Apollo 8 features four Unison-enabled mic preamps, letting you track through exacting mic preamp emulations from Neve,® SSL,® API,® Manley,® and Universal Audio. An Apollo exclusive, Unison technology nails the tone of these sought-after tube and solid state mic pres — including their input impedance, gain stage “sweet spots,” and the component-level circuit behaviors of the original hardware.

The secret to Unison is its hardware-software integration between Apollo’s mic preamps and its onboard UAD-2 QUAD Core DSP Acceleration. Simply place a Unison preamp plug-in on your mic input in Apollo Console software, and it physically reconfigures the Apollo interface's impedance — so you can tap into the classic sounds of the world’s most recorded mic preamps.

Beyond the included Realtime Analog Classics plug-ins, you can tap into the full library award-winning UAD Powered Plug-Ins — including vintage EQs, Compressors, Reverbs, Tape Machines and more — at near-zero latency, regardless of your audio software’s buffer size and without taxing your computer’s CPU.

With exclusive emulations from Neve, Studer, Manley, API, Ampex, Lexicon, Fender, and more,† it’s like having an endless analog studio, in a single rack space. And unlike competing interfaces, these DSP-powered plug-ins are also available in your DAW for mixing.

 

Next-Generation A/D and D/A Conversion

Of course, the heart of any audio interface is the quality of its conversion. In designing the next-generation Apollo range, UA engineers started with an obsessive auditioning of the latest A/D and D/A converters, ultimately pairing the selected 24-bit/192kHz converters with all-new analog circuitry for the optimal signal path. Apollo 8 provides increased dynamic range and lower THD versus other interfaces — rivaling dedicated converters costing thousands more.

 

Build a Networked Studio System Over Thunderbolt

Apollo 8 offers 18 x 24 simultaneous inputs/outputs, with two built-in Thunderbolt ports. Thanks to Apollo Expanded software, users of any Thunderbolt-equipped Apollo Twin, Apollo 8, Apollo 8p, and Apollo 16 audio interfaces can combine up to four Apollos and six total UAD-2 devices — adding I/O and DSP as your studio grows. Apollo 8 also provides seamless integration with previous generation Apollos over Thunderbolt.