Apogee symphony i/o mk II User manual

Quick Start Guide
April 2016
Symphony I/O Mk II

Quick Start Guide
February 2016
Symphony I/O Mk II

4| Symphony I/O Quick Start Guide
Contents
Overview................................................................................... 5
Introduction................................................................. 5
System Requirements................................................. 5
In the box ................................................................... 6
Product Tour............................................................................. 8
Front panel.................................................................. 8
Touchscreen section overview.................................... 11
Rear panel - Thunderbolt model ................................ 14
Rear panel - HD model................................................ 15
Thunderbolt setup ................................................................... 15
System Requirements................................................ 16
Install Symphony I/O Mk II Software.......................... 16
Apogee Maestro install............................................... 16
Powering On and O............................................................... 18
Update Firmware .................................................................... 19
Connecting headphones ........................................................ 20
Connecting speakers ......................................................... 21
Connecting inputs .................................................................. 22
Playback from iTunes ............................................................. 23
Pro Tools setup........................................................................ 26
Additional support .................................................................. 28

Symphony I/O Quick Start Guide | 5
Overview
Introduction
Symphony I/O Mk II is the most advanced and exible multi-channel audio interface available. Featuring Apogee’s
newest agship AD/DA conversion, modular I/O (up to 32 inputs and outputs), and intuitive touchscreen display,
Symphony I/O Mk II oers direct connectivity to one of three dierent platforms - Thunderbolt™, Pro Tools® HD or
Waves SoundGrid® network.
This Quick Start Guide describes the steps to set up Symphony I/O Mk II with an Apple Mac via Thunderbolt and
Avid Pro Tools HD systems.
To ensure that you’re using the very latest Symphony I/O Mk II software and documentation, please download the
most current package from our website:
http://www.apogeedigital.com
System Requirements
Symphony I/O Mk II Thunderbolt
• Thunderbolt equipped Mac computer, 4GB memory required, 8GB recommended
• Mac OS 10.9.5 or greater
Symphony I/O Mk II Pro Tools HD
• Pro Tools HDX, HD Native Thunderbolt, HD PCI Native or HD Core/Accel hardware
• Pro Tools 10 software or greater, Mac or Windows OS

6| Symphony I/O Quick Start Guide
In the box
The following items are included in the box with Symphony I/O Mk II:
• Symphony I/O Mk II
• 3-pin IEC power cable
• Quick Start Guide
• Warranty Booklet
Note: Thunderbolt models, Thunderbolt cable not included
Pro Tools HD models, HD cable not included.
Register your product
• Access expert Technical Support
• Receive important product update information by email
• Take the customer satisfaction survey
Register now
www.apogeedigital.com/register

Symphony I/O Quick Start Guide | 7
Symphony I/O Mk II
3-pin IEC power cable Quick Start Guide Warranty Booklet

8| Symphony I/O Quick Start Guide
Product Tour
Headphone output
Touchscreen/display
Control knob Power button
Front panel

Navigating the touchscreen
Swipe to navigate
You can swipe the screen left or right to access any of
the main sections; HOME, MONITOR, INPUT, OUTPUT,
DIGITAL I/O, SETTINGS.
Swiping can be disabled in SETTINGS.
Tap section icons to navigate
You can also directly select any of the section icons on
the bottom of the screen to jump directly to a section.

10 | Symphony I/O Quick Start Guide
Navigating the touchscreen
Symphony I/O Mk II’s front panel touchscreen oers convenient access to nearly every setting.
Control knob focus selection
Settings that may be controlled using the
front panel control knob are displayed as a
circle; i.e. Speaker and Headphone, Input
calibration and Gain levels
To “focus” the control knob to the desired setting, tap
the circle; an orange ring indicates that the control knob
is currently focused on the setting.
Muting with the control knob
Pressing the control knob mutes and
un-mutes the sound coming out of
Symphony I/O Mk II, and is indicated
on the Home page with the “M” lit up.

Symphony I/O Quick Start Guide | 11
HOME
Sample Rate, Clock Source, Headphone
& Speaker output levels, Meters for all I/O,
and section navigation
MONITOR
Headphone & speaker output levels, mute,
dim, sum to mono, headphone ouput
selection, speaker set selection and section
navigation
Touchscreen section overview

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INPUT LEVEL
Analog input reference levels, calibration,
Soft Limit, mic pre parameters (when 8
channel mic preamp module
is installed) and section navigation
OUTPUT LEVEL
Analog output reference levels, calibration
and section navigation
Touchscreen section overview

Symphony I/O Quick Start Guide | 13
DIGITAL I/O
Digital format settings, Digital input signal
meters, SPDIF Coax In replaces and
coax output mirrors settings and section
navigation
SETTINGS
Reset, WC termination, Internal
temperature, Meter characteristics, Display
brightness

14 | Symphony I/O Quick Start Guide
Rear panel - Thunderbolt™ model
Module slot 1
Module slot 2
Thunderbolt ports
Word clock I/O
AC power
Option card slot
Chassis shown without I/O modules installed

Symphony I/O Quick Start Guide | 15
Rear panel - HD model
Module slot 1
Module slot 2
Word clock I/O
AC power
Pro Tools® HD
option card
Chassis shown without I/O modules installed

16 | Symphony I/O Quick Start Guide
Thunderbolt - Setup
System Requirements
• Computer: Thunderbolt™ equipped Mac
• Memory: 4GB RAM minimum, 8GB RAM recommended
• OS X 10.9.5 or greater
• Thunderbolt cable (sold separately)
Install Symphony I/O Mk II Software
1. Go to http://www.apogeedigital.com/support/symphony-io-mk-ii
2. Download the latest Symphony I/O Mk II Thunderbolt software installer.
3. Open the downloaded .dmg le and double-click Symphony I/O Mk II Thunderbolt Software Installer.pkg
4. Follow the prompts. You will be required to restart your computer.
Apogee Maestro
Apogee Maestro is a controller software for Symphony
I/O Mk II Thunderbolt. All settings and parameters can
be controlled from this application. When installing the
latest software from the Apogee Website, Apogee
Maestro is placed in your Mac’s Application folder.

Symphony I/O Quick Start Guide | 17
Connecting to your computer
Symphony I/O Mk II Thunderbolt features two connections to enable daisy-chaining of other Thunderbolt peripherals
to your computer. It does not matter which position Symphony I/O Mk II Thunderbolt is placed in the chain.
1. Using a certied Thunderbolt cable, connect Symphony I/O Mk II to a Thunderbolt port on your computer.
2. Connect other certied Thunderbolt devices to Symphony I/O Mk II’s remaining Thunderbolt port.
Make sure that your Mac has the Thunderbolt logo. The Mini DisplayPort, featured on many pre-Thunderbolt Macs,
is the exact size of a Thunderbolt port but does NOT support Thunderbolt devices. See the dierence below:
Note: Apogee cannot guarantee performance if utilizing an uncertied Thunderbolt device
in the same chain as Symphony I/O Mk II. To see if a device is certied, please go to:
https://thunderbolttechnology.net/products
✖ Mini Display Port ✔ Thunderbolt Port

18 | Symphony I/O Quick Start Guide
Powering On
1. Ensure any speakers or ampliers connected to the
outputs are turned o, or the volume turned to the
minimum setting.
2. Press Symphony I/O Mk II’s Power button.
After a moment, the unit will power up.
3. Power on or raise the volume level of any
speakers or ampliers connected to
Symphony I/O Mk II’s outputs.
Powering O
Powering Symphony I/O Mk II o is the reverse of
powering the unit on.
1. Power o, or turn the volume to minimum,
any speakers or ampliers connected to
Symphony I/O Mk II’s outputs.
2. Press Symphony I/O Mk II’s Power button.
Note: Thunderbolt peripherals will continue
to operate when unit is powered o.

Symphony I/O Quick Start Guide | 19
Update Firmware
1. Open Symphony I/O Mk II Thunderbolt Firmware Updater.app located in your computer’s
Applications > Utilities folder.
2. Select “Update”
3. Follow any prompts that may appear.
4. When the progress reaches 100% and says “Update Complete”, you are done and can quit the updater.
After the software installation, you may
be prompted to update the rmware.

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Connecting headphones
1. Connect headphones to the front panel headphone output.
2. To control the volume of the headphone output tap
the headphone level ring on the HOME screen or the
MONITOR screen.
3. Adjust the volume by turning the control knob.