You can find Apollos in professional studios worldwide. That said, users have been clamoring for certain pro-level features. Good news — Universal Audio has been listening! So what's new? First of all, the Apollo x8p includes 7.1 surround monitoring support**, complete with speaker calibration and fold-down. This is great news for engineers working on audio and music for video games, film, television, and the web. Beyond that, the Apollo x8p was tailor-made for your analog console and other high-end gear, courtesy of its selectable +24dBu operation. Thanks to these and other great features, the Apollo x8p makes a great centerpiece for any studio.
Capture the sound of legendary preamps with Unison technology
The Apollo x8p's Unison preamp technology goes so far beyond traditional software modeling and emulations that it's really in a category all its own. In essence, Unison is a bidirectional communication between the Apollo x8p's mic preamp and a Unison-capable plug-in, such as the included 610-B plug-in that re-creates the sound of UA's classic LA-610 preamp.
The plug-in actually adjusts the preamp circuit itself, including parameters such as impedance, analog gain structure, and much more. When you adjust the Apollo x8p'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 the Apollo x8p's input the same way it would behave with the "modeled" preamplifier.
UAD plug-ins astounded the recording world with their incredible ability to sound like analog processors, eliminating the need for large racks of gear in the studio. Unison preamp technology will do the same thing for your mic inputs, eliminating the need to collect and maintain expensive hardware preamps just for sonic variety.
Thunderbolt: ultra-low latency and unrivaled bandwidth
Thunderbolt is one of the most important technologies to impact audio production in years, and UA was one of the first to adopt it. Thanks to its blazing-fast connectivity, Thunderbolt offers lower latency and greater stability than USB or FireWire, clocking in with the speed and ultra-fast performance of a PCI Express system. In fact, the Apollo x8p's Thunderbolt 3 connection runs projects with high track counts at latencies of less than 2ms! On top of that, multiple Apollo interfaces can be networked over Thunderbolt to add fast, high-bandwidth I/O and DSP to your studio. You don't even need a brand-new computer — the Apollo x8p's two built-in Thunderbolt 3 ports are backward-compatible with Thunderbolt 1 and 2 Macs (adapter sold separately).
Sensational plug-in bundle included!
UAD Powered Plug-ins have earned their reputation for being some of the most 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 x8p lets you record your audio through UAD plug-ins in real time with sub-2ms latency. You'll receive the Realtime Analog Classics Plus bundle, which includes:
- UA 610-B Tube Preamp & EQ
- Marshall Plexi Classic Guitar Amp
- Ampeg SVT-VR Classic Bass Amp
- UA 1176LN Limiting Amplifier
- UA 1176SE Limiting Amplifier
- Pultec EQP-1A EQ
- Pultec Pro EQ
- Teletronix LA-2A Leveling Amplifier
- Fairchild 670 Compressor
- Precision Enhancer Hz
- Raw Distortion
- Precision Channel Strip
- Precision Reflection Engine
- Precision Delay Mod
- Precision Delay Mod L
- RealVerb Pro Custom Room Modeler
Features:
- 18-in/22-out Thunderbolt 3 audio interface for Mac* or PC, with onboard UAD-2 HEXA Core processing
- 6-core HEXA Core offers 50% more processing power than previous Apollos
- Upgraded elite-class AD/DA conversion supplies an ultra-pristine signal path with 129dB dynamic range and -118dB THD+N
- 8 Unison preamps allow you to track through models of the industry's most legendary hardware
- 7.1 surround monitoring support for engineers working on video games, film, television, and the web**
- Selectable +24dBu operation for easy integration with analog consoles and other high-end studio gear
- Integrated talkback for easy communication and slating takes
- Ultra-fast Thunderbolt 3 connectivity provides less than 2ms of latency and ample expandability
- Realtime Analog Classics Plus UAD plug-in bundle included featuring 16 amazing plug-in emulations
- Track and monitor through plug-ins with no latency
- Backward-compatible with Thunderbolt 1 and 2 Macs (adapter sold separately)