Recording - March 2015 - 18

B Y PA U L V N U K J R .

Apogee
Ensemble Thunderbolt 2 Audio Interface
This compact interface combines massive flexibility with world-class audio specs

Santa Monica-based Apogee has been
at the forefront of digital audio technology
for 30 years. Since the company's birth in
1985, it's gone from building custom filters
for early digital tape machines to creating
some of the world's first standalone A/D
and D/A converters.
Originally Apogee gear came in the form
of an expandable network of clocking
devices, computer expansion cards, and
separate multi-channel A/D and D/A
boxes, all tied together by the company's
Symphony system of PCI cards. That
changed in 2006, when the company
crammed much of said technology into a
sleek silver single-rackspace FireWire audio
interface, which it named the Ensemble. At
the time, this was one of the first standalone
high-end multichannel FireWire interfaces; it
featured four mic preamps, 8 channels total
of analog I/O, and slick routing features, all
with Apogee's famed sound quality.
Since then, the company's interface family has grown considerably. High-quality
USB interfaces for portable use now include
the One, Duet for iPad and Mac, and
Quartet (reviewed June and December
2013), and Apogee's top end is covered by
the enormously powerful Symphony I/O
system (October 2013). Now it's time for
the interface in the middle of the range, the
one that started it all, to be reborn. The new
Ensemble may be Apogee's most jampacked full-service audio interface yet.
Bringing the thunder
Its predecessor's name and 1U rackmount format are all that the Ensemble
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RECORDING March 2015

retains from its predecessor. It's a completely new design from the ground up. On the
front, the original's brushed-stainless look
and minimalist controls have been replaced
by a classy black powder coat finish with
plenty of knobs, buttons, and dual OLED displays. On the back, the most notable
change (and the one mentioned most prominently by Apogee) is the replacement of
FireWire by the new Thunderbolt 2 standard. The two ports allow the Ensemble to
be networked and run with very high
throughput and very low latency.
Here is an overview of what the new
Ensemble offers:
~ 30 inputs / 34 outputs (12-in/16-out
analog, 16-channel ADAT optical, stereo
S/PDIF)
~ 8 built-in microphone preamps with up
to 75 dB gain.
~ Two Thunderbolt 2 ports offering a possible 1.1 millisecond latency
~ Built-in talkback system with front-panel
talkback mic
~ Two assignable headphone outs with
PurePower amplification and individual
control knobs
~ 24-Bit/192 kHz performance with
newly designed A/D and ESS Sabre32
D/A conversion.
Like all Apogee products (aside from
the recent Pro Tools interfaces created in
conjunction with Avid), the Ensemble is
designed for use with Macs. It's Apogee's
first product that's compatible with Mac
OS X Yosemite 10.10 right out of the
box; it works with OS X Mavericks
10.9.3 and above.

The Ensemble uses Apogee's well-known
Maestro software for graphical user interface, networking, and control. It is compatible with any Core Audio DAW-Logic
Pro, Pro Tools, GarageBand, MainStage,
Final Cut, Ableton Live, Digital Performer,
Studio One, Cubase, Nuendo, and others.
Also note that it uses a built-in Core Audio
Hardware engine that helps achieve lower
latency and eases CPU stress.
Up front
The Ensemble's front panel starts on the
left with four 1/4" jacks. The top two are
Class-A JFET high-impedance instrument
inputs for use with guitars and bass, with
an input impedance over 2 Megohms.
The bottom two are dual-function outputs
that offer a standard parallel or Thru output like you would get on a typical DI
box. This allows your signal to be sent out
to your amp, allowing you to record your
dry guitar signal while simultaneously
miking and recording the amp.
The real big news concerning these outputs is that they are also full fledged reamplification outs. Your dry guitar signal can
be sent to an amplifier after the fact and retracked to your heart's content. Usually this
procedure requires standalone reamping
boxes; this may be the first time that this
connivence has been built right into a
recording interface. This set of ins and outs
is also handy for interfacing and injecting
guitar-level effects pedals into your mixes.
Ten soft, backlit buttons, labeled 1-8
and G1/G2, allow instant access to and
control of the unit's input channels-eight

Recording - March 2015

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