Review: Apogee Symphony Studio 8×8

Apogee is a name synonymous with solutions for the audio professional. Dating back decades, they were the first to offer upgrades for the reel-to-reel digital tape machines that became prominent in studios worldwide. Fast forward to 2025, Apogee audio interfaces and converters are considered a common standard within the audio industry.

This legacy continues with Apogee’s Symphony line of audio interfaces, which have sat high on the list of studio-grade converter and audio interface solutions for years. Apogee have packed a plethora of new ideas into a product line that has already been very successful. 

So, how does one go about making a good thing even better?

Well, it’s easy to tell that Apogee have put a considerable amount of time and consideration into the needs and requirements of the modern musician-based, composer-based, project, mixing and immersive studio. 

The new family of Apogee Symphony Studio USB-C Audio Interfaces are specially tailored to meld seamlessly into modern workflows, mating Apogee’s world-class converters with pristine high-quality preamps that offer a whopping 75dB of gain on each channel.

Symphony Studio 8×8

For this review, I have been supplied with the Apogee Symphony Studio 8×8 model. This interface is nestled between the 8×16 and the 2×12, offering eight inputs and outputs, with eight in-built mic preamps, the Studio 8×8 is catered predominantly towards home studio producers and musicians. This new range of interfaces is designed with surround and immersive sound in mind, with the 8×16 having enough outputs for 9.1.6 immersive mixing, the 2×12 for 7.1.4 immersive mixing and the 8×8 for 7.1. surround mixing.

The front panel of the Apogee Symphony Studio 8×8 boasts two independent headphone outputs, providing the perfect arrangement for home studios in which live instruments are being tracked during the session. Apogee makes it easy to provide effective and intuitive monitoring solutions so you can spend more time making music and less time scratching your head figuring out complex routing solutions in over-complicated GUIs.

The rest of the unit’s faceplate remains clutter-free and easy to decipher. Two separate buttons are dedicated to input and channel selection, as well as a separate button to engage 48V phantom power, and Apogee’s patented Softlimit dynamic control parameter.

Apogee has granted us two primary methods when it comes to controlling the Symphony Studio 8×8 Audio Interface. The one that I imagine most users will utilise is found on the unit itself which, as I mentioned previously, Apogee have made quite straightforward to use.

Setting up an input signal is as easy as pressing the input button, which will bring forward a selection screen on the unit’s LCD screen. Selecting the appropriate input entails turning the Symphony Studio’s control knob until the desired channel is selected and then pushing the control knob inwards. From here on, the process is just as simple, requiring the user to either select or bypass phantom power and then set the input gain level with the control knob just as you would with any basic mic preamp.

The secondary means of control for the Symphony Studio 8×8 can be found within Apogee’s Control 2 software, which can work as a standalone digital controller for the device. Using Control 2’s intuitive GUI makes the process quite similar to how one would go about setting up an input signal within the unit itself, albeit with the benefit of remote control.

Getting output signal from the hardware is also extremely simple, as after setting the interface as the output device for the computer, pressing the headphone button located on the faceplate of the unit will immediately bring forward an output meter. At this point, it is as easy as using the unit’s control knob to set the desired output level and pushing it in to confirm the selection.

To hear input signals through the unit’s headphone outputs, it is as simple as opening the Control 2 software, enabling the low-latency mixer, and changing the source for headphone 1 or 2 to “Mixer 1”.

Getting up and running with the Apogee Symphony Studio 8×8 was both fast and headache-free. I was running a signal into the unit within a matter of minutes, which freed up my capacity to further explore the unit’s more advanced features. 

It’s at this point in time that I feel it necessary to highlight that the Apogee Symphony Studio line outputs all signals via DB25 connector. For those not familiar, DB25 “or DSUB” can effectively carry 8 audio signals that would usually travel via 8 separate XLRs with a single connector and loom.

The reason for this on Apogee’s end is that it means that each unit in the Symphony Studio line will only hold 1 rack space whilst still being able to accommodate outputting signal to a number of monitoring and outboard gear options.

Thoughtfully, Apogee have also provided all models within the new Symphony Studio line with a selection of handy input and output DSP. 

For example, I found great usefulness in the units onboard bass management controls, which provide effective low-pass and high-pass filters, enabling the user to fine-tune the bass response of their monitoring system. This type of feature would essentially be used to seamlessly incorporate a subwoofer into a monitor array by precisely controlling slopes and crossover frequencies.

Room EQ utility

The ability to fine-tune the response of your monitoring situation is further influenced by Apogee’s included Room EQ utility, providing 16 bands per speaker, ensuring that you are able to dial in a great monitoring experience regardless of which space you may be working out of or th amount of speakers you’re using! Speaker delays round out the units’ outboard DSP, allowing you to compensate for differences in front, rear and side speakers, as well as your listening position.

Apogee have done much to improve on the already well-established Symphony line of audio interfaces. The Symphony Studio 8×8 is a great solution for anyone looking for an audio interface that will provide the utmost in listening quality and conversion, with the required I/O to support a variety of monitor workflows. 

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