Apollo Twin USB and so-called USB3 ports

Hi everyone,

I received my Apollo Twin USB Duo the day before yesterday and it worked as an interface, but not as an audio interface. I did everything posted on the UA support page, but still couldn't get this thing to work (it talked to the PC, I could insert Plugins and play the guitar through it, but I wasn't able to get audio in and out of the PC).

The solution was buried deep in the documentation of the motherboard... on the back panel of the motherboard itself there are 4 USB 3.0 connectors, and none of them worked for the Apollo. The block diagram of the MoBo revealed that those USB ports are mounted on the back panel, but connected via the PCI express bus and a VIA chip, which means they are essentially mounted as an extra PCIe card, although they appear to be connected directly to the board.

After plugging the Apollo to a front USB3 connector it started working.

Hope this helps, Storyteller

The Twin USB requires not just USB 3.0, but "SuperSpeed" USB 3.0. Some computers don't have any "SS" ports at all while other have a combination of "SS" and "non-SS". It seems you may have both?

Hi there,

I thought all USB3 ports are "SuperSpeed", but not "SuperSpeed+".

"Dubbed SuperSpeed USB, USB 3.0 promises a major leap forward in transfer speeds and capability, while maintaining backwards compatibility with USB 2.0 devices. "
(source: SuperSpeed USB 3.0 FAQ | Everything USB )

Cheers Storyteller

Storyteller said:

Hi there,

I thought all USB3 ports are "SuperSpeed", but not "SuperSpeed+".

Click to expand...

You would think so, but apparently not all advertised "USB 3.0" ports perform the same way. I have (4) pairs of "USB 3.0" ports on my MB using two different USB 3.0 Controllers (Intel & ASMedia). Three of the pairs work fine with my Apollo USB. When I connect my Apollo to the 4th pair, it does nothing. The Apollo does not recognize it as a true "SS" USB 3.0 port. Oh well, as long as I have at least one pair of "SS" USB 3.0 ports working with my Apollo USB, I'll be good with that.

billybk1 said:

Oh well, as long as I have at least one pair of "SS" USB 3.0 ports working with my Apollo USB, I'll be good with that.

Click to expand...

Same here- now that I have it working I am fine with it. Have to open the case to get the 2nd USB3-Port to a back plate so that the cable to the Apollo does not block the front port, but other than that I am good

Some more basics: Just because a connector is on the motherboard and not on a PCIe expansion card, doesn't mean it's not using the PCIe bus to interact with the CPU.

These days pretty much everything besides the ram is going through the PCI bus (via the chipset on the motherboard) to talk to the CPU. That's how computers work.

Anyway, it's not uncommon that some USB ports on your motherboard wouldn't be as fully featured as others. Depends on your motherboard, but that's between you and your motherboard manual to figure out! Cheers!

Hey Justin,

thanks for sharing that- it was new to me since my last Music PC was over 7 years old and obviously the technology took some steps forward- while I upgraded pretty much the rest of the household, I did not bother to keep up with the PC systems. My assumption of "The connector is on the back panel, so it is connected directly to the board chipset" is obviously outdated.

Cheers, Storyteller

Yeah, I mean, that phrase is technically as correct as it ever was: Connectors on the back are directly connected to the board chipset. And the front panel connectors are also wired right to the appropriate connector on the MB.

There used to be much less talk about which chipset was on which MB, I think. It's kind of like, always been this way, just wasn't talked about.

Personally I used to build gaming computers years back. My first music computer was on windows, but quickly switched to Mac once it became "work" for me. But I still have a windows computer for Gaming. I did an upgrade/rebuild on it last month and had to catch back up on which chipset had which features, so I'd know what MB to buy. I do get the impression that 7 years or so ago there was not so much focus on chipset. Whichever MB supported the CPU you wanted was the one you got.
Maybe it's more of a focus now that Thunderbolt, USB3, and the newer/faster SATA features matter.

But anyway... yeah... hehe.

Hi again,

jnTracks said:

Yeah, I mean, that phrase is technically as correct as it ever was: Connectors on the back are directly connected to the board chipset.

Click to expand...

this assumption (which was also my initial assumption) is not valid for my Gigabyte mainboard. The front USBs are connected to the connector on the MB which attaches to the board chipset (Intel H81 in my case), but the 4 USBs on the back panel are not connected directly to the Intel H81, but to a VIA VL805 which is attached to the PCI express bus (which lead to the Apollo not playing or recording any sound, because IMHO all 4 USBs on the back panel of the motherboard are basically acting as if they were on a PCIe card- see the diagram for details). Never would have thought of such a thing before configuring the PC- lucky that I have the front USB3s...

Cheers Storyteller

So..Any update on the Twin working with a PCI-e SS card..? Seems this would eliminate this "plain" 3.0 port problem if you don't have real SS ports on board..!

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Tuesday, 2016 FEB 23: (update) Apollo Twin Duo USB will not function properly --- freezing and no audio from device
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After joining on UADforum threads and receiving suggestions/tips from the community, as well as reading other online forums, it seemed that the core issue was being isolated to be a 'USB Hub/Controller incompatibility' of some sort.

I uninstalled the old USB drivers and installed the most recent driver version. This seemed to fix the connectivity issues as Windows system audio began to play through our Monitor/Headphone output again!

But, upon testing out some playback in Spotify we had perfect audio playing through our monitors for 18-20 seconds, then Boom! The audio output glitched/spiked and the Monitor/Headphone froze (the same results were found using Windows Media Player, YouTube, Cubase, Sony Sound Forge, Arturia & ToonTrack standalone programs, etc).

Screenshots of everything are attached.


• Hardware status is "OK"
• WDM and ASIO sample rates are "Matched at 44.1kHz"
• Windows Sound > Playback displays "UA Apollo Twin USB DUO" as default device

• Device Manager: "UA Apollo Twin USB DUO" displays as it's own installed/active device
• Device Manager: Audio DSP Accelerator appears to be installed/loaded
• Device Manager: Line and Speakers are installed/active as "UA Apollo Twin USB DUO"
• Device Manager: Sound/Video/Game controller installed/active as "UA Apollo Twin USB DUO"


I'm lost for ideas at this point. It's very possible that my understanding of the USB3.0 is lacking, but if ALL of the necessary "devices" are installed, up-to-date, and Windows claims they're functioning properly --- HOW and WHY is this happening to my studio setup?!?

Am I missing something?

Ahhhhhhh I can't believe it. SUPERSPEED!!!! Whether my Asus P8Z68-V Motherboard nor my Surface Pro 2 have an USB 3.0 Superspeed Port. Why can't 3.0 not just be 3.0 ? :-(
Do I have to buy a PCI Card for USB3.0 SS now? Which one should I take to make it work?

Hi there,

after reading all the forum posts it is inevitable that one gets confused... I would like to emphasize one thing:

Every USB3 port is a SUPERSPEED port because SUPERSPEED is just a name for USB3.0.
See: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USB_3.0

-The Apollo Twin USB needs an "Available built-in* USB 3 SuperSpeed port" (UA webpage).
Note: USB 3 adapters (such as PCIe-to-USB 3 expansion cards) not supported

The key phrases are "built-in USB3" and "PCIe not supported", because e.g. my Gigabyte motherboard has USB3 ports on the back panel of the motherboard itself that are connected via a PCIe adapter mounted on the board, so they are not built-in ports, but adapter ports, even if they do not look like those (the Apollo does not work on those ports).

How does one tell whether the ports are real built-in or connected via an adapter?
Good question, I dug up the block diagram in the documentation of my motherboard to answer this- USBtreeview does not show the difference (or I am overlooking a tiny detail).
In any other case I can't think of anything but trial-and-error or experience of other users.

Cheers Storyteller

Storyteller said:

Hi there,

after reading all the forum posts it is inevitable that one gets confused... I would like to emphasize one thing:

Every USB3 port is a SUPERSPEED port because SUPERSPEED is just a name for USB3.0.
See: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USB_3.0

-The Apollo Twin USB needs an "Available built-in* USB 3 SuperSpeed port" (UA webpage).
Note: USB 3 adapters (such as PCIe-to-USB 3 expansion cards) not supported

The key phrases are "built-in USB3" and "PCIe not supported", because e.g. my Gigabyte motherboard has USB3 ports on the back panel of the motherboard itself that are connected via a PCIe adapter mounted on the board, so they are not built-in ports, but adapter ports, even if they do not look like those (the Apollo does not work on those ports).

How does one tell whether the ports are real built-in or connected via an adapter?
Good question, I dug up the block diagram in the documentation of my motherboard to answer this- USBtreeview does not show the difference (or I am overlooking a tiny detail).
In any other case I can't think of anything but trial-and-error or experience of other users.

Cheers Storyteller

Click to expand...

Very confusing..I know there are the 2.0 USB, the USB-3.0 , and then the USB 3.1 SS (stamped on the port with the blue color) so which one of the 3.0 ports does the Twin require..? (5 times the speed or 10 times the speed).(.

Snatchman said:

Very confusing..I know there are the 2.0 USB, the USB-3.0 , and then the USB 3.1 SS (stamped on the port with the blue color) so which one of the 3.0 ports does the Twin require..? (5 times the speed or 10 times the speed).(.

Click to expand...

I don't have a Twin USB, but according to what's been said (a few times) in this thread: the speed isn't the issue. How the port is attached to the computer is the issue. Directly attached to the MB will be on the back panel with all the other ports on the back of your computer, but not ports on expansion slots, and maybe not front panel ports depending on how they are wired on your particular computer.

I was having issues with crackling, and only able to hear clear audio at 82khz. Asus mobo, win 10 64 bit.

Here is my fix:


First, unplug all usb devices except keyboard and mouse, then -

1. In device settings;
2. In Universal Serial Bus Controllers;
3. Right click all host controllers, Generic USB Hub and basically everything listed, and uninstall all of them. Leave the one that your keyboard is if you have no other keyboard i/o;
4. Reboot;
5. Begin plunging in your usb devices, and windows will automatically find the best drivers;
6. In my case, bad audio stopped and I can access all other sample rates.

Good luck.

ravejanitor said:

I was having issues with crackling, and only able to hear clear audio at 82khz. Asus mobo, win 10 64 bit.

Here is my fix:


First, unplug all usb devices except keyboard and mouse, then -

1. In device settings;
2. In Universal Serial Bus Controllers;
3. Right click all host controllers, Generic USB Hub and basically everything listed, and uninstall all of them. Leave the one that your keyboard is if you have no other keyboard i/o;
4. Reboot;
5. Begin plunging in your usb devices, and windows will automatically find the best drivers;
6. In my case, bad audio stopped and I can access all other sample rates.

Good luck.

Click to expand...

Sadly the issues persist after a while and this fix is only temporary. Hope its just a driver issue. Had an Akai EIE pro that was like this from its inception and never fixed. Uggggg windows.

So I wanted to share some information as I think I may have figure out the issues with the USB version of the apollo. After going over many threads and looking at all the information I found the most useful information here. [MENTION=10330]Storyteller[/MENTION] has provided the best information. As he stated the Aollo USB will not work with any USB ports that go through the PCI Express bus. This is where all of the mess starts. This could vary for so many PCs out there. From what I could tell after looking at various motherboard diagrams most Intel based motherboards have their USB 3.0 ports going straight through to the on board motherboard chips that run the I/O port, and most not if all AMD based motherboards have their USB 3.0 ports going through the PCIe bus, and then to the on board chips. This is why I think Universal Audio eventually said forget it we are going to say we advise using Intel based computers only as these buyers will have better luck. However as [MENTION=10330]Storyteller[/MENTION] showed his Intel motherboard USB 3.0 ports went through the PCIe bus , and this is why he used the front USB ports. Now with front usb ports these usually are routed to the I/O ports of your motherboard and do not go through the PCIe express bus. The I/O motherboard ports send data directly to your motherboard chipset and this is why you will have no issues using the front ports. Now I custom built my PC and I want an Apollo USB. To keep my build clean I plan on buying this part off of Amazon https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01KJPUI5W/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1. It will have rear USB 3.0 ports that I can connect the Apollo to on the back, but internally it will connect to the F/USB 3.0 I/O port of my motherboard and not go through the PCIe express bus. This will allow the connection to communicate directly with my motherboard chipset. I am hoping this will work. I have seen users online with AMD chips saying they have not had any issues and I think this is why. I will report back here in a couple weeks if this whole thing works for me.

Good luck! Please report back either way.

Good News and Bad News

Matt Hepworth said:

Good luck! Please report back either way.

Click to expand...

Hello Everyone,

I have good news and bad news. First good to see [MENTION=3332]Matt Hepworth[/MENTION] that you are still responding to posts in this thread. Thanks for checking in! So the bad news first. After looking further into AMD motherboard diagrams it seems the USB3 header I previously mentioned does not bypass the VLA chip that runs through the PCIe Express port, and it seems like this is the case for all AM3 and AMD 970 processors. These are mostly old generation motherboards that run on DDR 3 memory. Now the good news is this has changed. With AMD's Ryzen motherboards from what I have gathered all of the USB 3 ports run straight through their motherboard's chipsets like the intel motherboards do. This is a very good thing. So if you are buying a newer computer running on AMD Ryzen processors or building one you are more than likely safe. I am going to have to buy a new motherboard, memory, and Ryzen CPU but it will be well worth it. Will only run be about $300 which isn't to bad. So there is the good news guys hope this will help some of you out there.