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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
18
W
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
A
Monica,CA 90404, USA
+1 310.584.9394
T
+1 310.584.9385
F
www.apogeedigital.com
W
UK Distributor:
Sonic Distribution, Unit 23 westbury Close, Townsend Ind.
A
est., houghton Regis, Dunstable, Beds LU5 5BL
+44 (0) 1582 470260
T
F
+44 (0 1582 470269
www.seelectronics.com
∑
www.sonic-distribution.com
∑
D u e t
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