Apogee Ensemble.....

[MonkeyMan]

Gents, I believe I have just fallen in love...

http://www.apogeedigital.com/products/ensemble.php

and...

http://www.apogeedigital.com/products/symphony.php

Best I start pimping out the misus again!

[Tomer=Trance]

how about asking your bank manager for a 6000 dollar loan.

[techno_7]

This is like, an overthetop machine, not that i wouldn't want one, but its designed for the people who make millions of music for movies and popstars(;P), but yeah, if you can afford it, go for it.

[jasedee]

Looks like nice kit...

But, yeah, I wonder how much you would be forking out??? Apogee converters are on my list, but not for a while...

[F5D]

Interesting to see that these products are currently "mac only". Apogee sure has high end stuff which I would buy if I had too much money but I am happy with my MOTU and don't need any better sound. If somebody wants to pay thousands for a converter, I don't care. Let's think that if you have already high quality ad/da-converter, the monitors/headphones/studio room affect the sound much more than anything else. High end ad/da-converters are the last thing where I put my money.

But yeah, these new apogee products still look amazing.

[MonkeyMan]

Ha ha... isn't jealously a lovely thing!!

According to a guy called Mario at Apogee Digital the Ensemble is going to be retailing at an unbelievable $1995 (?111 - the actual street price should be lower. I have not stopped laughing since I found out.

Apple has been working very closely with Apogee on this to ensure the highest integration with Logic. The general feeling on other Pro-Audio forums is that the cost has been kept down by Apple's involvement - to attempt to port people over using Logic on a Mac. Interesting indeed.

Another valid point which I read was that at the price above surely the A/D D/A conversion cannot be as good as Apogee's current Rosetta range - but again this technology has been around for years - why not?

I eagerly anticipate the first kit reviews...

[Tomer=Trance]

if thats the case maybe microsoft should coaperate with Lynx to creat a pc only highend interface to port people from Osx to WINvista

[MonkeyMan]

I have a bit more info on the Ensemble from Apogee Digital...

"The conversion in the Ensemble is a small step below the Rosetta 800. Ensemble is designed to be a killer all-in-one solution for the Mac, where the Rosetta is meant to be an amazing I/O solution for someone who may already have some pre amps and a monitoring set up and additionally may want to run the Rosetta as a stand alone front and back end for any number of recording situations and recording applications (PC or Mac) with the emphasis on achieving the best conversion. The difference between the two is not large by any stretch. I think your choice should fall more on your specific working situation and what you are wanting to achieve. We are on track to release the Ensemble at the end of February. The retail price will be $1995."

So there you go - current Rosetta users do not need to despair as they still have the edge on the conversion stakes. I am also lead to believe that the Apogee Rosetta 800 is going to be 192 Khz as standard instead of 96 Khz for no extra charge ($1000 saving).

Tomer - I could see PC users getting the same treatment in the near future - but perhaps not Native in Logic. I think Apogee and Apple have attempted to start a new trend/direction in the way people choose their software and hardware, almost simplifying the process into a combined single package option. If this brings prices down and improves sonic quality and usability... bring it on.

[Tomer=Trance]

Originally Posted by MonkeyMan

Tomer - I could see PC users getting the same treatment in the near future - but perhaps not Native in Logic.

Sorry MonkeyMan,your talking to a Cubase user

a question poped up about these high end products,
do they provide Asio Drivers for your soft sequencer?

for example,you will buy an Apogge Pci card which will provide Adat connection and driver support and then expand it with a rosseta?

Does this new ensemble unit provide all in one including drivers? and if so how good are they?
(RME for say are known for their rock solid drivers)

[MonkeyMan]

Hi Tomer. One of the main benefits of being a Mac user is that I don't have to worry about all the fuss concerned with drivers I used have when I was a PC user. (... not that I wish to start a Mac Vs PC debate.)

OS X uses Core Audio - so no drivers are required for hardware such as the Apogee Ensemble. Any Core Audio software applications which you would use on a Mac would be instantly compatible.

The Apogee Ensemble uses software called Maestro - which claims : -

"Maestro is an innovative application that offers advanced control capabilities in addition to those available in Logic Pro. These include multiple low latency mixers, an input and output routing matrix, and a universal control platform for using Ensemble in combination with other Apogee hardware.

? Control panel for Ensemble, Rosetta 800, Rosetta 200, AD-16X and DA-16X.
? 2 Low latency mixers per connected device
? Complete I/O routing matrix
? Mic preamp controls for Ensemble
? Output/headphone gain controls for Ensemble

Ensemble is the first and only multi-channel audio interface that is fully integrated into Logic Pro. With Ensemble, everything from mic pre and output gain to sample and bit rate selection are controllable from within Logic?s Apogee Control Panel. Ensemble, combined with Logic Pro, is the professional?s, easy-to-use, digital audio work station for the Mac..."

I would like to think that the fact Apple and Apogee have linked up on this would ensure as equally good support as RME.

Out of interest what A/D D/A do you use?