We tested five of the best kick drum plugins in 2025 — here’s which one you should buyThe kick drum is a crucial element in many modern genres, especially in electronic and dance music. It creates the foundation around which the rest of the track can groove, so it’s important to get it right. You could just pick a decent-sounding kick sample and be done, but to get the best results, you’ll probably want to refine your kick to make sure it fits perfectly with the other elements in the track, especially the bass. You could use the tools in your DAW to get meticulous with your 808s and 909s, but for quicker, deeper results, a kick plugin can be a worthy investment.
We’ve tested five kick drum instrument plugins that give you fine control over the transient clicks, the low-mid punch, and the sub-heavy tails. They use a mix of synthesis and sample playback to create powerful-sounding hits that can slot neatly into your mixes. There are a range of prices and tools on offer, the usefulness of which will depend on your genre and workflow.
Best kick drum plugins at a glance:

Best overall kick drum plugin: Sonic Academy – Kick 3
Best value kick drum plugin: Audija – KickDrum
Best kick plugin for sound design: The Him DSP – Kick Ninja
Best presets in a kick plugin: Plugin Boutique – BigKick
Best kick plugin for quick results: Drumforge – Kickforge

During testing, we find the import functions on both Kick 3 and Kick Ninja to be most effective; we have worse results with KickDrum as the import requires more editing and the sample layer plays back in mono. Of these three node-based instruments, Kick 3 is the most intuitive to edit, but all of them can create powerful and punchy-sounding kicks, and the added node modulation options in Kick Ninja and KickDrum lend them a touch more precision. The other two instruments are the best options for those who want a quick fix via a selection of decent presets.
Best overall kick drum plugin: Sonic Academy – Kick 3
£79.95, sonicacademy.com

 
Version 3 of Sonic Academy’s Kick plugin brings some fantastic new features to an already excellent kick drum plugin. It includes five layers of synthesised sub or sample playback, with fine control over the pitch and amp curves. New linear and logarithmic views help make editing more precise, alongside useful features such as phase locking nodes, and the ability to pitch track just the sub tails. This means the attack portion can remain consistent, whilst the sub can change pitch; a useful feature for moving 808 kick basslines.
Elsewhere, the import feature lets you analyse any kick from a full track and then create a preset version for further tweaking. There’s also flexible harmonics generation, a revamped effects section with a broad range of excellent effects, and a Trigger mode for replacing or augmenting kicks in your productions.
Kick 3 is one of the most expensive offerings here, but it’s also the most feature-packed including a vast number of presets, and it’s already seen a handful of updates since its release.
PROS

High-quality kick sounds with a broad preset collection
New programming features refine the editing process
AI import works well and lets you edit any kick in detail
Superb new effects section expands the sonic capabilities

CONS

Limited modulation options
A few missed opportunities
Macros limited to one effects control each
Rich with features, but a touch expensive

Read our full review of the Kick 3 here
Best value kick drum plugin: Audija – KickDrum
€44, audija.com

KickDrum is a colourful instrument that offers precise editing and a modular workflow. You can build your kick by combining different devices. These include a sine oscillator with harmonic distortion and a phase lock function, a sample playback and editing device, an EQ, a gain envelope, a saturator, and a clipper. Various device settings can be automated via the internal automation system, giving you the option to draw additional curves and fine-tune how the kick changes over time. There’s also excellent visual feedback where the oscillogram updates for every tiny change that you make.
Like Kick 3, it has an analyze function that can take a sampled kick and turn it into a device chain preset that utilises the oscillator and sampler, or just the oscillator. We find the results not quite as effective as Kick 3 and Kick Ninja though, as the import required more editing and the sample layer was playing back in mono. It is, however, very precise, punchy sounding, and reasonably priced.
PROS

Incredibly precise editing
Modular layout lets you focus on what you need
Flexible modulation curves
Very punchy sounding

CONS

Small number of samey presets
Some areas such as sample import no very intuitive
GUI can get a little confusing
Somewhat limited effects

Best kick plugin for sound design: The Him DSP – Kick Ninja
£59.99, pluginboutique.com

Kick Ninja is developed by EDM DJ/Producer The Him, and offers plenty of control for crafting the perfect kick. It includes a flexible anti-aliasing oscillator that blends a pure sine wave with a selectable waveform and harmonic oscillator. Alongside this, it has three sample layers with automatable pitch, amp and high-pass/low-pass filter envelopes. In fact there are a total of 22 different envelopes for various parameters that can be controlled over time, opening up options for crafting evolving kicks and basses.
Elsewhere there’s an oversampled effects section with two distortion modules, filters and a compressor. Again, this one has an AI import feature, but this time you can choose whether the original sample is layered on top of the sub, provided with a filter for further tweaking, or whether it just uses the attack portion to retain the original transient. It does an impressive job that’s on par with Kick 3.
PROS

70 presets
22 envelopes allow for broad expression and sound design
AI import function works very well
Can edit kicks in fine detail
Good sounding distortion and filters

CONS

Would be nice if there were more creative effects
Somewhat limited presets
GUI feels a little cluttered

Best presets in a kick plugin: Plugin Boutique – BigKick
£49 (currently available for £25), pluginboutique.com

BigKick is nearly 10 years old, but it still packs a punch. It lets you load two samples and combines these with a tone generation section for creating the body of the kick. The synth part lacks the visual precision and editing of some of the other tools here, but it’s arguably a simpler and faster plugin to work with. The sample layers each have a high-pass filter to help carve out space for the low-end, and the Body section has two models to choose from.
BigKick comes with some great artist presets, so it’s an easy choice if you want a decent collection of kicks that will work straight off the bat. If you want extra sounds, then there are 19 artist expansion packs in a range of electronic genres that are available for £5 each or £59 for a bundle.
PROS

Quick results with fast editing
Excellent and broad collection of artist presets
Good visual waveform feedback as you change parameters

CONS

GUI looks a little simplistic and dated
Can’t edit parameters with the same level of detail
Somewhat limited effects

Best kick plugin for quick results: Drumforge – Kickforge
£98 (currently available for £32), drumforge.com

Kickforge started off life as a Kontakt instrument in 2015, but it made the jump to its own plugin format in 2020, and added a bunch of new features and sounds. It differs from the other instruments here as it’s solely sample-based, and it features a sub layer and an attack layer. It also has a focus on both electronic and acoustic kick drums, including presets for rock and metal genres alongside EDM and drum and bass styles.
The factory library includes 13 natural acoustic subs and 40 electronic subs, plus 24 multi-sample acoustic tops (which can be set to round-robin mode for added realism), and 32 electronic one-shot tops. There are also additional artist presets packs from Vorso, Atrium Audio, Kane Churko and Prince Fox.
Kickforge provides fast controls for each layer with Filter and Sustain dials and a harmonics switch for the sub layer. You can then refine the sound using the Compressor, Transient and EQ effects section. It’s more basic than some of the other tools here, but the excellent presets make it a promising choice for those looking for quick results, or for kick drums outside of the more obvious electronic genres.
PROS

Quick and intuitive editing
Excellent collection of production-ready presets
Round-robin acoustic drums make for a broader palette than the competition

CONS

Limited editing options means no fine-tuning of envelopes
Basic effects with no distortion options
Quite expensive at full price

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Every guide on MusicTech is created by a producer, musician and tech enthusiast just like you. We understand what you’re looking for when searching for a new audio interface, and we want to ensure you purchase genuinely useful products for your craft. So you can guarantee that every product MusicTech recommends to you is a product we’d be happy to have in our studios.
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VSL announce Synchron Smart Orchestra 2.0 Synchron Smart Orchestra 2.0 introduces a whole host of new features including the VSL's new Flow View GUI option, additional solo instruments and an expanded set of articulations. 

Analyst says spot Bitcoin ETFs used for ‘massive market manipulation’ — Is he right?Some analysts believe Bitcoin’s price action is being negatively affected by various market manipulators. Is there any sense to this accusation?

Solar crushed 2024, but emissions were up as industry used more natural gasSolar and wind together now represent nearly a quarter of electricity demand and nearly 10% of all energy consumption in the U.S.
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New Toys: Artiphon Orba 3--Handheld Synth with Built-In SamplingNashville, TN's Artiphon has released Orba 3, their third version of their portable handheld synth. Offering instant sampling as well as 300 built-in sounds, the Orba 3 has an omnidirectional microphone, allowing users to sample their voice, sound effects, or any other audio directly onto the instrument with no additional cables or devices required. The idea of the Orba 3 is to use its built-in sounds as well as sampling your own sounds to create beats and songs. Musicians and non-musicians alike can have fun and be proficient and enjoy making beats and sampling/building songs on the Orba 3. You can easily sample everyday sounds to make rhythmic hooks and add chords and melody to create. Orba 3 is a little larger than the size of a hockey puck and can fit easily in your pocket so you can record sounds wherever you are and build beats and songs on the fly.Orba 3 has four primary modes—Drum, Bass, Chord, and Lead—that integrate with the sampling feature. In Drum mode, each of the eight pads can hold a unique sample, while in Chord mode, samples are automatically tuned to fit musical chords. The sound engine automatically crops and tunes the audio. Users press the red “sample” button, make a sound, and Orba distributes it among the eight pads and pitch changes it. The looper helps you build songs. Tap the menu button to record each part, and a click track sounds. The built-in quantizer tightens timing so your loops lock in. Your movement shapes each part's sound. What does this mean? The Orba 3 has an accelerometer, gyroscope, and embedded haptic feedback. Designed to be physically interactive, it translates your gestures into music. Tap, tilt, shake the Orba 3 and each move modifies the sound. Move around the surface to control volume or add effects by tilting. For drums, shake a shaker or bump the side for a tambourine. The Artiphon Connect app is available free. It allows for Bluetooth MIDI control of all their devices and for Orba 3, allows for part volume mixing, the addition of reverb effects and expanded sound libraries including sounds inspired by genres like Trap, R&B, Electro-pop, Lo-fi, as well as electric guitars and upright pianos, vocals, and more. With the built-in battery, you can use it anywhere. The Orba 3 is an innovative and enjoyable unique product. There is a learning curve, but you can be making beats and creating with it right away. It connects via USB-C or Bluetooth to your digital audio workstation for MIDI control within production software. $159artiphon.comThe post New Toys: Artiphon Orba 3--Handheld Synth with Built-In Sampling first appeared on Music Connection Magazine.

Live Nation reports record 2024 revenue, more growth aheadLive Nation Entertainment released its full-year and fourth-quarter 2024 results, showcasing impressive growth with more ahead. As CEO Michael Rapino put it, "2024 was live music’s biggest year yet," and 2025 is poised to surpass it.
The post Live Nation reports record 2024 revenue, more growth ahead appeared first on Hypebot.

Knut Frängsmyr appointed Chief of Music at Epidemic SoundFormer Klarna exec joins Stockholm-based music licensing platform
Source

DIY Yagi Antenna Sends LoRa Signals FartherLoRa gear can be great for doing radio communications in a light-weight and low-power way. However, it can also work over great distances if you have the right hardware—and the right antennas in particular. [taste_the_code] has been experimenting in this regard, and whipped up a simple yagi antenna that can work at distances of up to 40 kilometers.
The basic mathematics behind the yagi antenna are well understood. To that end, [taste_the_code] used a simple online calculator to determine the correct dimensions to build a yagi out of 2 mm diameter wire that was tuned for the relevant frequency of 868 MHz. The build uses a 3D-printed boom a handle and holes for inserting each individual wire element in the right spot—with little measuring required once the wires are cut, since the print is dimensionally accurate. It was then just a matter of wiring it up to the right connector to suit the gear.
The antenna was tested with a Reyas RYLR998 module acting as a base station, with the DIY yagi hooked up to a RYLR993 module in the field. In testing, [taste_the_code] was able to communicate reliably from 40 kilometers away.
We’ve featured some other unique LoRa antenna builds before, too. Video after the break.

James Blake: “There’s money in streaming services – it’s just being diverted to the wrong places”Artists often complain about their royalty cheques from streaming platforms. And James Blake is taking matters into his own hands. Over the last year, he’s taken steps to partner with smaller companies to earn more from his art – and he’s happier than ever.
Speaking to Variety, Blake admits that his anxiety in the lead-up to each next pay cheque was debilitating. “At one point I was having regular panic attacks about not being in control and being exploited,” he admits. “[I was] worrying about money, and I wasn’t very creative then.”

READ MORE: So…How did Apple Music become a hero of streaming services, and Spotify a supervillain?

In order to regain a sense of stability, Blake parted ways with Polydor Records after 12 years. “When I really looked into the machinations of what was going on behind each part of the industry, I saw that there are unethical parts of the model that are responsible for a massive transfer of wealth away from the artist,” he explains.
“It’s not that there’s no money there,” he emphasises. “It’s just being diverted to the wrong places, and the system is set up to not give you that information.”
Blake has spoken out about not being properly compensated for his art in the past. Last March, he took to X to insist that art doesn’t come out of thin air – artists need to earn a living to continue creating. “If we want quality music somebody is gonna have to pay for it,” he wrote.
“Streaming services don’t pay properly, labels want a bigger cut than ever and just sit and wait for you to go viral,” he continues. “TikTok doesn’t pay properly, and touring is getting prohibitively expensive for most artists.”
In another post, he posed a very important question to the industry: “do you want good music or do you want what you paid for?”

Something I keep seeing is ‘if you’re lucky enough to go viral, just use the exposure to generate income some other way’. Musicians should be able to generate income via their music.
Do you want good music or do you want what you paid for?
— James Blake (@jamesblake) March 3, 2024

 
Last year, Blake told Billboard that leaving his label had left him feeling “the freest” he ever had. This is the most connected I’ve ever felt with the way my music is being pushed,” he explained.
Now, Blake has partnered with a slew of companies that put the artist back in the driver’s seat. One of which is Indify, a company that benefits both artists and A&R representatives. It helps connect artists with marketing teams and investors, with a massive board available for potential investors to peruse.
Investors get a percentage of streaming royalties, with Indify taking 15% of their share. But the investor can never take never more than 49% of royalties. “The [partners] are incentivised to push your project up the hill – much more than, say, most people at a major label, who are essentially paid a salary,” Blake explains.
Blake also took the reins and started up his own streaming platform. Vault is a direct artist-to-fan platform allows him to have a more meaningful connection with his fans.

Ok, so for the first time I’m going to be releasing from my vault of unreleased music
We are launching @vaultdotfm to show music has inherent value beyond just exposure
Subscribe to unlock pic.twitter.com/pIic7Ef47G
— James Blake (@jamesblake) March 20, 2024

“Whenever I send a message or upload a song [on Vault], all of [my fans] get a text message or email,” he tells Variety. “There is no algorithm stopping me from reaching those people, like with Instagram. And there’s a whole ecosystem that actually rewards fans. And when there’s enough people, it starts to look like a solid monthly income.”
But Blake’s endeavours aren’t merely to benefit himself. Blake has also been working with companies like Bside, which allows artists to pre-sell tickets prior to confirming a venue. It benefits the venues, as it allows artists to find and match ticket numbers to the room they require.
His first show with Bside was ‘An Evening With James Blake’, which saw him performing a stripped back set for a 800 fans. “We didn’t tell people where the venue was,” he says. “Then we found an appropriately sized venue and said, ‘Would you like to put on the show? No risk for you, no risk for us: It’s already sold out.’”
“That’s the concept — go direct to consumer,” he continues. “The artist is able to broker the deal and negotiate it, and not have to split that money with a venue or a ticketing company. We’d cut out the middlemen.”
The shift has allowed Blake to feel more connected to his music than ever. “Before last year, I was an artist who buried my head in the sand in terms of business…” he says. “This feeling of taking control and autonomy is empowering to the point where I rediscovered a sense of creativity that I hadn’t had in many years.”
“Getting yourself to a place of coherency in your mental state and your business actually makes you more productive,” he concludes. “It’s artistic freedom turned up to 11.”
In a statement recently shared with MusicTech‘s sister publication Guitar.com, a Spotify spokesperson defended the platform against accusations that it is the lowest paying streaming service, saying: “Every other subscription streaming service mentioned pays less than Spotify.
“Spotify paid out $10 billion to the music industry last year and has paid out $60 billion all time. Our music subscription competitors haven’t reported their subscriber figures or music industry payouts in years, because they pay far less.
“A service claiming to pay a higher ‘per stream rate’, is smoke and mirrors. A high per stream rate is just an admission that fewer people are using your service, and many with accounts aren’t actively listening to music.
“The per stream rate is easy to calculate: total payouts, divided by total streams, equals per stream rate. What would make the per stream rate higher? You guessed it: less streaming.”
The post James Blake: “There’s money in streaming services – it’s just being diverted to the wrong places” appeared first on MusicTech.

The Crow Hill Company adds Solo Bodhrán to the FREE Vaults series
The Crow Hill Company has added Solo Bodhrán to its free Vaults series. The Crow Hill Company’s Vaults series has been a source of excellent free sounds since launching over a year ago, with two of my favorites, Amp Bass and Wavering Choir, coming out in recent months. The latest addition to the vault is [...]
View post: The Crow Hill Company adds Solo Bodhrán to the FREE Vaults series

TikTok music dominance is fading as younger users defectWhile by some metrics TikTok is still outperforming YouTube and Facebook, there are the MusicWatch team found clear signs that TikTok music dominance is fading, especially among its younger users.
The post TikTok music dominance is fading as younger users defect appeared first on Hypebot.

Two notes to launch Torpedo Reload II Featuring twin-channel operation, selectable multi-impedance compatibility and true continuous attenuation, the Torpedo Reload II is said to be Two notes’ most advanced load box to date.

Pitch Innovations Groove Shaper Bundle (Plugin + Expansions)Groove Shaper Bundle Grab the award-winning Groove Shaper Sequencer Plugin + 6 expansion packs for endless rhythm inspiration. Get 1000+ must-have presets for Cinematic, Middle Eastern,... Read More

Universal Audio Apollo x8 Gen 2 raises the bar — a little bitEssentials+: £2,750 / €3,189 / $2,899
Studio+: £3,035 / €3,519 / $3,199
uaudio.com
Universal Audio is a fierce champion of the analogue sound and workflows on which its history and reputation are built while also embracing modern digital systems.

READ MORE: “Ultimately, the product is the experience the music maker has when they’re manifesting their creativity”: Bill Putnam Jr on Universal Audio Apollo Constellations

Key to this balancing act is the Apollo range of audio interfaces with its ability to build input channels from accurate models of the most revered microphone preamps and outboard processors in existence. Add in exceptional audio fidelity and it’s clear to see why Apollo enjoys such popularity in project and professional studios alike.
But in deciding to overhaul the Apollo range to Generation 2 status, UA’s designers had to find a way to make improvements to something that’s already close to perfect. We’ve seen how this panned out for the new Apollo Twin X, so let’s now see what’s changed further up the range with the x8 Gen 2.
Image: Press
What’s new, and what’s the same, with the x8?
The new x8 has a slightly lighter finish to its face plate, and a new design for button caps and rotary encoders, although the layout of the panel remains unchanged. This all looks smart, but there’s insufficient contrast between labels and panel, making them hard to read under imperfect lighting or viewing angles. Also, despite being described as having an improved feel, the encoders’ clicking detents feel excessively resistive, closer to a rotary switch.
The x8 connects to a computer via Thunderbolt 3 and so has plenty of bandwidth to handle its 18 inputs and 24 outputs. These break down as eight analogue inputs, ten analogue line outs (two of which are dedicated monitor outs), two front-mounted headphone outs, eight channels of ADAT digital I/O, plus stereo S/PDIF digital I/O with built-in sample rate conversion. Wordclock input and output ensure smooth integration into any existing digital hook-up as master or slave.
The first four of x8’s analogue inputs feature UA’s innovative Unison preamps. These provide a clean, detailed input path if used as-is, but come into their own when used in conjunction with UAD-2 Unison plugins, loaded via the Console mixer software. These mimic classic console preamps, as well as guitar and bass amps, by modifying the response of the analogue preamp whilst also applying digital modelling. This straddling of analogue and digital makes for exceptionally accurate emulations of the hardware.
Image: Press
Unison inputs can operate in mic or line mode, with dedicated rear-panel XLR and jack connectors, respectively. The first two inputs can also handle high-impedance instrument inputs via jack sockets around the front. Choosing the active source is just a case of hitting a button on the unit or in the Console software. This arrangement is perfect, allowing x8 to be fully integrated into the studio patching without limiting connection options.
The remaining four analogue input channels are line only with no Unison support but, like all input channels, can host regular UAD-2 plugins if you wish to apply input conditioning.
Apollo rackmount units have always matched or bettered the audio performance specs of similarly-priced offerings from the likes of Apogee and RME. The Gen 2 rackmounts bring improvements to these specs, raising performance to the level of the flagship Apollo x16. Line and instrument inputs have lower distortion and noise than previously, as have analogue outs. Outputs benefit from an improved, impressive 130 dB of dynamic range.
In practice, these specs manifest as staggeringly accurate audio capture and reproduction, revealing remarkable dynamic depth and spectral detail, and that delivers an exquisite sound stage in which each source is positioned with pinpoint accuracy.
Console. Image: Press
What’s new in Console?
Preamps can be configured via the front panel, where you’ll also find monitor controls for dim, mute, switching to alternate monitors, and activating the built-in talkback mic. Also, meters can switch between showing input and output levels of all analogue channels.
For more detailed configuration and metering, one has to turn to the UA Console software. This too has received an update, and this new version is available to all Apollo users. A refreshed appearance brings Console into line with UA’s Luna DAW, and you can now save and recall up to 128 plugin ‘scenes’, making it easier to manage plugins and settings loaded into the mixer.
When hooked up to a Gen 2 Apollo, Console also provides buttons for triggering the new hardware’s Auto-Gain feature, which monitors an incoming signal and sets an appropriate gain level. Such systems are always helpful, but with just four preamps to manage it’s not as useful here as on interfaces that feature more preamps.
Most importantly, the updated Console now offers built-in monitor and headphone correction powered by Sonarworks’ SoundID. SoundID Reference software is used to download pre-measured response curves for a large selection of headphones or, in conjunction with a supported measurement mic, to measure the response of your monitors and studio. This data is then passed over to the SoundID Apollo Add-On that applies a correction curve via a 24-band EQ running on a small sliver of the hardware’s on-board processing power.
Knowing that ‘what you hear is what you get’ is essential for creating perfectly-balanced mixes, though that knowledge comes at a price. The Sonarworks license and Apollo add-on for just headphone correction are €149, adding stereo speakers brings this to €299, and correction for a multi-channel setup is a hefty €559. If you want a Sonarworks measurement mic on top of this then you can add a further €50.
Apollo Monitor Correction by Sonarworks. Image: Press
How powerful is the Apollo x8 DSP, and what plugins are included?
The absence of an upgrade to Apollo’s DSP chips has caused consternation online, but I’m actually glad that UA stuck with the existing chips. I would not want to pay the premium for upgraded onboard processing power when native power is so abundant and cheap by comparison. Those who are willing to pay for additional DSP oomph can easily add UAD-2 Satellites (or more Apollos) to their rig, after all.
Not that I think many will need this with x8, because its HEXA Core chip is impressively muscular. It provides ample power to host Unison plugins in all four preamps while leaving plenty in store for channel inserts and auxiliary effects (Apollo’s Aux channels make it simple to add reverb etc. to cue mixes). DSP can be used directly in the DAW too, thanks to all UAD-2 plugins coming with ‘wrapped’ versions for VST, AU and AAX – x8 can cope with a large number of these as well.
Just like the Twin X, there’s a choice of two plugin packs. Essentials+ is much the same as previous bundled Apollo packages, consisting of over 20 of UA’s most popular and useful plugins. For an extra £285, the Studio+ option provides over 50 plugins, which is fair value but a considerable add-on to the hardware price. Full package listings are on the x8 product page.
Auto-Gain. Image: Press

Should I upgrade my old Apollo?
UA’s updates are certainly enough to maintain Apollo’s position in the upper reaches of the audio interface market, but are they sufficient to justify upgrading from an earlier Apollo 8 or x8?
When compared to the Gen.1 x8, the changes are undeniably small, so there isn’t very much to be gained in return for a hefty investment. You could recoup some of the cost by selling your older unit, of course, but that means resisting the temptation of keeping it and doubling your DSP power and I/O count!
The step up from the original Apollo 8 Black (Thunderbolt 2) and Apollo 8 Silver (Firewire) is more significant. The Gen.2 HEXA Core DSP is 50% more powerful than the QUAD Core of those original units, and the increase in audio specs is larger too. That said, whilst the extra DSP will be obvious by dint of all the extra UAD2 plugins it can handle, you will have to listen very hard to hear the benefits of the improved audio specs.
Sonarworks Mic. Image: Austin Cannon
Consider also that the Firewire interface of the Silver Apollos is now obsolete. Users of such Apollos – those, at least, who have not added the Thunderbolt upgrade – may find themselves locked to old computer hardware by this, and may therefore find Gen.2 to be a good opportunity to refresh and modernise.
Given the fact that up to four Apollos of any generation can work in tandem I would expect that, ultimately, existing Apollo users will be more interested in Gen.2 as an expansion to their existing setups than as a replacement for an older Apollo.
How do you improve on near perfection?
The new x8 costs £500 more than the Gen 1 unit at launch – more if going for the Studio+ option. But with inflation biting across the board, it isn’t massively more expensive than its predecessor in real terms.
UA has delivered a boost in audio performance, subtle styling changes and an Auto-Gain feature, along with the opportunity to start or grow a UAD-2 plugin library. This isn’t really sufficient to justify upgrading from a first-gen x8, but does enhance its attractiveness to Apollo newcomers, and for those looking to add more ins/outs and DSP to an existing Apollo system.
It is undeniable that the Gen 2 updates haven’t broken any significant new ground for the Apollo range, but in reality there wasn’t much headroom for improvements. Incremental changes have certainly done no harm though – there’s no doubt that Apollo x8 remains one of the best-sounding, highest-specified and, ultimately, most impressive audio interfaces on the market.

Key features

Thunderbolt 3 audio interface
192 kHz / 24-bit maximum sample rate and bit depth
On-board HEXA Core signal processing (DSP)
4 mic inputs with Unison preamps
8 line inputs
2 instrument inputs
2 monitor line outs
8 additional line outs
2 independent headphone outs
ADAT I/O with S/MUX support for 8 channels at 96 kHz and below, and 4 channels at up-to 192 kHz
S/PDIF coaxial I/O with built in sample rate conversion
Wordclock I/O
Console-grade external PSU
Supports Sonarworks SoundID monitor and headphone calibration via Sonarworks Apollo Add-On

The post Universal Audio Apollo x8 Gen 2 raises the bar — a little bit appeared first on MusicTech.

Spitfire Audio capture BBC Radiophonic Workshop Spitfire Audio's new BBC Radiophonic Workshop library provides users with access to the sounds behind classic shows such as Doctor Who, the Goon Show, Blake’s 7, The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, Living Planet and many more.