Apogee Duet 2 REVIEW for Logic

[floprocker]

I've seen people asking about the Duet 2, and some wondering how it works. I just received mine earlier this week, and I wanted to share a few things with the Logic Pro community!

 

First, it is beautiful and extremely easy to set up. You download the software from Apogee's website and install it. While installing, you connect your Apogee and it updates the firmware. Once it's installed, you're asked if the Duet should be your computers sound card (in/out). Confirm that. Maestro 2 is great and simple software. It allows you to switch between the options on the Duet 2, and set up the buttons.

 

Now to the REALLY important stuff....how does it sound? Compared to the Firepod I was running, there is a night and day difference. I was really skeptical of the quality, but my goodness - it is what they say it is.

 

For a test I compared a Blue Bluebird mic in the Firepod to the Duet 2. In the Firepod, the mic sounds thin and very bright. In fact, I had the mic in a cabinet because I hated the way it sounded. With the Duet 2, it was like a totally different mic. Sounded warm and very clean. I was blown away. I've always heard how preamps affect microphones, but had never experienced it until now. The Duet 2 is incredible.

 

I see a lot of people discussing latency, due to it being a USB device. I want to clarify something. I have experienced absolutely no latency. With my Firepod, I did experience noticeable latency and had to do a latency test and setup Logic Pro accordingly. With the Duet 2, I plugged it in and have yet to experience any latency at all. I know the Firewire vs. USB fight will continue, but I'm just telling you my experience.

 

To sum it up - it is like I have a bunch of new microphones. My studio is for organic/acoustic music. I am very excited about the Duet 2. Hope this helps clarify some hands-on questions.

[bluey]

No latency? Of course there is latency, same as all other interfaces.

[floprocker]

To clarify - no noticeable latency. There have been many times where I had noticeable latency with my Firepod and had to relaunch the audio card to correct it. Haven't had that problem with the Duet 2.

[David Nahmani]

No latency? Of course there is latency, same as all other interfaces.

 

Of course there is latency, but the amount of latency depends on the interface and its drivers.

[druu]

I've also recently changed from a presonus to the duet 2 and the difference in output quality was night and day. Stereo separation was hugely noticeable and very little latency. Awesome interface!