Honestly, I didn’t really expect or need the Apollo Twin to work well for voiceover work. I have invested thousands of dollars on a rack of gear I have fine-tuned over the years for my preferred voiceover style. I didn’t want to think that anyone could just get a UA Apollo Twin and have great production value straight out of a box. I was looking for an upgrade over a basic interface for travel voice over recording (I had been using Shure X2U interface, which was great), but I wasn’t sure if a UA Apollo twin USB would work with my laptop and/or Cool Edit Pro. (Which I still religiously use, even after trying Audition CS6 and even ProTools. I still prefer the speed of Cool Edit. GET OFF MY LAWN!)
I quickly found that my laptop DID have USB 3, but the processor wasn’t listed on the approved processors. I was able to find a Twin USB on Craigslist for $500, so what the hell. All I can say is… DAMN! I’ve had the Apollo Twin for 2 months and have used it to do 95% of my voice talent work. On top of that, I have purchased approximately $1300 worth of plugins and have been so happy with it. So happy in fact, I purchased a 2nd one along with a 2nd laptop. I am amazed at its sound quality and versatility. (You save settings for any amount of sessions you want. Fantastic!) I am even selling off some of my rack gear, rendered unnecessary by this addition to my voiceover toolbox.
As much as it hurts my pride, I must admit that Apollo from UA is fantastic!!
Update (Feb 9, 2018):
I still love this thing and I use it for almost everything. Previously, I had been using my main rack of gear for things that needed a certain compressor sound, but I found a way to insert that into the Apollo. The only time I don’t use the Apollo is when I need to record someone else’s voice and I want to monitor it from outside of the audio booth (like kids, or even Olympic Athlete Brenda Martinez who was here last week to record for New Balance). Besides that, the Apollo has completely won me over.
They now offer a version of the Apollo, the Thunderbolt, that runs off the bus power from a computer, not needing an external power supply. None of my laptops have that option, so I will continue using the USB3 version for the next few years.
If you’re looking for great plugins, I suggest the Neve 1073. It adds some great heft to your audio. The “stock” preamp that came with the Apollo is great, adding more mid-forward without any character. A MUST-HAVE for anyone doing commercial work would be the Valley People Dynamite noise gate. Set it right for an incredibly smooth sound. I recently purchased the Oxide Tape and Distressor plugins. I use the latter for almost everything and the Oxide for added air and saturation
I guess you could say the Apollo is my new audio love affair. I’ve even sold off 5 more pieces of my “pro” travel rig including my Symetrix, a couple Aphex comps, and my roadrunner case.
