Apogee Duet 2 USB Interface Regular (Standard)

by Apogee

Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 6.3 x 4 x 1.5 inches ; 15.5 ounces
• Shipping Weight: 2.8 pounds
• ASIN: B000XANK90
• Item model number: DUET
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (26 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #24,827 in Electronics (See Top 100 in Electronics)
  • #84 in Musical Instruments > Guitars > Acoustic-Electric Guitars
• Date first available at Amazon.com: October 2, 2001

Product Description

The Duet is a two-channel FireWire audio interface that features the amazing sound quality that made Apogee Electronics famous. With control functions built directly into Apple's Logic Pro, Soundtrack Pro and GarageBand software, Duet empowers you to create professional recordings effortlessly on your Mac.With Duet, you can plug in guitars, keyboards, and microphones to record your music, or simply experience how much better your favorite tracks in iTunes sound. Duet is compact and powered by FireWire, so you can pack up your studio and go anywhere your music takes you.Its dual, 1/4" high impedance inputs allow you to combine and record your two favorite instruments, whether it be two guitars, one bass, one guitar, etc., simultaneously using your favorite Core Audio-compatible application. You can also capture vocals with two microphone inputs that have phantom power and 75dB of gain. Whether you're noodling out new ideas, completing a personal tune, documenting a podcast, or recording a live performance, your new little buddy can handle it. The flexible breakout cables come with icons to make it easy to know what goes where, keeping everything in order, out of the way, and properly connected for maximum input and output, with minimal mess. Duet's bus-powered FireWire interface frees you from the traditional four-wall studio setting. So grab your laptop, find a spot where inspiration takes you, whether it's in the solace of a park or in the echoey confines of a subway tunnel, turn it on, and start doing your thing.If you don't have Logic Pro, Soundtrack Pro, Garageband, don't panic. Apogee's includes it's own Downloadable Maestro software, so you'll still be able to work with any Core Audio-compatible application. Maestro allows you to turn the Duet's multifunction control knob into a one-click manager.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

31 of 34 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars It can't be beat for features and quality at this price, August 6, 2008

By 

Greg A. Tirevold (Atlanta, GA USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Apogee Duet 2 USB Interface Regular (Standard) (Personal Computers)

I bought the Duet to use with my Aluminum iMac and Logic Studio 8 and have had zero problems with the unit. The interface is very streamlined so you have to get used to using a single, multi-function knob for everything. The quality of conversion between analog and digital is head and shoulders above anything else near this price level. It sounds as good as units costing 3 times as much due to the designers' emphasis on quality sound. To get the high quality conversion at this price you are limited to the line outputs and headphone output levels being permanently linked. Some people find this a drawback, so be aware before you buy if this feature is something that is a deal breaker for you.

The small form factor is nice because as anyone with a home studio can attest to, space is not a luxury we have. I didn't pick this for its portability but as it is the size of a paperback book I can imagine it being very easy to tote around with a macbook/pro.

The included Maestro management software is straightforward and lets you set the unit up in seconds with a very easy to understand user interface. Configuring my iMac to use this as the audio input and output took less than a minute from reading the instructions. Making Logic label its mixer to match is equally simple. One thing I found convenient is how OSX lets you still use the iMac's built in speakers for the system alerts so that an error message gong sound isn't sent out through your 100watt studio monitors. You can set the output level of the system alerts separate from the duet's outputs.

The breakout cable is securely attached and the plugs are labeled with big, clear markings so changing hook-ups is easy. It has phantom power if your mics require it, which is set using Maestro.

Most audio interfaces in this price range try to win you over with more I/O channels or other add-ons instead of making the best sound conversion. They trade quality for quantity with predictable results. Apogee decided on doing a simple 2 channel interface, a single physical control and top shelf A/D/A converters so the result is the best 2 channels you can get. When you want more channels without sacrificing quality then you can step up to their Ensemble line.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent little unit, September 21, 2009

By 

"Gimpy" Peach Johnson - See all my reviews

This review is from: Apogee Duet 2 USB Interface Regular (Standard) (Personal Computers)

I use the Duet for connecting a pair of Neumann TLM-103 mics to my MacBook Pro for home and on-the-go recording and I couldn't be happier. Set-up is a breeze and takes only a few moments. The Duet has only a FireWire 400 port, but they now include a FireWire 400-800 cable for connecting to newer Macs. The sound quality is excellent: clear and lifelike with amazing detail and no hiss. The Duet itself is built very solidly, yet "simply," and I can easily imagine this will hold up to years of use. The unit does warm up a bit after it's been on for a while, but mine never got truly "hot" -- even after hours of use. Although Apogee seems to be marketing this as a headphone amp, I wouldn't buy it for that purpose alone: it does do an excellent job, but there are plenty of other headphone amps offering comparable quality for a fraction oft he cost (I have a Total BitHead from HeadRoom that powers my Sennheiser HD-595s every bit as well for 300 bucks less). If you're looking for just a better listening experience from your Mac, you may want to look elsewhere and save yourself some money, but if you need a rugged, high quality microphone or audio input interface, look no further! I've had my Duet for a month now and I'm extremely happy with it.

23 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent: Apogee Duet + Logic8 = Your Studio, February 12, 2008

By 

C BUTLER "J Fruit" (london, (rip off central & home to the most unfriendly people on the planet)) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Apogee Duet 2 USB Interface Regular (Standard) (Personal Computers)

Wow, I've used alot of firewire interfaces (breakout boxes) and nothing came close to this, I have to start by saying that good preamps make the world of difference to your sound and I found that the ones in Maudio gear tend to be pretty noisy, but the Duet is really quiet and really loud, I put a telecaster into this and a tele is a noisy guitar but it's loud with this but there is no noise (hiss) the same with vocals, I don't have any hiss anymore.
24/96 that's pretty future proof because I don't imagine anybody recording any higher, sure they'll master higher for sacd dvd-audio etc.
Great build and I love the breakout cable, great idea !
With Logic 8 which is the greatest DAW of all time this works superb.
Lastly this was Born In The USA, yup this was made in the USA by a human being with rights.
Great Product, Future Proof and Fantastic Value For Money, don't hesitate buy one of these now.