Billy,
 
Are you familiar with the UA710 preamp?  If you are, would you say that the preamps on the Apollo are on the same level or better?
 

I've posted this question to the UA forum.
 
Billy,
If I keep one of my Tango24 (8 channel) converters and route the ADAT outputs into the Apollo ADAT inputs and then utilize the Apollo line ins for my outboard mic preamps will SONAR only see 8 channels available for input?
 

I am impressed with Billy's post. I am not saying at all either that the UAD converters are inferior only what I heard. Personally I think if the converters sound great then Apollo is the way to go. It is very well priced and includes the UAD stuff too which is fantastic.
 
It could be a ploy also to get you spend more money by getting the RME stuff and the UAD Satellite is a more expensive option by about $1200 plus so Apollo on it's own certainly looks attractive.
 
I think people can get a little too carried away with how one converter sounds compared to another. They tend to be much closer than we suspect. There are far more things that will influence the sound in the end result mix than the converters themselves.
 
 

Mod Bod
Billy,
 
Are you familiar with the UA710 preamp?  If you are, would you say that the preamps on the Apollo are on the same level or better?
 

 
Hey Dave, 
              I have never used the UA710 and so have no reference to compare to the Apollo. You can read this Apollo review from the latest TapeOp magazine online. Fairly in depth review and they talk about the preamps and convertors as well and how they stack up. One thing I can say, the Apollo preamps are super clean and uncolored and are based on the Burr- Brown PGA2500.
 
http://tapeop.com/reviews/gear/95/apollo-audio-interface-with-real-time-uad-processing/
 
Cheers,
 
Billy Buck

Mod Bod
Billy,
If I keep one of my Tango24 (8 channel) converters and route the ADAT outputs into the Apollo ADAT inputs and then utilize the Apollo line ins for my outboard mic preamps will SONAR only see 8 channels available for input?
 

 
Sorry, I don't use the ADAT I/O or have any personal experience using them in the way that you describe. In addition to posing this question in the UA forum, you may want to do the same in the aforementioned Apollo GS thread. I know there are some Apollo/ADAT users posting on that thread that could probably answer your question.
 
Cheers,
 
Billy Buck
 

Jeff Evans
I think people can get a little too carried away with how one converter sounds compared to another. They tend to be much closer than we suspect. There are far more things that will influence the sound in the end result mix than the converters themselves.
 

 
Agreed! The next appreciable step up from the Apollo, converter wise, would be the Symphony I/O, which is thousands of dollars more. I think for it's price range the Apollo holds up really well.
 
Cheers,
 
Billy Buck