Apogee Quartet User’s Guide V1, September, 2012
Contents - Apogee Quartet User’s Guide Contents QuickStart ! Introduction! 6 6 Quartet! 6 Professional audio interface and studio control center for Mac! 6 What you can do with Quartet:! 6 Package contents! 7 The following items are included in the Quartet box:! 7 Software, firmware and the Quartet User’s guide are available online only.
Contents - Apogee Quartet User’s Guide Headphone Output level! Configuring the Input ! Open Apogee Maestro 2 software and select the Input tab.
Contents - Apogee Quartet User’s Guide Devices Sidebar! 33 Device Icon & ID Button! 34 Input Tab Window! 35 Output Tab Window! 36 Device Settings Tab Window! 38 Output Routing Tab Window! 39 System Setup Window! 41 Menu Bar Menus! 42 Low Latency Mixing! 45 Maestro Low Latency mixing! 45 Maestro Low Latency mixing (continued)! 46 Working with the Maestro Mixer! 48 Do I need the Maestro Mixer?! 48 Recording software settings! 48 Software monitoring! 48 Playback mix! 49 Maestro
Contents - Apogee Quartet User’s Guide Using Quartet with Steinberg Nuendo! Troubleshooting! 59 60 Further Troubleshooting Resources! 62 Apogee Website! 62 Apogee Support! 62 Apogee Product Repair! 62 Specifications! 63 System Requirements:! 64 Warranty & Notifications! 65 Registration and Warranty Information! 65 Service Information! 66 Warnings! 66 Copyright Notice! 66 Software Notice! 67 Declarations of Conformity! 67 Industry Canada Notice! 68 Declaration of Conformity –
QuickStart - Apogee Quartet User’s Guide QuickStart Introduction Thank you for purchasing Quartet. This QuickStart guide describes how to set up Quartet with your Mac, connect speakers or headphones to play back music and connect mics and instruments to record your own creations with Apple’s Logic Pro or Avid’s Pro Tools. Quartet Professional audio interface and studio control center for Mac For over 25 years, Apogee has been an award-winning industry leader in digital recording.
QuickStart - Apogee Quartet User’s Guide Package contents The following items are included in the Quartet box: • • • • Quartet QuickStart Guide Power Supply USB 2.0 Cable QuickStart Guide Power Supply USB 2.0 Cable Software, firmware and the Quartet User’s guide are available online only. Please download the latest installer here: http://www.apogeedigital.
QuickStart - Apogee Quartet User’s Guide Quartet panel tour Top panel Controller Knob Input Meters Output Meters Input Selection Touchpads Output Selection Touchpads User Assignable Touchpads Durable Cast Aluminum Body Quartet panel tour Version 1, September 2012 8
QuickStart - Apogee Quartet User’s Guide Rear panel Digital Inputs USB 2.
QuickStart - Apogee Quartet User’s Guide Display and touchpad tour Input display and touchpads Output display and touchpads Version 1, September 2012 10
QuickStart - Apogee Quartet User’s Guide Connecting to your Mac System Requirements • Intel Mac 1.5 GHz or faster • Mac OS X 10.6.8, 10.7.4 or greater • 2 GB minimum RAM, 4 GB recommended Install Quartet Software 1. Remove the protective film from the front panel, otherwise the Touchpads will not work. 2. Connect Quartet’s Power Supply to the DC power input on the rear panel of Quartet and the appropriate IEC cable to a wall outlet. 3.
QuickStart - Apogee Quartet User’s Guide Choosing Quartet for Mac Sound I/O After connecting Quartet to your Mac, a dialog box will prompt you to choose Quartet for Mac sound input and output. Click Yes.
QuickStart - Apogee Quartet User’s Guide Connect to Headphones or Speakers Connect headphones to the headphone output on the right side of Quartet. Connect Quartet’s 1/4” speaker outputs 1-2 to the inputs (balanced or unbalanced) of your active (powered) studio monitors or amplifier. Check Audio Playback in iTunes To verify Quartet’s output, open iTunes (found in your Mac’s Applications folder), choose a song, and click Play.
QuickStart - Apogee Quartet User’s Guide Adjusting Volume Speaker Output level To change Quartet’s speaker output level (i.e the listening level of connected speakers), press the Speaker Selection Touchpad to select the appropriate stereo output. Now, turn the Controller Knob to the desired listening level. The hardware Controller Knob operates in parallel with any software level controls.
QuickStart - Apogee Quartet User’s Guide Headphone Output level To change Quartet’s headphone output level (i.e the listening level of connected headphones), press the Headphone Selection Touchpad to select the headphone output. Now, turn the Controller Knob to the desired listening level. The hardware Controller Knob operates in parallel with any software level controls.
QuickStart - Apogee Quartet User’s Guide Configuring the Input Connect a microphone or instrument to one of the combo jacks on the rear panel Open Apogee Maestro 2 software and select the Input tab. Select the Analog Level setting that corresponds to the device you have connected to Quartet’s input(s).
Operation - Apogee Quartet User’s Guide Operation Controller Knob Quartet’s Controller Knob allows you to easily adjust the levels of all inputs and outputs and also provides a quick and easy way to mute the outputs. By default, the Knob Push Button is assigned to mute all outputs. Alternatively, you can assign it in Apogee’s Maestro 2 software to mute only the speaker or only the headphone outputs.
Operation - Apogee Quartet User’s Guide Adjusting Input & Output Levels Input level To change Quartet’s input level (i.e the preamp gain of microphones and instruments): 1) Press the Touchpad corresponding to the desired input. The ring around the selected icon will be brighter than the others after you select it. 2) Turn the Controller Knob until the desired recording level is obtained. The controller knob operates in parallel with Maestro’s input controls.
Operation - Apogee Quartet User’s Guide Speaker Output level To change Quartet’s speaker output level (i.e the listening level of connected speakers): 1) Press the speaker output Touchpad. The ring around the selected icon will be brighter than the others after you select it. 2) Turn the controller knob to the desired listening level. The controller knob operates in parallel with any software output controls on the Mac.
Operation - Apogee Quartet User’s Guide Headphone Output level To change Quartet’s headphone output level (i.e the listening level of connected headphones): 1) Press the headphone output Touchpad. 2) Turn the controller knob to the desired listening level. The controller knob operates in parallel with Maestro’s headphone control.
Operation - Apogee Quartet User’s Guide Multiple Speaker Set Operation Quartet’s Speaker Set functionality allows you to connect up to 3 stereo speaker sets, each of which can be individually selected for playback output. To set up: 1) Connect your primary pair of speakers to Quartet’s ANALOG OUT 1-2 2) Connect your second and third pairs (if equipped) to Quartet’s ANALOG OUT 3-4 and 5-6 respectively.
Operation - Apogee Quartet User’s Guide 2 Speaker Sets When the “2 Speaker Sets” option is selected, Software Outputs 1-2 are routed to Hardware Outputs 1-2 and 3-4. (as shown in the Routing tab below) In the Maestro Output Tab, the A and B buttons to the right of the output control knob become active. The C button remains inactive. Clicking button A sends the main output signal to the speakers connected to Quartet’s ANALOG OUT 1-2 and mutes ANALOG OUT 3-4.
Operation - Apogee Quartet User’s Guide 3 Speaker Sets When the “3 Speaker Sets” option is selected, Software Outputs 1-2 are routed to Hardware Outputs 1-2, 3-4, and 5-6. (as shown in the Routing tab below) In the Maestro Output Tab, the A, B, and C buttons to the right of the output control knob become active. Clicking button A sends the main output signal to the speakers connected to Quartet’s ANALOG OUT 1-2 and mutes ANALOG OUT 3-4 and 5-6.
Operation - Apogee Quartet User’s Guide Custom Output Routing The Output Routing can be freely changed if you have a unique setup. For instance, if you wish to listen to your DAW’s Software Outputs 3-4 and toggle between 3 different speaker sets, you can manually route Software Output 3-4 to Hardware Outputs 1-2, 3-4, and 5-6. (as shown in the Routing tab below) To use Speaker Sets while monitoring through the low latency mixer, route Mixer 1 (or Mixer 2) to hardware outputs as shown below.
Operation - Apogee Quartet User’s Guide Assignable Touchpads Quartet's three assignable Touchpads can be setup for quick access to Output functions. Use them to mute or dim the outputs, sum to mono, clear meters or switch between multiple speaker sets with a single touch. Assigning functions to the Touchpads is easily done in the Device Settings tab of Maestro.
Operation - Apogee Quartet User’s Guide Mute outputs You can assign one of the three Touchpads to mute the Speaker, Headphone or All Outputs. Dim outputs The Dim function lowers the output volume by 15 dB. This function is convenient when you want to briefly lower the playback volume without completely muting the output.
Operation - Apogee Quartet User’s Guide Sum to Mono The Sum to Mono function is used to examine phase relationships on stereo tracks. When engaged, the left and right output signals are combined and phase errors between the two become exponentially more noticeable. Engage Speaker Set When the output format (found in Maestro’s Output Tab) is set to either “2 Speaker Sets” or “3 Speaker Sets”, you can assign the Touchpads to engage a particular speaker sets.
Operation - Apogee Quartet User’s Guide Clear Meters The Clear Meters function will remove any peak and over indicators in Maestro 2 and OLED meters on Quartet’s front panel. If “Peak Hold” or “Over Hold” (in the System Setup tab) is set to Infinite, all indicators will remain illuminated until “Clear Meters” is engaged.
Operation - Apogee Quartet User’s Guide MIDI Input/Output Quartet’s USB MIDI input/output provides a MIDI connection between class compliant Core MIDI devices such as keyboards and other controllers and Apple’s Mac OS X. A class-compliant MIDI device works with Core MIDI without the need to install drivers or other additional software. To confirm that your MIDI device is class-compliant: 1. 2. 3. 4. Using a standard USB cable, connect the device directly to a Mac.
Operation - Apogee Quartet User’s Guide To setup a MIDI device with Quartet: Using a standard USB cable, connect the device’s USB MIDI connector to Quartet’s rear panel MIDI USB connector. In your MIDI software, look for Quartet as a MIDI source/destination. For example, in Logic choose Window > Environment. In the Environment window, choose Clicks & Ports in the upper left hand corner. Quartet should appear in the Physical Input list.
Operation - Apogee Quartet User’s Guide OS X System Preferences The OS X System Preferences Sound window provides settings to choose Quartet for Mac sound input and output. If you’ve already selected Quartet for Mac sound I/O from the automatic dialog box that appeared when you first connected the device, you don’t need to do anything else. Go to the Apple menu > System Preferences. Open the Sound preference window by clicking on the speaker icon.
Operation - Apogee Quartet User’s Guide Setting Sample Rate Quartet operates at all standard sample rates between 44.1 kHz and 192 kHz. In most cases, the sample rate is set by the audio application with which Quartet is communicating. For example, when using Quartet with GarageBand, Quartet’s sample rate is automatically set to 44.1 kHz, to match the GarageBand song’s sample rate.
Maestro 2 - Apogee Quartet User’s Guide Maestro 2 Apogee’s Maestro 2 software provides the most complete control of Quartet, including: • Control of all settings • Store/recall of configurations • Low latency mixing Devices Sidebar Any Maestro-compatible Apogee interfaces connected to the host computer are displayed in the Devices sidebar, regardless of whether the connection is made via Symphony PCI card, USB or FireWire.
Maestro 2 - Apogee Quartet User’s Guide Device Icon & ID Button A device icon and ID button is placed adjacent to each row of parameters to identify the hardware unit to which the row belongs. By clicking on the ID button, the corresponding hardware unit’s front panel will illuminate. Each hardware unit is assigned a Peripheral Prefix (A-Z, found in Maestro’s Device Settings tab window) which is displayed on the ID button.
Maestro 2 - Apogee Quartet User’s Guide Input Tab Window 1. Device Icon & ID Button - see the description above. 2. Analog Level - Use this menu to select mic, instrument, or line input. 3. Soft Limit - Use this menu to engage Soft Limit. Soft Limit is Apogee’s proprietary analog process for taming transients before A/D conversion. By gently rounding transients in a transparent manner, it’s possible to maximize level BEFORE the A/D conversion stage.
Maestro 2 - Apogee Quartet User’s Guide Output Tab Window 1. Device Icon & ID Button - see the description above. 2. Analog Output Meter - This meter displays the level of the analog output before D/A conversion, in the range -48 to 0 dBFS. 3. Analog Out Format - This drop down menu sets the format of the analog outputs: Line: all six analog outputs are configured as line outputs; monitor functions such as level control, Mute, Dim and Sum to Mono are disengaged.
Maestro 2 - Apogee Quartet User’s Guide to mono and check for unevenness in the frequency range caused by phase cancellation and reinforcement of particular frequencies. If the sound changes significantly or sounds "hollow" when summed to mono, this may indicate phase issues caused by a less than optimal mic placement. When mixing, it's also a good idea to check mono compatibility. Beyond questions of phase, any masking caused by overlapping frequencies is most easily heard when listening in mono.
Maestro 2 - Apogee Quartet User’s Guide Device Settings Tab Window 1. Device Icon & ID Button - see the description above. 2. Peripheral Prefix - Use this drop down menu to assign a letter prefix (A-Z) to each peripheral device displayed in the Devices Sidebar. The letter prefix is included in all graphic representations of the peripheral as well as I/O labels in Maestro and Core Audio compatible applications. 3.
Maestro 2 - Apogee Quartet User’s Guide Output Routing Tab Window In the Maestro Output Routing tab, route Mixer 1 (or Mixer 2) to Line 1/2. If Analog Out Format is set to 2 or 3 Speaker Sets, route Mixer to all the analog outputs in use, as shown below.
Maestro 2 - Apogee Quartet User’s Guide Mixer Tab Window Use the Mixer Tab Window to adjust the Mix of input and output signals as well as configure Low Latency Mixing. Learn more about Low Latency Mixing. 1. Device Icon & ID Button - see the description above. 2. Pan - This rotary knob pans the input signal between the left and right sides of the Maestro mixer's stereo output. 3. Input Level fader - This slider sets the level of the input signal in the Maestro mixer's stereo output. 4.
Maestro 2 - Apogee Quartet User’s Guide System Setup Window 1. Sample Rate - This drop down selects the sample rate. Under certain circumstances, (for example, when a DAW session is open) this setting will be overridden by software sample rate settings. The following settings determine the behavior of the front panel and Maestro software level meters. 2. Peak Hold - This pop-up menu sets the time that peak indications are held on software and front panel meters. 3.
Maestro 2 - Apogee Quartet User’s Guide Menu Bar Menus About Apogee Maestro - Choose this menu item to display version information. Preferences - Choose this menu item to display Maestro’s Preference panel. Check Launch Maestro automatically when connecting a device to launch Maestro when the Mac is started. Check Display Pop-ups to show top panel encoder adjustments. Hide Apogee Maestro 2 - Choose this menu item to hide the Maestro application.
Maestro 2 - Apogee Quartet User’s Guide Menu Bar Menus (continued) Rescan - Choose this menu item to re-initialize the link between Maestro software and Apogee hardware connected to the Mac, in the case where the hardware is correctly connected and powered on but not detected in Maestro. Minimize - Choose this menu item to minimize the Maestro window to the OS X Dock. Zoom - Choose this menu item to maximize the size of the Maestro window. Open any of the currently active tabs by typing Command + number.
Maestro 2 - Apogee Quartet User’s Guide Menu Bar Menus (continued) Help - Choose this menu item to open Maestro Help for any Apogee hardware devices connected to your Mac Version 1, September 2012 44
Maestro 2 - Apogee Quartet User’s Guide Low Latency Mixing While recording, if you notice a delay between the moment you play or sing a note and when you hear it in your headphones you are experiencing latency. Maestro’s low latency mixer may help and can be configured by clicking the Mixer tab in Maestro. Maestro Low Latency mixing A bit of background information concerning latency and computer-based digital recording setups will help you better understand these functions.
Maestro 2 - Apogee Quartet User’s Guide Maestro Low Latency mixing (continued) Figure A To illustrate the effect of latency, Figure A depicts the typical signal path of a vocal overdub session. A vocalist sings into a microphone, which is routed to an analog to digital converter, then to the audio software application for recording.
Maestro 2 - Apogee Quartet User’s Guide Maestro Low Latency mixing (continued) Figure B 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.
Maestro 2 - Apogee Quartet User’s Guide Working with the Maestro Mixer Do I need the Maestro Mixer? The Maestro mixer serves to provide a low latency monitoring mix while recording. Therefore if you’re using Quartet to listen to iTunes or audio from another program, there’s no need to use the mixer.. It’s possible that the latency of your particular recording system is low enough to be unnoticed.
Maestro 2 - Apogee Quartet User’s Guide Playback mix In your recording software, set up a mix of all playback tracks and route it to the first pair of outputs. If a master fader controls the global output of the mix, it’s suggested to set the fader to 0 dB. Maestro Output Routing Tab In the Maestro Output Routing tab, route Mixer 1 (or Mixer 2) to Line 1/2. If Analog Out Format is set to 2 or 3 Speaker Sets, route Mixer to all the analog outputs in use, as shown below.
Maestro 2 - Apogee Quartet User’s Guide Maestro Mixer Settings Now select the desired input (Line, Mic or Instrument) and set the Input Level on the Input tab; the signal should be displayed on both the Mixer Input and Mixer Master meters. If the Mixer Input’s Over LED lights, reduce the input gain in Maestro Input tab. If the Mixer Master’s Over LEDs light, reduce the Input fader. Now start playback in your recording software.
Software Setup - Apogee Quartet User’s Guide Software Setup Using Quartet with Logic IMPORTANT NOTE! The Apogee Control Panel within Logic is not compatible with Quartet. Go to the Logic Pro or Logic Express menu and choose Preferences > Audio. In the Core Audio pane of the Device tab, select Quartet for Output Device and Input Device. Set the I/O Buffer Size to 64. Click Apply Changes at the bottom of the Preferences window.
Software Setup - Apogee Quartet User’s Guide Using Quartet with Logic (continued) By selecting Quartet input and output labels in Logic, the labels you see in Logic’s Channel Strip input and output slots correspond exactly to Quartet’s hardware inputs and outputs, making I/O assignment much easier. 1. In Logic, choose Options > Audio > I/O Labels. 2. Select the labels in the Provided by Driver column. 3. Close the I/O Labels window.
Software Setup - Apogee Quartet User’s Guide Using Quartet with Logic (continued) Now close the Logic Pro Preferences window and select New > Empty Project > from the File Menu.
Software Setup - Apogee Quartet User’s Guide Using Quartet with Logic (continued) Logic will now ask you to name the project and save in on your hard drive. Click the Record button in the transport control at the bottom of the Logic window.
Software Setup - Apogee Quartet User’s Guide Using Quartet with GarageBand IMPORTANT NOTE! The Apogee Control Panel within GarageBand is not compatible with Quartet. If you don’t have Quartet connected when you launch GarageBand, when you connect the device, the following message will appear. If you have Quartet connected when you launch GarageBand: 1. Choose GarageBand > Preferences. 2.
Software Setup - Apogee Quartet User’s Guide Using Quartet with Avid Pro Tools (9 or greater) Choose Setup menu > Playback Engine. Choose Quartet for Current Engine. Set the Buffer Size to 64. Click OK.
Software Setup - Apogee Quartet User’s Guide Using Quartet with Ableton Live Choose Live > Preferences Click on the Audio tab. Select CoreAudio in the Driver Type menu. Select Quartet in both the Audio Input Device and Audio Output Device menus. Set Buffer Size to 128. Close the Preferences window after making settings.
Software Setup - Apogee Quartet User’s Guide Using Quartet with Apple Final Cut Pro Choose Final Cut Pro > Audio/Video Settings. Click on the A/V Devices tab. Select Quartet in the Audio menu. Click OK.
Software Setup - Apogee Quartet User’s Guide Using Quartet with Steinberg Nuendo Choose Devices > Device Setup In the Devices window, click on VST Audio System. Select Quartet in the ASIO menu. Once Quartet is recognized by Nuendo, select Quartet in the Devices window. Click on Control Panel. In the ASIO Settings pop-up, set Buffer Size to 128 and click OK. In the Device Setup window, click OK.
Troubleshooting - Apogee Quartet User’s Guide Troubleshooting Looking for answers? Ask the knowledgebase www.apogeedigital.com/knowledgebase Quartet FAQs Q: When I press the Speaker touchpad, nothing happens. Why? A: When the Analog Out Format is set to Line, the Speaker touchpad is disabled. Q: I’ve connected my guitar, but I’m not getting any input. What should I check? A: On the Input tab of Maestro, be sure to set Analog Level to Instrument (Inst).
Troubleshooting - Apogee Quartet User’s Guide Symptom: The audio quality is compromised (distortion, choppy audio, "buzzy" audio). Solution: There are several remedies for audio that is distorted, choppy or otherwise compromised: 1. Hot-plug Quartet 2. Toggle sample rate (in your DAW or, in the case of iTunes, Audio MIDI Setup) 3. Reload DAW driver (for example, in Logic choose Logic Pro > Preferences > Audio. Click on the Devices tab, then the Core Audio tab. Uncheck Enabled, then re-check it. 4.
Troubleshooting - Apogee Quartet User’s Guide Further Troubleshooting Resources If you still haven't found a resolution to your issue, Apogee provides a wide range of resources Apogee Website For any questions concerning product information, please visit our website: www.apogeedigital.com For more technical information, including FAQs, User Guides and downloads, please visit the support section: www.apogeedigital.
Specifications - Apogee Quartet User’s Guide Specifications Features Quartet Computer Connectivity USB 2.0 High Speed Roundtrip Latency 32 buffer @ 96kHz = 3.6 ms performance 64 buffer @ 44.1kHz = 5.8 ms Power Supplied DC power supply) Bit resolution/sample rate 24-bit/44.
Specifications - Apogee Quartet User’s Guide Phase Invert Soft Limit Group Inputs 2 groups Mute Outputs Sum to Mono Dim Outputs Core Audio Compatible System Requirements: • • • • • Computer: Intel Mac 1.5GHz or faster Memory: 2 GB RAM minimum, 4 GB recommended OS: 10.6.8, 10.7.
Warranty & Notifications - Apogee Quartet User’s Guide Warranty & Notifications Registration and Warranty Information To receive free tech support, important information and product updates first... Register your new Apogee product here: www.apogeedigital.com/register/ 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.
Warranty & Notifications - Apogee Quartet User’s Guide Service Information The Quartet contains no user-serviceable components; refer to qualified service personnel for repair or upgrade. Your warranty will be voided if you tamper with the internal components. If you have any questions with regard to the above, please contact Apogee.
Warranty & Notifications - Apogee Quartet User’s Guide Software Notice Redistribution and use in source and binary forms, with or without modification, are permitted provided that the following conditions are met: 1. Redistributions of source code must retain the above copyright notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer. 2.
Warranty & Notifications - Apogee Quartet User’s Guide Apogee Electronics Corp. 1715 Berkeley Street Santa Monica,CA 90404, USA Industry Canada Notice This Class B digital apparatus meets all requirements of the Canadian Interference-Causing Equipment Regulations. Cet appareil numérique de la classe B respecte toutes les exigences du Règlement sur le matérial brouilleur du Canada.
