The Apogee Duet/Logic combo...

[Braunz0]

I'm seriously thinking about this and will probably get it in the next month or so. I just need praises and kicks in the ass to just do it. Tell me about this interface/DAW combo. Pros, cons... I don't really think there's any cons... Just convince me.

[iaresee]

Pros: I just works. And it just works so well you'll be amazed. No fighting with drivers. No wrestling with sync problems. Just pristine audio. And it sounds amazing.

Cons: Only two inputs. Only two outputs. Which can be a PIA if you're trying to patch in outboard effects. No MIDI port. I actually don't like the dial -- the rest of the unit is built so solid that the dial sticks out a bit. It's not solid enough. They could have gone with a touch surface like an iPod IMO.

I love the box. But still think I might find a MoTU unit more suited to my recording style. It has more outputs and inputs (for outboard processing). And it has MIDI ports. 6:1, 6:12 -- I'm sure I'm just over thinking it.

[Braunz0]

I don't think it would be much of an issue for me as far as the two channels... I'd only be recording a thing or two at a time, regardless. And I would probably be using reference headphones for a lot of the mixing, to be honest. And I can only imagine getting a couple of decent reference monitors down the road. I think I'm going to break down and do it. Just not sure when.

[Braunz0]

Ah, screw it... I broke down and ordered them together and saved $100. Now just to sit anxiously until it gets here.

[guitarose]

congrats. i don't use the apogee, but it's meant to be great (though i'm put off by the no of inputs) - thuogh i'm happy with my focusrite.

logic is great - i'm still very much a beginner on it, but everything is such good quality that it's hard to make things sound bad (plugins, sounds, etc) - but there's so much there that it can feel overwhelming, but basic DAW featureas are basic DAW features, not matter what program you're using - these ones just happen to be particularly good.

[FakePlastic]

enjoy. the duet is really fantastic. it's the best cheapo interface I've used.

[Braunz0]

enjoy. the duet is really fantastic. it's the best cheapo interface I've used.

Everyone keep saying 'best cheap interface'. Am I the only person who thinks this thing was pricey?

By the way, the duet sounds amazing. We recorded a bit of practice with a condenser mic in the middle of the room and it picked up everything nicely and sounded better than some tracks we paid people to record for us. I'm amazed by this piece, other interfaces I've had in my brief possession sounded NOTHING like this.

[iaresee]

Everyone keep saying 'best cheap interface'. Am I the only person who thinks this thing was pricey?
I thought it was expensive. Especially given its very lean feature set: only 2 ins, 2 outs. No MIDI. No, not cheap by any means. A "cheapo" interface is sub-$200 in my mind. But this is all pretty subjective. If you're working with $5000 Digidesign or top end Apogee converts an order of magnitude less might look cheap. You're buying two very nice pre's, two very nice A/D and two very nice D/A converters with the Duet and that's it.

People, myself included, say a lot of stupid things on the internet. :)

By the way, the duet sounds amazing. We recorded a bit of practice with a condenser mic in the middle of the room and it picked up everything nicely and sounded better than some tracks we paid people to record for us. I'm amazed by this piece, other interfaces I've had in my brief possession sounded NOTHING like this.
It's hard to put in to words just how much nicer the converters on the Duet. I went from an older M-Audio card to the Duet and it was quite startling. I hadn't realized how much EQ'ing I was doing to get high frequency content back in my mixes. With the Duet every bit of the spectrum is captured quite evenly. Where the differences really stood out huge was on quiet signals. What ever aliasing tricks the Duet uses to keep the signal resolution so high on quiet signals is worth the price. The noise floor on quiet signals is shockingly low. I used to record quiet guitar and vocal parts in my living room and the day-to-day hum in the background wasn't picked up. Same mic, same room with the Duet and I've got ambient noise in the "silent" parts that's got very good resolution on it. That's hard to do well in A --> D conversion.

[Braunz0]

I thought it was expensive. Especially given its very lean feature set: only 2 ins, 2 outs. No MIDI. No, not cheap by any means. A "cheapo" interface is sub-$200 in my mind. But this is all pretty subjective. If you're working with $5000 Digidesign or top end Apogee converts an order of magnitude less might look cheap. You're buying two very nice pre's, two very nice A/D and two very nice D/A converters with the Duet and that's it.

People, myself included, say a lot of stupid things on the internet. :)


It's hard to put in to words just how much nicer the converters on the Duet. I went from an older M-Audio card to the Duet and it was quite startling. I hadn't realized how much EQ'ing I was doing to get high frequency content back in my mixes. With the Duet every bit of the spectrum is captured quite evenly. Where the differences really stood out huge was on quiet signals. What ever aliasing tricks the Duet uses to keep the signal resolution so high on quiet signals is worth the price. The noise floor on quiet signals is shockingly low. I used to record quiet guitar and vocal parts in my living room and the day-to-day hum in the background wasn't picked up. Same mic, same room with the Duet and I've got ambient noise in the "silent" parts that's got very good resolution on it. That's hard to do well in A --> D conversion.
This is probably the best money I've spent in a long time... Now I just have to learn how to use Logic and all it's neat stuff. I feel like a complete novice :cool: