Get More From
Your Apogee

That's right - we think Apogee interfaces are fantastic! Apogee have been making renowned high-level A/D conversion and audio interfaces for decades - since the advent of digital recording. Their integration with Mac's CoreAudio has always been tight and thusly have been relied upon as reliable, professional-grade interfaces.

As good as they are, with 2 ADAT cables, they can be even better!

Using ADAT you can transform your Apogee interface into a complete analogue/digital hybrid studio and the perfect platform to integrate genuine analogue gear into your studio.

You're only two cables away from:

• 8 more inputs for recording
• 8 more outputs from your Interface
• 8 channels of reference-quality conversion
• Superior external clocking
• 8 channels of analogue summing
• 8 hardware inserts (mix with analogue EQ/Compression directly in your LUNA session!)
• 2 reference-quality headphone amps
• Advanced cable management with C.A.S.T.

How Does It Work?

ADAT - A short history...

ADAT is a digital audio protocol that sends data through an Optical cable.

Put simply, one of those optical cables transports up to 8 channels of digital audio to and from two devices.

The two ports labelled 'Optical' on the back of your Apollo send audio in and out of UA's Console and your DAW - enabling you to receive audio from ADAT as well as send audio to ADAT.

ADAT transports 8 channels of digital audio in one direction at 44.1 or 48kHz. When you up the sample rate to 88.2/96kHz, that channel count halves to 4 channels - this is called SMUXII.

When you up the sample rate to 176/192kHz, that channel count halves again to 2 channels - this is called SMUXIV.

Unlock Your Interface's Full Potential

Your Interface has 8 extra recording and playback channels sitting there, waiting to be used in your studio. 

Connect our 500ADAT to these ADAT inputs/outputs and you can increase your total input and output count by 16 channels - with just two cables!

• 8 more channels of recording into your DAW
• 8 more channels of playback out from your DAW

On this diagram, 500ADAT expands this Apogee Symphony Desktop from a 2in/2out interface to a 10in/10out Hybrid Studio power house!

Imagine Swapping Plug-ins For The Real Thing?

Plug-ins sound great, there is no denying it. But why do most major recording studios look like the one above?

These are hybrid studios and they feature a mixture of both analogue AND digital processing. They use plug-ins for precise and surgical mixing moves, and they use analogue gear for the vibe, soul, and core tone of the mix.

Hybrid studios are complex beasts. They have complicated wiring, they take up space, they require different gear from different manufacturers, and they cost a lot of money!

With 500ADAT and your Apogee Interface, you can get all of the essentials of a hybrid studio with just one box without the complexity. 

Hybrid Studio Before 500ADAT

Hybrid Studio With 500ADAT

What Does 500ADAT Do?

• Expands your available inputs and outputs by 8
• Integrates analogue 500 series modules directly into your mix sessions to get 'that' sound
• Sums your mix with extra depth, width, and weight in the Analogue domain using the Summing Mixer
• Improves your conversion using superior A/D, D/A converters and clocking
• Transforms headphone monitoring by creating true, Zero latency monitor mixes and using 500ADAT's reference-grade headphone amplifiers. 

Will This Work With My Interface? 

Any Apogee Interface that features ADAT connectivity is compatible with 500ADAT!

• Symphony Desktop ✅
• Symphony ✅ (With ADAT card installed)
• Ensemble ✅
• Quartet ✅(ADAT inputs only)

With any of these interfaces, you are only one or two cables away from transforming your studio into a Hybrid Mixing Powerhouse!