Review: Apogee Ensemble
After much anticipation, Apogee has finally decided to strike up the band.
4 December 2006
Review: Brad Watts
Back in 2005 I heard that Apogee was releasing an interface that would offer ‘total’ Apple/Logic integration. It was a mouth-watering prospect, but unfortunately it remained just that – a prospect – for many, many months. February 2006 saw the first trickle of units for sale in the US of A, with early adopters finding the initial software drivers to be nigh on impossible to use. In Apogee’s defence, it appears utter compliance to the Apple methodology is easier said than executed. It would seem that by claiming Ensemble would offer total Apple integration (which has been one of the its major ‘selling’ points) the company inadvertently built a rod for its own back. Most would assume that perhaps Apogee had been waiting (and waiting) for the release of OSX 10.5, when Apple will be well into the swing of building an OS specifically geared to the Intel Macs. But no, Apogee now has a release version of the Ensemble drivers that lives up to most of the advertised expectations.
SEMBLANCE OF ENSEMBLE
Let’s have a look around what could be the next big thing in Firewire interfaces. To start with, the Ensemble is a supercool-looking piece of gear. If you’re into blue LEDs and tricky new-age metering, then the Ensemble is a sight to behold. Saying that, when I first plugged the Ensemble in I noticed that the blue power light already appeared to be on, so I set about installing drivers and settling into having a listen to this long awaited box. But could I get any software to see the unit? After re-plugging all cables and reinstalling drivers I was no closer. It turned out the blue-lit power button was actually in standby mode. When prodded, it (along with the rest of the Ensemble front panel) lit up like Star City. Everything flashed on and off for a while and then the unit calmed down and settled in for use. This is what the Ensemble does: it’s unnerving at first, but spectacular nonetheless.
System prerequisites are relatively steep, with a minimum of OS 10.4.7 required for the initial driver install. The driver installation also decrees a G5 or Intel processor as the minimum, but in reality most Macs offering an FW400 port are up to the task. (G3 machines, however, should leave the room now.) Anyway, the drivers installed on my G4 without drama. Once the initial install was out of the way it was time to upgrade to the release version 1.2. This involves downloading Apogee’s software updating utility, which does a fine job of transparently upgrading the Apogee software of your Mac along with the firmware of the Ensemble all in one hit – run the updater, follow the instructions and re-boot. Simple as. There’s still one minor caveat with this incarnation of the drivers: so far, the ability to gang together three Ensembles to the one Mac is not happening. I don’t believe this will disappoint those hanging out for a single Ensemble too much, but I certainly hope, for those folk wishing to build a multi-Ensemble rig, that a fix for this comes sooner rather than later.
Physically, the Ensemble is a single unit rack-mounting device. At over 4.5kg it’s a heavy critter and consequently I’d forget about using the unit as a portable recording interface (the steel plate top panel alone weighs 1.5kg!). The chassis is an impregnable 2mm steel plate with a 3mm brushed aluminium fascia. Solid [solid as? – Ed.]. Ventilation gaps follow along both ends of the unit so there’s no need for additional fans within the box.
On the rear panel there’s the typical I/O configuration for this league of interface, with some useful extras that only Apogee would include. For example, the first two of the four XLR mic inputs feature insert points with separate balanced TRS jacks for sends and returns. Inputs 3 and 4 lose the inserts but provide high-impedance jack inputs. High-impedance inputs for channels 1 and 2 can be found on the front panel, and because there’s none of those combination XLR inputs, you can leave devices plugged in permanently. The remaining four analogue inputs and the eight analogue outputs are all TRS balanced jacks.
Further I/O exists as an RCA S/PDIF in/out and an Adat optical I/O. The Adat I/O supports S/MUX operation for up to four channels at 88.2/96k… or absolutely none at 192k. This optical port can also be configured to run stereo S/PDIF. The S/PDIF I/O functions cope with all sample rates and allows a specialised ‘CD Output’ mode that forces the output into 16-bit/44.1k – a quick sniff at a UV22HR dithered 16-bit monitoring signal at a moment’s notice is a very handy thing! Aside from the audio I/O, Apogee has included wordclock in and out, with a termination switch for input. Power is supplied to the unit via a standard IEC mains lead and will accept 100 – 240V standards. Oh, and no, the Ensemble will not function via Firewire bus power.
The front panel is an attractive piece of work, sporting a symmetrical and uncluttered layout. On the left are the two aforementioned high-impedance jack inputs and power button and on the extreme right are the two individually adjustable headphone outputs. These can mirror any of the unit’s outputs for two different monitor mixes. Moving in from the ends are two rotary encoders, one marked ‘Input’ on the left and ‘Output’ on the right. Both these encoders are surrounded by white LEDs. Each of the encoders is notched, with one click equating to one point of adjustment within the host software. The encoders are both equipped with push-button functionality as well. Depressing the knob on the left input encoder will switch the input gain control between each of the four mic preamps. The right side pushbutton toggles duties between the main monitoring output (output 1+2) and the two headphone outputs. LEDs signify which of the preamps or outputs are under front panel control.
NEED TO KNOW
ENSEMBLE INTEGRATION
Across the middle section of the fascia are 10 slots that house some rather funky looking meters. These represent either input or output levels for the eight analogue I/Os and the two digital I/Os. The meters start blue at the bottom and gradually move through to red at the top of their extension. They look very snazzy and you could see them from the other side of the street if the need arose. If you find them too distracting they can be switched off either in the Maestro control panel and mixing software or from the exclusive Logic Pro 7.2 software panel.
This cry from Apogee and Apple of ‘Total Integration’ within Logic Pro seems a little overstated. Apogee’s own Maestro control panel will provide exactly the same functions if you choose to run Cubase or Performer – no difference at all. In fact, I found running the Maestro control panel a tad easier than using the control panel built into Logic, simply because the Apogee Control Panel within Logic Pro will not close via a key command. Open? Yes. Close? Computer says, ‘Noooo’. Well done Apple… a load of hype over what appears to be nothing at all. It would make a difference if the Apogee settings were saved with your Logic file but again, no. These settings must be saved separately from Logic sessions, just as with the Maestro Control Panel. Pfft. Regardless, there’s a lot that is under control of both these approaches – features unobtainable via the front panel. These include: Apogee’s Soft Limiting on any input, individual –10 or +4 level choices for inputs and outputs, the 16-bit CD Mode and mic pre gain, 48V powering and phase. The mic preamp inputs can also be grouped to behave as stereo inputs when required. Apogee’s UV22HR dithering algorithm can also be strapped across your chosen stereo output into the bargain. Beautiful.
BRIGHT FUTURE?
As with any interface, the real proof of the pudding is in the listening. In this department the Ensemble doesn’t disappoint. To start with, the preamps sound very good – very clean while still maintaining a certain top-shelf character, whether via the mic inputs or the DIs. The preamps provide up to 75dB of very quiet gain and amplified my Reslo ribbon mics beautifully (read: enough). The 48V phantom can be individually switched from the front panel, with red LEDs signifying power is active for each pre.
Activating the Soft Limiting adds another dimension to the versatility and sound of the Ensemble. This feature (as has been the case in other Apogee converters) does a fine job should the talent become over-excited and push your inputs a little too far. The UV22 dithering is a tried and proven recipe, used on countless recordings by countless Apogee users for a very long time now, so it’s nice to see this technology finally trickling down to this interface level – in fact, the same can be said for Soft Limit. Apogee provides no specifications, but it’s my understanding that the converters and preamps are entirely new designs, not retreads of the Mini-Me or Rosetta preamps, and Apogee claims the preamp quality to be somewhere between those two models. Like the Rosetta, the Ensemble uses Apogee’s dual-stage Intelliclock for super-low jitter performance.
Personally, I liked the sound of the Ensemble very much. The output D/A sounds very musical, and for want of a better adjective, cuddly. I know that may sound stupid but have a listen for yourself and tell me I’m wrong. Overall, as an audio interface, the Ensemble is a dead-set winner. In fact, now the software is (almost) up to speed I can see it firming as favourite for next year’s best Firewire interface.
RESPONSES