Master Bus · one of the 47
APEX
Your 2-bus, finished.
Ten stages from drive to limiter in one chain — width, weight and loudness without the guesswork.
- Formats
- VST3 · AU · AAX
- Runs on
- macOS + Windows
- Licensing
- iLok · no dongle
- Installs via
- Echelon Hub
Own it
APEX plus any two non-flagships, owned outright: $50 more than APEX alone. APEX is a flagship (a $149+ unit) and takes the one the Pick 3 includes; each other flagship is +$49.
5 × $24.83 + $24.85, then APEX is yours · $149.00 total, no interest. Cancel or pay off anytime. USD.
Trial covers all 47 units, then $17.99/mo. Buy Now goes straight to checkout.
macOS (Universal) + Windows · iLok · New plugins drop Every Friday
Not today? so it’s easy to find again.
01WEIGHT
One Knob to Finish.
Folds drive, glue, EQ smile and loudness into the chain.
02LOUDNESS
Keeps You Honest.
Short-term, true peak and limiter GR against your target.
03MASTER RACK
Start at Zero.
Turn Weight up to taste, then refine each stage.
04TEN STAGES
Drive to Limiter.
Every stage has its own live visualizer.
05PREFLIGHT
Check Before You Ship.
Preflight measures the master across five profiles.
Hear it · one instance · level-matched
Raw, then APEX.
Measured on this demo · method
The face · v1.5.0 · VST3 · AU · AAX
What opens in your DAW.
The film builds APEX as hardware. This is the interface itself, exactly as it ships.
Walkthrough · 33 s · sound on
APEX in 33 seconds.
What it's doing, then the same passage with APEX bypassed and in — level-matched, on its own faceplate — and the quick facts.
Why it exists
master-bus processor
The last 10% of a mix is a chain of bus plugins you re-build from scratch every time — and one bad gain stage in the middle undoes all of it.
APEX is that chain, pre-wired and metered: drive, EQ and balance in, then glue, multiband, HF comp, image and transformer, with the clipper and limiter at the exit. One WEIGHT macro moves the whole thing. Drop it on a mix you already finished and hear it get better anyway.
In the session
- 01Turn WEIGHT and hear a finished mix improve.
- 02Clip hot 808s cleanly before the limiter ever sees them.
- 03Meter LUFS and true-peak right on the bus.
- 04Bypass level-matched — judge tone, not volume.
Under the hood
What's inside APEX.
- Ten stages — drive, EQ, balance, glue, multiband, HF comp, image, transformer, clipper, limiter
- One-knob WEIGHT macro
- LUFS + true-peak metering
- Per-stage visualizers
System requirements
- Version
- v1.5.0
- Formats
- VST3 · AU · AAX
- macOS
- macOS 11+ · Apple Silicon + Intel (Universal)
- Windows
- Windows 10/11 · 64-bit · VST3 + AAX
- Licensing
- iLok · machine, cloud or USB
- Delivery
- Echelon Audio Hub
Buyer's guide
Which ceiling?
Ways to hit a loudness target without hearing it happen. The difference is where in the chain the job gets done.
Straight answers
Before you run APEX.
Which DAWs does APEX work in?
Pro Tools (AAX); Logic Pro and GarageBand (AU, macOS); Ableton Live, FL Studio, Cubase, Studio One and Reaper (VST3). It ships as VST3, AU, AAX on macOS and Windows. The install guide covers where each format lands and how to rescan if a host doesn't see it.
What are the system requirements?
macOS: macOS 11+ · Apple Silicon + Intel (Universal). Windows: Windows 10/11 · 64-bit · VST3 + AAX. Licensing is iLok; no USB dongle is required.
Does APEX add latency?
Where the engine needs lookahead or oversampling, APEX reports its latency to your DAW, which compensates automatically, so it stays in time with the rest of the session. On a live input, check your host's low-latency or monitoring mode.
Can I try APEX before buying?
Yes, through the subscription: the 7-day trial covers every unit, APEX included, with nothing charged until it ends. Individual plugins and bundles don't have separate trials.
Do I need an iLok dongle?
No. The license lives on your iLok account and can be activated to your computer, to iLok Cloud, or to a USB key — your choice.
How do I install it?
Through the Echelon Audio Hub: sign in once, and it installs, updates and rolls back every unit you own or subscribe to.
Are updates free?
Yes. A perpetual APEX license includes every update to APEX; subscribers get updates and every new unit as it lands.
What if it doesn't work for me?
Perpetual licenses have a 7-day refund window from purchase, as long as the license is surrendered from your iLok account. On the subscription, cancelling inside the trial means you pay nothing. If something is broken and support can't fix it, we'll make it right regardless.
Ready when the session is
Run APEX tonight.
All 47 units free for 7 days, or own APEX outright for $149.