Is an Apogee Duet my best Option?

[xenomachino1]

Looking to buy a soundcard for $500 or less with really really good sound quality. I don't need that many ins and outs as i will have one maaaaybe two ins plugged in total. What suggestions do you guys have? I will be using it with a quad core imac running snow leopard.

thanks in advance

jc

[ttaralli]

I have a Motu Ultralight with my macbook pro and it works and souns great, but I think the Apogee is great especially if you only need a few ins and outs. I wish the ultralight was that small for gigging. Anyone want to trade a ultralight mk3 for a duet?

[nylarch]

Kind of considering the same 2 choices - I occasionally DJ - is it easy to get a cue mix out of the Duet? I think you have to make an aggregate in Core Audio and use the headphone jack - is that the idea? I was kind of leaning towards the MOTU just for ease of DJ'ing.

[GrooveNinja]

Looking to buy a soundcard for $500 or less with really really good sound quality. I don't need that many ins and outs as i will have one maaaaybe two ins plugged in total. What suggestions do you guys have? I will be using it with a quad core imac running snow leopard.

thanks in advance

jc

The Duet is a great choice, then. It sounds awesome! I thought that it "sweetens" the sound a bit, though, as opposed to a true, uncolored sound. I also had some trouble with noise on the inputs, which I think was due to some incompatibility with my specific MacBook.

[GrooveNinja]

Kind of considering the same 2 choices - I occasionally DJ - is it easy to get a cue mix out of the Duet? I think you have to make an aggregate in Core Audio and use the headphone jack - is that the idea? I was kind of leaning towards the MOTU just for ease of DJ'ing.

I think that Apogee, according to the FAQ on their web site, no longer supports this feature. I have tried it, though, and it worked for me.

[beats me]

All I see on the thing is one big knob. Can you control the headphone volume separately from the main volume? I sometimes switch between the 2 frequently. I don't want to have to switch off my speakers every time I want just the headphones.

I know it has limited options but it seems like the those limits fall just short of what would make it appealing and you're basically just forking out a lot of money for great converters and low latency.

[The Landwhale]

If you don't need more than 2 ins and outs, go for the Apogee. The sound quality is better than the Motu, pres are better, etc. That's not to knock the Ultralite at all, I used one for over a year and it's a great interface.

Even though Apogee doesn't officially support it, aggregating the Duet with a Macbook or MBP's built-in sound card works great for me.
I have both the Duet and the Gio, and it works fine on either interface. Too bad I can't aggregate the GIO and the Duet together

*Just make sure when you create the aggregate device, use the Duet as the clock master and check the "resample" box for both the Duet and built in.*

[xenomachino1]

thanks for the replies guys. Greatly appreciated!

jc

[Rave]

All I see on the thing is one big knob. Can you control the headphone volume separately from the main volume? I sometimes switch between the 2 frequently. I don't want to have to switch off my speakers every time I want just the headphones.

I'm afraid this is the case. It is easy to switch off the monitors though by depressing the 'big knob' and still keep the headphones on (this is done in the configuration panel).
The clarity and detail really make a difference. Since I got my duet and started using my monitors too people have commented how my mixing has come on leaps and bounds (and I have shitty alesis monitors)

[Rave]

I also had some trouble with noise on the inputs, which I think was due to some incompatibility with my specific MacBook.

To be fair (and un biased) I too have this issue. It could be the cheap lead i use for my guitar. How did you cure it?

[GrooveNinja]

I also had some trouble with noise on the inputs, which I think was due to some incompatibility with my specific MacBook.

To be fair (and un biased) I too have this issue. It could be the cheap lead i use for my guitar. How did you cure it?

I sent it back and bought a Metric Halo ULN-2.

I just didn't want to deal with hardware issues. I think that it may have had something to do with the unit being powered from the firewire buss. If I recall correctly, even if I unplugged the inputs, there was still some nasty digital-sounding noise on them. Anyway, my Virus Ti did not have any issues in the same situation.

[beats me]

All I see on the thing is one big knob. Can you control the headphone volume separately from the main volume? I sometimes switch between the 2 frequently. I don't want to have to switch off my speakers every time I want just the headphones.

I'm afraid this is the case. It is easy to switch off the monitors though by depressing the 'big knob' and still keep the headphones on (this is done in the configuration panel).
The clarity and detail really make a difference. Since I got my duet and started using my monitors too people have commented how my mixing has come on leaps and bounds (and I have shitty alesis monitors)

Interest, if not confusing. I suppose another option is putting a headphone amp in the chain.

When I first started looking at interfaces I was amazed at how many don't have what I would consider a basic need: separate main and headphone outs that are software mapable and a physical separate volume knob for each. This isn't something that only DJs would find useful.

[MartinOM28V]

All I see on the thing is one big knob. Can you control the headphone volume separately from the main volume? I sometimes switch between the 2 frequently. I don't want to have to switch off my speakers every time I want just the headphones.

I know it has limited options but it seems like the those limits fall just short of what would make it appealing and you're basically just forking out a lot of money for great converters and low latency.

Yes you can control headphone volume separately from the main volume in the sense that you just press the big button and it can alternate between sound in the speakers only and sound in the headphones only. Easy peasy.