Following on from the last post regarding Universal Audio’s epic Q4 promotions we have an offer that is sure to tempt plenty of people into the UAD fold.
If you buy any Apollo rackmount interface you get yourself a free UAD Satellite QUAD or OCTO. Yes, you read that right – buy any Apollo rack unit and turbo charge your DSP processing power with a free Satellite. How good is that?! All you have to do is register the product and fill out the prompted shipping information, Universal Audio will deal with the rest and ship your Satellite in 6-8 weeks.
Depending which unit you buy will determine which freebie you get:
The Universal Audio Apollo is first to the plate with a thunderbolt interface, although it is an optional extra, they have managed not to make this just an audio interface, but actually combine it with UAD-2 Processing power which This really differentiates it from the likes of the RME UFX, which is pretty similally specced. The Universal Audio Apollo comes in Quad or Duo varieties, refering to the number of UAD-2 DSP processors onboard.It also comes with an “analog classics” (im quoting here, everyone knows analog should be spelt analouge)
The Interface is not just about thunderbolt though, it also has two firewire 800 connectors for connection to PC’s and older Macs.
Universal Audio are really gunning for the high end market with this, the converters are specced to 118dbA, and it features 4 digitally controlled analouge Mic Preamps (anyone else think this might be the That! 1570 /1571 chip combination?), as well as eight analogue io, ADAT and a pair of sp-dif connectors.
No pricing info has been released yet, but i would at least expect the cost of a RME UFX plus a UAD-2 card.
Anyway, here’s the details.
Universal Audio Apollo Audio Interface
Sample rates up to 192 kHz at 24-bit word length
18 x 24 simultaneous input/output channels:
Eight channels of analog-to-digital conversion via mic, line, or high-impedance inputs
14 channels of digital-to-analog conversion via:
Eight mono line outputs
Stereo monitor outputs
Two stereo headphone outputs
10 channels of digital I/O via:
Eight channels ADAT Optical I/O with S/MUX for high sample rates
Two channels coaxial S/PDIF I/O with sample rate conversion
Two FireWire 800 ports for daisy-chaining other FireWire devices
32-bit and 64-bit device drivers
Microphone Preamplifiers
Four high-resolution, ultra-transparent, digitally-controlled analog mic preamps
Front panel and software control of all preamp parameters
Switchable low cut filter, 48V phantom power, 20 dB pad, polarity inversion, and stereo linking
Monitoring
Stereo monitor outputs (independent of eight line outputs)
Digitally-controlled analog monitor outputs maintains highest fidelity
Front panel control of monitor levels and muting
Two stereo headphone outputs with independent mix buses
Independent front panel analog volume controls for headphone outputs
Front panel pre-fader metering of monitor bus levels
S/PDIF outputs can be set to mirror the monitor outputs
Onboard UAD-2 Processing
The Universal Audio Apollo DUO and QUAD models featuring two or four SHARC processors
Realtime UAD Powered Plug-Ins processing on all of Apollo’s analog and digital inputs
Same features and functionality as other UAD-2 products when used with DAW
Can be combined with other UAD-2 devices for increased mixing DSP
Includes UAD Powered Plug-Ins “Analog Classics” bundle
Complete UAD-2 Powered Plug-Ins library is available online 24/7
Software
The Universal Audio Apollo Console application:
Enables Realtime UAD Powered Plug-Ins processing
DSP mixer for realtime monitoring and tracking
Remote control of all Apollo features and functionality
Console Recall plug-in:
Saves the Universal Audio Apollo configurations inside DAW sessions for easy recall
Enables control of all front panel parameters from within the DAW
VST, RTAS, and Audio Units plug-in formats
UAD Meter & Control Panel application:
Configures global UAD-2 and Powered Plug-Ins settings and monitors system usage