Blog 3 | All about Pro Audio LA’s Customizable Break-In Rack Panels for UAD Apollo x8, x8p, and x16May 22, 2023 - Posted by Mash Maximus   Do you have an UAD Apollo interface, specifically the x8, x8p, or x16? Do you spend a lot of your time when writing, and recording music, reaching behind your Apollo, and connecting-disconnecting cables? Are you tired of doing this? Pro Audio LA offers an incredibly intuitive, and useful addition to your favorite Universal Audio full sized audio interface, like the x8, x8P or x16. We take a 1RU rack panel with Neutrik Gold TRS, XLR or Combo jack connectors, solder Mogami multi-channel snake to the back of these connectors, and terminate the cable to XLR, ¼” TRS or DB25, depending on your model of Apollo. The Apollo x8 for example, has 4 microphone preamp inputs on 4 XLR connectors on the back. The rest of the input channels are ¼” TRS; therefore the break-in panel would have 4 XLR-Female, and 8x ¼” TRS connectors (Pictured above). You can plug them into the back of your Apollo x8, and gain access to all those connections right in the front of your rack. Similarly, we can outfit a 16 channel Rack panel with any combination of XLR-Female, ¼” TRS or Combo jacks to accommodate the 8x mic preamp inputs, and 8x Line inputs from the back of an Apollo x8p. One thing to note when it comes to the x8P is that the mic preamps are only accessible when using the XLR connections, even though the physical connections on the back of the x8P are Combo jacks. Using a TRS cable physically bypasses the mic preamp circuit within the Apollo x8P. Keep this in mind when choosing the connector configuration of your Apollo. If you have any doubts or are remotely unsure, get in touch with us via text, phone call or email, and we will help you find the right configuration! Do you want inputs and outputs available on the same rack panel? No problem. We can outfit a 16 channel rack panel with 8x XLR-Female, and 8x XLR-Male. The snake coming out of the back of this panel will have 8x XLR-Males that will plug into the inputs of your Apollo x8P , and a DB25 that will plug into the Line Outputs of your Apollo x8P. Alternatively, you can choose to only have the Line inputs, and Line outputs of your x8P accessible on the rack panel. This will allow you to patch signals routed to any of your x8P outputs into any piece of outboard gear for external processing, and then feed them back into the inputs to be printed. The possibilities are endless! Its like having a full 96 point patchbay at the fraction of the cost, and with more commonly used XLR/TRS/Combo jack connections to boot. Talk to us if you would like to learn more or have any questions regarding out break-in/out panels for the UAD Apollo. PS. We have similar break-in/out panels for other multi-channel interfaces, and converters from RME, Metric Halo, Avid, Focusrite, Merging Technologies, Antelope etc.
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