I have a Duet. The sound is excellent.

Two small issues to be aware of that I have run into.

a) It doesn't aggregate reliably with other soundcards – some people have some success but it is not robust and apogee explicitly say that you can't do it.

b) The drivers are not completely rock solid (at least on my Macpro 2 x 2.8 quadcore intel) – play back is always fine but sometimes I get pops/clicks on recording (especially if I have been using the apogee in a multi-client way). The problem goes away if you restart. This is at 128 sample buffer.

I would still enthusiastically recommend it though. It degrades the sound way less than a Mackie vlz pro mixer.

Rob

quote:

Originally posted by DJ RANN Eh? Have you been reading this thread? The Duet is MAC only and it's wicked. Did you mean something else?

yes i have been reading it, though i feel that people are uncertain about the nature of the item. although much that has been written here is well good i would suggest.

thanks for the info much appreciated though.

I think i will go the apogee, but, also i was interested to know what whether other people had any other ideas on suitable interfaces for MAC

thanks again

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I got a duet for my bedroom. I'm totally happy with it. I even enjoy it more than my Ensemble in the studio because of the simplicity of a bedroom studio. I get to distracted with tweaking in the studio. So many toys.

Get these too: AKG K702s or something along those lines. Every $10 you spend on headphones is equivalent to $100 in speakers. So say the "experts". It will help you mix. Assuming you don't have a "perfectly" tuned room.

quote:

Originally posted by nutkinman I have a Duet. The sound is excellent. Two small issues to be aware of that I have run into. a) It doesn't aggregate reliably with other soundcards – some people have some success but it is not robust and apogee explicitly say that you can't do it. b) The drivers are not completely rock solid (at least on my Macpro 2 x 2.8 quadcore intel) – play back is always fine but sometimes I get pops/clicks on recording (especially if I have been using the apogee in a multi-client way). The problem goes away if you restart. This is at 128 sample buffer. I would still enthusiastically recommend it though. It degrades the sound way less than a Mackie vlz pro mixer. Rob

The agregate issue does affect some people, but as for the drivers not being rockl solid? I have NEVER heard of anyone having problems with the drivers for the Duet once installed. I would try a higher buffer setting (even just 256) or look at maintenance on you mac (such a disk permissions, or idefrag your external drive etc.).

AS for other cards (which I'll keep brief to avoid turning this in to "a which soundcard should I buy" thread), I can whole heardetly recommend the Echo Audiofire 4 - I work with Protools HD rigs all day long at work and have to say the audiofire sounds really clean and accurate for my home studio. It's solid as fuck (had it just over a month and not a single problem), installation took less than 4 minutes and the mic pre's are quite decent. It's also got midi and a front panel volume control for phones.

I got mine for $200 off ebay and it was mint - I couldn't be more pleased with it.

thanks guys!

really do appreciate it, even though im sure this topic has been raised many times in the past.

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