Apogee Symphony I/O MK II 8x8 Pro Tools HD Audio Interface with 8 Mic Preamps
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Symphony I/O Mk II is a multi-channel audio interface featuring Apogee's newest flagship AD/DA conversion, modular I/O (up to 32 inputs and outputs), intuitive touchscreen display and optional world-class microphone preamps. Designed to deliver professional sound quality for audio recording, mixing and mastering, Symphony I/O Mk II is the ultimate music production centerpiece for any modern studio.
Legendary Sound Quality
Apogee engineers have made it their passion to improve every new flagship product by using the latest in electrical components and designing optimized circuitry that often exceeds the expectations of the component manufacturer. This is the Apogee Advantage. Symphony I/O Mk II is the culmination of this 30 year commitment and raises the bar on all Apogee products before it with even better audio clarity and sonic transparency. In fact, when equipped with either the new 8x8 or 16x16 Mk II I/O modules, Symphony I/O Mk II outperforms all other multi-channel audio interfaces available for Pro Tools HD or Thunderbolt based systems, making it the flagship audio interface for the entire professional audio industry and the obvious choice for countless GRAMMY winning artists, producers, songwriters and engineers.
Symphony I/O Mk II HD is designed for the Pro Tools HD user who needs a multi-channel audio interface with the best sound quality at an incredible cost per channel value. Whether using a Mac or PC based studio, Symphony I/O Mk II HD can connect directly to the Digilink port on your Pro Tools HDX, Pro Tools HD Native or Pro Tools Core/Accel systems.
Symphony I/O Mk II HD can be utilized alongside or in place of Avid or Digidesign interfaces for Pro Tools HD. In fact, each I/O module installed in Symphony I/O Mk II HD appears and functions in Pro Tools HD the same if it were a separate Avid HD I/O interface, so set up is easy and you can take advantage of important Pro Tools features such as sample-accurate delay compensation.
A single Symphony I/O Mk II HD unit can have up to 32 simultaneous analog I/O, so you can have more channels with less rack gear. Need even more channels? You can utilize multiple units simultaneously, with one Symphony I/O Mk II HD per every Pro Tools HD DigiLink port in your system. Calibrating your I/O is easy with Symphony I/O Mk II HD's front panel touchscreen.
HIGHLIGHTS
- Best performance of any multi-channel Pro Tools HD interface
- Best cost per channel value of any Pro Tools HD interface solution
- Connects directly to any Pro Tools HD system via DigiLink port (Mac or PC)
- Emulates Avid HD I/O interface, including sample-accurate delay compensation
- Connect multiple units in a single system (1 unit per HD Digilink port)
- Easy I/O calibration with front panel touchscreen
The Magic is in the Modules
The I/O Modules are the sound and soul of Symphony I/O Mk II, and represent 30 years of Apogee R&D and design excellence. These powerful Modules deliver Apogee's core competency: superior sounding digital audio recording. With 3 available I/O Modules and an 8 channel mic preamp module, you can choose from base configurations or expand to grow your studio's capabilities.
Front Panel Touchscreen with Comprehensive Control
All of Symphony I/O Mk II's essential input and output settings can be accessed from the front panel touchscreen. Change your input selection, monitoring levels, mic pre gain or calibrate your Symphony I/O Mk II to match the levels of the other analog gear in your system.
A high-resolution TFT display delivers all the visual feedback critical for recording and monitoring. Without looking at your computer, Symphony I/O Mk II lets you see metering for up to 64 channels of I/O, 32 IN x 32 OUT - signal levels, polarity, muting, phantom power and Soft Limit.
Dynamic Temperature Control
Symphony I/O Mk II features advanced controls to keep the unit running at an ideal temperature, ensuring the highest level of performance and reliability. The new temperature controls are complemented by an improved fan and chassis ventilation design, which allows adequate component cooling to occur quietly.
Why do I need a good AD/DA converter?
Whether you record with a vintage Neve console, the best Neumann microphones or colorful mic preamps, a high quality AD converter is imperative to capture every nuance of your analog gear into your DAW. Without this, you will miss many of the subtleties and details that simply cannot be added back later with plugins. Similarly, the DA stage is essential to your perception of the recorded audio tracks. When mixing, regardless of what speakers you are using, if the converter is masking or having any effect on your audio, you could end up overcompensating with EQ, compression or other effects and failing to address other problematic details.
With Symphony I/O Mk II, you will hear more definition in each track and instrument of the mix, making it easier for you to make intelligent adjustments and achieve the ideal balance. Tracks will blend more harmoniously and mixing will simply be easier. The high end will be clear and not as brittle while the low end will be tighter than ever and more defined. This sort of unmatched audio quality can be noticed and appreciated by any listener.
Apogee Engineering Advantage
For over 30 years, Apogee has consistently redefined the state of the art in digital audio hardware design. We never rest on the laurels of our previous award-winning products - we're constantly evaluating the latest technological developments in analog and digital components, platform connectivity and user interface advances to design better performing, intuitive products that meet the needs of any audio professional.
As an example of the Apogee Advantage, Symphony I/O Mk II uniquely employs a fully differential op-amp as a fundamental building block throughout its analog circuits. The very latest iterations of this technology offer astounding performance - vanishingly low noise and distortion, lightning-fast slew rate and out-sized current output capability, all in a power efficient and small package. These components offer performance that's orders of magnitude superior to what's found in most competitive audio interfaces, and are an important factor in Symphony I/O Mk II's ability to offer up to 32 channels of state-of-the-art conversion in one 2U package at an incredible price per channel value.
Mk II Sound Quality - New 8x8 and 16x16 Modules.
Like every flagship product we've introduced, Symphony I/O Mk II benefits from on-going expertise that constitutes the Apogee Engineering Advantage, once again pushing forward the state-of-the-art.
Symphony I/O Mk II includes the most refined analog-to-digital converter we've ever designed. The analog stage uses the same fully differential op-amps as found in the original Symphony I/O, but now in a circuit precisely streamlined to provide the most transparent path to the A/D stage possible. A Dual Sum A/D stage - where two conversion stages are summed for each analog channel - offers the lowest distortion and greatest dynamic range of any A/D converter we've ever designed - you get digital recordings that are true to your analog inspiration.
Symphony I/O MK II's D/A section has been optimized with a more powerful, robust analog output driver. This newly designed high current, low impedance circuit is capable of driving virtually any input with absolutely no decrease in performance, regardless of the load presented by the connected gear. This becomes especially important when connecting vintage gear with difficult load impedances and elevated operating levels, sometime over long cables - Symphony I/O MK II maintains fidelity and punch.
Audiophile-Grade Headphone Monitoring with Constant Current Drive.
Symphony I/O Mk II features a single ultra high-fidelity DAC and headphone amplifier featuring Apogee's Constant Current Drive technology, first introduced in the Apogee Groove. This unique approach to headphone amplification dynamically compensates for the nonlinearities of any connected headphones, providing massive power while maintaining extremely low distortion and linear frequency response.
Includes ESS Sabre32 DAC Technology
ESS Sabre32 32-bit Hyperstream DAC with Time Domain Jitter Eliminator offers unequalled dynamic range, ultra low distortion, and unmatched audio clarity free from input jitter.
A Difference You Will Hear
Apogee is an award-winning industry leader in digital recording technology with over 30 years of experience. Preferred by recording pros around the world, Apogee products like Duet, Quartet, Ensemble and Symphony I/O have been instrumental in creating countless GRAMMY and OSCAR winning recordings and have set the industry standard in professional recording for over two decades. Symphony I/O Mk II is built solidly on this reputation.
SPECIFICATIONS
Inputs:
Analog Inputs
• 8 built-in mic preamps
• Digitally controlled, 85dB microphone preamps
• 4 Hi-Z 1/4? instrument inputs capable of handling high level instruments
• Selectable 48v phantom power, Soft Limit and phase invert
• 8 balanced inputs on 1 DSUB 25-pin connector
Inserts
• 8 balanced software assignable analog insert points
• Return 1-8 on 1 DSUB 25-pin connector
Digital Inputs
*AES-EBU IN: 8 inputs on 1 DSUB 25-pin connector
*Optical IN: Supports ADAT, SMUX & S/PDIF
• ADAT: 8 channels 44.1-48 kHz on 1 Toslink connector
• SMUX: 8 channels 88.2-96 kHz on 2 Toslink connectors
• S/PDIF: 2 channels, up to 96 kHz on 1 Toslink connector
• Coax IN: 2 channels of S/PDIF, up to 192 kHz on 1 RCA connector
Outputs:
Analog Outputs
• 8 balanced outputs on 1 DSUB 25-pin connector
Inserts
• 8 balanced software assignable analog insert points
• Send 1-8 on 1 DSUB 25-pin connector
Digital Outputs
*AES-EBU OUT: 8 outputs on 1 DSUB 25-pin connector
*Optical OUT: Supports ADAT, SMUX & S/PDIF
*ADAT: 8 channels 44.1-48 kHz on 1 Toslink connector
*SMUX: 8 channels 88.2-96 kHz on 2 Toslink connectors
*S/PDIF: 2 channels, up to 96 kHz on 1 Toslink connector
*Coax OUT: 2 channels of S/PDIF, up to 192 kHz on 1 RCA connector
Connection:
• Pro Tools HD Core card
• Pro Tools Accel PCI card
• Pro Tools HD Native PCI card
• Pro Tools HD Native Thunderbolt
• Pro Tools HDX PCI card
Performance:
• 44.1kHz - 192kHz
• Sample accurate compatibility with Pro Tools Delay Compensation
Computer: Mac or PC
Control: Front panel touchscreen
Compatible Software: Pro Tools HD 9 or greater
Analog to Digital:
• THD+N: -114dB @ 22dBu (0.00020%)
• Dynamic range: 122dB A weighted
• Maximum input levels:
• +4dB setting: +24dBu
• -10dB setting: +6dBV
• Frequency response at 44.1kHz: 1-20,000 Hz (+/- 0.05dB)
• Input impedance: 10K
Digital to Analog:
• THD+N: -117dB @ 21dBu (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)
Headphone Output:
• 1 stereo 1/4? headphone output on front panel
• THD+N:
• -110dB @19dBu into 600 Ohm (=80mW)
• -101dB @14dBu into 32 Ohm (=470mW)
• Dynamic Range: 121db A weighted
• Output: Apogee's proprietary Constant Current Drive? provides smooth frequency response with any headphones
Power:
• 90-240VAC, 50-60Hz, 150W
PACKAGE CONTENTS
• Symphony I/O Mk II Interface
• Power Cable
• Quick Start Guide
• Warranty Booklet
Q & A
Reviews
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