Apogee "One" + GarageBand '09 Review

Good morning everyone...
In case anyone is interested, here is my review of the Apogee "One" interface working along side GarageBand '09.
I am a new to Apple and recording music; so please forgive me for lack of specific tech terminology.
*My Gear:*
17" MacBook Pro, GarageBand '09, Apogee "One" interface, Fender Strat with David Gilmour EMG-DG20 9V active pickups, saving files on Iomega 500Gig EgO Firewire external hard drive.
*Install and Review of Iomega Drive:*
I wanted to have the external drive running first in an effort to leave my internal macbook drive "clean" of any Pictures, Video and music. i.e. Programs only.
I did a little research on the internet and this forum about the best way to move files to the drive. I never did this before, so it did take a little time. Apparently, you do not want to just "move" files; especialy with iTunes.
After learning the proper way of moving everything, the Iomega transfered everything very quickly. I noticed some negitive reviewers saying that after a while these drives get hot and the finish/Al casing start to fail. The drive drive DOES get pretty hot; however, I really dont have the reference from other external drives. Only time will tell.
Overall, after about 3 uses I am very happy with it. Perhaps premature though...hope not.
*Install and Review of Apogee "One"*
Upon taking the "One" out of the box I was really impressed with how it physically looks. It's a very "minimalist" design...Nothing too crazy as far as controls go. It hooks up to the mac via USB...Firewire would have been nice (like its big brother, the "Duet.")
Downside: When I put the intallition CD in it informed me that my operating system was not supported! (Snow Leopard) Panic Time Right?! Not really...My instinct told me to go to Apogee's website and look for a update...A Snow Leopard update was available! After that, intallation was a breeze.
I watched the tutorial on Apogee's website on how to hook it up with Garageband (very helpful btw) and plugged the Fender into the "Breakaway" cable which consists of one female guitar input and one mic input.
The one thing I noticed is that the USB cable that goes from the Mac to the interface is not the highest quality (for lack of better words) the male connecter which goes into the "One" is not a firm connection at all. I was very delicate with it and noticed alot of "wiggle" room. More than I would have expected. Perhaps this is something that Apogee can work on.
Its important that when you first use the unit that you spend some time adjusting the proper volume levels! I almost blew my eardrums because of some serious distortion.
Okay Okay...I know, How does the guitar sound!!??
Well, let me say first that I was expecting to hear the sound of the guitar coming out of my macbook's internal speakers...This is NOT possiable! However, if you have powered external speakers that is the way to go.
I used BOSE ear buds as my "monitoring" device.
After all my volume settings were adjusted, it sounded like I was standing right in front of my 1973 HIWATT! The non-recorded audio montoring was nothing short of amazing...no other way to put it.
I am absolutely obsessed with David Gilmour's (Pink Floyd) guitar set-up and trying to replicate a $100,000 rig with a normal person's budget is difficult/impossiable. Garageband in conjunction with the "One" did a pretty awsome job!
*Recorded SOund:*
Okay so how does the recorded sound, sound? Apogee suggusts that you put your Garageband quality setting on "best." To start out I wanted to put it on CD quality. That way, I can contrast the two. What can I say...it sounded amazing. Just fantastic. It exceeded my novice expectations.
So there it is, my fingers are cramping up, but I really wanted to "give back" to the forum for helping me out thus far.
I hope this helps someone make a decision about the many interfaces that are on the market. I will keep the community updated with future recordings.
Also, If anyone has some good settings to use in Garageband for Pink Floyd settings please let me know.
Shine On!
-mz
Message was edited by: mark.zelonski

Hey everyone. I wanted to make a correction on my original review about the Apogee "One."
I stated that sound could not be produced by internal speakers in my macbook. This is incorrect. Shockingly, I had the wrong setting in my system prefrences.
In addition, I decided to call Apogee directly about the "problem." The customer service was extremely good...very patient with me.
Good job Apogee!
-mz

Similar Messages

Since I updated to 5.0.1 on my iPad2 my Apogee One no longer works correctly. I get loud pops and crackles and my monitoring has changed completely. I can no longer monitor through the Ipad headphone socket

On previous ioS Garageband worked perfectly. The crackles now make it impossible to record with an external mic or with the built-in mic on the One. I used to be able to monitor via headphones plugged into the ipad headphone socket. Now when I plug the Apogee one into the iPad camera port I get sound for 1-2 secs and then nothing. The only way I can monitor then is through the Apogee One headaphone connection but it is loud and distorted.

Minor update: I have multiple PC's in my office. This same iPad and other apple devices properly work and sync with their connection to this other computer. Both computers are running the 64bit iTunes and both have Windows 7 64bit OS running on both machines. I tried deactivating firewalls and even deleted the iTunes with a fresh installation with no avail.
Something is keeping my Apple mobile devices (iPods, iPads) from being recognized within iTunes. However, they all are properly recognized by my PC.

Can I use apogee one with iMovie when recording videos?

I'm currently making some videos of myself playing guitar peices and want to use my apogee one as the microphone, rather than the built in input. I seem to be able to use it as the main mike for everything but recording video!
Thanks

I am not familiar with the Apogee One, but if it connects via USB, it will probably work with iMovie. If it connects via the audio jack input, your best bet is to use GarageBand to record it, and then sync the sound to your movie later.

Am using shure sm7b into apogee one into garage band. Want to integrate live phone calls. Any way?

Am using a shure sm7b mic into apogee one. Recording in Garage Band. Want to include phone calls. Any way?

There are a number of ways to record a phone call interview. If you are using the new Apogee One for iPad and Mac you have an aditional 1/4inch input alongside the XLR microphone input. You can also utilize an app like ecamm's Skype recorder to digitally record the conversation and import the audio file to your GarageBand sesson after the fact.

HT201991 How does one write a review for an app?

I would like to write a review for an app I bought from the App Store.
"Locate the item that you would like to write a review for."
Where? In the App Store via the internet (e.g. on my iMac), OR via the App Store button on my iPad Mini?
"Click "Write a Review" in the Customer Reviews section."
How? I could find no active link associated with the Customer Reviews section once I had located the item for which I wanted to write a review.
So the question remains "How does one write a review for an app?" … and, so far as things stand, the instructions provided in the page <http://support.apple.com/kb/ht3928> are, as far as I can tell useless. Certainly, the Apple website and associated instructions have become, for this long-time user, more akin to Microsoft Windows in their impenetrable lack of intuitive, user-friendly ccharacter.
Oh yeh. To add to my 'disgruntledness' … How come there is no iPad Mini option in the Product drop down below?
Where is Steve Jobs when you need him?!

I have been having this issue for months, now--at least 3-4. I updated my credit card info on my account, thinking maybe that would do it, but NOPE--can't review a single thing I've ever purchased in iTunes--not from my iPhone 5, PC or iPad 2. Ridiculous, at this point...just remove the ability to review at all, if this is how it's going to be. SO frustrating.

Using the Apogee ONE to play an electric guitar in Mainstage 2

I've been struggling to get any sound from my guitar in Mainstage. I'm sure I'm doing something wrong. I was able to work in Logic Pro, but would like to just set up Mainstage and jam, as opposed to opening up the recording software.
I set my input to Apogee One - Inst, and output to Apogee One - stereo. I get a good readout on the leds when I play, and I get onscreen readouts that indicate input, but for some unknown reason, the sound does not reach my speakers.
Why?

This is a really basic answer, so please forgive me if I'm stating the bleeding obvious here, but you never know....
When you open Mainstage, the default is for it to open with the main output level set to zero. This isn't always completely obvious as the main out channel strip is actually off the right-hand edge of the channel strip inspector, and you have to use the small scroll bar at the bottom of the inspector to be able to see it.
There you go - that may have been the very first thing you did and you have a completely different problem, but I hope it helped.

Is the Apogee ONE XLR Input accept line level sources?

I am looking to purchase a Hughes and Kettner Tubemeister 18 guitar amp with the Redbox out. The manual says to plug the amp XLR output into a 'balanced, line level XLR input on the mixer.' I do not know what this means, but I do have an Apogee One which has an XLR in. Can I record a line level signal with the ONE XLR?

Line level simply means a signal loud enough to be properly handled by an interface or by loudspeakers. The amp XLR output will work fine with the ONE breakout cable which has the XLR input.

Does the Apogee ONE XLR Input accept Line level sources?

I am looking to purchase a Hughes and Kettner Tubemeister 18 guitar amp with the Redbox out. The manual says to plug the amp XLR output into a 'balanced, line level XLR input on the mixer.' I do not know what this means, but I do have an Apogee One which has an XLR in. Can I record a line level signal with the ONE XLR?

I have almost the same question…
My guitar amp has a line/headphone level output with a jack (TRS): can this output work with the jack input of the ONE?
Can this input stand the level of line/headphone from the amp (Blackstar HT-5)?

Apogee One: Very Noisy

Hello,
There is a large amount of static/hum/hiss that I have isolated to the Apogee One. It is not in the signal path after the mixer, as I can plug instruments into the mixer and the problem is not present. The culprit is either the audio cable from the Apogee One to the mixer, the Apogee One itself, the USB cable from the iMac to the Apogee One, or the iMac. Here is a video so you can hear for yourself:
http://s125.photobucket.com/albums/p77/pianoman1976/Me/?action=view&current=P100 0415.mp4
Is the Apogee One known to be noisy like this?
Is the iMac the culprit?
I presume the first thing I should do is buy another audio cable and check it, yet this cable I'm using is new.
Thank you.

Ok, I tried something different. I read the manual for the ONE. Under troubleshooting it says:
Symptom - When connecting speakers to ONE, there is hum and/or
buzz at the output.
Solution - In most cases, a steady hum or buzz at the output is
caused by grounding issues between ONE and the connected
equipment. Because bus-powered USB interfaces are grounded
through the USB and audio connections, and not through a
3-prong grounded AC connection, the situation may arise where
the grounding configuration of the connected equipment must be
modified. This may be done by connecting a ground lift adaptor to
the equipment’s AC connector to disconnect (or “lift”) the AC ground
prong.
Some experimmentation may be required to find the grounding
configuration that results in the lowest noise. It may be useful
to disconnect all equipment except ONE, the Mac and a pair of
headphones, and then connect additional equipment one piece at a
time.
So it looks like the solution is buying a ground lift adapter.

New Apogee ONE problem with Logic 9

Hi,
I've had an Apogee ONE for almost a year and have had no issues up until 2 months ago.
Issues: No pop ups, The Maestro volume levels are always full, and I believe this is affecting the quality of the audio output. Anyone else with this issue/ have a solution?
Much appreciated, thanks.
L

Hi Chorleyman,
Pop-ups are the transparent displays that appear whenever you take a physical action with the Apogee ONE while using Logic, such as changing the volume or output/input type. A display usually appears in the middle of the screen, showing the action you have taken. Maybe you have these turned off in Maestro?
In Maestro, I have nothing up full, the bars are just appearing like that, and I'm not able to affect them. The volume know is the only one I can affect. I've attached a picture of the issue.
I've reinstalled the software multiple times, but no luck :S

Apogee ONE ground loop question

Sorry that this is not directly related to Logic. My question is about why one audio interface has a ground loop issue when another one does not in the exact same setup. Details:
Previously using an Edirol UA-5 as a USB interface. 1/4" outputs in the back connected directly to a pair of powered monitors. Monitors are plugged into a power strip that connects to a different outlet than my computer. No ground loop hum.
Recently tried to replace the UA-5 with an Apogee ONE USB interface. Changing nothing about my configuration other than 1.) plugging the ONE's USB cord into the port where the UA-5 was plugged in and 2.) using a splitter on the ONE's stereo 1/8" output to connect it directly to the powered monitors. Total hum and high-pitched whine through the monitors.
Leaving the ONE in place, I inserted one of those cheap 3 prong to 2 prong adaptors at the wall outlet for the monitors' power strip. Hum and whine disappeared.
So my question is: what does this tell me about these two interfaces? Which one has the problem? Given that the ONE is more expensive and of supposedly better quality, I would have expected it to be more tolerant of things like ground loops than the UA-5. Or is my understanding wrong? Is there some spec or sensitivity that is desirable but that renders the device susceptible to ground loops that I don't know about?
I don't know if I should be disappointed or not!

More info:
1. When I use a 2-3 prong adaptor on the the power strip that powers the monitors and connect the monitors to the ONE, a power outlet tester plugged into the strip shows a "correct" connection, which means it is grounded correctly.
2. When I use the 2-3 prong adaptor on the the power strip that powers the monitors and do NOT connect the monitors to the ONE, the power outlet tester plugged into the strip shows an ungrounded connection.
To my understanding, that's a lot of evidence that the monitors are being grounded through the ONE. Anything else I should try?
Strangely (to my understanding), when I plug the power strip that powers the monitors into the power strip that powers the computer, I get all the hum and whine again. In addition I get a mid-range-y constant chatter, almost like a fan noise. If I use the 2 to 3 prong adaptor to connect the monitor power strip into the computer power strip, the hum and whine go away, but the mid-range chatter stays. I had thought the hum and whine would not have happened since I think there was only one path to ground. Any thoughts about that?
Message was edited by: Will Rees

Is it possible to copy paste from one GarageBand project to another?

I would like to move some of the audio tracks I recorded in another project to my current project in which I have some other recorded stuff.

makeshiftuser wrote:
Is it possible to copy paste from one GarageBand project to another?
yes. skim the tutorial on rescuing damaged files to see the procedure:
http://www.bulletsandbones.com/GB/Tutorials.html#allaboutrescuinggaragebandfiles
(Let the page FULLY load. The link to your answer is at the top of your screen)

Apogee One x2?

I'm currently using the Apogee One audio interface. In order to record stereo tracks:
Is it possible to get another One, and use them together for stereo recording?

Save yourself some grief, sell it an purchase a stereo model. Setting up two interfaces as an Aggregate device will be unreliable. Sorry!

Using Apogee One with Logic Pro X- Setup Help

Hello
Using-OSX Mavericks, Logic Pro X
I have a lot of experience with GBand, but I am new to Logic all together. When I plug in the Apogee One to use for recording guitar, I hear the clean guitar tone coming through the output. The only issue is I cannot tweak the tones at all using Logic's built in amps (or Amplitube). All I have is the basic, clean tone that the One provides upon connecting. I just want to use the One as a guitar interface, and I am sure I am just missing a basic setting that will allow me to change the tone using the program's built in amps. I have also tried changing the knob on the One unit itself (guitar, mic, etc) Any suggestions?

A suggestion.. Yes, the Logic manual
1. Make sure you have "Logics Audio Preferences" set up. (see link)
http://help.apple.com/logicpro/mac/10/#lgcpbb81aca5
Next, you want Software Monitoring on.
And Using the software control panel that came with the Apogee you need to make sure that "direct monitoring" through the interface is disabled. Direct Monitoring let's you hear what the audio interface is hearing, basically, your straight/clean guitar.
Software monitoring let's the signal be run through Logic but the Interface has to be chosen as the input. (see link)
Apogee may have another name for direct monitoring, some call it "low latency monitoring".

Apogee "One" song download

I can't seem to open the free song download from Apogee demonstrating the "One" and Garageband.
http://www.apogeedigital.com/products/hear-one.php
I have version 5.1 on a macbook pro (I'm a Logic Pro user and that can't open it either although it should). It says something about possible truncated files and unknown formats. Any thoughts ?

Hello,
It seems the file was corrupted when we uploaded it. It has now been fixed, sorry for the inconvenience.
Chris Lawson
Apogee Electronics

Apogee "One" + GarageBand '09 Review

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