Apogee Ensemble Thunderbolt in 2022?

[gthm]

I love this thing. Have had it since it was released.

Works with current Pro Tools and on macOs 12.3 and M1 iMac.

Why do I wanna sell it though? I want something more current. By Apogee.

I am not a fan of the Duet 3 or Symphony Desktop or the full blown Symphony line.

Will there be a new Ensemble with TB 4 perhaps? I would buy it in a sec.

Any other Ensemble TB owners and their thoughts on this wonderful but aging machine?

[Darryl Ramm]

Thunderbolt 3 or 4 per-se is not going to deliver anything more than thunderbolt 1/2 for an interface like this. I can't imagine why you want to sell this if its working for you

[gthm]

Originally Posted by Darryl Ramm

Thunderbolt 3 or 4 per-se is not going to deliver anything more than thunderbolt 1/2 for an interface like this. I can't imagine why you want to sell this if its working for you

Hi Darryl,

An Ensemble with thunderbolt 4 would be nice and current and directly compatible with an M1 Mac and would not need an adapter to connect it.

Every time I look at that thunderbolt 2 cable and the adapter from 2 to 3 I feel like a caveman, if that makes sense hehe..

At some point Apogee will discontinue software support for the Ensemble TB (or will they?) so I will have to get a new interface.

But then again why would I sell the old one, I'll keep it for the preamps basically.

Thanks man for making me rethink its future purpose in my studio!

[gthm]

No Ensemble TB owners out there?

Are you still happy with it after so many years?

[sdelsolray]

Consider an Apogee Element 88. It is still a current product, althought the Element 46 and Eement 24 have been discontinued. All Elements use the same control software and will be supported for five years after EOL, which means they will run on current machines, operating systems and DAWs at the end of those five years (and that 5 year time has not yet begun), will continue to run for many years after that and will run even longer if you freeze your system at the end of that.

[gthm]

Originally Posted by sdelsolray

..will be supported for five years after EOL, which means they will run on current machines, operating systems and DAWs at the end of those five years (and that 5 year time has not yet begun), will continue to run for many years after that and will run even longer if you freeze your system at the end of that.

Thanks for the info! Very cool that they'll support this baby for so long!

I guess I was itching to get something new hehe..

However there is nothing out there that offers what the Ensemble does, for me at least.

Thanks again for the encouraging info!

[musicalnyc]

Still rocking an Apogee Ensemble Thunderbolt here in 2023. I think it's the best interface Apogee has ever made and the best all-around audio interface ever. (I also have two Symphony mk2s.) The ensemble sounds really nice but also has some unique features:

1. DualPath Direct monitoring. Essentially the same workflow as Carbon has in Pro Tools, the Ensemble TB has for Logic Pro. When the direct button is on, latency on that channel is 0.35ms RTL at 96kHz!

The main differences to Carbon being, the plugins are limited to Apogees own DualPath plugins, although sends on the direct channel remain active which works great for things like reverbs. And the Ensemble's thunderbolt native latency is incredibly low ~1.1ms roundtrip at 96khz, which is great for virtual instruments.


2. Remote control from Logic Pro and hardware desktop remote via USB.

3. Works great in Pro Tools too! as the native latency is very low, and you can choose to monitor directly through the AAX FX Rack plug in for the even lower latency tracking including through Apogee's limited but very fine sounding collection of plugins.

It's officially discontinued but still working quite well here, though I am admittedly concerned by the number of known issues in the latest version of macOS, so I fear it's end-of-life.

I also hope Apogee doesn't abandon DualPath and direct monitoring but that too has not appeared on the latest Apogee interfaces. I wish Apogee would upgrade the mk2 chassis with all these features.

It seems like the public is not really aware of how nicely this works and seamlessly integrates with Logic (but also offers unique direct monitoring in every DAW!)

[gthm]

Hey there fellow Ensemble fan!

I got mine the first day it was officially in music stores almost ten years ago and it is still rocking indeed ! Effortlessly. Not a single issue ever. Still looks new actually! And the sound: best kept secret in Pro Audio, especially for home studios.

Anyway, I will use it until it doesn't work anymore, was tempted recently to look for something more recent but gave up and so the Ensemble TB stays here, indefinitely. Will grab a Duet 3 one of these days so I am ready to switch over to that just in case.

Do you guys think that Apogee will make an updated Ensemble TB for 2024 and beyond?