Apogee Electronics have announced three brand new Thunderbolt audio interfaces at the AES convention in LA dubbed the Element Series. Unlike the high-end Symphony I/O MkII and Ensemble Thunderbolt, perhaps the Element’s most notable feature is the absence of any front panel control. Described as audio I/O boxes, these new interfaces are designed to give you the best audio quality at the lowest price, with control being offered via Element Control software, an iOS app which works over Wifi, from within Logic Pro X or with an optional Duet-like hardware control featuring one rotary encoder and eight user-assignable keys, which will cost $195.
There are three models in the new series:
Element 24 ($595) — Two analogue inputs, one headphone output and two line outputs
Element 46 ($895) — Four inputs, two headphone outputs and two line outputs
Element 88 ($1495) — Eight inputs, two headphone outputs and four line outputs
All boxes feature ADAT lightpipe I/O for an extra eight channels of input and output, as well as wordclock I/O for integration with larger systems. On that point, it’s also possible to chain any two Element Series interfaces together to increate your I/O. All of the the Element Series use Apogee’s Thunderbolt driver for 1.41ms round-trip latency when using Logic Pro X. As an added element, the series also features Apogee Groove’s headphone output technology, which Apogee claim dynamically optimises sound quality for a wide variety of headphones, regardless of their impedance.
Element 46 and 88 are shipping now, while Element 24 and Apogee Control Hardware Remote will both be available in November.
