AES LA: The New Apogee Ensemble - 30×34 Thunderbolt™ 2 Audio Interface for Mac
by The Press Desk   7th October 2014

is it Thunderbolt 2 only, or will run over old Thunderbolt as well?

Yes

Looks awesome!

Availability???

So where do the converters fit in here? Same ones as the Quartet and Duet II?

Better? Worse?

TH

That's my guess.. Not bad though...

Available October 2014

It says its an upgrade to the duet and quartet!
"Measurably Superior A/D Conversion
Ensemble’s analog-to-digital conversion stage has been upgraded from previous generations of Apogee products such as Duet and Quartet to provide greater dynamic range, lower distortion and an almost non-existent noise level."

Ensemble Specs:

A/D conversion:
Max input level (+4dBu ref/Mic): +20dBu
Max input level (-10dBV ref): +6dBV
Input impedance: 5KOhm
Freq resp 20 Hz -20Khz: > +/-0.2dB (@44.1Khz)
Rel. THD + N: -110dB (@ 96Khz)
Dyn. Range: 119dB (A-weighted)
D/A conversion:
Max output level (+4dBu ref): +20dBu
Max output level (-10dBV ref): +6dBV
Line output impedance: 90 Ohm
Freq resp 20Hz -20 Khz: > +/- 0.05dB (@44.1Khz)
Rel. THD+N : -114dB (@96Khz)
Dyn Range: 123dB (A-weighted)
Front panel Guitar Output: impedance balanced/max level 14 dBu
Max output level headphones: 19dBu
Rel THD + N into 600 Ohm: -109dB
Dyn Range: 120dB (A-weighted)

Symphony Specs

Analog to Digital:
THD+N: -113dB @ 20dBu (0.00024%)
Dynamic range: 120dB A weighted
Maximum input levels:
+4dB setting – 24dBu
-10dB setting – +6dBV
Variable gain setting – 25dB of gain
Frequency response at 44.1kHz 1-20,000 Hz (+/- 0.05dB)
Input impedance: 10K
[COLOR="rgb(0, 191, 255)"]

Digital to Analog:
THD+N: -117dB @ 20dBu (0.00014%)
Dynamic Range: 129dB A weighted
Max output levels – ? to +24dBu
Frequency response at 44.1 kHz: dc to 20kHz (+/- 0.05dB)
Output impedance: 25 Ohm
Outputs are balanced through Apogee’s proprietary Perfect Symmetry Circuitry (PSC[/COLOR]

And the Apollo's Specs
Analog I/O
Microphone Inputs 1 – 4
Jack Type XLR Female
Phantom Power +48V, Switchable
Dynamic Range 118 dB (A–weighting)
Signal-to-Noise Ratio 118 dB (A–weighting)
Total Harmonic Distortion + Noise –110 dB
Hi–Z Inputs
Jack Type ¼” Male (Mono TS plug required)
Dynamic Range 117 dB (A–weighting)
Signal-to-Noise Ratio 117 dB (A–weighting)
Total Harmonic Distortion + Noise –103 dB
Line Inputs 1 – 4
Jack Type ¼”Male TRS Balanced
Dynamic Range 117 dB (A–weighting)
Signal-to-Noise Ratio 117 dB (A–weighting)
Total Harmonic Distortion + Noise –107 dB
Line Inputs 5 – 8
Jack Type ¼” Male TRS Balanced
Dynamic Range 117 dB (A–weighting)
Signal-to-Noise Ratio 117 dB (A–weighting)
Total Harmonic Distortion + Noise –107 d
Line Outputs 1 – 8
Jack Type ¼” Male TRS Balanced
Dynamic Range 118 dB (A–weighting)
Frequency Response 20 Hz – 20 kHz, ±0.1 dB
Signal-to-Noise Ratio 118 dB (A–weighting)
Total Harmonic Distortion + Noise –106 dB
Monitor Outputs 1 – 2
Jack Type ¼” Male TRS Balanced
Frequency Response 20 Hz – 20 kHz, ±0.1 dB
Dynamic Range 115 dB (A–weighting)
Signal-to-Noise Ratio 114 dB (A–weighting)
Total Harmonic Distortion + Noise –103 dB
Stereo Headphone Outputs 1 & 2
Jack Type ¼” Male TRS Stereo/Unbalanced
Frequency Response 20 Hz – 20 kHz, ±0.1 dB

Pres bypassable? Also what's the highest sample rate over ADAT?

Per Apogee's website, up to 96khz via ADAT, 192 S/PDIF.

Wow impressive...gonna sell a bunch I'll bet...looks like the only thing they missed out on is a remote for talkback, etc.

TH

Awesome. Looks like you're getting almost similar spec'd A/D to the Symphony (although the SIO's D/A & PS is still going to be superior), and 8 75db mic preamps. Killer interface with a proper thunderbolt pass-through! It's also way more feature rich (hardware-wise) than it's direct competitor, the Apollo. On the other hand, tracking through almost any native plugin with near-zero latency is going to be a reality as well with a 1.1ms round trip and the stability of PCIe (and that's within the DAW, not in a separate software mixer).

Well done, Apogee. Nice design, and a ton of high quality features. If I wasn't already a Symphony i/o owner, I'd be all over this thing!

I am a Symphony owner but sorry too much money..... buy a Symphony for a few bucks more.... or get an apollo which has built a built in satellite card.
And is it really hard to put a usb port? I mean i know Thunderbolt is the new thing.... but usb will be around for a bit longer. Why Wouldn't Apogee open their new product to more customers. Even if i wanted the new Ensemble i am not going to buy a new computer just to use this...just dumb...

Good point..
Hopefully the TB to FW is supported.

Actually, it does have a specific talkback function built in, including a built in talkback mic (or you can use an external mic), and the function can be assigned to one of the assignable buttons (or controlled in Maestro).

I saw the promo video at apogee's website (band recording) sorry but it sounds harsh, compressed, no bass, why the highest quality converter manufacturers keep doing this kind of promos ??

There is no TB to FW adapter, only FW to TB. Apogee thinks that they are going to make costumers upgrade to a new mac only to use their interfaces XD.

Except that it's not just a few bucks more to get a Symphony, if you want similar functionality. The Symphony has no preamps. If you add 8 preamps to equal the Ensemble functionality, then the money gap is quite a bit larger.

Thanks so much for the warm reception! This is a project our engineers have been working super hard on this year, and they've really tried to address a lot of the feedback we've received from our customers and people on this forum in designing the new Ensemble (so thanks again to all of you!). This box is super easy and fun to use and it sounds incredible.

I just got into the office and would be happy to answer any questions about the features, design, availability, etc. If you'll be at the AES Show here in LA, please come say hello and check it out in person!

Don,

One thing I don't see mentioned - Does this also have a standalone mode like the old Ensemble so that it can function as a standalone converter?

Also, Regarding the Guitar inputs, can they be routed in such a way so as to use them as an analog DI, without going through the Ensemble's conversion, but rather to a separate preamp, perhaps going into another device?

And, when will the manual be available to download?

Thanks.

Seems the Symphony and the Apollo are a better "value". The symphony because of the great SOUNDING A/D/A and the Apollo's Clean Conversion and Pre Amp Emulations/Plugs are hard to ignore.

(With my Apollo - the Musician session players/clients love when I insert Verb in their mix, then a lil 1176/LA2A compression on the way in, and no latency work flow is awesome. Looking to add a 8x8 Symphony, then transition to PT HD with the Symphony System. Happy with my Apollo.)

I'm SURE you could make great music with the Ensemble box!!!!

Lots of ADA for a 1u!?

That was your own D/A that your talking about!

I started my studio with an MBox Pro a few years ago. But before I got into interfaces and preamps I purchased microphones and instruments. Now I need to upgrade the electronics and the question is, do I go for one of these new breed of all-in-ones or to I avoid them.

My lifetime experience with all-in-one boxes is not very good. Also, at this price I would want to go for a bit more money and get an 8 channel Symphony and an affordable (read budget) 8 channel preamp and an affordable monitor controller and upgrade the pre amps and monitor section as I go.

But I will wait for the user reports to come in before deciding.

They're not the only brand in town who thinks that. The Apollo Twin is in the same boat.

However, you'd have to figure the target consumer for these types of products are probably 90% of the time going to be owners of a Macbook Pro, iMac, or a Mac Mini. These have had Thunderbolt ports since what ... late 2010?

On the other hand, there are still tons of previous gen mac pro owners who are getting ignored by not having a USB connection on this new Ensemble. At least as a backup with Maestro handling the monitoring. Totally agree that it would have been nice to have. But that's how she goes these days ... if you don't have a new computer yet, you should.


With regards to price, I'm sure Apogee will pay attention to sales and market share very closely. They're famous for raising or lowering prices at will with no promotion, so perhaps we'll see this Ensemble at $1999 in 6 months just like they did with the Symphony 2x6 (which of course I happened to buy at the higher price about a month before they randomly dropped the msrp $500 ... left a bad taste in my mouth for sure). We will have to see.

Nonetheless, still a very slick interface. I'd take one of these over an Apollo any day of the week.

With a 1.1ms round trip on PCIe, you're going to be able to do that in the DAW with 99% of native plugins on the Ensemble. The whole tacking through plugins thing in real time is not exclusive to UA, other than using UAD specific plugins. Plus, this way you don't have to have a separate software mixer running in the background. Been doing this with Symphony thunderbridge for some time now.

Yet there is no DSP comfort reverb! FAIL.. How do expect people to track vocals without it? It's a shame it was almost perfect..

Like Avening said.. at 1.1ms you can do this in your DAW. That is about the latency that most every other interface has while using their DSP in their mixer.

Yes, Thunderbolt 2 is totally backwards compatible with Thunderbolt.

Ensemble FireWire < current-gen Duet / Quartet < Ensemble Thunderbolt < Symphony I/O

Compared to the Duet/Quartet, Ensemble features a completely new A/D converter design, improved "PurePower" headphone outputs, and inherits some of the custom power supply features from Symphony I/O.

The D/A and "Advanced Step Gain" mic preamps are the same as the Duet/Quartet, although they do still benefit a bit from the improved power supply.

As far as preamp and converter specifications go, it is simply the best in its class!

ADAT/SMUX will get you up to 96kHz.

The pres are indeed bypassable, and one interesting thing to note is that in this box it is actually a complete hardware relay bypass. We had a lot of people ask for that, even if they didn't completely understand why they wanted it. The line-input on the Duet/Quartet goes through the analog routing matrix before the mic preamps which still performs better than the line inputs on a lot of "high end converter" designs, but on Ensemble we just went all the way to a complete hardware bypass.

Thanks! We considered the talkback remote idea, but in practice decided it's just as easy to press the button on the front panel.

The eight-channel, eight-preamp Symphony I/O + ThunderBridge is 2U and $4985 - yes, it specs out even better than Ensemble, but Ensemble is an incredible deal for what you're getting!

Regarding USB, Ensemble simply could not perform with the same incredibly low latency and efficiency through USB. We were shooting for more of a "Tesla" design rather than a "Chevy Volt" - the very best Thunderbolt interface possible, and not a Thunderbolt+compromised-USB hybrid. We know not everyone can use a Thunderbolt audio interface yet just like not everyone can drive a pure-electric car, but we wanted to design this unit for the present and the future.

Thunderbolt to Firewire does not exist. :(
Firewire to Thunderbolt, yes, but not the other way around.

Sorry you didn't like it! We thought it sounded pretty cool. But hey, I'm just proud we were able to do an MI product launch video in 2014 without drowning it in dubstep.