Apogee Electronics just announced Duet 2 – the successor to their very popular Duet audio interface.
The original Duet has almost become a staple with Macbook owners that want mobility with their recording rig.
Not only is it popular with those that want to record on the run, but it’s also popular with the budget minded home recording crowd.
I’m actually an owner of the original Duet, and it’s worked out great for me.
Actually, I sometimes regret buying an iMac instead of a Macbook, because I would love the added mobility. Oh well, maybe in the future.
Just a little side note before I go on – Apogee products are Mac only. Yeah I know, this doesn’t make the Windows PC crowd very happy, but what can I say.
If you’re on a PC, don’t worry. There are other excellent interfaces out there for you such as the RME Babyface and Avid Mbox – among many others.
What’s New?
There are some very cool new things added to Apogee’s Duet 2. I like most of the improvements, with only a little hesitation about the USB 2.0 connection instead of Firewire, which the original Duet uses.
Though, Apogee say they went with USB because it gave better latency performance. As of late, it seems that USB 2.0 is being utilized better by companies and is more than capable of being used for audio applications.
Even so, I believe I’ll wait and see what becomes of Apple’s new Thunderbolt connection before I look into a new audio interface. I’m happy right now with the Duet anyway. Not too mention, I don’t have any money for a new interface.
The new improvements on the Duet 2 that I really like are:
- Completely redesigned mic preamps and A/D – D/A converters – Duet 1 already sounded great, very interesting!
- Independent speaker and headphone outs
- Balanced outputs – something the Duet 1 doesn’t have.
- Full color OLED display – Nice!
- Configurable touch pads – Another Nice!
- Soft Limit – Would love this – Duet 1 doesn’t have this.
There are some other new features that you can check out here, but these are the things I really like about the Duet 2.
Also, as with the original Duet, it integrates tightly with Apple Logic and Garageband. I use Apple Logic and love the way I don’t have to use the Maestro software to start recording. I can set levels and everything right inside Logic.
It also works with any DAW that uses Core Audio – like Ableton Live and the new Pro Tools 9. Pro Tools 9 and Apogee quality – need I say more?
New Budget Friendly, Macbook Portable Studio Rig Standard?
I can easily see the Duet 2 being as popular as the original Duet, if not more so. It adds a lot of great new features, and with the totally redesigned mic preamps and converters, I have no doubt this thing is going to sound amazing.
The Apogee Duet 2 won’t be for everyone – there are very few things that are.
It only allows recording of two inputs at one time, and doesn’t have a lot of I/O for mixing with outboard gear.
If you’re looking to record a full band, this might not be the solution for you – unless you want to record everything separately – which can be done.
If you’re a singer/songwriter and own a Mac computer, this little box will probably work great for you.
There is little more that I need right now, but I could easily see outgrowing the Duet in the future.
If you interested in the Apogee Duet 2, you can check out Apogee’s website for more information.
I think they miss the chance to compete with the Babyface. No MIDI, no digital I/O, no internal effects or hardware mixer. And still no PC support?
I hope they come close to the sound quality of the Babyface now (the Duet 1 does not), but all in all it´s an inferior feature set. The display is nice, but this thing looks like a black brick.
Those are some great points. Thanks for adding them. You’re right that the Duet 2 doesn’t have MIDI or digital I/O and this will be a deal breaker for some. To me, not so much. Though, I would love it if my Duet had digital I/O.
The Babyface does have a more impressive feature set overall, but it also costs more. Something to take into consideration.
To be honest, I don’t fully understand why Apogee doesn’t support Windows PC, though I’ve heard the reasons. But they seem to be doing fine without PC support, so I guess I can’t fault them for that.
I’ve never used a Babyface, but it looks like it’s a great little interface. I’ve heard nothing but great things about RME’s stuff.
As far as sound comparisons, I don’t have anything to go on. The Babyface might sound better, but I have no clue. Though, from my experience, the Duet doesn’t sound bad at all.
I definitely would have taken a good hard look at the Babyface when I was looking to replace my original Mbox, but it wasn’t out yet. Alas, I always seem to be on the outside of cutting edge technology.
Thanks for adding some great points. I have no doubt they will help someone who’s trying to decide on which audio interface to buy. You definitely gave me some things to think about for future reference.