Apogee's Duet: pro audio at a mini size

If you've been in the market for a small, handsome, and high-quality portable audio recording solution, Apogee (makers of some of the finest AD/DA converters and interfaces in the industry) may have just what you're looking for. Say hello to the Duet, a two-channel, 24bit / 96kHz interface that should make your next field job or impromptu jam recording nothing but net. The Duet's breakout cable provides two phantom powered, XLR inputs, two unbalanced instrument inputs, and two unbalanced monitor outs; a headphone jack, multi-function knob, LED meters, and Firewire port (for getting the audio to your computer) are located on the unit. Apogee is known for its rugged, low-noise, high-performance audio tools, and the Duet is likely no exception -- despite the fact that the need for an interface this small is certainly up for debate. Available in September for $495.

[Thanks, Tyler M]

[Rainier @ Sep 7th 2007 12:44PM]

Wow, $495! Engadget, can you give this away....please?

[david morgan @ Sep 7th 2007 12:49PM]

it is beautiful

[mi_canuck @ Sep 7th 2007 12:53PM]

should make for sweeeet bootlegging er. i mean live recordings ;-)

[McGinley @ Sep 7th 2007 12:56PM]

You could get the same quality and functionality for far cheaper.My Tascam US-144 cost 180 euro and it does exactly the same thing as this thing does,just slightly bulkier and less pretty.

[Larz @ Sep 7th 2007 4:38PM]

Yeah, but 'looks' are obviously the most important thing for the majority of consumers. There are better, cheaper, and smaller products than the iPod for example, yet people fork out a fortune for an inferior product because it's hip and looks slick.

[Marc @ Sep 7th 2007 5:00PM]

The Tascam is USB and the Apogee is FireWire.

[rdatman @ Nov 3rd 2007 10:14PM]

Yes but this unit is a real peace of audio gear and your Tascam has a 12 cent digital clock and is a piece of junk!

[apostle @ Sep 7th 2007 1:10PM]

@McGinley:

Yeah, but your Tascam doesn't have Apogee hardware inside. I guess if you're making beats in Reason and running vocals through vocoders, that's fine, but when you need it to sound *great*, Apogee is second to none.

[McGinley @ Sep 7th 2007 1:18PM]

I must agree actually that sometimes the tascam sounds thin,but it sounds great with a decent pre-amp.

[Matthew Hilario @ Sep 7th 2007 1:16PM]

apogee! greaest thing since commander keen!

[MNA @ Sep 7th 2007 1:55PM]

hahahahaha :))

[Dustin @ Sep 7th 2007 1:26PM]

I think the most exciting part of this interface, which Engadget mercilessly left out is the fact it has a big, silver knob. This is easily the biggest selling point for me. When my audio friends start talking about Presonus this and MOTU that, I can point at the big, shiny knob and their eyes will glaze over, filled with the mysticism such a control imparts.

While I'm sure it's a great product, the pigtails for the input connectors scares me a bit. If something were to happen to them, I don't imagine they're cheap to replace.

[Kevin Vanwulpen @ Sep 7th 2007 1:42PM]

Has anyone noticed it can be totally controlled from within Apple's GarageBand, and Logic Pro and SoundTrack Pro?

[Mike @ Sep 7th 2007 1:52PM]

ding ding ding, you win the jackass prize for mentioning apple in a story involving a product that is white

[thetrace892 @ Sep 7th 2007 2:21PM]

Well Mike, Apple and Apogee have more recently announced some sort of union between both companies and their pro audio products, so take it easy on the trigger happy, ass hole commenting.

[Epidemic @ Sep 7th 2007 2:08PM]

i would totaly buy it

[tyler.howe @ Sep 7th 2007 2:18PM]

This will compliment my matched pair of Earthworks TC30's quite well for field recording... or anything for that matter. Lovely. Sorry, but this compared to a Tascam US-anything just isn't an argument that will end well. (My first digital interface was a US-428, my last Tascam purchased was the same 428)

[alan westbrook @ Sep 7th 2007 2:31PM]

If you are interested in this, you should check out Mackie's Onyx Satellite system. It's half the price, has more control, is more durable, has a portable piece for doing on location recording, runs off firewire power.

Mackie preamps are no slouch when it comes to sound as well. Certainly better than Tascam.

http://www.mackie.com/products/satellite/index.html

[Doofus @ Sep 7th 2007 5:25PM]

I use the satellite as a portable band practice recording tool and at home as part of my little studio set up. It is am awesome piece of equipments. Mackie is the teets.

[Roxtar @ Sep 7th 2007 2:32PM]

This looks like an amazing piece of equipment for any on-the-go musician or audio engineer. The fact that it's made for mac makes me happy in my pants.

[johnzilla @ Sep 7th 2007 3:59PM]

I'm no pro audio guy, but it seems like it would be pretty limited without a MIDI interface. Let's say you're on an 8 hour flight...are you really going to bust out a full-size electric guitar, bass, or synth workstation to lay some tracks with your laptop? No...you'd bust out something like M-Audio's Oxygen 8 and a laptop.

Looks pretty cool for desktop studio recording or easy live event recording, though.

[Linus @ Sep 7th 2007 6:18PM]

This device is != an M-audio midi keyboard. I think you are misunderstanding what this is...

[johnzilla @ Sep 7th 2007 6:38PM]

I understand exactly what this is.

My point: this unit records sounds. Therefore, to use it, you must have something with you that makes sounds. Right? So we're talking about a guitar, a bass, or a synth workstation (not using MIDI). Right?

OK, so what could is a small, portable unit if you need to carry something that isn't very small and portable (like a bass guitar, or a 48-key workstation) along with it so you have something to make sounds with?

Thus, the most portable way to make tracks is to have MIDI libraries on a portable computer (laptop) and use a small, portable MIDI controller (like the Oxygen) to trigger those sounds.

If this unit from Apogee had a MIDI interface, it would be the real deal, because then I could go to the park with this Apogee unit, a mic, a laptop, and a small MIDI controller and make tracks all day long. Without a MIDI interface, I'd have to lug the Apogee unit, a guitar, a mic, and a laptop, and I'd only be able to make guitar sounds. See the difference?

[Colin @ Sep 7th 2007 8:48PM]

I think you're missing the point of this device. It's not designed for you to get out of the house. If all you need is MIDI spend $20 and get a USB to MIDI adapter or a MIDI controller with USB on it already. It's more targeted at traveling musician who would have guitar, mic, etc. with them already. As a guitar player, I have no use for MIDI. I do have use for a low noise input with low latency monitoring.

Either way, Midi doesn't hold a candle to the real thing when it comes to guitars. I'm not recording guitar tracks with a midi keyboard hooked up to my laptop.

[johnzilla @ Sep 7th 2007 11:55PM]

No, I'm not missing the point. I'm just not as impressed as everyone else seems to be. I guess I don't think of lugging a guitar around "portable".

I never said "use MIDI for guitar tracks".

My point was simple: the portable market is largely made up of people making full-featured tracks. Those folks use MIDI. That's all I was saying.

In my earlier example: if you're on an 8-hour plane ride, are you really going to bust out the Fender Strat and start recording with this device and your laptop? Of course not. Could you take it to a friend's house and maybe get some good solo tracks down, jamming with your buddy? Sure, but as someone else already pointed out, there are portable interfaces that do more for less.

All I suggested was that I think Apogee missed their mark a bit...they're already using a break-out cable...adding a MIDI In/Out (2 more jacks) to it would have been trivial and would have made a much more robust product.

*sigh* Never mind.

[ToneTerrorist @ Sep 9th 2007 6:47PM]

If I'm not mistaken, the big knob can be programmed to be a MIDI controller. It's not a keyboard, but it can be used to trigger events and adjust parameters or levels.

[kimmm @ Sep 13th 2007 4:33AM]

where would you plug in the wall wart from this mythical, ultra portable, non usb powered, midi controller when you're at the park? buy a tm-1 if you want comparably hi-q midi i/o in a small box.

[mr.steevo @ Sep 17th 2007 12:11PM]

Hi,

Are you asking how it is powered?

If so, the firewire connection powers the unit through your laptop. One of the nice features of firewire.

s.

[Betazero @ Sep 14th 2007 12:07AM]

do people actually use midi anymore?? USB is better IMO. I get too much lag from midi and my keyboard has both midi and usb just like pretty much every new product. What they need to do is add a usb hub to keyboards so you can daisy chain them...also throw in a SD/MS card reader...make it aluminum and skinny...yummy!!

[matteo @ Sep 16th 2007 9:42PM]

Just saw the Apogee duet in your website and I saw a strong integration with MacOs.

Some questions arise...Does this mean that I can use the apple remote to control output level of the interface?

Do the mac keyboard volume keys work with the duet?

Is it 100% compatible with FrontRow? Will it allow me to use the remote control with it, to change volume via apple remote while playing DVDs?

I know these questions may seem dumb...but they aren't. If you use the digital built in mac audio output, the volume control doesn't work, and this sucks :)

[Carl @ Oct 3rd 2007 1:51PM]

I'm upset. After reading Apogee was making a device like this, I got pumped. So much so that I decided to 'impulse buy' one on the spot yesterday. WRONG! It's Mac only. WTF?!?! I even called Apogee (who happens to be local) to confirm... Note to cool hardware manufacturers... There's a legion of Cubase/Nuendo/Reason users who want the same stuff. COME ON!! It's 2007. Cross-platform EVERYTHING.

[KevinB @ Oct 11th 2007 11:43AM]

Probably why you would want to do some minor research on a product like this. I myself will be picking one up to go with my Macbook Pro.

[jess @ Nov 14th 2007 7:55PM]

Is there a law against manufacturers that disciminate against non apple users. If thtere is such a law can someone point me to it so I can slap it on apogee concerning their Duet ad/da converter.

I use Protool's MBox 2 and would like to change to Adobe Audition 3 because of its higher sound fidelity. So I was thinking that the Duet was the missing link to my laptop setup alas to be disapointed.

Jess