Apollo 8 Hardware Manual Interconnections 31
Interconnections
Installation Notes
• Apollo 8 may get hot during normal operation if it doesn’t receive adequate airflow
circulation around its chassis vents. For optimum results when mounting Apollo 8
in a rack, leaving at least one empty rack space above the unit to allow adequate
airflow for cooling is recommended.
• As with any sound system, the following steps are recommended to avoid audio
spikes in your speakers:
• Apply power to the speakers last, after all other devices (including Apollo 8)
are powered on.
• Turn off the speakers first, before all other devices (including Apollo 8) are
powered off.
Thunderbolt Connections
• Apollo 8 must be connected directly to a Thunderbolt port on the host computer.
The Apple Thunderbolt to FireWire Adapter cannot be used for the host computer
connection.
• Connect only one Apollo 8 Thunderbolt port to the host computer. Thunderbolt is
a bidirectional protocol.
• Apollo 8 cannot be bus powered via Thunderbolt. The included external power
supply must be used.
• Thunderbolt bus power is supplied to downstream (daisy-chained) peripheral
devices. Apollo 8 must be powered on for the daisy-chained peripheral to receive
Thunderbolt bus power.
About Thunderbolt 2
• Apollo 8 is a Thunderbolt 2 device. Thunderbolt 2 technology is designed for
backwards compatibility with Thunderbolt 1.
• Apollo 8 can be connected to Mac computers and other devices that have Thun-
derbolt 1 ports or Thunderbolt 2 ports.