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Simple and functional, with

amazing sound for little money,

STEPHEN BENNETT finds the

Apogee Duet pushes all the

right buttons.

T h e R e v I e w e R

STEPHEN BENNET T has been

involved in music production

for over 25 years. Now based

in the wilds of rural Sweden, he

runs Chaos Studios and writes

books and articles on music

technology. He's also a film-

maker with several music videos

and short films to his credit.

www.stephenjamesbennett.co.uk

hen Apogee introduced the Ensemble Firewire

interface with its reasonably low price and close

integration with Apple's Logic software, it

caused great excitement amongst those seeking the kind

of high quality digital converters and microphone

preamplifiers for which the company is known – but

without the high price of its flagship units. However, for

those who don't need all the bells and whistles and only

need a couple of inputs and outputs, even the Ensemble

might seem to be a bit of an overkill. For these users,

Apogee has introduced the Duet.

A p o g e e

Th e U n i t

The Duet is a small, sleek, anodised

aluminium box, which is a perfect

cosmetic match for a Macbook

Pro – perhaps Apogee should

consider making it available

in the various MacBook

really pleased to see a full

size quarter-inch headphone output,

and there's a Firewire socket on the back for

connection to the computer. The Duet is bus powered

only, which makes a lot of sense for something so portable,

and it worked perfectly on both my laptop and Powermac

G5. It's relatively heavy and stays where it's put on a desk,

which is extremely important as all the inputs and outputs

are on flying leads connected to the back of the unit via

a locking D-connector. This is probably the Duet's most

controversial feature, but I must say that it worked well

in practice and the breakout connector feels very sturdy.

Sample rates can be set from 44.1 to 96kHz but the Duet

has no digital inputs or outputs, or any means of external

synchronisation . The whole thing is easy to stuff into a

laptop bag and it screams, "Take me outside and record

the sounds of Moose mating. Binaurally. "

I was supplied with a software CD for Tiger, but a

Leopard version is available from the Apogee website.

I installed both versions onto my two Macs and they

performed in exactly the same fashion. The CD installs a

CoreAudio driver, which allows the unit to be used with

audio software other than Apple's, along with Apogee's

control software. The most recent news is that with Tiger

10.4.11 and Leopard, Duet employs the class compliant

Firewire driver which is part of the OS. Plugging in the

Firewire cable automatically loads the Maestro control

panel, which I thought was rather nice – though you

can disable this action if you want. The software itself

(and its counterpart located in Logic if you're using that

particular DAW), provides a clear way to access the Duet's

settings and displays, but the hardware itself has some

nice mechanical touches too. The big knob also acts as a

switch and pressing it allows you to choose whether it is

controlling master output or the levels for inputs one and

two. As you press the knob a small window appears on the

a u d i o m e d i a d e C e m B e R 2 0 0 7

Mac's screen which shows a descriptive graphic of what

you're actually selecting, and the LED displays show the

input levels and chosen channel. It's a nice indication of

how well the Duet is integrated with the Mac.

Input to the Duet is via balanced XLRs or 1/4

unbalanced line inputs and the level, phase and 48v

phantom power are selected within Maestro. The inputs

can be grouped for stereo work and the output can be set

at two levels: line, and a -20dB setting, which is intended

for instrument amplifiers. Both the stereo and headphone

outputs receive the same signal and can be muted by a

single control – or separately if you prefer, a feature which

audio inteRfaCe

is accessed from the Advanced tab. This section also

allows you to set the Gain ranges of the input controls

and has settings to change how the level meters act.

Surprisingly, but usefully, the Duet can send out up to

four MIDI controllers which are modified either by the

hardware knob on the interface or the on-screen ones.

The Duet can produce a latency free input signal and mix

f i n i s h e s a s w e l l ?

when recording. This worked perfectly and was incredibly

Its main feature is

easy to set up from within Maestro.

a nice large knob

on the top panel

a n d t w o L E D

I recorded some vocals and acoustic guitar into the

strips that display

Duet and the results were clean and neutral-sounding

various input and

with plenty of headroom. The output into my monitors

output levels. I was

was also impressive, and both inputs and outputs were

easy rivals in quality for my usual (and more expensive)

two-channel interface. Listening back to files obtained

from the Ensemble confirmed Apogee's claim that

the microphone preamps are identical to the Duet's

costlier sibling.

To get Apogee sound quality for so little money is nothing

short of amazing. Though it lacks the features of some of

its rivals, it makes up for it in simplicity and functionality.

For those thinking of obtaining a boutique preamplifier

to use alongside their current audio interface, it could

make more sense to get a Duet and run the two as an

aggregate device – and get an extra two input channels

into the bargain. For the portable recordist, it's a superb

quality interface that leaves no excuse for not obtaining

excellent recordings on location. Now, where did I see

those Moose tracks again?

US$495.00

Apogee electronics Corp. 1715 Berkeley St, Santa

Monica,CA 90404, USA

+1 310.584.9394

+1 310.584.9385

www.apogeedigital.com

UK Distributor:

Sonic Distribution, Unit 23 westbury Close, Townsend Ind.

est., houghton Regis, Dunstable, Beds LU5 5BL

+44 (0) 1582 470260

+44 (0 1582 470269

www.seelectronics.com

∑

www.sonic-distribution.com

∑

D u e t

I n Use

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