It HAS to be a duet?

timriley · Post by **timriley** » Wed Jun 04, 2008 4:15 pm

Hi everyone!

Im looking at getting a portable audio interface to go with my Macbook pro and DP..

Im an improving singer/acoustic guitarist and i've been doing a fair amount of recording recently with a friend, mostly acoustic instrumental folk music, though we're beginning to introduce vocals. At present i'm just using my line6 toneport for everything (preamp, converter, headphone output).

DP is pretty much working perfectly at present! I've been using a neumann mic belonging to my friend (one of the TLM range, i forget which) and my AT3050 for the recordings and we're recording in a well treated room in a loft conversion, using some Mackie 624s for monitors. Our instruments (acoustic guitars/mandolin) are sounding lovely in the room but i've been distinctly unimpressed with the quality of the recordings so far..

I have about 5 years experience assisting and engineering in 2 different pro-recording studios so, although i'm by no means an expert, i have a good idea about mic placement and how things 'should' sound!

Im thinking that the area I need to improve on most is that of Mic pre's and A/D convertion! I only have a small budget of between £300 to £400 (around $500 to $700 I think). After extensive research I'm almost sold on the Apogee Duet.. Although ideally I would like to have a few more inputs, I think i'd rather have two very good input channels over 4-5 average input channels.

If anyone has any other suggestions i'd be very grateful! I really can't go over my stated budget! The duet seems almost too good to be true, doesn't it?

BradLyons · Post by **BradLyons** » Wed Jun 04, 2008 6:11 pm

Actually, that Duet really is quite an amazing box---I certainly and most definitely HIGHLY recommend it.

timriley · Post by **timriley** » Wed Jun 04, 2008 6:36 pm

BradLyons wrote:Actually, that Duet really is quite an amazing box---I certainly and most definitely HIGHLY recommend it.

Recommendation noted... Thanks Brad!

timriley · Post by **timriley** » Thu Jun 05, 2008 10:48 am

So the other main contenders seem to be the Focusrite Saffire Pro 10, TC Electronic Konnect24, Mackie Onyx 400F and Motu Ultralite. All these would give me more inputs and other features besides, but the main consensus seems to be that the Duet sounds much better, for most applications!

The other thing I could look at is sticking with my Toneport and getting nicer Mic Preamps! Thing is, in my price range, would i get anything that is much better than the pre's that come with the Duet? Id have to increase my budget considerably to make it worth while, which i can't do unfortunately.

If i do get the Duet and at some stage want to do some 'serious' recording, i could think about hiring a high-end preamp and/or a studio for a few days...

Hmmmm. Decisions, decisions!

OOPS, thinking out loud again!

timriley · Post by **timriley** » Thu Jun 12, 2008 7:41 am

Well I bit the bullet last friday and ordered a duet.. It just arrived today so i've been having some fun with it this afternoon... I installed the latest May update for the Maestro Software, briefly tested the 2 Mic inputs and did a listening comparison with my line 6 toneport. The functionality of the two is very similar, in fact i can't help thinking that apogee has borrowed alot from line 6! The Duet, seems to effectively be the cuter french cousin of the toneport... Stylish, sophisticated and elegant, with a tighter lower-end and more clarity in the upper-mids!

jeff sanders · Post by **jeff sanders** » Fri Jun 13, 2008 11:17 am

is that a chopped 72 vw van? nice job

BradLyons · Post by **BradLyons** » Fri Jun 13, 2008 2:19 pm

jeff sanders wrote:is that a chopped 72 vw van? nice job

don't you mean, "truncated" javascript:emoticon(':mrgreen:')

Phil O · Post by **Phil O** » Sat Jun 14, 2008 8:28 am

BradLyons wrote:don't you mean, "truncated"

Groan!! I think there're about nineteen puns in that one word.

Phil

ltemma74 · Post by **ltemma74** » Wed Jun 18, 2008 8:39 am

I just picked up a Duet. Haven't used it extensively enough to evaluate the A/D other than a quick test to make sure it's all working. But...the D/A is incredible! I heard things in my band's old recordings streaming over myspace that I had never heard before on any monitoring system.

Seems crazy that I'd hear it over streaming mp3 but I swear it's the truth...no weed or other enhancers involved. This is a high quality box for the price. I am impressed. If you don't need much I/O, I highly recommend it.

BradLyons · Post by **BradLyons** » Wed Jun 18, 2008 9:21 am

This is why I preach.... DAC's and MONITORS are the best investments you can make for tracking and mixing. Why tracking? You can't record what you can't hear

ltemma74 · Post by **ltemma74** » Thu Jun 19, 2008 3:25 pm

BradLyons wrote:This is why I preach.... DAC's and MONITORS are the best investments you can make for tracking and mixing. Why tracking? You can't record what you can't hear

And, as I recently discovered, "you will record things you can't (and may not want to) hear."

BradLyons · Post by **BradLyons** » Thu Jun 19, 2008 7:51 pm

ha!

gearboy · Post by **gearboy** » Fri Jun 20, 2008 10:18 am

I have used a Black Lion Modded 828mk2 for the past year or so, and before that, a pair of 828mk2 pre-mod since 2003. I sold the unmodded 828mk2 and bought a Duet from Brad in December and let me tell you, the 828mk2 never gets turned on anymore. I've been mostly just mixing sessions while seeking a house to purchase and build a small studio in, and as a result all of my audio work has been done via Duet. I love this little guy. The 828mk2 (modded) sounds really good too, but IMHO the Duet sounds an edge better. I'll use the BLA 828mk2 for any session that requires more than two inputs (not much these days), but for mixing and overdubs the Duet, with it's big silver dial, is the default interface for both my Powerbook and G5. I've never looked back since December of 2007.

Just an awesome little interface that delivers incredible AD / DA with a tiny foot print. I can see using this thing for a very long time, provided drivers are available as I upgrade OSX.

The other great thing about the Duet is that it's mic preamps sound really nice right out of the box, however, you can use any mic preamp with the thing.

And your girlfriend will think it's cute.

Jeff

BradLyons · Post by **BradLyons** » Fri Jun 20, 2008 11:43 am

Which leads me to this... I've been asking MOTU to build a HIGH quality 2x2 interface for the longest time. The answer was the Ultralite which is NICE, but I would like to see their HD192 in a 2x2 frame with a digital i/o, DSP, firewire, real-time effects and a monitor controller for $500-$600----I bet they could do it

Maybe now with the Duet out there, they might look into it.....

Tonio · Post by **Tonio** » Fri Jun 20, 2008 8:51 pm

I had that notion too, Brad!! Glad to hear you are pushing MOTU.
The it begs the question, could it be a competitor to Apogee?

T