Blog

A collection of articles on a variety of things I've found interesting or useful. Not limited to game-audio, only limited to LIFE, MAAAAAAN

Just Buy an Apollo Already!

I've had quite a few people ask me about what my favorite audio interface is. It's super simple! JUST GO BUY AN APOLLO TWIN! It's hands down the best audio interface I've used.

Reasons:

  1. Portability - Incredible sounding interface in a super portable package. I carry a laptop, a push controller, and this interface to work with me everyday.
  2. Actual Zero Latency Monitoring - You can mute the input of your DAW and hear a direct signal (even through UAD Plugins). They also sell and include pre-amp emulations which I was very hesitant of. In the end those preamp plug-ins really sold me.
  3. THE PLUG-INS! - These are worth their own post honestly. These plug-ins to me sound better than any other emulations on the market by a long shot. Much like the gear they emulate you cannot simply place a plugin within the chain and have it instantly sound good (Izotope Ozone comes to mind). This is why I like them, in certain combinations they are much more powerful than anything else. The beautiful thing about them is that they force you to actually use your ears. I love a slick interface as much as the next person but somehow dialing in those archaic knobs until it sounds pleasing have really elevated both my sound-design and music.
  4. Super Clean on-board pre-amp. 

Here's a hot-tip. Spring for the duo vs. the solo. Running one Fatso and a few EQ's takes up most of one card. It's nice to be able to stack these things without having to frequently mix-down. You'll save $200 going the Solo route (it's what I did at first) but you'll make that $200 back with your increased workflow speed.

My Favorite UAD Plug-Ins

  1. SSL E Series Channel Strip - An incredibly musical and essential tool
  2. Shadow Hills Mastering Compressor - Considering that the plug-in version is a 10th of the price and sounds pretty incredible I'd have to highly recommend this one. It's a little hard to use at first but once you understand the signal flow a bit this thing can make a mix sound much better.
  3. Oxford Inflator - Just a good old fashioned ridiculously clean limiter. Super easy to overuse and abuse. I've never heard it sound bad, I just recommend to not drive the signal too hard into it. This thing will give you your loudness back.
  4. Fatso Jr. Sr. Tape Emulation - We do a lot of things that need to sound huge in the games business. This is a great way to help make that happen.