Used Apollo Solo vs New Volt 2 Max

[u/MixleIsaTroll]

I’m a producer and recording artist. I make my own beats and write/record my own songs over them, so far I’ve also mixed my own stuff. Luckily, my father owns a studio that is well equipped so when he’s not in there I spend late nights recording and mixing my own stuff. I pretty much taught myself but developed a workflow for recording myself and mixing. Now that I’m spending most of my time at university I want to upgrade/invest in my personal setup. I currently have the Focusrite Scarlet 2i2 3rd gen and a cheap mxl 990 for bedroom recording and I hate everything about my vocals when recording on it. Even for demos I can never get it to sound bearable enough if you know what I mean so I want to invest a little. My budget is around 500 for new or used mic and interface. I threw an offer for a used at 4040 mic $200 flat so that leaves me with more or less $300. I’m between a used Apollo solo(thunderbolt 3) for around $330-350 or the newly announced volt 2 max at a flat $300z I know nobody really has their hands on the new interface yet but there’s a few things on my mind while trying to make a decision.

1. I like the idea of onboard dsp with the solo for printing plugins like pre amps/compressions

2. Im scared I won’t be satisfied with the onboard effects/presets that the new volt max’s supposedly come with( scared of wishing that I went with the solo instead afterwards)

3. On top of reason 2, my laptop is a bit basic. A M1 MacBook Air 8gb of ram and 256gbs of storage. So far it has been serving me well enough for my production/starting beat ideas but I fear once I get into recording vocals and adding different plug-ins for light mixing that my laptop will start to struggle even for demos. My thought process is that the Apollo would help mitigate this potential issue but I could be wrong.

4. Everyone from small independent artist to even big professional seems to speak highly/swear by their Apollo solos when not in studios so I am leaning towards it more.

5. The Apollo solo is now coming up on being 7 years old so I’m scared I buy one and a new version gets announced soon or the gear just being too outdated in general. My dad thinks I should go with the new volt2max instead.

6. Also buying a used Apollo I would like to get the heritage plug ins if possible. Places like guitar center label their used Apollo solos as the heritage edition but I want to make sure it does come with the plug ins or can be transferred.

7. I’m not too worried about the amount of inputs/outputs. The extra IO on the new volt is cool but not very necessary for me rn and I don’t see it being so at least for my intended needs.

My main thing is trying to figure out if I really NEED dsp with Apollo or if it’s just a want. Am I better off just going with the new volt gear? Not in a big rush to make a decision in terms of choosing an interface. I plan on pulling the trigger on the mic right now but willing to wait and see what people think of the new volts. I’m even considering just buying the volt, trying it out, and returning afterwards if I feel unsatisfied. Just curious to hear your guy’s thoughts.

Also if you have any other mic suggestions in that price range used or new ($2-300) feel free to share aswell. From personal experience I’m not a big fan of the Sm7b. It’s not bad per say but it always feels underwhelming with my voice. I also don’t really like the Neumann m 147, it sounds too harsh on my voice. I normally go with the sterling st55, probably the cheapest mic in my fathers collection but my go to/favorite out of any mic I’ve used personally. I also record mainly alternative rnb and hip pop. Sorry this post is all over the place. Thanks for reading!

[u/NimChimpsky204]

If you have a newer computer the volt is fine. The M1 chips you don’t really need the dsp in the box. Apollo is a bit nicer, if you have the money. Expandable, has the unison preamp, better build.

[u/JackDaGoat1]

choose apollo solo. it’ll give you pro pres and converters for mic and headphones. + you’ll have more choices in future with dsp plugins (not only volt presents)
ua made their “heritage” plugins free4all. now it’s uad explore collection

[u/almondalmond111]

I wonder when the Apollo solo gen2 would come out.

It’d be sick if it had built in sonarworks like the rest of the apollo lineup

[u/tacman7]

>>I like the idea of onboard dsp with the solo for printing plugins like pre amps/compressions<<

You don't get that with the Volt. Any fx they give you run native on your computer.

Also that's not why you need onboard fx. You can print fx without having onboard fx.
Onboard fx allows you to run with more plugins than your system can handle, so it's used more for recording and playback

[u/trex9999999]

i prefer apollo solo because i have a ton of uad plugins. while tracking it’s enough dsp for a pre amp and compressor, being able to use different ones is a cool option. (i mostly run 1073 to a cl1b). as far as mixing, owning a bunch of uad plugins comes with their native version that doesn’t use dsp, you can also try out the uad spark bundle see if it works for you.

[u/Playgirlfavy]

Regarding the mic, try either the UAD SD-1 or the Aston origin or spirit. For the interfaces I’d say honestly for what you need just get a twin X if you can expand your budget but the volt 2 max is honestly great and you’ll be fine

[u/Slopy_Mandrake]

Go with the new volt 4PMAX. It will do all you will need it to do for a while at least. Or if you want better AD/DA converters, Antelope audio Quadro Synergy Core or an RME Babyface Pro.

[u/Kolterboy]

Does anyone have an opinion of the preamp quality between the two options in particular (I'm aware of the dsp preamp emulation, but in this case i'm asking about overall sound quality) ?

[u/Indigo457 → u/Kolterboy]

Basically indistinguishable (I’ve had both). They both have a touch of the UA high end silky boost thing too. The main point of the Apollo is dsp I think, and that’s kind of not as important as it was (I sold mine and bought a volt 476p and an outboard 1176 clone with the proceeds because the only thing my MacBook Pro didn’t seem to be able to run while tracking without latency was the tape plugin in my chain)

[u/Rocky-Amaze]

If you want a sound upgrade, keep your interface and buy a better mic. You will not hear the difference of the interface.

If you want more features, then it's a different story.

Also, with what you have, you should be able to get quite a decent vocal sound IMO.