Solutions for Professionals and Home Users who want the Best from their Budget

Apogee Electronics

Apogee are a leading manufacturer of professional, high-quality digital audio conversion systems suitable for professionals requiring the best and home recording enthusiasts who wish to sound like the best. Having been in the industry for 20 years Apogee have pioneered many new technologies through the evolution of digital audio technology to become regarded by many as the reference standard for digital audio conversion.

Products such as the award-winning AD8000 and Trak2 were widely found in professional and project studios around the world, the first of which has was often used as a front-end to pro installations of Digidesign's ProTools|24MIX systems where artists, engineers and producers required the best sonic quality available. Not only is Apogee's conversion technology superb, but their digital clocking system is second to none, recently enforced by the release of their revolutionary Big Ben master digital clocking unit.

Now, as technology is clearly pushing forward at an ever growing pace, Apogee's new generation of products such as the Rosetta 200, 800 and recently updated 16-channel A/D and D/A converters will ensure that the Apogee name only continues to grow in stature. Core new features include the introduction of their new X-Card expansions enabling users of ProTools|HD and HD|Accel system to directly connect interfaces, such as the Rosetta 800, AD16x and DA16x, to their HD Core, Process or Accel cards for multi-channel I/O without the need for any existing Digidesign interfaces.

What is probably going to prove even more popular however is the recent availability of the X-Firewire expansion card. In the ever-more-popular world of 'native' audio recording and processing, mostly due to the immense power of latest generation Macintosh and PC systems, users can now directly connect Apogee's quality converters to their host CPU via Firewire 400 or 800 technologies for multi-channel I/O with their sequencer/DAW of choice. Not only does the Firewire card provide you with direct access to Apogee's superb converter technology but users benefit from low-latency monitoring and a whole multitude of metering, mixing and monitoring features provided by Apogee's own FireMIX software.

Apogee AD16x and DA16x

> Apogee's 16-channel 24bit analogue to digital and digital to analogue converters support 192kHz sample rate and can be used stand-alone or via an optical X-card expansion used to input or output 16 channels of high-definition audio with your ProTools|HD system or native DAW. AES/EBU, ADAT/SMUX input or output is provided, along with Word Clock I/O, "Soft Limit", "UV22HR", Direct Digital Synthesis, Adaptive Loop Filtering, and post A/D or D/A conversion level monitoring. The AD16x provides an input dynamic range of 120dB (A-Weighted) whilst the DA16x provides an output dynamic range of 118dB (A-Weighted).

Apogee MiniMe, MiniDAC and MiniMP

> These three 'mini' units bring Apogee quality to those on the move or require a small, portable and compact solution, yet require the highest sonic standards of larger professional rack units. The MiniMe provides two mic/line (Hi-Z) analogue inputs with a dynamic range of 105dB, a stereo digital output source (AES/EBU and SP/DIF) a stereo analogue headphone output, and a compressor/limiter is also featured (Soft Limit) as well as Apogee's key UV22HR technology. An optional USB connection is also available meaning direct connection to a Windows XP or Mac OSX DAW system is possible. The DAC is for people requiring high quality reference monitoring in the studio or on the move whether it be for standalone use (up to 192kHz) or as an expansion to a MiniMe solution - simply take the AES/EBU output from your MiniMe and plug it into your MiniDAC AES/EBU input for a full 2-channel solution providing 119dB or dynamic range. Finally the MiniMP takes the principle of the MiniMe and mixes it up with the core technology used in Apogee's renowned Trak2 to provide a superb, portable two channel mic-pre with unbelievable clarity and extremely low noise levels. Both analogue inputs are mic/line (Hi-Z) with individually switchable phantom power, as well as phase inverse and 80Hz high pass filter switches. The two outputs are also analogue, supplied on balanced XLR.

Apogee Rosetta 200 and 800

> The Rosetta 200 offers Apogee's premium A/D and D/A converter technology in a 2-channel system featuring 192kHz/24Bit sampling rates, "CODA" audio finishing technology and even MIDI support. As with the 16 channels AD16x and DA16x the Rosetta offers pristine sound quality, Soft Limit, UV22HR and the ability to fit X-Card expansions for various direct connectivity. Apogee's Intelliclock is present for maintaining an ultra-low-jitter clock signal. An internal dynamic range of 114dB (A-Weighted) is available on A/D and D/A, 2-channels of AES/EBU, SP/DIF (coaxial and optical) and ADAT/SMUX I/O is also available for use, and full channel metering is provided. The Rosetta 800 is effectively the bigger brother providing the same fantastic Apogee quality, just more channels (8 ins and outs, analogue or digital)! Two separate versions are available, one with 96kHz functionality and the other with 192kHz support as standard (an upgrade path is available also).

Apogee Technologies Explained...

Soft Limit - Maximising Levels, Minimising Overs. Soft Limit is an analogue peak limiter that enables the capture of of an additional 4-6dB of level without going into an 'over' condition. Mainly used to obtain an adequate level without audible clipping and/or unwanted distortion, yet many use it to deliberately over-drive the input stage in a digital system to try and acquire an almost tape-like saturation.

UV22HR - Dither Down with 24-Bit Detail. Apogee's industry standard way of reducing the word-length of a high-resolution digital signal to 16-bits for CD mastering. UV22HR is also now being used to improve the sound quality for media played out via the internet or designed specifically for computer audio content requiring small file sizes and low data-rates. You'll actually find that most hit records (it is actually estimated at around 80%) are mastered through a UV22HR process before going to CD for distribution and air-play.

C777 Clocking / Direct Digital Synthesis. An entirely digital process developed by Apogee incorporating DSP-based digital filtering. With a stable, crystal based digital PLL handling the clocking, Apogee interfaces are able to intelligently manipulate incoming signals and adapt to them accordingly resulting in an unbelievable jitter reduction and an astonishing improvement in sound quality.

Intelliclock - Dual Stage Jitter Reduction. Intelliclock is essentially two clocks in one. A fast-responding 'read' clock, with a wide locking range, fills a dedicated FIFO buffer, while an ultra-low-jitter 'write' clock writes data out of the buffer, and is used to clock the converters. Un-surpassed sound and imagining is then realised.

CODA - Audio Finishing Module, including the"Aptomiser", Sample Rate Conversion and UV22HR processes. As more and more projects are being worked on at high-definition but, in some way shape or form, have to end up at 44.1kHz/16bit Apogee developed a trio of processes to aid users to get from A to B on this journey. Essentially the CODA process takes your source material an then maximises your level(s) without increasing noise and distortion (through the Aptomiser) before then enabling you to down-sample through a premium SRC process based around the latest innovations in SRC technology. The final stage of the process is handed over to Apogee's UV22HR (explained above) to dither the finished goods.

www.apogeedigital.com