Apogee Symphony I/O

The Apogee Symphony is a 16 in and 16 out interface that connects to your computer via USB connection. When I purchased it I was immediately drawn to the design of it and the build of it. It is built out of high quality materials and nothing about it says “cheap”.

UTILIZATION

There are 16 balanced inputs and you can connect the mics via the external microphone preamps and same thing with the guitars. There are 2 channels (S/PDIF) and 16 Analog Outputs. This interface may not be for everyone do to the price and the complicated set up. It took me a while to get this set up and my computer specs where just about standard with what the Symphony was requiring a user to have for this interface.

GETTING STARTED

I was having major driver issues when using this with my desktop Mac computer. For some reason I had to do installs about 3 different times before the interface would be recognized by my computer. But after I finally got it to install correctly it worked like a charm. These issues could have been my fault or my computers issue; I really didn’t think it had anything to do with the interface.

OVERALL OPINION

Being that this interface is so expensive, it may not be worth the money. I have used other interfaces that cost hundreds of dollars less that gave me the exact same sound. But it’s Apogee and they also have more expensive gear. If you are a Macbook user I wouldn't recommend this unless your MacBook is your main set up than in that case this could be your main interface. But if you have a desktop Mac and enough money to invest this is the interface to have. The preamps are amazing and the sound quality is about as good as you are going to get from working at home!

The Apogee Electronics Symphony I/O is an audio interface that can be mixed and matched a bit to fit your needs. It's first sold as the base module, but it's fully expandable and you'll need to add at least one set of I/O's as you can add up to 32 inputs and outputs, which is really cool. In the back it's got slots for two cards, a USB port, optical connections, word clock connections, and an Ethernet port. It's really all about how you want to customize this, which is really a beautiful thing. Of course it's also got the top tier converters in the mix here that has made Apogee famous.

UTILIZATION

Once everything is set up and good to go and you've expanded your Apogee Electronics Symphony I/O, it's not at all going to be hard to use. The front panel has 16 meters that can be programmed, as well as two 1/4" headphones jacks and a volume knob. It sits nicely upon your desk, but isn't rack mountable.

GETTING STARTED

The sound of the Apogee Electronics Symphony I/O is going to give you about as clear of a picture as you can get. Between the converters in here and whatever I/O set up you decide to go with, you should be all set to give yourself a truly accurate listening and recording environment. The best part about it all is the expandability as it gives you the best of all possible worlds. No one at all is going to be down about the sound of this, as it doesn't get much better when it comes to audio interfaces with it's converters.

OVERALL OPINION

The Apogee Electronics Symphony I/O is a ground breaking audio interface in that it gives the user the full compliment of options in expanding it. You can use it in any capacity you like of course depending on how you configure it, but of course that's the beauty in it. I'd check out Symphony I/O for high end home studio owners looking for flexibility in an audio interface without sacrificing quality.

What characteristics have motivated your choice?

Flexibility of use, simplicity and sound quality

For what purpose?
Main / I converter 16 O for tracking and monitoring

What is your config (Motherboard / CPU / Ram / Hard, ...)? I use interface with two cards that gives me 16 I / O analog and 16 digital I / O (8x AES / EBU, ADAT 8x).
2012 OEM, USB connection or Thunderbolt iMac on Cubase / Protools

Which instruments and systems (console, preamp, DTD ...) you use it and how connections? I used to stand alone as well as in the main listening configuratrion taken multitrack DAW with exterior preamps

Highly flexible system that provides the ability to adapt to any system. Choose the type of cards according to your config, only pay for what you actually need (pre, number of input / output). Lets be configured up to 32 I / O with a single unit! Can also work with the new map / ProTools HD interface native thunderbolt.

The sound of the converters is not quite clear (if you want absolute transparency rather see side Mytek) but the quality and are made of excellent quality with a light color that personally suits me very well.

UTILIZATION

The drivers are stable? Yes, very few crashes

Are they often updated? Periodically, we receive notification of updates as soon as new drivers are available

What software do you use most often? Cubase, ProTools

What you get lag? <10ms

How many tracks you get record / playback simultaneously? 16 simultaneous tracks obtained so far

GETTING STARTED

The installation is done it without problems? Absolutely

Have you experienced any incompatibilities? Not so far

The general configuration is easy? A breeze

The manual is clear and sufficient? Manual easy to use online and made regular days

OVERALL OPINION

How long have you use it? About 2 years

What is the particular feature you like best and least? The +: flexibility (see above). The -: from the price of the cards, I'm still looking ...

Have you tried many other models before buying it? RME converters and Focurite


How would you rate the quality / price? With experience, you do again this choice? ...
It's expensive, but I would do this choice hesitate san