Using Apogee With An Avr Options

[aldrahn]

im planning onbuilding my first daw
an imac 2.4ghz and adding 2gb of crucial memory
and logic 8 for 900 pounds
an external harddrive for 65 pounds
then adding an apogee duet for 330 pounds

i have a harmon kardon reciever and acosutic energy evo 5.1 speakers which cos a fair bit so im hoping i can implement my home cinema with making music on my mac

i dont plan on using many outside instruments such as guitar or recording vocals for the music i intend to make

the i mac has an optical output/input than i can connect to my avr
but im curious if that negates with apogee

can i use both at the same time, ie be in logic creating tunes with the added sound of the apogee coming through my avr systems speakers

or would it make more sense to get a firewire audio interface wih its own optical inputs, ie a 130 pounds cheaper presonus firebox

thanks if anyone can help

This post has been edited by aldrahn: Wed 14 May 2008, 15:31

[mortalengines]

I would get the mac and use the optical outputs with your AVRs at first. You are going to get a lot of responses that will tell you that you really need to get some MONITORS which operate on a flat frequency response, and they are correct in saying so. You see, home surround systems (yes, even the high end ones) tend to be hyped in certain frequencies that may not help your mixes translate well. However you can decide that later. There is a band called Deerhoof that swear they do all of their mixing thru some really old Yamaha home loudspeakers (or something like that) and it is something that they are used to. I imagine it was pretty trial and error for them along the way. It took me a while to get used to my monitors (my home monitoring is WAY less than ideal). So what I am saying here is just get the Mac, get to work, make some mixes and see how well the mixes translate to SEVERAL different systems and go from there. If you are happy then there is no point to getting stuff you don't really need after all. If you aren't, keep trying to adjust and figure out what your speakers are or are not doing for your sound. If you are still struggling....bite the bullet and go ahead and buy some KRKs or some good Mackies or Genelecs or whatever your budget will allow. For what it's worth though....some of the best music out there was a result of people making the best of what they had. Also the opitical output of your Mac should do just fine for what you are doing. Most people look to the Apogee converters for getting the signal IN to the computer (if they are concerned with high end ouput converters, it is usually for using outboard effects, reamping, analog summing, etc....).


www.myspace.com/mortal_engines

[Mac Daddy]

aldrahn Posted Yesterday, 03:29 PM im planning onbuilding my first daw an imac 2.4ghz and adding 2gb of crucial memory and logic 8 for 900 pounds an external harddrive for 65 pounds then adding an apogee duet for 330 pounds...

Sounds like a bargain... Do It!!!

[Steve Regester]

Hi mate
i dont know whether this will help you with your time code problem but JKaudio have produced an RTAS application called Fileplaya. i know nothing of it but it might be worth checking out.
hope this helps
Steve

[qusp74]

I agree whole-heartedly with all of what mortalengines said so I wont repeat tha message.You could just fiddle and see whether you can get a good result with what you have already ... but....the apogee WILL though, supply a much cleaner digital clock (superior to the onboard gear) to run the digital reciever from... amazing what good quantization will do.

KRKs ...(Monitors) for as little as 180 Pounds...

Sounds like you are planning on going the Softsynth route, but there is plenty of material on that on other threads.

Of course you could just hang back and see if you may want a hardware synth or 2 later on the track.. You will probably find that you want a midi controller keyboard as an interface so why not get some sounds as well?

Then theres the option of a Firewire Inferfaces RME, MOTU... MORE APOGEE.

Depends on your budget ENTIRELY

[aldrahn]

thanks for your replies guys,

this made me curious ''apogee is for getting a better sound IN to the mac"

i was under the impression that it was basically a soundcard with extra features

what i want is to get the best sound in logic making music entirely within the mac, maybe later adding
a mixer and analogues etc


i was considering now instead of apogee the m audio nrv10 which is a firewire interface and mixer for the same price but that still doesnt have an optical on it

ii presume the external soundcard handles the sound instead of the inbuilt sound of the mac
but the opical in the mac prob goes into the macs sound card
thus i guess i need an interface with digital inputs on it to connect via optical to my harmon kardon av 140

mostly though id be using headphones

[qusp74]

thanks for your replies guys,

this made me curious ''apogee is for getting a better sound IN to the mac"

i was under the impression that it was basically a soundcard with extra features

what i want is to get the best sound in logic making music entirely within the mac, maybe later adding
a mixer and analogues etc


i was considering now instead of apogee the m audio nrv10 which is a firewire interface and mixer for the same price but that still doesnt have an optical on it

ii presume the external soundcard handles the sound instead of the inbuilt sound of the mac
but the opical in the mac prob goes into the macs sound card
thus i guess i need an interface with digital inputs on it to connect via optical to my harmon kardon av 140

mostly though id be using headphones

APOGEE and all the other interfaces are for getting quality audio IN AND OUT of the mac although you can get audio out of the MAC already with the optical outs that are there. the Pro and semi-pro interfaces will provide a better digital signal path though. A better Signal to noise ratio(SNR) and a better dynamic range (measured in dB) Having started making music myself with a pretty similar (quality home setup) and insular attitude regarding the use of plugins versus hardware I can tell you that buying a setup that gives you a few quality INs and OUTS will allow you to grow and once you use it you will know why. AND on interfaces such as the new ones from TC Electronics such as the 24D will not only give you great converters (great IO) it also comes with a few WAVES PLUGS that it runs natively in its own hardware, add to that a 120dB Signal to noise ratio (WOW) these will go for a bit more than your 330 POUNDS but not too much more if you search around.

As for your harmon kardon and speakers, they will be fine if all you want to do is make music for your own enjoyment, if however you want to produce music for all the world to hear then a pair of monitor speakers is a real good investment. Otherwise you are producing music with an EQ Curve/adjustment on it already; one that is lacking what your speakers are accentuating; that is to say as they don't have whats called 'Flat response', in order to produce music that will sound good to everyone on their system, whether it be car, home stereo, IPOD etc; you will have to go around and play you're tracks on many other systems (which I suppose you should do a certain amount of anyway when mastering) then you will have to come back to your system and make the adjustments 'Blind' Your speakers may be good, but probably not 'Right'

This post has been edited by qusp74: Fri 16 May 2008, 00:30

[aldrahn]

great answer. thank you, i have some akg studio headphones that are decent, i think ill add some monitors at a later date rather than using my ae speakers after all.

[Mac Daddy]

Monitors/Head Phones

Especially 'Newbies'....

You must get the best Head Phones and Monitors (Audio) you CAN'T afford. If there is one thing I know this is it... Buy only Middle to Professional... Start with Good Head Phones... You don't want anyone hearing your first few months of 'Messy Mixes' anyway... Go "Inner Grasshopper"... Once you have lifted your Learning Curve and Mixing Skills you will have been able to afford some Industry Standard Monitors, how will you be able to afford them??? You will no longer be going out to Clubs and Pubs... You will be Home creating, mixing and fixing for a long time to come. You do not want to end up with Gear that is not "Great", this way after a year or two you decide this music thang ain't for you, you can at least sell good gear and get a return for the money you paid. You can't do it with Entry Level Gear, unless you rip off some unsuspecting star eyed wannabee musician, who will make bad gear choices... Do do it, just give the crap gear away... It will never make it on Stage but could help a kid who is willing but unable...

In closing... You can actually buy an "Inexpensive" pair of small monitors that will eventually be used as your "Cheap Ones"... They will be sitting tiny next to the mountain of "Please Close The Control Room Door Monitors". Your ears and what happens when your music reaches them is the only second to creating it.