[Musikmesse][VIDEO] New Universal Audio Apollos

The new Universal Audio Apollo 8, Apollo 8p and Apollo 16 Thunderbolt 2 sport a new black look and share the following features:

• New generation of Apollo AD/DA converters
• Built-in UAD-2 DSP from real time processing with UAD plug-ins
• Unison-ready micr preamps and high impedance inputs (on the Apollo 8 and 8p) for preamp emulation use
• 2 Thunderbolt 2 ports (for Mac only) that allow for linking up to 4 Apollo interfaces and 6 UAD cards
• Front level monitoring
• Ship with the UAD Realtime Analog Classics Plus bundle with 610-B Tube Preamp & EQ, Softube Amp Room, Legacy LA-2A, 1176, Fairchild compressors, Pultec EQs and more

The Apollo 8 (18×24) features 4 Unison mic preamp and Hi-Z inputs, 8 mono line outputs, 2 stereo monitor outputs, 2 stereo headphone outputs, 8 channels of digital ADAT with S/MUX and 2 coaxial S/PDIF channels ; it is shipping now in two editions: the UAD-2 DUO for $1,999 and the UAD-2 QUAD for $2,499.

The Apollo 8p (16×20) comprises 8 Unison mic preamp and Hi-Z inputs, 6 mono line outputs, 2 stereo monitor outputs, 2 stereo headphone outputs, 8 channels of ADAT and one LightPipe I/O switchable to S/PDIF. This UAD-2 QUAD version will ship during Q2, 2015 for $2,999.

The Apollo 16 (18×20), also expected during Q2, 2015 in UAD-2 QUAD version for $2,999, will offer 16 Unison analog inputs on DB-25 connectors, 16 line outputs on two DB-25 connectors, stereo Monitor outputs via two XLR, two digital AES/EBU I/O with optional input sample rate conversion, pre-fader input and output meters, reference level control (+4 dBu or –10 dBV) for all analog inputs and outputs.

Last, Universal Audio offers and Mac and PC (Windows 7) an Apollo FireWire 18 × 24 alternative. Like the Thunderbolt models, this version offers 4 Unison mic preamps, Hi-Z and line inputs (8 channels in total), 8 mono line outputs, 8 stereo monitor outputs, 2 headphone outputs, 8 channels of ADAT I/O with S/MUX, two S/PDIF I/O and two FireWire 800 ports. This UAD-2 QUAD version will be available Q2, 2015 for the US price of $1,999.

Full details of these new Apollo are available at www.uaudio.com/apollo.

We met the Universal Audio team at Musikmesse 2015 who introduced us to the Apollo 8 and Apollo 8p: