PCIe Card for Apogee Interfaces User’s Guide V2 - May 2011
User’s Guide Table of Contents Introduction ........................................................................................................................1 Getting Started ..............................................................................................................2-10 Check the Package Contents ...........................................................................................2 Install the Symphony 64 Card / Jumper Settings ................................................
Symphony PCI card – User’s Guide APOGEE ELECTRONICS Introduction The Symphony 64 PCIe card is quite simply the most cost effective and flexible way to connect Apogee hardware interfaces to Apple Mac Pro computers. Additionally, Symphony 64 allows the interconnection of Mac computers to create powerful digital audio networks.
Symphony64 PCI card – User’s Guide APOGEE ELECTRONICS Getting Started 1 Check the Package Contents The following items should be included in your Symphony 64 package: Symphony 64 PCIe Card 2 3 meter PC-32 cable Install the Symphony 64 PCIe Card Before installing Symphony 64 cards in your Mac, it’s necessary to configure the cards as “Master” or “Slave 1” by placing jumpers across headers J9 and J10, as shown in the diagrams below.
Symphony64 PCI card – User’s Guide APOGEE ELECTRONICS To install the Symphony 64 PCIe card in your Apple Mac computer: • First, unplug the Mac’s AC cable as a safety precaution. • Remove the Mac’s side cover. • Unscrew and remove the Mac’s PCI bracket (see the illustration below). • Holding the Symphony PCIe card by its corner, align the card's connector with the desired PCI slot and press the card firmly into place until the gold pins of the edge connector are just visible.
Symphony64 PCI card – User’s Guide 3 APOGEE ELECTRONICS Connect the Symphony 64 PCIe card to Apogee Interfaces Because of the wide range of Apogee interfaces that may be connected to your Symphony 64 card, the details of how hardware interfaces connect to the cards vary according to the specific set of interfaces in use. Please consult the list of supported hardware combinations per Symphony 64 port beginning on page 21, and find the combination page that corresponds to your set of Apogee interfaces.
Symphony64 PCI card – User’s Guide APOGEE ELECTRONICS Hardware Combinations - 2 AD-16Xs, 2 DA-16Xs in Standard Routing Shown below are the PC-32 connections, required settings, and resultant routing when connecting 2 AD-16X and 2 DA-16Xs to the Symphony 64 card’s first port. Of course, it’s possible to connect only 1 AD and DA, in which case software inputs SymIn and outputs SymOut 17-32 have no hardware connection (though they appear in the input/output list of your software).
Symphony64 PCI card – User’s Guide 4 APOGEE ELECTRONICS Word Clock Connections Multiple Apogee Interfaces As with any digital audio system, all hardware interfaces in your Symphony system must be locked to a common sample clock. Shown below are three clock configuration options, including setup.
Symphony64 PCI card – User’s Guide APOGEE ELECTRONICS Option 1 Correct clocking configuration to the master device’s clock output using BNC “T“ connectors IN OUT IN OUT IN OUT IN OUT Option 2 Optimum clocking configuration using BIG BEN IN OUT IN OUT IN OUT IN OUT Option 3 Configuration using BIG BEN 7
Symphony64 PCI card – User’s Guide 5 APOGEE ELECTRONICS Install Software and Driver Download the Symphony 64 Software Installer at http://www.apogeedigital.com/downloads.php Follow the onscreen directions provided by the installer program. Following installation, you will be required to restart your Mac. Apogee’s Maestro software, offering advanced routing and low latency mixing, will be installed in the Mac’s Applications folder. Please see pages 34-51 for a description of Maestro and its functions.
Symphony64 PCI card – User’s Guide APOGEE ELECTRONICS Figure A Figure B Symphony64 PORT 3 CHANNELS 1-32 Symphony64 PORT 1 CHANNELS 33-64 PORT 2 VID EO Figure C CHANNELS 33-64 PORT 4 EMPTY MAS TE R SLAV E CHANNELS 1-32 9
Symphony64 PCI card – User’s Guide 7 APOGEE ELECTRONICS Configure Symphony 64 with Apple Logic Pro 8 (Figure A) • Open Logic Pro 8 and choose Logic Pro > Preferences > Audio. • In the Preferences window, select the Devices tab, then the CoreAudio tab. • Select Symphony 64 in the Device drop down menu. • Set I/O Buffer Size to 32 for the lowest latency, or to 64 for more DSP resources in Logic (inputs, outputs, plug-ins). Please see below for a few hints on this setting.
Symphony64 PCI card – User’s Guide APOGEE ELECTRONICS Figure A Figure B 11
Symphony64 PCI card – User’s Guide APOGEE ELECTRONICS Using Symphony's SBus to Interconnect Apple Macintosh Computers In addition to the wide range of hardware interfaces that may be connected to the Symphony 64 card, it’s possible to interconnect two Symphony 64 cards installed in separate computers. Each interconnected port offers 32 channels of bidirectional digital audio. Interconnection of Symphony 64 cards is made with the same PC-32 cable used to connect hardware interfaces.
Symphony64 PCI card – User’s Guide APOGEE ELECTRONICS A B C 13
Symphony64 PCI card – User’s Guide APOGEE ELECTRONICS Configuring Multiple Macs with SBus Make PC-32 Connections Designate one Mac as the “primary” computer, and connect at least one hardware interface to port 1 (Master card, Channels 1-32 port). DO NOT connect hardware interfaces to port 1 of any other Mac in the system – port 1 should be used for SBus (Mac to Mac) connections only. Either hardware or SBus connections may be made to any other available port.
Symphony64 PCI card – User’s Guide APOGEE ELECTRONICS Figure A SLAVE 1-32 33-64 Slave1 CHANNELS 33-64 Interfaces or SBus 33-64 Master CHANNELS 33-64 Interfaces or SBus Symphony64 1-32 VIDEO Master CHANNELS 1-32 At least one hardware interface Symphony64 MASTER Slave1 CHANNELS 1-32 Interfaces or SBus PRIMARY MAC ADDITIONAL MACS SLAVE MASTER Master CHANNELS 1-32 NO HARDWARE SBus only Symphony64 1-32 33-64 Slave1 CHANNELS 33-64 Interfaces or SBus 33-64 Master CHANNELS 33-64 Interfaces or
Symphony64 PCI card – User’s Guide APOGEE ELECTRONICS Let's look at a specific example of a Symphony system consisting of two AD-16Xs, two DA-16Xs, 1 Mac Pro and 1 MacBook Pro. As shown at right, the required PC-32 connections are 1) from the hardware interfaces to the Mac Pro’s Symphony 64 Channels 1-32 port and 2) from the MacBook Pro’s Symphony Mobile card to the Mac Pro’s Symphony 64 Channels 33-64 port.
Symphony64 PCI card – User’s Guide APOGEE ELECTRONICS Hardware Combinations - 2 AD-16Xs, 2 DA-16Xs (Standard Routing), Mac Pro, MacBook Pro PC-32 Connections MAC PRO 1 HARDWARE I/O THRU MAIN X-Symphony THRU MAIN X-Symphony THRU MAIN X-Symphony THRU MACBOOK PRO CHANNELS 33-64 DA-16X VIDEO EMPTY DA-1 6 X AD-16X CHANNELS 1-32 MASTER X-Symphony A D- 1 6 X MAIN Settings On the Mac Pro Set Symphony Source to PCI Card 1, Ports 1-2(ch 1-64) On the MacBook Pro no Symphony Source setting is a
Symphony64 PCI card – User’s Guide APOGEE ELECTRONICS Troubleshooting To quickly troubleshoot your Symphony system, open Maestro software and verify that all hardware interfaces are correctly detected in the Interface drop down menu. If some or all interfaces aren’t detected, please consult the symptoms and solutions described below. Also, check the blue and white Status LEDs on the PCIe cards’ connector panels.
Symphony64 PCI card – User’s Guide APOGEE ELECTRONICS BLUE LED (Master) ON ON WHITE LED (Clock) FLASHING OFF FLASHING OFF Card is Master, clock is correctly configured Undefined Card is Slave, clock is correctly configured Card is Master, clock is bad see first Solution Symphony driver not loaded - re-install Symphony software Card is Slave, clock is bad see first Solution Undefined Jumper setting is incorrect - check PCI card jumper settings Card is Slave, currently disabled.
Symphony64 PCI card – User’s Guide APOGEE ELECTRONICS Symptom - Hardware interfaces aren’t locking to word clock. Solution - Check that the PCIe card port is enabled in the Symphony Source drop down menu (Maestro Control window). Check the PC-32 connection at the PCIe card and at the X-Symphony connector. Check the word clock cable and master clock source. Symptom - Because my Symphony system isn’t correctly configured, no controls appear in the Maestro Control window.
Symphony64 PCI card – User’s Guide APOGEE ELECTRONICS Appendix 1 - Supported Hardware Combinations Listed from this page to page 33 are all the supported combinations of Apogee hardware interfaces per port. If you have more than four interfaces to connect, distribute them across multiple Symphony 64 ports so that each group of interfaces connected to each port is a supported combination. Hardware Combinations - Rosetta 200 This combination offers two inputs and two outputs per Symphony 64 port.
Symphony64 PCI card – User’s Guide APOGEE ELECTRONICS Hardware Combinations - 1 AD-16X, 1 DA-16X (Standard or Advanced Routing) With one AD-16X and one DA-16X connected to one Symphony 64 port, it’s possible to run both hardware interfaces in either Standard or Advanced routing. The diagrams at the bottom of this page depicts the difference between the two modes.
Symphony64 PCI card – User’s Guide APOGEE ELECTRONICS Hardware Combinations - 1 to 4 Rosetta 800s One to four Rosetta 800s may be connected to each Symphony 64 port. Note that your software application will always detect 32 inputs and outputs regardless of the number of Rosetta 800s connected.
Symphony64 PCI card – User’s Guide APOGEE ELECTRONICS Hardware Combinations - AD-16X, DA-16X (Standard Routing only), Rosetta 800 This combination offers 24 analog inputs and 24 analog outputs. Note that software inputs and outputs 25-32 will appear in your DAW software, though they are unused.
Symphony64 PCI card – User’s Guide APOGEE ELECTRONICS Hardware Combinations - 1-2 AD-16Xs (Standard or Advanced Routing) To add only analog inputs (and digital outputs), it’s possible to connect 1 or 2 AD-16Xs to a Symphony 64 port, for 16 analog inputs and 16 digital outputs per port. When the AD-16Xs are set to Standard routing, only the analog inputs are active; when set to Advanced routing, both the analog inputs and digital outputs are active (as shown in the routing diagram below).
Symphony64 PCI card – User’s Guide APOGEE ELECTRONICS Hardware Combinations - 1-2 DA-16Xs (Standard or Advanced Routing) To add only analog outputs (and digital inputs) to a Symphony 64 system, it’s possible to connect 1 or 2 DA16Xs to a Symphony 64 port for 16 analog outputs and 16 digital inputs per port. When the DA-16Xs are set to Standard routing, only the analog outputs are active; when set to Advanced routing, the analog outputs and digital inputs are active (as shown in the routing diagram below).
Symphony64 PCI card – User’s Guide APOGEE ELECTRONICS Hardware Combinations - Rosetta 800, AD-16X (Standard Routing Only) This combination offers 24 analog inputs and 8 analog outputs.To allow the routing of software outputs 1-2 to hardware analog outputs, connect the Rosetta 800 first, then the AD-16X. Note that software inputs and outputs 9-16 aren’t used, though they appear in your software program.
Symphony64 PCI card – User’s Guide APOGEE ELECTRONICS Hardware Combinations - 1 AD-16X (Standard or Advanced Routing), Rosetta 800 This combination offers 24 analog inputs and 8 analog outputs.To allow the routing of software outputs 1-2 to hardware digital outputs, connect the AD-16X (in Advanced routing) first, then the Rosetta 800.
Symphony64 PCI card – User’s Guide APOGEE ELECTRONICS Hardware Combinations - Rosetta 800, DA-16X (Standard Routing Only) This combination offers 24 analog outputs and 8 analog inputs. If you prefer that software inputs 1-8 are analog inputs, connect the Rosetta 800 first. Note that software inputs/outputs 9-16 aren’t used, though they appear in your software program.
Symphony PCI card – User’s Guide APOGEE ELECTRONICS Hardware Combinations - DA-16X (Standard or Advanced Routing), Rosetta 800 This combination offers 24 analog outputs and 8 analog inputs. When the DA-16X is connected first, the Rosetta 800 may be clocked from the DA-16X.
Symphony PCI card – User’s Guide APOGEE ELECTRONICS Hardware Combinations - 2 Mac Pros, 1 AD-16X, 1 DA-16X per Mac This combination depicts the interconnection of two Mac Pros, each being connected to a pair of AD-16X/ DA-16X hardware interfaces. As long as both systems are running at the same sample rate, they can be operated independently.
Symphony64 PCI card – User’s Guide APOGEE ELECTRONICS Hardware Combinations - 8 AD-16Xs, 8 DA-16Xs (Standard Routing only) This combination shows the maximum number of AD-16X and DA-16X interfaces that may be connected to two Symphony 64 PCI cards. Such a system offers 128 channels of analog inputs and 128 channels of analog outputs.
Symphony64 PCI card – User’s Guide APOGEE ELECTRONICS Hardware Combinations - 8 AD-16Xs, 8 DA-16Xs (Standard Routing only) STANDARD ROUTING HARDWARE I/0 SOFTWARE IN A D - 16X ANALOG IN 1-16 D A - 16X ANALOG OUT 1-16 A D - 16X ANALOG IN 1-16 D A - 16X ANALOG OUT 1-16 A D - 16X ANALOG IN 1-16 D A - 16X ANALOG OUT 1-16 A D - 16X ANALOG IN 1-16 D A - 16X ANALOG OUT 1-16 A D - 16X ANALOG IN 1-16 D A - 16X ANALOG OUT 1-16 A D - 16X ANALOG IN 1-16 D A - 16X ANALOG OUT 1-16 A D - 16X A
Symphony64 PCI card – User’s Guide APOGEE ELECTRONICS Maestro Control Window Settings Pane Apogee’s Maestro software provides control, routing and low latency mixing functionality for the Symphony 64 system. The application consists of two windows, Maestro Control and Maestro Mixer. Interface Drop Down Menu – The Interface drop down menu, found in the upper left corner of each Maestro window, is used to select the Apogee interface whose settings are displayed in the Maestro window.
Symphony64 PCI card – User’s Guide APOGEE ELECTRONICS 35
Symphony64 PCI card – User’s Guide APOGEE ELECTRONICS Maestro Control Window Settings Pane VBus Selections - Apogee’s VBus creates virtual hardware buses to allow expanded routing of audio within one application or between different audio applications. For example, it’s possible in Logic Pro to record a submix of multiple audio tracks onto a new audio track as described below.
Symphony64 PCI card – User’s Guide APOGEE ELECTRONICS 8 6 7 37
Symphony64 PCI card – User’s Guide APOGEE ELECTRONICS Maestro Mixer Window Input, Output and Mixer Panes Input and Output Panes The Input and Output Routing panes consist of an intuitive routing grid on which connections between hardware and software I/O are depicted and modified visually. Connections are depicted by grey connection icons at the intersection of a hardware I/O column and a software I/O row.
Symphony64 PCI card – User’s Guide APOGEE ELECTRONICS Input Pane Figure 1 Figure 2 39
Symphony64 PCI card – User’s Guide APOGEE ELECTRONICS Output Pane The Output routing pane is functionally similar to the Input pane, but used to make connections between software and hardware outputs, as depicted below. Software outputs are displayed to the left of the grid and hardware outputs are displayed across the top of the grid. Output Signal path: Logic> Maestro> Ensemble 11.
Symphony64 PCI card – User’s Guide APOGEE ELECTRONICS Output Pane 3 1 2 1a 41
Symphony64 PCI card – User’s Guide APOGEE ELECTRONICS Working with the Input, Output and Mixer Panes While configuration of the Input and Output panes is quite intuitive, there are a few details to be aware of: 1 One Hardware Input, Multiple Software Inputs - In the Input pane it is possible to route one hardware input to multiple software inputs simply by clicking down the desired hardware input column and across the desired software inputs, as shown at right.
Symphony64 PCI card – User’s Guide APOGEE ELECTRONICS Maestro Mixer Window 1 2 43
Symphony64 PCI card – User’s Guide APOGEE ELECTRONICS Maestro Mixer An Overview Before describing the functions of Maestro’s Mixer pane, a bit of background information concerning latency and computer-based digital recording setups will help to better understand these Mixer functions. When recording with most computer-based digital audio applications, the delay between the input and output of the recording system often disturbs the timing of the musicians who are performing.
Symphony64 PCI card – User’s Guide APOGEE ELECTRONICS Maestro Mixer An Overview By routing the hardware input directly to the hardware output and mixing in playback as shown in Figure B, it’s possible to provide the vocalist a headphone monitoring signal with a much shorter delay.
Symphony64 PCI card – User’s Guide APOGEE ELECTRONICS Maestro Mixer Window Mixer Pane As described in the previous section, the Maestro mixer serves to blend hardware inputs with software outputs (playback from your Mac), and route the mix directly to hardware outputs, as depicted below. 1 Mixer Select (A-B) – This drop down menu selects between the two available mixers per Symphony 64 card.
Symphony64 PCI card – User’s Guide APOGEE ELECTRONICS Maestro Mixer Window 3 1 4 7 5 6 2 8 9 10 11 10 From Mac – This stereo input channel provides level control, metering and mute/solo functions for a playback signal from the software application. Match the software application’s mixer output and the From Mac drop down menu selection. In most cases the software mixer output and From Mac are both set to outputs 1-2.
Symphony64 PCI card – User’s Guide APOGEE ELECTRONICS Maestro Mixer Window Each Symphony 64 PCIe card includes 2 independent mixers, Mixer A and Mixer B. This allows two completely independent low latency mixes to be routed to different hardware outputs, as depicted in the diagram at right. Additional hardware interfaces connected to the Symphony 64 card provide additional inputs to each Maestro mixer. These inputs are distributed across multiple mixer panes, accessed with the Interface drop down menu.
Symphony64 PCI card – User’s Guide APOGEE ELECTRONICS Mixer B Mixer B AD-16X DA-16X OUT 1- 2 DA-16X OUT 3- 4 Mixer A pane 1 Mixer B pane 1 AD-16X #1 Mixer A pane 2 Mixer B pane 2 AD-16X #2 DA-16X OUT 1- 2 DA-16X OUT 3- 4 49
Symphony64 PCI card – User’s Guide APOGEE ELECTRONICS Maestro Menu by Menu Maestro> About Maestro Selecting this menu item opens the window shown at right, which indicates various software and firmware versions. Maestro > Preferences Selecting this menu item opens the Preferences window, in which mixer control actions may be defined. Rotary Controls Mouse motion – This selection defines the motion of the mouse required to adjust rotary controls.
Symphony64 PCI card – User’s Guide APOGEE ELECTRONICS Maestro Menu by Menu Maestro > Hide Maestro Choosing this menu item hides the Maestro application. Maestro > Hide Others Choosing this menu item hides all other open applications. Maestro > Show All If Hide Others has been previously selected, choosing this menu item reveals all open applications in the Finder. Maestro > Quit Maestro Choosing this menu item closes the Maestro program.
Symphony64 PCI card – User’s Guide APOGEE ELECTRONICS Installing the X-Symphony card Your X-Symphony card should include the following: 2 • 1 X-Symphony circuit card • 1 X-Symphony Coverplate • 2 aluminium standoffs • 1 plastic standoff 1 Remove the top cover of the host interface. 2 Remove the Option Card coverplate, and set aside the screws for later use.
Symphony64 PCI card – User’s Guide APOGEE ELECTRONICS Registration and Warranty Information Be sure to register your Symphony PCIe card, either by filling in the enclosed Registration Card or by completing the on-line registration form at our Web site: http://www.apogeedigital.com/support/. If you do so, Apogee can contact you with any update information. As enhancements and upgrades are developed, you will be contacted at the registration address.
Symphony64 PCI card – User’s Guide APOGEE ELECTRONICS Warnings FCC warning This equipment has been tested and found to comply with the limits for a Class A digital device, pursuant to Part 15 of the FCC rules. These limits are designed to provide reasonable protection against harmful interference when operated in a commercial environment.
Symphony64 PCI card – User’s Guide APOGEE ELECTRONICS Declarations of Conformity This device complies with Part 15 of the FCC Rules. Operation is subject to the following two conditions: 1. This device may not cause harmful interference 2. This device must accept any interference received, including interference that may cause undesired operation. This equipment has been tested and found to comply with the limits of a Class A digital device, pursuant to Part 15 of the FCC Rules.
Symphony 64 PCIe Card User’s Guide - v2 May 2011 Text conceived and delivered by: Roger Robindoré Graphics and illustrations by: Shaun Rust, Sean McArthur
