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line drivers simulate transformer behavior.

The circuitry is an ultra low output

impedance/high current driver, capable of

running levels up to 26 dBu to the most com-

plex or low impedance loads. This translates

into seamless integration with vintage equip-

ment.

The Symphony PCI card was designed

specifically for the Apple Mac. It is a 24-

bit/192-kHz PCI-e card that provides 32

simultaneous channels of digital I/O. Up to

three Symphony cards can be installed in one

Mac, making it possible to have 96 simultane-

ous inputs and outputs running natively with-

in a single computer. A 192-channel (96 in and

96 out) I/O setup requires six AD-16X boxes

and six DA-16Xs. And configuring the AD-

16X and DA-16X to "Advanced" routing

allows additional hardware (converters, digi-

tal effects, etc.) to be connected via the

AD/DA's digital I/O.

The heart of the Symphony System is the

Maestro software. This software application,

while not required, provides undeniably valu-

able control of Apogee interfaces by allowing

the user to adjust hardware settings, configure

routing between hardware I/O and audio

software I/O, and to perform low-latency

mixes of hardware I/O paths and software

outputs. Maestro consists of two main win-

dows, the "Settings" window and the

"Routing/Mixer" window. Maestro also

includes functionality for checking Ensemble

software and firmware versions, personaliz-

| APPLE OF THE REVIEWER'S EYE

The Apple Mac Pro included with my

review setup was, by a large margin, the

best computer that I've ever used. It worked

perfectly, was lightning fast and, quite

frankly, made me drool. If I had the money

(or even enough room on my credit card) it

would have found a permanent home in my

studio. The Symphony System, even con-

sidering the Mac Pro's price tag, is about

half the price of a Pro Tools rig of similar

specifications.

| HERE'S A CLOSER LOOK AT THE

COMPUTER

■

Mac Pro w/Dual-Core 3-GHz Intel

Xeon processors

■

L2 Cache (per processor): 4 MB

Memory: 4 GB

■

Bus Speed: 1.33 GHz

■

465 GB internal drive

1.36 TB internal raid

■

ing "modifier" keys when setting the mixer,

and saving and recalling routing and mixer

configurations.

The Settings windows allows the user to

toggle between the Apogee interfaces that are

connected to the Symphony PCI card, set the

clock source for the selected unit, configure

the VBus, and configure the Performance

Tuning. The V-Bus feature,

employing Apogee's ultra-

fast Symphony driver, pro-

vides unlimited routing possi-

bilities across multiple appli-

cations in any Symphony

System. This makes recording

out of QuickTime or Final Cut

Pro directly into your DAW a

breeze. The Maestro Control

Panel allows the virtual chan-

nels to be enabled. The V-Bus channel names

are clearly labeled and the number of addi-

tional V-Bus channels is selectable within

Apple's Audio Midi Setup. Logic users will

love this feature because it makes it possible to

record bus outputs within Logic Pro. VBus

offers zero latency performance with minimal

processing power on up to 32 buses per

Symphony card, ensuring maximum audio

performance.

Maestro's Performance Tuning feature pro-

vides the ability to fine tune the performance

of the Symphony driver to allow super low

latency for high performance platforms. This

gives the user the ability to maximize the per-

formance of the Symphony system on all sup-

ported hardware.

The Routing/Mixer Window has three

panes labeled "Input," "Output" and "Mixer."

Like the Setting window, each of the

Routing/Mixer panes has a "Unit Select" tab

that allows the user to toggle between the

Apogee interfaces that are connected to the

Symphony PCI card.

The Input routing pane consists of a rout-

ing grid that plots the various connections

between hardware inputs and signal paths to

software applications. These connections

appear as inputs within the software applica-

tions. It is also possible to send one hardware

input simultaneously to several software sig-

nal paths. The hardware inputs are represent-

ed by a row at the top of the grid, while paths

to software are represented by the column to

the left of the grid.

Signal paths to software may be configured

as Mono or Stereo within the "Matrix" column

of drop down menus. The Mono setting allows

for the greatest routing flexibility, but the

Stereo setting offers the convenience of routing

signals a pair at a time. I found that the Stereo

generally worked best for all of my applica-

tions, but it was nice to have the option of con-

figuring the paths as mono if required. The sig-

nal paths can be labeled in the Input column.

The Output routing pane is almost the

same functionally as the Input pane but it is

Apogee Symphony Card

may be configured as Mono or Stereo. The

Mono setting, like the Input pane, allows for

the greatest routing flexibility, while the Stereo

setting offers the convenience of routing sig-

nals a pair at a time. A path may be set to Off

in this menu as well. Signal paths may be

labeled in the Output text box. If the AD16X is

set to Standard routing, there will be no paths

listed in the Output pane as there is only one

signal path (analog inputs to all digital out-

puts). When it is set to Advanced routing, the

Input pane is used to route the AD16X's ana-

log inputs to software inputs and the Output

pane is used to route software app outputs to

the AD16X's AES and ADAT/SMUX outputs.

There will likewise be no paths listed in the

Input pane if a connected DA16X is set to

"Standard" routing.

The "Maestro" mixer blends the hardware

inputs with the software application playback

and routes the mix directly to hardware out-

puts. The "Mixer Select" (A-B) drop down

menu selects between the two available mix-

ers per hardware interface. The "Input

Channels" provide the ability to control

inputs to the mixer. Hardware inputs of the

selected interface are the source for these

input channels. The mixer always displays 18

inputs; the unused mixer channels are grayed

out if the selected device is equipped with less

than 18 inputs. The mixer inputs each have

"Pan," "Level," "Solo" and "Mute" controls.

A bar graph style meter displays the pre-fader

input level.

The "DAW Return" is a stereo input that

provides level control, metering and mute/solo

functions for the DAW Return signal, e.g. the

mix of playback tracks from the software app.

The "Main Output" is a stereo channel that pro-

used to make connections

between signal paths from

software applications and

hardware outputs. Hardware

outputs are represented by a

row at the top of the grid,

while the column to the left of

the grid represents paths

from software. In the Matrix

column of drop down menus,

signal paths from software

Reprinted from Pro Audio Review