A few questions about the Apogee Duet

[Glenn L.]

Hi there,

 

This is my first substantive thread in this forum, and I hope my questions are not too simplistic, or have been answered before. I've done a search, and I don't think I've come across the answers to these questions, so, here goes;

 

1) I have yet to read anything definitive about latency with the Duet. I assume that it will be higher than the Symphony's 1.6 ms used with a Xeon? My computer and specs are in my sig. Can anyone tell me how smoothly the Duet works at low buffer rates? On another note, regarding latency, I've just been using the built-in audio i/o on my iMac, and will still get latency at higher buffer rates, even though, according to my understanding (which may certainly be defective) should have less of a signal path, and therefore less latency?

 

2) The FW cable that comes with this is a 6 pin or 4 pin (I am a bit unclear on the difference, but assume the 4 pin is for MacBooks, right?)

 

3) Has there been any re-writes of the Maestro software since the Duet's release? Any bugs that still need to be ironed out, etc?

 

I think that is about it, for now. Thomann is out of stock right now, which gives me the opportunity to take a deep breath and a little (very little) sober second thoughts on the issue.

 

Oh, yes, as of yet, I don't have an external HDD for my setup. I also have a fully loaded Roland VS2000CD, which, while pretty good, I am finding a bit limited and limiting. The sound is also a bit weak, because when I import my VS tracks as AIFFs into Logic, the tracks sound better within Logic, and that is just through the internal outputs. So, I am looking for better sound, both in and out, and don't need heaps of i/o, at least just yet. I am playing back the audio into Dynaudio BM5s.

 

Cheers, and thanks!

 

Glenn

[DrNik]

Hi Glenn,

 

I don't have a definitive answer on (1), but:

 

(2): it's 6 pin. 4 pin firewire is "unpowered" and the 6 pin provides power to the Duet. MacBooks have 6 pin as well. (most pcs have 4 pin FW ports)

 

(3): yes, an update was released in May. I had issues with the Duet not defaulting back to my most recent settings, and that has been solved now! All other operations with the Duet have been absolutely trouble-free for me...

 

hope this helps,

Nik.

[Glenn L.]

Thank you, DrNik!

 

Anyone else? I've ordered one from Thomann, who have a 30 day return policy. This is a final step away from my Roland VS, and so I feel a little weird.

 

Cheers,

 

Glenn

[Glenn L.]

An update;

 

My Duet arrived today, sans software, but with a piece of paper telling me where to download it. I was a little irked about that, but once I got the Duet running (an idiot-proof task if there ever was one) I was immediately impressed with the sound quality. Most of what I listen to these days is via iTunes, so I put on something that I know inside out, and the difference in sound quality was obvious.

 

I then went into Logic and recorded a Taylor 310 through an AKG 451B. This combo did NOT sound that great on my Roland VS, but the sound of the Apogee into Logic compared to the Roland is like a veil has been lifted. This is basically 'the sound' I've been looking for when I switched to digital recording 10 years ago.

 

So far, no problems. The Maestro is the May version. Easy-Peasy.

 

One more question if I may; How warm is 'normal' for this thing to get? Mine is warm, not hot, to the touch.

 

Cheers,

 

Glenn

[jimmykirk]

So do you recommend it?

[Glenn L.]

So far, so good! I can't wait to lay down some tracks tomorrow.

 

Cheers,

 

Glenn