Description
The Apogee BOOM is a premium, high-quality USB-C audio interface designed for musicians, podcasters, and streamers who demand professional-grade sound in a compact and portable form factor. It stands out in the crowded entry-level to mid-range market by bringing Apogee’s legendary sound quality and onboard DSP processing to a more accessible price point.
Key Features and Highlights:
- Legendary Apogee Conversion: The BOOM features the same high-end A/D and D/A converters found in Apogee’s more expensive interfaces. This ensures a pristine, transparent sound with a wide dynamic range of 122 dB-A on the inputs, allowing you to capture every detail of your source audio with stunning clarity.
- High-Quality Preamps: The interface includes a high-end mic/instrument preamp with up to 62 dB of clean gain. This is a significant amount of gain for a bus-powered interface, making it powerful enough to get a strong signal from low-output dynamic microphones like the Shure SM7B without needing a separate preamplifier.
- Onboard Hardware DSP: This is a major selling point and a feature rarely found in this price class. The BOOM includes a powerful onboard DSP chip that runs Apogee’s Symphony ECS Channel Strip plugin. This allows you to record with zero-latency effects, including a 3-band EQ, a compressor, and a “Drive” knob for adding warmth and saturation. This saves CPU power on your computer and allows you to commit to your sound during tracking.
- Flexible I/O: The BOOM provides a 2-in/2-out configuration:
- Input 1: A combo XLR/1/4″ jack for microphones or line-level signals.
- Input 2: A 1/4″ input with a selectable Hi-Z mode for instruments like electric guitar and bass.
- Outputs: Two balanced 1/4″ outputs for connecting to studio monitors and a high-power 1/4″ headphone output.
- “Zero-Ohm” Headphone Output: The headphone output is designed to be “zero-ohm,” which means it can drive virtually any pair of headphones with optimal clarity and a balanced frequency response, from high-impedance studio headphones to sensitive in-ear monitors.
- Robust and Portable Design: The BOOM features a rugged, all-metal chassis that is built to withstand the rigors of travel and mobile recording. It is bus-powered via a single USB-C cable, so you don’t need an external power supply.
- Loopback Functionality: A crucial feature for live streamers and podcasters, the BOOM’s loopback mode allows you to mix audio from your inputs with sounds from your computer (e.g., in-game audio, music from Spotify, or chat notifications) and send the combined signal to your live stream.
- Software Bundle: The interface comes with a software bundle that adds significant value, including a license for Ableton Live Lite. It is also compatible with Apogee’s free Apogee Control 2 software for Mac, Windows, and iOS devices, which provides full control over all hardware settings.
