Nathan Chapman has produced, written, and engineered records with artists such as Taylor Swift, Sara Evans, The Band Perry, Jewel, and K’Jon. Joe West has produced, written, and engineered with Warren Zevon, Emmylou Harris, Toby Keith, and Keith Urban.

Video Transcription:

NC: A couple of months ago, Joe West and I got to get together and do a shootout at Sony Studios here in Nashville.
 
JW: The way we had the desk arranged was that we had the two mics just coming in, just the two raw inputs, the mic pres, and then we had the Symphony I/O, a 192, and we had an AD-16X.
 
NC: We recorded piano and we recorded guitars… and we recorded everything simultaneously through all the different interfaces and then we were able to play back simultaneously and sit there and A/B all the different interfaces that we were going through.
 
JW: What I loved about it was it was a clear, concise difference.
 
NC: We were astounded at the Symphony I/O. The depth, the 3D characteristic to it which is kind of an intangible thing that you can’t explain. You feel it. There was a feeling of more of that openness and the air around everything and the detail and the 3D quality that is what we all really hope for when we are trying to record music.
 
JW: You know, coming in, being asked to come in and listen to that in an environment that you don’t know, on monitors that you don’t know, it’s always sort of like, well, am I really going to be able to tell the difference? But, man, it was just as clear as day.
 
NC:  The stereo piano really came through, even a mono acoustic guitar… you could tell that there was a place you could point at in the speakers where the guitar was.
 
JW: What I noticed primarily was that the 192 and 16-X both sounded good, but I’d always want to EQ them.. let me just get this frequency out of there, let me get that out of there. But with the Symphony I/O, I didn’t want to EQ it.
 
NC: It’s been astounding, the difference. I had an artist, that was sitting on the couch, the first day that I turned that on and we had been working for a few days, and one of the days in to the week we were working together, I plugged the Symphony I/O in and didn’t say anything and the artist immediately sat up on the couch. And they were like, what did you do to the song? Did you do something last night? I was like, No, it’s just this new interface.

That to me is a big deal because it’s not that, when an artist or an average listener or somebody who is not really listening critically, like engineers, I mean we are all pretty nerdy about it. But when someone who is more artistic about it notices a chance in the engineering, just with something as simple as plugging in a different interface, to me that is something that we -as nerdy engineers who love the gear- we should take note when someone who isn’t obsessed like we are, notices something better, that’s a good sign, and maybe even a better sign than someone like myself or Joe geeking out on it. 

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Dave Tozer has produced, performed, and written with artists such as Kanye West, John Legend, Free Sol, Musiq Soulchild, Jazmine Sullivan, Bridget Kelley, and Emile Sande.

Video Transcription:

I track probably I would say about 75% of the work I do here. And, If I have to track strings or live drums, I’ll do it in bigger rooms, but it all ends up coming back here. So when I come out with records that I produce, for the large part, they are recorded here. Absolutely.

My main chain going in is going through this Vintech Stereo Mic Pre into the Tube Tech compressor, a very good compressor, and into the interface, which is now the Symphony. It really struck me, you notice that all of a sudden, to me, that the bass is a little tighter. And there is more depth to the stereo spread. And it just sounds pleasant. It’s really great. And also I’ve noticed the sound going in, that’s just the monitoring side, but the recording side is sounding really good. The conversion itself is top shelf. So it’s a great thing just knowing that you’re getting the best conversion going in, because that’s really the sound you’re getting right there, that’s what you’re getting. You want it to sound really great going in.
 
***
 
One of the things that strikes me about the Symphony I/O is the thought that is put into the engineering of it so that it can be used across the board for people who work in a variety of styles and who also have a variety of needs. It’s set up to be very compatible. The fact that it’s modular in the first place really illustrates that. It’s designed being very intuitive and flexible and I think it’s great.

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First Open Audio MIDI Setup

Click on the plus button in the lower left corner to add a new aggregate device

Select ONE

Select GiO

Now when you expand the Aggregate Device, you will see ONE and GiO

By clicking on ONE or GiO you can individually adjust Input and Output volume

You can also make it so that it is the device used for Computer sound output, for listening to iTunes etc..

In GarageBand choose Preferences> Audio/MIDI

Change Audio Output to “Aggregate Device”

Change Audio Input to “Aggregate Device”

Now select the input for each track so for the vocal track choose Mono 1. Since ONE was selected first when you built the Aggregate device it is input 1

So now for Guitar you will choose Mono 2 for GiO

In Logic choose Preferences>Audio

Change the Output & Input device to “Aggregate Device”

In Logic you can make custom labels for your inputs and outputs

Click on Options>Audio>I/O Labels

Select “Users”

Name Input #1

Do the same for Input #2

You can now select either ONE or GiO on any of the tracks in Logic

Now you can record vocals with ONE, guitars with GiO, and remotely control all the functions in Logic or GarageBand with your foot…All at the same time.

Use a Phillips screwdriver to remove the 11 screws holding the cover on.

If you have installed the rack ears, you will need to remove those as well.

Slide the cover off, The front lip may catch as you are sliding the cover off, pull gently on the sides, of the cover, and then pull back and up slightly.

Remove the 2 screws holding the center support in place, and  remove it .

Remove the blank panel that is in the second slot. Make sure to save these 2 screws as you will need them to secure the new I/O module later.

9 screws hold in the I/O module that has already been installed.

One by one, replace the 9 screws with the provided aluminum stand offs.

Place the I/O module and align it so that you can re-install the 9 screws you just removed.

Don’t tighten them all the way at this time.

Install the two screws on the back panel that you removed earlier.

Now tighten the 9 screws

Connect the provided ribbon cable to the Secondary I/O port on the Main board… and the other end of the ribbon cable to the new I/O Module.

Reconnect the center support bar.

Slide the cover back into place and secure with the 11 screws you removed earlier. The 6 screws on the bottom are flat and should mount flush. The 5 on the back have rounded heads and will not be flush .

Your new I/O module is now installed and ready to use.

Symphony I/O usually ships with the first module installed. However, there maybe circumstances where you may need to install it yourself.

Use a Phillips screwdriver to remove the 11 screws holding the cover on.

The front lip may catch as you are sliding the cover off, pull gently on the sides, of the cover, and then pull back and up slightly.

Remove the 2 screws holding the center support in place, and  remove it.

Remove both blank panels

Make sure to save these screws, you will need them to secure the new I/O module later.

Remove the 9 screws shown here

Remove the cable connected to the headphone board, by gripping the sides and pulling up.

Place the I/O module and align it so that you can re-install the 9 screws you just removed.

Don’t tighten them all the way at this time.

Install the two screws on the back panel that you removed earlier.

Now tighten the 9 screws

Replace the headphone board connection cable.

If you’re installing a second module right away, you will use the stand offs instead of the screws.

Also, if you are only installing a single module, you will want to replace the blank panel in the second slot.

Connect the provided ribbon cable to the Primary I/O port on the Main board… and the other end of the ribbon cable to the new I/O Module as shown here

Reconnect the center support bar.

Slide the cover back into place and secure with the 11 screws you removed earlier. The 6 screws on the bottom are flat and should mount flush. The 5 on the back have rounded heads and will not be flush .

Your new I/O module is now installed and ready to use.

Related Apogee Gear
ONE

Video Transcript

When you install the ONE software you are also installing Apogee’s Maestro.

Maestro can be found in your Applications folder.

You will see that Maestro is two separate windows. Maestro Control and Maestro Mixer

Maestro control is software control for all of the functions of ONE.

You can:

select the Input and Output you want to use.

Control the gain of the pre-amp

and Level of the overall Output.

These same controls can also  be found in Audio MIDI Setup located in Applications>Utilities.

If you’re recording a limited amount of audio tracks, You may not ever need to open Maestro. However, on larger sessions when you are using a higher buffer setting, have multiple audio tracks, effects and software instruments, you may need to use Maestro for low latency monitoring.

When you are using Maestro with Logic, click on Preferences>Audio to turn software monitoring off.

In Garage Band you have to make sure that Monitor is set to off on the track that you are recording.

To activate the Maestro mixer,  change “To Hardware” from “None” to “Out L-R”

“From Software” will now control the level of loops or audio tracks you have previously recorded in Garage Band or Logic.

“Input 1” controls the volume of the source you have plugged into ONE’s input.

Keep in mind that this does not control the level that is being recorded. This is simply for monitoring purposes. So it will keep recording into Garage Band or Logic even if you pull the fader all the way down, you just won’t be able to hear what you are recording.

Now simply adjust between “Input” and “From Software” to get a comfortable level for monitoring.