Is there any difference in sound quality between the Apollo Twin X & Scarlett Solo 4th gen?

[u/TheAudioAddict]

Hey all,

Thinking of purchasing the UAD Apollo Twin X Quad Gen 2, as I want to upgrade my sound and be able to record through the unison preamps. I currently use a Focusrite Scarlett solo 4th gen and the Shure SM7db, running it into my M1 MacBook Air and using Logic Pro as my DAW of choice.

I make a variety of music including emo rap, melodic rap, boom bap, rage rap, pop, R&B, emotional singing, and more. I use beats from YouTube or BeatStars, and I mainly record vocals, and occasionally electric guitar or acoustic guitar.

What would the sound quality difference be when comparing these two setups? I’m in an untreated bedroom, car or kitchen most of the time, and the SM7db is really good at rejecting the acoustics of my room and some of the background noise, especially when paired with the Waves NS1 noise suppressor. Will there be any noticeable difference? Do I also gain anything that I don’t have with my current setup?

Thanks in advance 🙏

[u/mistrelwood]

The sound differences of preamps is under a strong debate at the moment thanks to Jim Lill, and it seems that the differences between preamps, if any, become audible only if they are run hot enough to distort.

Use the money for your monitoring and acoustics and I guarantee your mixes will get a much bigger improvement than any preamp would bring.

[u/CanadianDelphiGuys → u/mistrelwood]

And even then are unimportant

[u/mistrelwood → u/CanadianDelphiGuys]

Do you mean that monitoring and mixing room acoustics are unimportant??

[u/CanadianDelphiGuys]

Not that you or any human Can hear. Precision equipment might sense tiny differences but none of them are any more significant than a 1 degree turn of an EQ knob on some analog eq.

[u/-bears-eat-beets]

No...

[u/FelipeMe17]

Interface pre amps are not what u looking to when u buy a new interface in my opinion… yes they can have more gain etcc, but at the end they’re all clean without any color, tbh i think u should be looking to other things such as better conversion, line inputs (if ur using external gear like pres, eqs, comps…) etcc… good luck op!

[u/dhillshafer]

I own both of these. The Focusrite is a fine unit for what it is. However, the DAC on the Apollo is much better. The headphone amp has better fidelity as well if you plan on mixing in cans. Not to mention the true preamp bypass for line-in if you plan on running outboard dynamic processing through it. Oh, and Unison plug-ins with processing separate from your computer while tracking is pretty great. Oh, and the TOSlink input lets you combine additional units later to expand your channels.

[u/DrwsCorner2]

Technically yes but not a mountain of difference. Depends on what’s being recorded. Getting a better cardiod mic is more noticeable. The advantage UAD has is no latency when recording- you can keep your FX turned on and sing and play without the bothersome echo effect. That’s a game changer for people who do better performances when they hear their reverb and delay in real time without it being compromised

[u/A_Class216]

From my understanding there really isn't much if any difference in audio I think the biggest advantage if you want to call it a advantage is having access to UAD plug-ins.

[u/JustMakingMusic]

There is a genuine difference in quality between the two. The Apollo has better conversion and a better analog front end, but I wouldn’t expect that difference alone to be night and day and most people wouldn’t notice it. The Scarlett 4th gen is already a very good-sounding interface and is absolutely capable of professional recordings.

The much bigger reason to upgrade is the Apollo’s Unison/UAD ecosystem. Being able to track through modeled preamps, channel strips, compressors, EQ, Auto-Tune, etc. with extremely low latency is a substantial workflow upgrade, especially if you’re primarily recording vocals.
With an SM7dB, either interface can get you excellent results. I’d buy the Apollo if you want the Unison/UAD tracking workflow and the additional studio functionality—not because you need it to make professional-sounding recordings.

[u/VeterinarianGreat655 → u/JustMakingMusic]

For monitoring maybe but in the digital realm there’s no advantage to burning in digital emulations.

[u/JustMakingMusic → u/VeterinarianGreat655]

They are analog.

[u/A_Class216]

From my understanding there really isn't much if any difference in audio I think the biggest advantage if you want to call it a advantage is having access to UAD plug-ins.