Apogee Symphony Mk II User manual

Quick Start Guide
February 2016
Symphony I/O Mk II

Quick Start Guide
February 2016
Symphony I/O Mk II

4| Symphony I/O Quick Start Guide Symphony I/O Quick Start Guide | 5
OverviewContents
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
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

6| Symphony I/O Quick Start Guide Symphony I/O Quick Start Guide | 7
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, DigiLink cable not included.
Symphony I/O Mk II
3-pin IEC power cable Quick Start Guide Warranty Booklet
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

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 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
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.

12 | Symphony I/O Quick Start Guide 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
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

14 | Symphony I/O Quick Start Guide 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
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 Chassis shown without I/O modules installed

16 | Symphony I/O Quick Start Guide 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
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.

18 | Symphony I/O Quick Start Guide Symphony I/O Quick Start Guide | 19
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.
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.
Note: Thunderbolt peripherals will continue
to operate when unit is powered o.

20 | Symphony I/O Quick Start Guide Symphony I/O Quick Start Guide | 21
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.
Connecting speakers
1. Connect a DB25 breakout cable (not included) to the
Analog OUT connector on Module 1 (bottom slot)
2. Connect breakout cable outputs 1-2 to your speakers. Connect
outputs 3-4 and 5-6 to alternate speaker sets if desired.
3. Tap the speaker level focus ring on the HOME screen or the
MONITOR screen to set your output level.

22 | Symphony I/O Quick Start Guide Symphony I/O Quick Start Guide | 23
Connecting inputs
1. Connect an 8 channel DB25 breakout cable (not included)
to Analog IN on the lower I/O Module (Module Slot1) and
plug in the desired input source.
2. On the front panel touchscreen, tap the INPUT icon to
navigate to the INPUT page.
3. Select the corresponding input channel then tap the
Analog Level button to select the desired level +4dB,
-10dB or Mic if you have an 8 channel mic preamp module
installed.
4. To adjust the line input trim, press the Show Trim button
and tap the trim focus ring to enable the control knob. If
you have an 8 channel mic preamp module installed tap
the gain focus ring to enable the control knob and adjust
the mic pre gain.
Playback from iTunes
To route audio from general audio applications such as
iTunes and Safari through Symphony I/O Mk II, you must
set up Symphony I/O Mk II as the default output device in
Mac System Preferences.
NOTE: Make sure you have already installed the most
recent Symphony I/O Mk II Software from the Apogee
website before proceeding.
1. Click the  icon in the upper-left corner of your
Mac’s display.
2. From the drop-down menu,
select “System Preferences…”
3. In the System Preferences control panel,
select “Sound”
4. At the top of the Sound Preferences panel,
select the “Output” tab
5. Under “Select a device for sound output:”
click Symphony I/O Thunderbolt
Now sound from iTunes or Safari can be played
through Symphony I/O Mk II’s default outputs.
If you do not hear sound verify the output has
not been muted by looking at the M icon below
the headphone or speaker icon on the HOME
screen. To un-mute headphones or speakers,
simply press the control knob with the desired
output selected.
Outputs un-muted Outputs muted

24 | Symphony I/O Quick Start Guide Symphony I/O Quick Start Guide | 25
1. Go to Logic Pro X > Preferences > Audio.
4. Select “Apply Changes” and close the
Preferences window.
3. Start by setting the I/O Buer Size to “64
Samples”. Adjust the setting based on your
computer’s performance.
2. In the Devices Tab, select “Symphony I/O Mk II” in
the Output Device and Input Device drop-down boxes.
Setting Up Symphony I/O Mk II with Logic Pro X
Most professional applications have their own audio preferences that are separate from the Mac System Preferences.
Basic steps for setting up Symphony I/O Mk II are provided. For more detail on this topic, refer to the documentation
that comes with your recording program.
Maestro control software
Apogee Maestro software provides complete control and monitoring of all Symphony I/O Mk II functions and
settings, from levels to direct monitoring to routing and more.
See page 16 for Maestro installation instructions (Thunderbolt models only).
Complete information for Maestro can be found in the User’s Guide which can be downloaded at:
www.apogeedigital.com/support/

26 | Symphony I/O Quick Start Guide Symphony I/O Quick Start Guide | 27
Pro Tools®Setup
Connecting to Avid HDX, HD Native Thunderbolt and HD Core/Accel Hardware
The following instructions refer to Symphony I/O Mk II Pro Tools HD models. No software installation is required or provided
with Symphony I/O Mk II HD. All Symphony I/O Mk II hardware settings can be made from the front panel touchscreen.
To connect a single Symphony I/O Mk II to your Pro
Tools HDX or HD Native hardware, simply connect
Symphony I/O Mk II’s Option card mini DigiLink port
directly to any available port.
Instructions to add additional Avid or Apogee
interfaces can be found in the User’s Guide.
Note you can not connect Symphony I/O Mk II to an
Avid interface. Avid interfaces and Symphony I/O Mk
II interfaces must be connected to separate ports.
HDX
PORT 1 PORT 2
PORT 1 PORT 2
Accel Core
Symphony I/O Mk II to Pro Tools HDX
Symphony I/O Mk II to Pro Tools HD Native PCI
Symphony I/O Mk II to Pro Tools HD Native
Symphony I/O Mk II to Pro Tools Accel Core (requires mini DigiLInk adapter, not included)
Once hardware connections have been made, launch
Pro Tools software.
If a single I/O Module is installed, then Symphony I/O Mk II
appears in Pro Tools Hardware Setup as a single HD I/O.
If two I/O Modules are installed, then Symphony I/O Mk II
appears in Pro Tools Hardware Setup as two HD I/Os.

28 | Symphony I/O Quick Start Guide Symphony I/O Quick Start Guide | 29
Additional Support
For more information
• Symphony I/O Mk II User’s Guide
• Apogee KnowledgeBase and FAQs
• Apogee support and live chat
Please visit: www.apogeedigital.com/support
Want priority access and expedited repair? Consider an Apogee ProCare membership.
It’s never been easier to get back to work.
As a ProCare member you’ll have premium access to Apogee’s world-class technical support group for the life of
your agreement. The contract is fully transferable by the original registered owner of the agreement. All Apogee
support technicians reside and are continuously trained at Apogee Electronics, Santa Monica, CA.
Learn more at www.apogeedigital.com/apogee-pro-care

30 | Symphony I/O Quick Start Guide Symphony I/O Quick Start Guide | 31

Apogee Electronics Corp. Santa Monica, CA
www.apogeedigital.com
Part Number: 7070-0040-2014, Art Number: 2740-4155-2014