Connected up the Mini-DAC to my PC. The Mini-DAC offers USB connectivity, so it only took a few minutes to download the latest XP WDM and ASIO drivers from Apogee’s website (licensed from the popular German USB/ASIO developer Propa-gamma at www.usb-audio.de), install, connect and fire up a bunch of tracks in Sequoia. Within 15 minutes of opening.
Main Menu. Apogee Duet sets the industry standard for portable professional audio recording. Made for the musician, producer and engineer that wants the ultimate sound quality and elegant simplicity, Duet features legendary Apogee AD/DA conversion, 2 world-class microphone preamps, USB MIDI I/O and ESS Sabre32 DAC technology. With Duet's 2 Combo inputs you can connect microphones, guitars, keyboards or line level devices such as external mic preamps or a mixing board. Duet also includes 4 analog outputs - 2 1/4' balanced outputs for connection to speakers or outboard equipment and a separate, independently controlled 1/4' stereo headphone output. Highlights:.
AD/DA conversion for recording up to 192kHz / 24-bit. 2 analog inputs with world-class mic preamps and selectable 48v phantom power for connecting microphones, instruments or line-level devices.
4 analog outputs - 2 balanced 1/4' outs for speakers or outboard gear, 1/4' stereo headphone output. USB 2.0 High Speed connection to Mac or Windows PC. Direct digital connection to iPad and iOS devices (iPhone, iPad and iPod touch. Lightning and 30-pin cable sold separately). Software control of hardware parameters including input selection and low latency monitoring.
Legendary Sound Quality - The Apogee Advantage. Why Apogee Duet is the best choice for your studio. Apogee is an award-winning industry leader in digital recording technology with over 25 years of experience. Preferred by recording pros around the world, Apogee products like Duet, Ensemble and Symphony I/O have been instrumental in creating countless GRAMMY and OSCAR winning recordings and have set the industry standard in professional recording for over two decades. Duet is built solidly on this reputation. A difference you will hear.
From the mic preamps to the AD/DA converters and the clocking, Duet is best-in-class and cutting-edge Apogee technology. With components carefully selected in critical listening tests and a highly efficient circuit design, Duet was built by Apogee engineers to make a difference you can hear.
Pristine, next generation AD/DA converters. Duet's AD/DA converters are designed to deliver the purest recordings and best listening experience possible. Duet's efficient circuitry and state-of-the-art components provide a simplified signal path resulting in incredibly transparent recordings. Smooth, detailed world-class mic preamps. Much like the AD/DA converters, Duet's mic preamps feature the latest components and offer seamless click-free transitions as the gain increases and decreases throughout the incredible range of 0-75dB.
This unprecedented feature allows you to dial in the perfect level, either with the controller knob or from within software, while delivering ultra-low noise and smooth, crisp detail. Duet's mic pres are suitable for all dynamic, condenser or ribbon microphones, allowing you to capture any sound without compromise.
Soft Limit - Protection from digital overs An Apogee technology first introduced in 1992 on Apogee's AD-500 converter, Soft Limit can be heard on countless platinum selling records around the world. Once a technology exclusively reserved for Apogee's most advanced audio converters, Soft Limit is included in Duet and can be enabled in Apogee Maestro software.
This superior analog design prevents the digital clipping that causes distortion by instantaneously rounding off transient peaks before they hit the analog-to-digital converter. Soft Limit allows several more decibels of apparent level to be recorded while subtly providing an analog-like warmth to the sound. ESS Sabre32 DAC Technology. While ESS Sabre32 DAC has been widely recognized and employed in the audiophile community as the next step in converter technology, Apogee is one of the first pro audio manufacturers to employ this DAC in an interface designed for audio and video professionals. ESS Sabre32 DAC technology, as employed in Duet 2, Duet for iPad & Mac, Quartet and Symphony I/O, is one ingredient in the Apogee Engineering Difference.
The benefits of the ESS Sabre32 DAC include:. 32-bit DAC Architecture Compared to older 24-bit technology, the Sabre32 DAC's 32-bit filter processing results in significantly lower noise and distortion, for a pure listening experience free from artifacts.
32-bit digital attenuation ensures that sonic purity is maintained at any listening level. Time Domain Jitter Elimination removes clock inconsistencies from the incoming digital data, so the converted analog output preserves the clarity and soundstage detail of the original recording. Inputs & Outputs Breakout Cable. Duet's breakout cable includes 2 combination mic/instrument connectors (XLR and 1/4' built into a single connector) and 2 balanced 1/4' connectors for speakers.
The elegant single cable-to-junction design allows for easy cable management and the locking connection to Duet is robust and stylish. 2 Analog Inputs. Duet's 2 combination input connectors (XLR and 1/4') allow you to connect microphones, guitars and keyboards or your favorite external mic preamps, compressors and EQs. 4 Analog Outputs. Duet includes 4 analog outputs.
2 1/4' balanced outputs for connection to speakers or outboard equipment and a separate, independently controlled 1/4' stereo headphone output. With these 4 outputs it's possible for a DJ to monitor a separate mix in headphones while sending a house mix to the club, a live performer to send a click track to in-ear monitors while sending a backing track to front-of-house, and a recording engineer to send a headphone mix to the performer while dedicating the main outputs to studio monitors. Duet provides a single USB MIDI connection for your CoreMIDI compatible keyboard, synth, or DJ controller. This eliminates the need for an external MIDI interface and promotes an all-in-one music creation solution where Duet and Maestro manage all audio and MIDI.
On iPad, Duet's MIDI connection allows both Duet and a keyboard or DJ controller to be connected at the same time to the iPad's single connector (Lightning or 30-pin). Control Full Colour OLED Display. The high resolution OLED screen built into Duet's top is the main control center for Duet, delivering visual feedback for multiple functions including metering, numeric value for input and output levels, input grouping, and phase, muting, phantom power and Soft Limit indication.
With this display you know the status of any input and output at any given moment without having to refer to Maestro or your recording software. Configurable Touchpads. Duet also introduces configurable touchpads. The 2 touchpads, located on either side of the encoder knob, allow you to quickly access output functions such as 'Mute Outputs', 'Dim Outputs', 'Sum to Mono' or 'Toggle Headphone Source'.
Each are assignable using a drop-down menu within Apogee's new Maestro 2. This unique feature allows you to select the function you want and access it directly from Duet without having to look at software.
Multi-function Controller Knob. Along with its sleek aluminum chassis, the multi-function controller knob is one of the most recognizable features of Duet's design. This central control feature allows you to quickly and easily toggle through Duet's inputs and outputs and set levels while looking at Duet's dynamic OLED display.
USB 2.0 - High Speed, High Performance Faster than FireWire. Duet features USB 2.0 High-speed connectivity to Mac. Advances in the Mac's Core Audio driver have made USB faster than FireWire 400 with incredible latency performance.
And there's a USB port on every Mac. And as fast as USB 3.0. While USB 3.0 offers approximately 10x the bandwidth of USB 2.0, USB 2.0 far exceeds the bandwidth Duet requires for its 2 inputs and 4 outputs, delivering exceptional audio performance without compromise.
Love this simple piece of gear. Soft limit is a great tool when unexpected transients happen. Pre-Amps sound fantastic, AD conversion is what you expect from Apogee. I do have the Protools version.
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I find if my computer goes to sleep, the duet freezes up and has to be reset, that's a little annoying. The drivers for this unit are a little confusing. Although I've updated them to proper updates i still get a window saying drivers are wrong for the application.
It works fine when I dismiss the warnings. Link mode for the 2 pre-amps is so nice to have when recording in stereo. The snake is problematic at times, I just find it's always in the way and sometimes it's easy to tug on it, I'm not a fan but that's just from my experience.
The clear touch buttons are not really that responsive, you have to tap it a few times for the duet to register and clear the peaks. All in all, there are a few things that could be improved. The simplicity of this unit should be a selling point alone and I love the one knob.
Apogee should get the software down a little better though and upgrade the USB2 to something faster next time and a little more I/O would be perfect since it's pretty confining. I recommend it to anyone with a simple set up. I'm recording an entire 16 track album with this, and this alone.
It has incredible sound and accuracy. The phantom power is a great thing to have. The only thing I would complain about, is the breakout box. Those cords dangle like. I won't go into details there.
But they get in the way and get a bit tangled. Otherwise, it's got a great sound.
Portable, and it just keeps on going no matter what you're doing. I'm running every instrument through it and have been recording extremely high quality sound. I might upgrade someday. But even then, this would be my go to interface. Highly recommended by a musician and sound engineer with 20 years experience. I've had the unit for 4 weeks, since moving up from a Steinberg audio interface that I couldn't make work with my iMAC/Logic Pro X. I am so pleased with this unit.
Admittedly part of it is the aesthetic: it looks so fantastic on my work desk with it's single dial, and matching steel and black to the iMAC. However a big part is how easily it set up with my system, and the flawless use-great at high volumes, great input gain control. I'm not sure if other AIs work this way, but the Duet can be assigned to all audio output in the Mac so you can control iTunes, browser video, etc, with the single dial. WAAAY more expensive than the previous budget model I bought, but I haven't regretted the additional cost. I looooved this product.for as long as it lasted.which wasn't much (maybe 13 months?) I definitely worked it a lot, and most days of the week, but my left input was the first to go.within 4 weeks. After that, I stuck to my right, and it worked for a year. Yesterday, it totally crashed.
2 weeks ago both the inputs stopped working, and now nothing works. I've heard a lot of people have had the same issues, especially with input 3.
It's too bad, because the product is AWESOME. I loved it so much, great sound quality, didn't hog much CPU, and obviously aesthetically great! I got a Duet II Loved it, (even tho it cost a fortune) right up to the point when it died. Oddly enough nearly exactly 1 year and 6 days after the warranty expired. So I started the RMA process and this is where Apogee really let me down. After many emails from support I finally got an RMA number.
Apogee One For Mac
As I was filling out the RMA paperwork they requested my CC for a 175.00 charge and 25.00 shipping each way. So I emailed them back and asked if that charge was for a new unit, their reply was it was the 'standard' charge for them to 'fix' my old product. My next question of course was one of economics and why they thought I should pay the factory cost for a unit that was going to be repaired and NOT replaced for that kind of money. I love their product the DA's are great, but when a company trys to rip off its enud users that erks me to the point where I now own a MOTU and am very happy with that. The fact that it ONLY works with Mac and the run around of this return is enough for me to NEVER deal with Apogee again. Long & McQuade is a family-owned Canadian business that has been servicing the Canadian music industry for over 60 years.
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