most people won't need that much just for recording an input or two at a time with the Twin and if they do then the Apollo Quad or 16 is better suited for that type of users needs. Also to be fair it doesn't include a Thunderbolt cable which I think should have been included. And as of now because of it's Thunderbolt only connection the Twin is limited to Mac users only (for the time being) until more PC manufacturers start integrating the Thunderbolt ports into more of their products. When that happens you can bet UA will be eager to cater to it's loyal PC crowd. And finally the Thunderbolt connection doesn't provide power to the Twin so you're going to have to plug in a standard power adaptor to power the interface. In other words if you're into making music on the beach you're gonna have to run a really long extension cord (lol) but for the majority of users it's not an issue considering how powerful the unit is combined with the sound quality available in such a small footprint.

With that said everything about the Apollo Twin, even it's packaging is exceptional.

Excellent Sound Quality & conversion.
Low Latency Recording
Impressive new Unison Preamp technology. 
The (included) 610-B Preamp sounds great.
Includes SoftTube Amp Room Essentials.
Strong solid construction and build. 

This thing is versatile and great for travel while providing excellent sonics...Highly Recommended!!!"

Apollo Twin Features:

Key Features

• Desktop 2x6 Thunderbolt audio interface with world-class 24-bit/192 kHz audio conversion
• Realtime UAD Processing for tracking through vintage Compressors, EQs, Tape Machines,
  Mic Preamps, and Guitar Amp plug-ins with near-zero (sub-2ms) latency
• Thunderbolt connection for blazing-fast PCIe speed and rock-solid performance on
  modern Macs
• Unison™ technology offers stunning models of classic tube and transformer-based
  mic preamps
• Two premium mic/line preamps; Two line outputs; front-panel Hi-Z instrument input
  and headphones output
• Two digitally controlled analog monitor outputs for full resolution at all listening levels
• Up to eight channels of additional digital input via Optical connection
• Uncompromising analog design, superior components, and premium build quality
• Runs UAD Powered Plug-Ins via Audio Units, VST, RTAS & AAX64 in all major DAWs

Audio Interface

• Sample rates up to 192 kHz* at 24-bit word length
• Up to 10 x 6 simultaneous input/output channels
  
  • Two channels of analog-to-digital conversion via:
    
    • Two balanced mic/line inputs
    • One Hi-Z instrument input
  • Six channels of digital-to-analog conversion via:
    
    • Digitally-controlled stereo monitor outputs
    • Stereo headphone outputs
    • Line outputs 3-4
  • Up to eight channels of digital inputs via:
    
    • Eight channels ADAT optical with S/MUX for high sample rates, or
    • Two channels S/PDIF optical with sample rate conversion
• 64-bit device drivers
• PCIe audio drivers

Microphone Preamplifiers

• Two high-resolution, ultra-transparent, digitally-controlled analog mic preamps
• Front panel and software control of all preamp parameters
• Low cut filter, 48V phantom power, 20 dB pad, polarity inversion, and stereo linking

Monitoring

• Digitally-controlled analog monitor outputs maintains highest fidelity
• Independently-addressable stereo headphone outputs
• Independently-addressable line outputs 3-4 can be used for additional cue mix
• Front panel control of monitor levels and muting

UAD-2 Inside

• One (SOLO) or two (DUO) SHARC DSP processors
• Realtime UAD Processing on all analog and digital inputs
• Same features and functionality as other UAD-2 devices when used with DAW
• Includes UAD Powered Plug-Ins “Realtime Analog Classics” bundle
• Complete UAD Powered Plug-Ins library is available online

Software

Console application:

• Enables tracking and/or monitoring with Realtime UAD Processing
• Remote control of Apollo Twin features and functionality
• Virtual I/O for routing DAW tracks through Console
• Two independent stereo Auxiliary busses

Console Recall plug-in:

• Saves Apollo Twin configurations inside DAW sessions for easy recall
• Facilitates control of Apollo Twin monitoring features from within the DAW
• VST, RTAS, AAX 64, and Audio Units plug-in formats

UAD Meter & Control Panel application:

• Configures global UAD settings and monitors system usage

The UA Apollo Twin Duo is Available at various dealers for $899. Some of which will give you a FREE Thunderbolt cable.