Apogee Ensemble Now Shipping With Beta FireWire Audio Driver

Apogee Electronics Corporation announced today that Ensemble is now shipping worldwide through authorized dealers and distributors. Ensemble is a multi-channel digital audio interface designed specifically for use with Apple Macintosh computers. As the first and only multi-channel audio interface controllable natively within Apple's Logic Pro software, Ensemble provides a complete, fully integrated professional hardware and software system for audio production on a Mac.

Apogee has decided to make Ensemble available with a beta version of the FireWire Audio driver. The beta FireWire Audio driver supports a single Ensemble used with any G5 or Intel-based Macintosh with OS X v. 10.4.7. Sample rates of up to 96k are also available. Apogee intends to support all of Ensemble's hardware capabilities, such as 192K sampling rates and multiple units with the final release of the FireWire Audio driver.

Ensemble features 36 channels of simultaneous audio, including 8 channels of Apogee's legendary A/D and D/A conversion, 4 transparent, digitally controlled 75db mic preamps, 8 channels of ADAT I/O, 2 channels of S/PDIF coax and optical I/O, and FireWire connectivity to and from the computer as standard. Ensemble also includes such Apogee's features as "SoftLimit," "UV22HR," and "Intelliclock." These technologies, combined with Apogee's world-class converters, make Ensemble an ideal choice for professionals seeking a high-definition, integrated solution for their native Macintosh workstation

FireWire Beta Driver System requirements

To use the Beta FireWire Audio 2.0.0b13-e8 for Mac OS X, you need:

• An Apogee Ensemble
• A Macintosh computer with a G5 or Intel processor
• Mac OS version 10.4.7
• Apogee Maestro Software Control Application 1.0 or later

Supported configurations and features

The following configurations and features are supported with Beta FireWire Audio 2.0.0b13-e8:

• Single Ensemble setups
• Audio sample rates of 44.1kHz, 48kHz, 88.2kHz and 96kHz
• Logic Pro 7.2.1, iTunes 6.x or QuickTime Player 7.x
• Logic Pro 7.2.1, Core Audio I/O buffer sizes of 64, 128, 256, 512 and 1024

The following configurations and features are NOT supported with Beta FireWire Audio 2.0.0b13-e8:

• Any FireWire audio device other than the Apogee Ensemble
• Sleeping the computer and waking the computer up from sleep
• Hot-plugging (connecting the Ensemble to the computer while the computer or the Ensemble is powered on)
• Multiple Ensemble setups
• Setups with any FireWire device connected other than the Ensemble including FireWire hard drives, FireWire cameras, and other FireWire audio devices
• Audio sample rates of 176.4kHz and 196kHz
• Any software application other than those specifically mentioned above