clear as a bell 
by rick loafer from new york, September 2008
Music Background:  producer/emgineer

Id have to say its ell worth the money. Compared to any other interface aside from HD or higher end apogee converters its as close as your gonna get in this price range to pro sound. Good clean high gain preamp, the mastero software works great with logic, near zero latency, no BS driver issues or crashed. Great tech support as well. dont waste your cash on something for 1200 like an RME this rocks go get it and record something.

  The Best Firewire Interface out there!!! 
by Brian Fanjul from Los Angeles, Puerto Rico, New York., August 2008
Music Background:  Sound Engineer, Mixer, Sound Editor, Post Production ( foley ),Live Sound Engineer.

I own one at my home studio, also own Digi products. Monitoring with JBL LSR6325P/ 5.1 System through Ensemble and let me tell you, there is not other Firewire Interface better than the Ensemble. It sound amazing! Setting up onto my two Mac's, my Mac Pro the Evil modified desk top and my trusty MacBook Pro it was as simple as drinking water (come on guys I read the other reviews) I installed Maestro to the Mac's and then download the upgrades on Apogee website using firmware updater in less than 30 min. Follow the instructions the manual said it all, is so simple. Also operating Maestro is like breathing, if you have experience or understand how DAW functions you will find the application of the Ensemble easy to operated. I compare this product in the same category as RME Fireface and Prism Orpheus, but for my taste the Ensemble kick a*s. The AD/DA converters, clock and UV22HR dither on the Ensemble are the best you can find on a Firewire Interfaces for the money, Apogee Quality!! The Mic pre's are digitally control up to 75db and they have a very clear and don't colorate your sound. Monitoring with 8 analogue outputs using the 2 Headphones mix or Stereo, 5.1 surround and 7.1 surround (also the ADAT give you 8 more outputs) with zero latency, thats very good! Mixing on it you can hear every detail. Inputs are fair, especially that it only have 4 mic pre's with a total of 8 analogue inputs, also it has 8 more I/O's of ADAT, but Apogee compensated this with fully balanced Inserts sends and returns on each mic pre's for external hardware use. Also feature a 2 channels of S/PDIF coax and optical I/O. Ensemble feature Hi-Z line inputs for recording Bass, Electric Guitars, Keyboards or Synth. The outputs are perfect for surround mixing or patching in to a vintage analogue mixer. Ensemble has a total of 36 Channel of simultaneous audio. Love the LED meters and the knobs they are so simple to operate only two of then, but with multi purpose. For Logic and Mac users this is it, don't wast your time or money. Be a smart shopper and get the Ensemble. From a Pro Studio to a Project Studio or taking the Ensemble to record a live jazz trio or a String Quartet, if you are serious about your sound, Apogee Ensemble!!! I feel like a happy camper :-)

  A Must Have! 
by Bob Davis from Reno, NV USA, April 2008
Music Background:  Network Television, 4 Time Emmy Award Winner

This is by far the best audio interface for the Mac Pro period. The only flaw in the whole Ensemble system is the manual and configuring the unit to your system. This did take too long, but once I got it up and running it has been nothing but stellar.
My use is with Final Cut Pro Studio w/Mac Pro 3ghz dual core loaded. The Ensemble makes it easy to balance out my 5.1 monitoring feeding Dynaudio BM5A's nearfield monitors. The sound is pure and clean. For voice overs, the Mic Pre's w/Phantom Pwr are sweet and easy to control from the front panel.
Cut loose with some dough...this is a must have!

  The only solution 
by Tyson Leonard from California, April 2008
Music Background:  Pro violinist/ performer, live and recording Sound Engineer by trade.

After 2 months of stressful computer configuring I have finally been able to use the Apogee Ensemble with out headaches. This sounds bad, but all those hours have payed off BIG TIME!!! I am using a 2.4 dual core iMAC with 4 gb of RAM and OSX 10.4.11. All drives are hooked up with FW400 (FW800 poses problems with the Ensemble). Also, you must have all ADAT and SPDIF digital devices connected to the Ensemble turned ON or the clock of the Ensemble will not work properly. All this said, the Ensemble sounds incredible.... I got to work immediately with 2 acoustic songwriters' projects and have been blown away by the detail, depth, and most of all the clarity of the recorded tracks sitting in the mix. No longer do I feel that the digital conversion process is a sacrifice for price and ease of editing.

My Digi002 is collecting dust since I have converted all my ProTools projects to Logic 8. No longer do I have to deal with the fatiguing sound of those converters. I can best describe this by comparing images from a standard point and shoot digital camera with those of a digital SLR with premium glass in front of it. My eyes don't try to focus past the pixels just as my ears no longer try to strain to hear what I know I had heard while tracking.

Thanks again to my salesperson Jeff Law for keeping me from making a boneheaded decision by buying something less than perfect, such as (feel free to list all Motu, Digidesign, Focusrite, mackie, TC, and Presonus audio interfaces here).....

  Technology Freak! 
by Platinum/Diamond. from USA. LONDON, JAMROCK., October 2007
Music Background:  Lost in the passion of Music.

Apogee Ensemble is at the top of its range as it as ever been, as there has been, as they have made a few changes to the new range of Ensemble.
A little tricky to set-up at first i must say. You dont even need Masetro in order to eliminate Lantency as with prevous models.
And with Logic-Pro its a dream come true, never as their been a better DAW on Planet-Earth and is the first interface that integrates with Apple's Platform aslso including GarageBand, Sound-Track-Pro and Final-Cut-Pro.
Ensemble A/D. converters is so transparent in Logic its like a must have, as i have used a few Interface including Delta 1010, Fire-Face 800 and the best as been the EnsembleI know as i have tested it along a Summing device, so it gets 8 out of 10.
Before Delta 1010 as always been my heart-Beat, but with just the first day of testing it won me over, i still like the Delta 10 10 but against this unit it more on point making my mix sound 25% better at least.

Fire-Face 800 is Rock solid, but is far from being Transparent compared to Ensemble, as their is a bit of Colour added to the F-F 800 and will only suite certain style of composition saying this though, the Fire-Face 800 is also stunning with what it can do, however you can push the Ensemble a lot less in getting the Mix to sound as close as to what you have put in, making it the Ultimate Interface amongs its class.

  Incredible Interface! 
by Michael LaPoff from Tucson, AZ, May 2007

Buying this interface is the most significant improvement I have made to my studio in years. It sounds incredible. I'm hearing my music as I never have before. Logic Pro is my main DAW but I sometimes use Pro Tools L. The integration with Logic is fantastic and it works in standalone mode with everything else. At this price point this is far and away the best audio interface I have ever heard or used. If you use Logic this is a no brainer, get it. Ensemble far exceeded my expectations!

  I was lost, Now I have found 
by Isaac from Brooklyn/Bay Ridge, April 2007
Music Background:  Producer, Classical Guitarist, Keyboard Player, and Singer/Vocal Coach

I recently purchased the Apogee Ensemble,and I'm more satisfied than I ever imagined. The thought behind the idea of this integration was pure genius. The Apogee, Avalon 737, and a Neumann TLM 103 is just pure magic.

Thank you Apogee

  holy cow: Simply the best 
by odu lepas from germany, March 2007
Music Background:  jazz, electronica

So far I had used 2x Metric Halo 2882 and 2x ULN2 .I was very satisfied with their audiophile results. The MH drivers were nearly unbeatable in terms of stability and performance. Now I took the time and tested the Ensemble over tha last weekend. It blew me away. The concept of the device with its 2 encoders and the nativ integration with Apple OSX is fantastatic. It´s build like a tank and its still a beauty and the Sound ?? wow... just amazing, prestine, transparent, crisp, neutral. There is no doubt about that THIS ensemble is the best Firewire Interface the world ever had to offer.

Thanks to Apple for sponsoring Apogee in building such an incredible interface.

  Ensemble... closer to commercial. 
by All Or Nothin Entertainment from Illinois, August 2006
Music Background:  Recording Engineer

We purchased the Ensemble, after having both the Metric Halo ULN and Fireface 800 interfaces.
While those 2 were already high quality, we felt after one test, the Ensemble blew those 2 away.
We connected an Apogee Big Ben word clock, and finished the set-up with a set of JBL LSR4328 monitors, and could not have been more pleased with the outcome.
This is as close to commercial quality, as we have come, being non-mastered.
Not only does the Ensemble offer nice pre's, but the converters are top notch as well.
Our combo made for one of the best set-up's we've had in house for awhile.
I highly reccommend anyone looking to get that much closer to commercial sound, to buy this interface, as well as the Big Ben word clock.

P.S. Soon we'll add the SSL Duende, for the ultimate combo.

  The best For Logic 
by Ruben John Pulido from Los Angeles, CA, August 2006
Music Background:  Music Producer/ Record Label owner

If you own Logic Pro! and your on a G5 or on one of the new MacBook Pro's Then this is the only audio interface you will ever need. The intergration is perfect. you never have to leave Logic for for any set up at all. It's all right in front of you. All the controls. And the encoders on the Endemlbe it self work as well if you prefer to use the knobs. Currently the drivers only support certin sample rates and can't take advatantage of the units full capabilities. But as soon as Apogee release's the new one's it will be on fire.

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