Now Ready for Your Studio: The Best Apollo Yet
Boasting next-generation elite-class AD/DA and Dual-Crystal clocking, Universal Audio’s Apollo x8 Gen 2 yields the lowest distortion and widest dynamic range of any Apollo to date. The Apollo x8’s powerful HEXA Core processor provides you with award-winning emulations of tried-and-true studio classics that you can track through in real-time using UA’s vaunted Unison preamp technology. Of course, you can also combine Apollo x8’s onboard DSP with your host computer’s native processing to create a powerhouse hybrid workflow. Meanwhile, you’ll be able to mix confidently in any room or through headphones using Apollo Monitor Correction (an optional add-on); plus, Bass Management optimizes your subwoofer for maximum low-frequency detail. You’ll never miss a take again, courtesy of Apollo x8’s Auto-Gain feature, which sets your levels across multiple inputs. Beyond that, you get native support for mixing formats up to 7.1, enabling you to tackle surround sound and other multichannel formats with aplomb. Full-featured monitor control with speaker switching and integrated talkback are also in play. Furthermore, the updated UAD Console app enables you to quickly set up low-latency cues, plug-in scenes, and immersive audio monitoring, in addition to lock-tight LUNA integration. You also get near-zero latency and ample expandability, thanks to Apollo x8’s ultra-fast Thunderbolt 3 connectivity. On the fence regarding a performance upgrade? Now is the time to make the jump — Universal Audio’s Apollo is truly better than ever!
Related Videos: Apollo x8 Gen 2 Thunderbolt Audio Interface with UAD Analog Classics
Powerful hybrid workflow
Apollo x8’s onboard HEXA Core processor enables you to track in real-time with Neve, Manley, or API channel strips or run high UAD plug-in counts while mixing in your DAW with zero strain on your host computer. Once you’re able to inject guitars with the tube warmth of a Pultec EQ, add the musical limiting of an LA-2A to a vocal, and pump up drums with an 1176 or Fairchild 670, you’ll wonder how you got along without UA’s industry-leading DSP-accelerated plug-ins. What’s more, since you can also run your UAD plug-ins natively, you’ll be able to combine Apollo x8’s integrated processing with your host computer’s native processing to create a robust hybrid workflow capable of tackling even larger sessions with even more complex plug-in chains.
Leading-edge Unison preamps
Apollo x8’s Unison preamp technology enables you to track in real-time through faithful emulations of classic gear from Neve, Manley, API, and dozens more, giving you the same rich analog textures used on the greatest recordings of all time. Unison goes far beyond traditional software modeling, however, in that it adjusts the preamp circuit itself, including parameters such as impedance, analog gain structure, and much more. When you adjust the Apollo x8’s preamp gain knob and physical controls, the plug-in adjusts the preamp’s behavior to match the target preamp. So you’re not simply filtering your audio to approximate the character of a famous preamp — your microphone is now interacting with Apollo x8’s input the same way it would behave with the modeled preamplifier.
Elite-class AD/DA with enhanced monitoring
When they were designing the second-generation Apollo X interfaces, UA’s engineers set out to craft the highest-quality elite-class 24-bit/192kHz AD/DA conversion of any Apollo yet. After giving Apollo x8 a serious listen here at Sweetwater, we firmly believe that they succeeded; its ultra-pristine signal path is audibly apparent, and even on paper, its 130dB DNR and -127dB THD+N specs speak for themselves. Moreover, Apollo x8 includes an optional add-on for Apollo Monitor Correction, which allows you to apply Sonarworks SoundID Reference profiles to UA’s precision EQ filters running in real-time on Apollo’s onboard DSP. Whether you listen on your studio monitors or through a high-end set of headphones, you’ll hear every detail of your mix with the utmost accuracy.
Assistive Auto-Gain and seamless sub management
Recording with Apollo x8 is easier than ever, thanks to its assistive Auto-Gain feature, which can be applied to multiple channels simultaneously to ensure proper levels all across the board. Best of all, you can deploy Auto-Gain on all the interface’s inputs — microphone, line-level, and hi-Z alike — and even with select Unison preamp models! Whether you’re working in stereo or 9.1.6 Dolby Atmos, having a monitoring setup with well-tuned low-end is crucial to crafting mixes that translate. That’s where Apollo x8’s Bass Management feature comes in, leveraging a real-time DSP-driven Linkwitz-Riley crossover to integrate and optimize your subwoofer seamlessly.
Lock-tight LUNA integration
Apollo x8 boasts ultra-tight hardware/software integration with Universal Audio’s free LUNA DAW software, enabling you to take control of your interface’s monitoring, talkback, and headphone systems, track and overdub with UAD DSP-accelerated plug-ins in real time, and benefit from full software-based control over Apollo’s Unison mic preamps, all without leaving your production software. LUNA also includes Accelerated Realtime Monitoring, which supplies fast analog-style tracking and overdubbing using Apollo’s onboard processing. You also get unlimited track counts, contextual editing and browsing, UAD and AU plug-in compatibility, a session auto-save function, and AAF importing. This software also supports LUNA extensions, which bake directly into LUNA’s mixer — no need to instantiate a bunch of plug-ins. LUNA is the closest you’ll come to an analog workflow in the software realm. It delivers spot-on analog sound, along with the creative immediacy of real-time processing.
Sensational plug-in bundle included!
UAD powered plug-ins have earned their reputation for being accurate emulations of analog audio equipment ever created. The astonishing processing power of the UAD platform is what makes these plug-ins sound so great. You simply can’t get the depth, color, and character these plug-ins have without devoting huge CPU resources to them. Best of all, Apollo x8 lets you record your audio through UAD plug-ins in real time with near-zero latency. When you buy Apollo x8 with UAD Analog Classics, you’ll receive a premium suite of 30 award-winning plug-in titles.
Channel Strips & Preamps
- Century Tube Channel Strip
- CS-1 Channel Strip
- LA-6176 Signature Channel Strip
- Precision Channel Strip
- UA 610-A Preamp & EQ
- UA 610-B Preamp & EQ
Compressors/limiters
- Fairchild 670 Legacy Compressor
- Teletronix LA-2A Legacy Leveling Amplifier
- Teletronix LA-2A Tube Compressor
- Precision Buss Compressor
- UA 1176 FET Compressor
- UA 1176LN Legacy
- UA 1176SE Legacy
Equalizers
- Precision Equalizer
- Pultec EQP-1A Legacy EQ
- Pultec Pro Legacy EQ
Special Processing
- Oxide Tape Recorder
- Precision De-Esser
- Precision Enhancer Hz
- Precision Enhancer kHz
- Vibe Analog Machines Essentials
Instruments
- PolyMAX Polyphonic Synth
Delay and Modulation
- Galaxy Tape Echo
- Precision Delay Mod
- Precision Delay Mod L
Reverbs and Rooms
- Precision Reflection Engine
- Pure Plate Reverb
Mastering
- Precision Limiter
- Precision Maximizer
- Precision Multiband
Guitar and Bass
-
Bermuda Triangle
-
Raw Distortion
-
TS Overdrive Pedal
-
UAD Lion ’68 Super Lead Amp
-
UAD Showtime ’64 Tube Amp
Universal Audio Apollo x8 Gen 2 Analog Classics Features:
- 18-in/24-out Thunderbolt 3 audio interface for Mac or PC with powerful HEXA Core processor
- Next-generation elite-class AD/DA conversion supplies an ultra-pristine signal path with 130dB DNR and -127dB THD+N
- Dual-Crystal clocking supplies a low-jitter environment for pure, artifact-free recording and solid stereo imaging
- Unison preamps allow you to track through models of the industry’s most legendary hardware
- Onboard DSP combines with your host computer’s native processing to create a powerhouse hybrid workflow
- Apollo Monitor Correction (optional add-on) empowers you to mix confidently in any room or through headphones
- Bass Management optimizes your subwoofer for maximum low-frequency detail
- Auto-Gain feature sets levels across multiple inputs
- Native support for mixing formats up to 7.1 to accommodate surround sound and other multichannel formats
- Full-featured monitor control with speaker switching and integrated talkback
- Updated UAD Console app quickly sets up low-latency cues, plug-in scenes, and immersive audio monitoring
- Compatible with UA’s LUNA software for ultra-tight hardware/software integration
- Ultra-fast Thunderbolt 3 connectivity provides near-zero latency and ample expandability
- Includes the UAD Analog Classics plug-in suite of 30 award-winning UAD plug-ins with accurate emulations of vintage analog hardware
