HELP! putting together my First Studio!

[SamPorter89]

Hey everyone! Well i am a newbie, first thread, and i need help with putting together a home studio!

I have a iMac 2.66GHz processor, 4Gb of RAM, and Logic Studio 8(soon going to upgrade to 9).
Doing research, came across the "Power Trio" (Apple, Apogee, Euphonix) and thought the the Apogee Ensemble, along with an Euphonix MC control and x2 MC Mixes. Any takes on this set up?

Now i use MIDI, and the big potential problem with that is that the Ensemble has NO MIDI I/O. If i ran the Midi keyboard through some modules like reverb etc. (besides the ones in logic) would i be able to connect the modules to the Enemble or would i just need to get a different interface with Midi I/O??

i am extreamly new at this, so i want to run this thread for a while to hear different takes on the setup, seeing that i am in no hurray to start splurging.

Thanks a Bunch!
Sam

 

[randy roads]

I'm running on the same iMac as well. I want to get Logic. What do you think of it? I'm not into midi and just want a simple interface to plug guitar/keys & mics in.

 

[gecko zzed]

Hey everyone! Well i am a newbie, first thread, and i need help with putting together a home studio!

I have a iMac 2.66GHz processor, 4Gb of RAM, and Logic Studio 8(soon going to upgrade to 9).
Doing research, came across the "Power Trio" (Apple, Apogee, Euphonix) and thought the the Apogee Ensemble, along with an Euphonix MC control and x2 MC Mixes. Any takes on this set up?

Now i use MIDI, and the big potential problem with that is that the Ensemble has NO MIDI I/O. If i ran the Midi keyboard through some modules like reverb etc. (besides the ones in logic) would i be able to connect the modules to the Enemble or would i just need to get a different interface with Midi I/O??

i am extreamly new at this, so i want to run this thread for a while to hear different takes on the setup, seeing that i am in no hurray to start splurging.

Thanks a Bunch!
Sam

I went to the website to check on this "Power trio" and noted that the Apogee Ensemble has no midi. To my mind, that dilutes the claim of 'Power trio' a bit, specially, as Logic has a highly developed midi capability. By not including Midi they are locking away a greater part of Logic's strengths.

Unless you take further steps, you are reduced to working with the audio output of your midi equipment. This is not necessarily a bad thing; you can do all your midi work on the equipment, then just record the results.

You would benefit from getting a midi interface. These are available quite cheaply as stand-alone units. That way you can transfer midi information into the MAc, work on it in Logic, then use Logic to drive your keyboards (or whatever).

 

[SamPorter89]

I'm running on the same iMac as well. I want to get Logic. What do you think of it? I'm not into midi and just want a simple interface to plug guitar/keys & mics in.

So far i think Logic is GREAT! Though i dont know half of the potential that the program has, it begins to show its power quickly. its fairly simple to operate, but i know there is way more in the program than i know yet. im just hoping that everything i have learned wont chage when i upgrade to Logic 9, though i don't think it will (only because i have heard many new great things about the logic upgrade).

 

[SamPorter89]

I went to the website to check on this "Power trio" and noted that the Apogee Ensemble has no midi. To my mind, that dilutes the claim of 'Power trio' a bit, specially, as Logic has a highly developed midi capability. By not including Midi they are locking away a greater part of Logic's strengths.

Unless you take further steps, you are reduced to working with the audio output of your midi equipment. This is not necessarily a bad thing; you can do all your midi work on the equipment, then just record the results.

You would benefit from getting a midi interface. These are available quite cheaply as stand-alone units. That way you can transfer midi information into the MAc, work on it in Logic, then use Logic to drive your keyboards (or whatever).

Alright, thanks! I'll probably get a separate MIDI interface, but would i connect the midi interface to the Ensemble(Maybe connect them via lightpipe)?

Say i had a few racks, effects, reverb etc., and i wanted to run the MIDI keyboard through them before running it to Logic, would there be a way to connect to the ensamble from the rack or would there still have to be a MIDI interface?

 

[gecko zzed]

Alright, thanks! I'll probably get a separate MIDI interface, but would i connect the midi interface to the Ensemble(Maybe connect them via lightpipe)?

Say i had a few racks, effects, reverb etc., and i wanted to run the MIDI keyboard through them before running it to Logic, would there be a way to connect to the ensamble from the rack or would there still have to be a MIDI interface?

Older midi interfaces connected to a parallel port (or serial, I can't remember which now). Newer ones connect via USB.

In both cases they connect to the computer, not to the interface. I am not aware of any midi interfaces that offer a lightpipe connection.

You can run your keyboard output through rack FX, but you would have to do this with the keyboard's audio output. You route the keyboard's audio through the rack and into the ensemble. You can't do this with midi.