Apple Asteroid?

[MacRumors]

AppleInsider claims to have knowledge of a new audio interface for GarageBand users in the coming months. An audio 'breakout box' of sorts, Asteroid will include two XLR/ TRS audio input connectors, two RCA analog output jacks, and a standard headphone jack. The device reportedly will draw power through a single FireWire 400 port and include a phantom on/off power switch. Developed by portions of the crew originally responsible for Emagic and recently spun into Apple's iPod division, the device is expected to be debuted during the MWSF show in January 2005, along with a revision to the iLife suite of applications, including a new version of GarageBand.

Asteroid will require Mac OS X v10.2.8 or later, iLife ‘04 or later, and a computer with a built-in FireWire port. A forthcoming revision to the Mac OS X Sound Preference Pane will reportedly allow Asteroid to interface with Apple's Soundtrack, Logic, DVD Player, and other third party applications. Meanwhile, revised FireWire Audio sound drivers have already appeared in early versions of the company's Mac OS X 10.3.7 Update.

The device will retail for approximately $129 - $149 and will aggressively target similar products such as M-Aduio's Mobile Pre and Edirol's UA-5 USB Digital Audio Capture device. But even at $149, Asteroid will represent one of the lowest priced FireWire breakout boxes on the market, selling for $250 less than M-Audio's more sophisticated FireWire 410 audio interface.

[virividox]

wow really good value for the price. i might be tempted to get one!!! darn u apple u make me poor

[narco]

Sounds good to me. By the way, there's a typo on M-Audio.

Fishes,
narco.

[nagromme]

http://images.appleinsider.com/image...t-asteroid.jpg

Cool to see more stuff coming from the new "iPod Division." AI has a good track record lately--this sounds true to me.

This is outside my area for sure... what are examples of how a breakout box like this would make GarageBand more useful? What does this do more easily than other methods? Just OS integration? (Not to sneeze at that. Or maybe a massively lower price would be enough )

And I know the rumored specs are prelimary... but wouldn't more inputs (like optical) be important? Are those big plugs common for consumers? (But maybe this is "prosumer," not consumer.)

[Trowaman]

so, is this thing just basically a hub for all your different music cords and feeds them all into your Mac . . . or PC via Firewire?

[coolfactor]

Originally Posted by Trowaman

so, is this thing just basically a hub for all your different music cords and feeds them all into your Mac . . . or PC via Firewire?

I think this will be an intro product for a whole line of products, with some getting more advanced features.

I'm confident there will be the "Apple touch" added that the competition hasn't considered yet.

[JohnGillilan]

This would make sense as all of eMagic's old hardware has been discontinued.

[earthtoandy]

is is exactly what i need! i love it. amazing price too.

[orion123]

Is it me or is AppleInsider pulling a MOSR and running an old rumor as their own? Didn't PowerPage run this exact item once last week and again yesterday with more info?

I mean, I totally side with AppleInsider on this, they are trustworthy. I just wish they'd given a nod to O'Grady.

[fatbarstard]

This is very minor news.... unless you are 17 and madly writing your opus to take over the world on a synthesiser (s******)....

[Mike Teezie]

Originally Posted by Trowaman

so, is this thing just basically a hub for all your different music cords and feeds them all into your Mac . . . or PC via Firewire?

Grossly over simplified explanation: A microphone's signal is too weak, and needs a preamp to boost its signal to line level.

Same for guitar or bass.

This would let you use two mics/guitars/basses whatever.

I would buy one of these the instant they were announced, even though I'm a Digidesign/Pro Tools guy.

[tacomancini]

Wow, this sounds perfect for podcasts. The latency in usb is just not good if you need to monitor your mixes. I would also like to see a firewire mic made similar to the Micflex.

[asif786]

Does anyone know...

...I'm trying to hide all my wires from my iMac. So far, I've only got one wire (apart fom power) coming out of it - it's an apple thin firewire cable that leads to a firewire hub behind my bed.

the firewire hub is plugged into my ipod, lacie drive. so, could i think plug this device (asteroid) into my hub, and then plug my speakers into the asteroid?

I know it's abit of a high price point just to get rid of one speaker cable tho.. :S

[iMeowbot]

Originally Posted by nagromme

This is outside my area for sure... what are examples of how a breakout box like this would make GarageBand more useful?

The XLR connectors alone look interesting. Consumer PC audio interfaces usually leave you on your own to deal with adapting your cables to fit a 1/8" phono plug. Also, you typically don't get that many inputs; USB on the older interfaces limited that.

What does this do more easily than other methods? Just OS integration? (Not to sneeze at that. Or maybe a massively lower price would be enough )

Reduced clutter counts for a lot! Fewer connectors also give you fewer places to introduce hideous noises. I like it.

And I know the rumored specs are prelimary... but wouldn't more inputs (like optical) be important? Are those big plugs common for consumers? (But maybe this is "prosumer," not consumer.)

Those big connectors are standard for pro and semipro mics. Optical has its place, and digital interfaces are gradually creeping into everything, but for now most instruments are still firmly planted in mature analog technology.

[Mark W. Lewis]

Originally Posted by nagromme

This is outside my area for sure... what are examples of how a breakout box like this would make GarageBand more useful? What does this do more easily than other methods? Just OS integration? (Not to sneeze at that. Or maybe a massively lower price would be enough )

And I know the rumored specs are prelimary... but wouldn't more inputs (like optical) be important? Are those big plugs common for consumers? (But maybe this is "prosumer," not consumer.)

Hmmm, lemme see if I can summarize, as I have been dealing with the exact issues that would be dealt with in this box.

(NOTE that everything below is simplification. An unfortunate circumstance in discussing audio is how there are exceptions to virtually anything you could possibly write in short form and the technical details on most of this stuff is both long and tedious. If you wanna, you can find it online. Get ready for printing dozens of pages and many nights falling asleep reading them.)

A. Junk microphones require no external power source. The are DYNAMIC which means that they operate with the small amount of signal actually generated by the physical action of the diaphram in the microphone. Better microphones are CONDENSOR, which (for the most part) require Phantom power. Power is sent through the XLR connector (the large 3 pin connector) to energize the microphone. The benefit is a stronger signal coming out of the microphone with dramatically less "noise" or unwanted junk signal.

With a cheap dynamic mic, usually the GAIN (amplification) of the signal is adjusted to provide a usable recording level, resulting in lots of noise as you are also amplifying everything including the unwanted stuff, like line noise picked up from nearby electrical devices, like power bricks or motors. It is like amplifying a whisper in a normal room; unheard room sounds become annoyingly loud.

With a quality mic (condensor) the original signal is louder and cleaner coming from the source (whatever you are recording) producing better results right out of the gate. A decent condensor mic is not expensive and a very nice one can be had for 150 dollars and up. Incidentally, if you want to see possibly the best microphone made in America, check out www.telefunkenusa.com to read about a company that produces exact reproductions of the most beloved microphone, maybe, in history. The original mics are now worth about 20k each on the open market and the new versions start at 6 grand. The website is very interesting and has a lot of information on it about how the company came about and technical details about this "uber-mic." Cool to read even for non-audio people.

Note that some better headset mics, while technically condensor, don't require phantom power. The small size of their diaphram allows the manufacturer to "pre-energize" the mic at the factory and it lasts the life of the microphone.

The short of it is; better signal at the start guarantees better quality down the line, in any case.

2. USB can be problematic for audio input, although it is usable. One big problem is "latency," a delay that occurs as the signal is encoded by the "box" and sent through the USB port. It means that if you are playing an instrument or singing and listening to the signal at the computer, it isn't realtime, but slightly delayed, which can create timing problems in performance and is, at the least, a pain. Usually, because of this, you monitor the sound with headphones somewhere else up the line, like at the USB box before it encodes it and sends it through the port. That will give you a realtime signal and not the "talk-radio-echo" effect you might hear otherwise. The slower the bus, the more compression the "box" has to do, the greater the latency. USB 1 is slow. Also the bus is shared among all devices.

Also, the USB port is only marginally suited to handle audio. Most USB equipment, like hubs, expect all the information to be in small chunks. Streaming data, like audio creates, can throw it all for a loop. Griffin recommends plugging directly into the machine because if you go through a hub, IT MAY NOT WORK. Their recommendation is not made lightly. Griffin makes a hub themselves that supports USB audio signals, if you are port-short. They sell it at their web site. It is not a gimmick, it is a solution to a serious problem with using standard USB hookup logic with an audio streaming device. Firewire would work better for this, I would have to imagine.

3. Mini-plugs suck No kidding! Mini-plugs are awful. They are delicate, they are small, they tend to be mechanically cheap. They often make poor contact internally, they wear out really quickly and get noisy and one false move with a device, headphone or microphone, can pull the wire right off the plug or bend it to the point of damage. As Bart once said, they both suck and blow. They were created for lightweight portable devices and for that they are fine. Honestly, even there, there should be a new standard, in my opinion. A $600 dollar iPod with a 39 cent headphone port is laughable. The fact that it works at all is surprising to me. I would guess a lot of replacement headphones are sold. (I am not an iPod user.)

4. Most audio-only companies are slow to create and update drivers, especially for cheap devices. For example, I own a two USB audio input devices that Apple sell at their stores (they are mentioned above). Final Cut Pro won't run when the drivers for one of the boxes are present in the operating system. HUH? What is the deal with THAT? The company doesn't seem to be in a hurry to fix it, remaining one large step behind the operating system updates and application updates. For them, it is nothing but an expense. After all, you already bought the box, they got the profit and you would expect the driver update for free. Not high on their "to-do" list, I guess. The second box never worked right. I think it is poorly engineered. The company has directions from technical support on how to "whack" the USB bus using System Profiler so, maybe, you can get it working again when it just stops. Then again, you might just have to restart. ARRRRGH. So both sit, unplugged, on a shelf. Griffin's USB interface (Powerwave), on the other hand, works with the native Apple drivers and create no conflicts (at least for me).(GRIFFIN=Good people.) At the moment it works perfectly, as advertised. Lesson: don't expect a company making $1000 audio boxes to worry too much about the software for a $99 dollar box. The response will probably be underwhelming at best.

5. According to the rumored specs, optical i/o is included. Makes sense as Apple is starting to include optical connectors on their machines.

6. Native Firewire audio drivers in the operating system won't just make this box possible but will allow third parties to create new products using those drivers. I expect a minor flood of Firewire interfaces to follow this product to market, and the more the merrier.

I'm ready to plug in tomorrow, if Apple delivers as promised.

[KC9AIC]

This device would absolutely rock. I've wanted a way to connect Shure SM-58 mics with XLR connectors into my iBook for recording vocals. An Apple firewire device would skirt the issue of not having sound inputs and having a crappy built-in mic.

[supercres]

Needs digital audio out (and in?) to rival some of the other boxes.

[Mac-Xpert]

Originally Posted by Macrumors

The device reportedly will draw power through a single FireWire 400 port and include a phantom on/off power switch

I wonder if that's possible. Most microphones that use phantom power, require a 48v power-supply. Is it possible to get that kind of power from a firewire connection?

[backspinner]

Originally Posted by Mac-Xpert

I wonder if that's possible. Most microphones that use phantom power, require a 48v power-supply. Is it possible to get that kind of power from a firewire connection?

Yes, it's called a switched mode power supply (with very good filtering) that will transform a low voltage to a higher one. My guess is that the firewire power supply is about 12V on laptops.

[freddiecable]

It must have MIDI in and out!?!?



strange otherwice...

[thevessels]

Originally Posted by freddiecable

It must have MIDI in and out!?!?



strange otherwice...

i was thinking the same thing . . but then again all my midi hardware is usb . . how cool would an apple midi controller be . .. omg

[fpnc]

Here, thankfully you say, is my last post concerning Firewire (getting a bit off the Asteroid discussion). Below is a link to a white-paper by James Wiebe who is the founder and CEO of WiebeTech LLC (a well known HD storage vendor). It discusses the future of Firewire and specifically the failure in the marketplace of Firewire 800. Mr. Wiebe is still relatively upbeat on Firewire 400, he says that FW400 will remain common and hold market share "well into 2006." He also predicts that by year 2006 Firewire 800 will disappear from high-end Macs (but, by extension, should retain Firewire 400).

http://www.dvformat.com/articles/vie...jsp?id=28819-0

I agree with most of what he says, except that I think that Firewire's glory days are certainly over. As to the 2006/2007 timeframe, I'd guess that that is about the time that Firewire becomes relegated to a mostly legacy support status for pre-existing (by then "old") DV cameras. But, remember, here I'm talking about non-pro applications.

In any case, I agree that Firewire IS technically superior to USB and I own at least ten Firewire peripherals (drives, scanners, DV/TV capture devices, cameras, hubs, etc.). I suspect that in the next year I'll buy another one or two Firewire products, but (once again) I don't think the long-term future looks very bright for Firewire. It's a sad but, I believe, true fact that we Mac users are going to have to learn to accept.

[Surreal]

has anyone used the M-audio omnistudio?

i am looking for an interface with onboard processing (not just mixing...i use reason and would like to offload cpu usage)

i knwo that the mbox is typically suggested...i just want to hear other options as pro tools is overkill in my opinion...at least right now.

i REALLY want a firewire interface...as i think that i would be able to get higher quality recording done. (my headphones have better specs than even the mboxes ins...avoidable?)

[relimw]

Originally Posted by Macrumors

AppleInsider claims to have knowledge of a new audio interface for GarageBand users in the coming months.

Hmm, wonder if this is the Ultrabeat

[snoid]

Something to think about out:

http://www.studio2f.com/misc/2005/01...ss_is_more.php

Asteriod wasn't releaase yesterday. The lawsuits are still on... Maybe there's much more to Asteriod than just GarageBand. Maybe a killer accessory for the Mini? That would rock (pun intended).