Apogee Ensemble Audio Interface

D

dzara 4

New member
Has anybody picked this up? I was thinking about trading in my traveler for

this since I use logic . Could it be worth almost $2000? Those apogee

converters are probably killer.

pro and cons?
 
Pro's: Good sound.
Con's: No pads combined with very hot preamps make it impossible, yes impossible, to record high SPL instruments with hot mics. In test, recording overheads with Earthworks or TLM103 ends up clipping all the way at the lowest gain setting.

With the cost of pads in mind, this is a serious mistake IMO.
 
Stefan Elmblad said:
Pro's: Good sound.
Con's: No pads combined with very hot preamps make it impossible, yes impossible, to record high SPL instruments with hot mics. In test, recording overheads with Earthworks or TLM103 ends up clipping all the way at the lowest gain setting.

With the cost of pads in mind, this is a serious mistake IMO.
Click to expand...


In situations like that you could allways use an external pad or better yet you can easilly build a Pad into a XLR Cable just by soldering in a couple resistors.....

:)
 
Yeah that's a slick looking unit but for that cost I would like to see some high-pass filters, phase reversal & yes pads on at least the first 4 channels that have inserts.
 
Minion said:
In situations like that you could allways use an external pad or better yet you can easilly build a Pad into a XLR Cable just by soldering in a couple resistors.....

:)
Click to expand...

I know that, but:

For the price paid, people shouldn't have to start soldering stuff to make the unit work in a recording situation.
 
my last band picked up the m-audio knockoff DIGI002...the control surface one...

couldn't record ANYTHING with it they were so hot...

took it right back and pissed on the box
 
I would be careful investing in a piece of gear that is only Mac compatible at this point. Also, new products like this, at this price range, should be user tested over a period of time before giving it the OK. COnsider the Rosetta 800 or the 200, or the UA 2192, or some others that are a sure thing.
 
I own one and have only a few problems with it. Check out the threads at gearslutz.com for a more extended discussion of this unit.
 
I had one for a bit...buggy & overpriced. Got rid of it.

I feel they dropped the ball on this one. IMO, I'd pay about $1200-$1300 for it max., and still understand I'm getting a "prosumer" unit...but the bugs are unacceptable and I wouldn't even spend that knowing the issues.

It's a 1RU 24 bit/192khz A/D/A converter with 4 preamps and bunch of dorky lights. It uses a A/D/A codec as well, as opposed to dedicated chips for each, and the same preamps (base design) as your MOTU Traveller, the Texas Instruments PGA2500I. All that stuff in 1RU is an instant giveaway in can't be of too much caliber...well, either that or those lights.

I also had a Mini Me, which I think was better, built it still suffered the same overly hot preamp problem.

IMHO, I'd look elsewhere...
 
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