Apogee Ensemble - help please

[remmet]

I recently bought a used but very powerful Mac Pro (12-core, 64 gigs of ram, etc.), and it works great. I also bought a used Apogee Ensemble (firewire version) to replace my very old 1224 interface. The Mac sees the Ensemble, and Maestro 2's mixer outputs reflect the signals coming from Kontakt and Omnisphere, etc.

The problem is that DP's audio monitor shows no signal coming in and reaching record-enabled audio tracks. I've played around with various input/output and other settings in Maestro, but nothing has worked. And the Apogee manual is pretty much useless regarding DP integration. I have a support ticket into Apogee, so I hope to get a response soon. But if anyone here can offer a potential solution, I'd be very grateful.

I should probably mention that Apogee is no longer supporting El Capitan, and that's the OS my Mac came with. However, I've also read that, according to Apogee, Ensemble should still work fine. If necessary though, I may have to downgrade back to an earlier OS, which I understand is a major pain.

Any thoughts? Thanks!

Richard

[dix]

I have an Ensemble that I use mainly as an AtoD, but occasionally as an i/o. Are you seeing the input audio in Maestro? If so, my guess is that your issue has something to to do with the input/output matrix in Maestro. It's a poorly created utility IMO. Very hard to understand. I've had to call Apogee two separate times to get them to help me with it.

I have no issues with El Cap btw. I don't think that's the problem.

[remmet]

Thanks for responding, dix. I admit to being baffled by Maestro's in/out routing matrix. Do you happpen to have a routing setup that works?

R

[dix]

No way to Save Maestro setups Here's screenshots. I have my pres coming in on inputs 5&6 in this setup. Works for me. ....again, are you seeing signal in Maestro? If not this won't help you.

http://prayforrain.com/misc/MaestroScreenShots.zip

[remmet]

I am just completely at a loss for almost every aspect of the Ensemble interface. I see a signal from a mic input, but there's nothing at all from my Vi's. Kontakt and Omnisphere play back fine and with perfect MIDI precision. But no input signal is received by Ensemble. However, I do see signal on Maestro's mixers (both 1 and 2) at the "Software Return" and "Mixer Master" faders.

Among my questions:

1. What is the mechanism by which a virtual instrument (e.g., Kontakt) reaches the Ensemble and is visible on the front panel and in Maestro? Is it the firewire cable connecting the computer to the Ensemble? (Try not to laugh at my dumb questions.)

2. In DP, how do the track input and output assignments relate to Maestro's routing matrix?

3. Is the Ensemble designed for, and/or capable of, replacing a mixing board?

4. If you want to use Ensemble for controlling your powered studio monitors, which Ensemble output should you use? Doing this must impact your other routing choices, right?

This may be the most frustrating technical hurdle I've ever dealt with, aided no doubt by my technical limitations. A perfect combination!

Anyway, thanks again for piping up!

Richard

[dix]

You should call Apogee. I can't help you with most of these questions since I use the Ensemble primarily as an AtoD. They were always super helpful.

Re how VIs get to the Ensemble. This is normally done inside a DAW. The DAWs outputs are then sent to the I/O. In this case the Ensemble.

Re 2, Everything shows up in a pretty straightforward manner in DP for me with setup in my screenshots . "Ensemble 1, Ensemble 2" etc. in the input and output pull down options.

Good luck.

[mikehalloran]

Apogee products are designed to integrate with Logic. Not saying you need to use it that way but if you can test it with Logic or GarageBand, it should eliminate any question on whether you have a hardware issue or not.

[remmet]

With the help of a persistent Canadian techno-wiz (maybe another reason to consider moving there!) we arrived at a solution. I don't know why it worked, but instead of using DP's analog inputs and outputs to send MIDI to audio tracks, we used busses. Problem solved!

Thanks for all your responses to a very perplexing situation. Now I can finally get back to work!

Richard