Major Changes at Apogee

Apogee has announced a major new chapter for the company. Under CEO Dirk Ulrich, Apogee is expanding its vision with next-generation DSP technology, advanced software integration, and a new “analogue meets digital” ecosystem alongside sister company Manley, and central to this is the Apogee Control V3.

What exactly is Apogee Control V3?

Control V3 is a new mixer application that controls Apogee interfaces. The new “hit feature” is that V3 finally allows for running multiple DSP based plugins in real-time, for tracking through plugins with near-zero latency. Where V2 had a single channel strip plugin (the old 3-band ECS channel), V3 will unlock a whole new eco-system of Apogee and 3rd party plugins that can run on the interfaces. Think guitar and bass amps, mixing console emulations, vocal pitch correction etc., the possibilities are endless as the iMX.8 arm-core chips are offering way more DSP power than current traditional DSP chips.

Will current Symphony Studio interfaces receive the new DSP features?

Yes, the new V3 software will unlock the full potential of the iMX.8 ARM-CORE chips that are already embedded in all existing Symphony Studio interfaces! So any user who will update to V3 will benefit from the new features, regardless of when they purchased their Symphony Studio interfaces.

Is Apogee entering the DSP plugin ecosystem similar to UAD, AVID or others?

Yes, but the goal is to create a new, very modern platform around the Symphony line of interfaces with cutting-edge, powerful Arm-Core technology. Some interfaces (like the Symphony Studio series) already have Arm-Core chips on board and will be able to process plugins in real-time on the hardware, others like Symphony I/O MKII will still benefit from the new mixer application, but won’t offer real-time DSP-based plugins operating on dedicated Arm-Core processors. However, Apogee is looking into the possibility of enabling real-time Native plugin processing via the Thunderbolt bus.

Will Symphony I/O MK II or even older Apogee interfaces also benefit from the new Control V3 mixer software?

Older interfaces like the Ensemble series or DUET will most likely not be able to support the new software, but Apogee promises its customers to look into it and do whatever is technically possible and sane with regards to development resources. At a bare minimum, it intends to offer fair upgrade offers to all existing users and to keep current interfaces relevant with updated drivers for as long as it’s technically and financially feasible.

What does ‘analogue meets digital’ actually mean in practice?

Apogee is now part of the Rockforce Tech group, which also owns MANLEY. It has plans of building Apogee interfaces that have some analogue MANLEY components in the front-end, for example some microphone preamp transformers, which MANLEY is known for, in particular their tube-sound. Apogee’s advanced Arm-Core technology will also allow for real-time DSP emulations of MANLEY analogue circuits of the highest quality. Those can soon run on any input or output channel of your Symphony Studio interfaces.

Will there be new hardware products coming soon?

Apogee is actively preparing the launch of Symphony NOVA, a new 4-in / 12-out desktop interface. Just like the existing Symphony Studio interfaces, NOVA will feature the same iMX.8 Arm-Core chips, so it will be able to handle the same real-time plugins.

What is Dirk Ulrich’s long-term vision for Apogee?

Dirk’s vision is to create a modern eco-system around the Apogee and Manley brands, whereas Apogee owns the digital domain around its AD and DA converters and powerful Arm-Core hip technology, and Manley brings the analogue authority into the mix that has made the brand iconic. Both brands offer forty years of pro audio experience. Under the new mutual ownership and with the current iteration of the mutual product teams which consist of analogue and digital experts who have worked at both companies for decades plus some fresh blood and new perspective, Apogee believes that it’s on track for future innovation.