Universal Audio Apollo Solo TB3 Heritage Ed.

The hardware is simply amazing, its versatile, easy to use and you dont need a power supply it gets it power straight from the Macbook. I did only put 4 stars on the features and overall because at that price they should include the TB3 cable, that is simply not acceptable.

As far as the plug ins go, they are incredible, the only problem is figuring out what you actually have included in this heritage bundle, so you will need the internet since nowhere else is it mentioned. When you register you get an offer to buy addtionnal plug in packs at an incredible price but be careful, figure out what you already own before building your pack or you might end up including one you already own.

Its a truly amazing product, but UA make it very hard for you to just use only the plug ins you have, slowing your workflow by user interface tricks to get you to try out and purchase more plug ins, and thats a shame as it gets annoying.

oh and dont buy any plug in for its full price as you will get regular offers with massive discounts for the plug ins.

I was in need of a sleek interface that sounded well and had its XLR inputs on the back. The Apollo Solo matched all of that, but it wasn't as polished as expected.

Sound - awesome, nothing to complain about. Although something I didn't expect was all the clicky clacky noises of the inside components every time when it's booting up.

It mostly has a solid metal construction with the exception being the buttons and the main knob which are plasticky. That was not a very pleasant experience since they are the main interaction points. The small round buttons also have a slight rattle to them. Combine that with the strangely rough texture and the experience isn't as premium I'd hoped.

The software setup, although well documented, was more cumbersome than expected. All the other software elements have a pretty steep learning curve and feel a bit overcomplicated. I've also experienced problems with Real Time Communication apps not being to work properly with the audio inputs/outputs, even after a couple days of troubleshooting. For reference, I used the interface with a M2 Pro Macbook Pro.

Another thing that surprised me was the inability to control headphone output through software. Every other input/output can be adjusted digitally, but the headphone output can only be adjusted with the physical knob when the "Headphone" output mode is selected on the interface itself.

Overall I could only see it as a decent option if used with a DAW for vocal and instrument recording. For anything other than that I'd look elsewhere.

Due to limited processing power you will most likely not get a lot of use out of the UAD Plugins, that wasn't my reason for my puchase anyways, as i just wanted a interface i was used to (UAD Twin) and the minimalistic optics - compared to a lot of the competitors' overcomplicated and frankly *ugly* design - definitely made me go with the Apollo Solo. So far it does its job as an interface well, it feels well built and high quality (again, compared to certain competitors absolute TRASH plastic interfaces) , if and when i will upgrade, i will most likely stay with UAD.