I am running listening tests right now, but it's tough to A/B them and be completely objective since I am the one switching them. I'm listening on NS-10Ms through a 1976 pioneer receiver, and both the Duet and BLA 828mk2 are connected to the receiver through the same kind/length of unbalanced cable, which in both cases is a bit of a handicap. However, both of them sound great.jrdmcdnld wrote:Gearboy, how does the sound of the duet compare to the sound of your BLA modded 828mkII?
I can tell you that with D/A conversion, it is almost impossible to tell them apart. It is definitely not a night and day difference, which is awesome, because the difference on D/A between the BLA 828mk2 and the stock 828mk2 was night and day.
I matched the output levels and am switching between them in Audio MIDI Setup, so it's truly legit. No aggregate device, so each unit is using it's own clock. Both sound really rich and crystal clear. I am using Robert Plant & Alison Krauss "Raising Sand", Bruce and E Street Band's "Born to Run", and Feist's "The Reminder" as test CDs, and by that I mean that I am playing the CD as a CD in the G5's tray through iTunes, not MP3 or AAC files.
The Apogee has a slightly more defined or "hyped" high end. But it is slight. I mean, I hope that I am not imagining it or people are going to base anything off of this. I'm noticing it on Feist's record more so than the other discs. It is slight but definitely there, an air that the Black Lion doesn't seem to have. However, this is not a serious make or break quality. You need to spend several hours listening to these two pieces of gear to see what I am talking about. I wouldn't call it better, just slightly different. It's not like I am able to hear things that I can't hear on the Black Lion 828mk2.
I am very happy that I can have both of them hooked up to my G5 running off of their own clocks and switch between them. This will make testing the mic preamps and DIs more scientific.
I'll get to that in a bit.
Jeff
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