Has anybody reamped with an Apogee Duet and can comment on the quality?

electricred

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Jan 2, 2012
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I've been going through Google, reading all sorts of discussion. Although Apogee has stated that the Duet is not meant for reaping, users have found that it can be setup with the Maestro software. Some say it sounds great, but I'm wondering if any of the more discerning users here have done this and compared it to other popular reamp devices like Radial or Little Labs. The discussions on other boards don't usually deal as much with reamping, which something regulars here have plenty of experience with.
 
I did this with a Duet 1 and no reamp box (you can change the main outputs to "instrument output" in the maestro control).

 
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Interested in this since I own the Duet 1 and didn't even know it was do-able. So Maestro allows for instrument impedance outputs ? Or just signal level ?

I read Apogee themselves state this is not meant to be used as a reamping tool. Are they mentionning the impedance is not correct or something of this vein ? Or that it is not a balanced output ?
 
That statement from Apogee is confusing. It's not meant to be a reamping tool, it's designed to playback audio through an amplifier, but that's isn't that exactly what reamping is? All we're doing is playing back an audio track with as little coloration as possible, which is then processed by the amplifier like any other signal. If the output is designed for instrument level, amplifier use, why would it not be an acceptable reamping tool?

I'm mostly concerned with the quality compared to other popular reamp devices though, because obviously it is indeed possible to use the Duet 2 for reamping, but whether that's a quality solution for the bedroom musician that needs reamping capabilities is the real question. I only record guitar/bass tracks at home. I need a good DI, good conversion for some 5" monitors, 1-2 microphones preamps, and at least one output for reamping and general use. The Apogee Duet 2 looks like it may fit these needs perfectly.
 
Interested in this since I own the Duet 1 and didn't even know it was do-able. So Maestro allows for instrument impedance outputs ? Or just signal level ?

I read Apogee themselves state this is not meant to be used as a reamping tool. Are they mentionning the impedance is not correct or something of this vein ? Or that it is not a balanced output ?

I don't know the specifics.. but I know that it works and doesn't sound bad.

and listening to this on my new monitors makes me realize how much my old KRKs were hyping the highs.. needs just a touch more high end on the amp :erk:
 
Interested in this since I own the Duet 1 and didn't even know it was do-able. So Maestro allows for instrument impedance outputs ? Or just signal level ?

I read Apogee themselves state this is not meant to be used as a reamping tool. Are they mentionning the impedance is not correct or something of this vein ? Or that it is not a balanced output ?

The output impedance shouldn't make any difference as long as it's low enough. A low output impedance will color the signal less. I can't see a reason to use a reamp box with a quality output device for reamping unless you need the transformer isolation, ground lift etc. or your interface isn't able to put out enough voltage to drive the amp. All Boss pedals (and Tube Screamers too) have a low output impedance and no one's correcting the impedance when driving amps or other pedals with them, so why use a reamp box or instument impedance output?

I'm using my RME ADI-2 to reamp guitars and the Duet 2 outperforms it according to the spec sheet. So I guess it should work just great (if no one has any contrary experience)!
 
Reamping is all about giving the amplifier a signal that is as close to what you would get from a guitar as possible.
Yes you can "reamp" without a proper reamping device, but in my vocabulary it will be just sending signal to the amplifier and not real reamping.
If i were you i would compare the tech specs of all the best reamp boxes with that Duet 2 maestro instrument level output functionality.
 
Thanks Brian.

My point is Mutant's one, I'm more curious about the actual result it gives. Just like I shat bricks when I first used my DI box instead of using the HiZ input in my profire 2626, because the difference was obvious even though on paper the maths wouldn't let me think so.

It's cool to know it can be used as such in any case !
 
I just tried it, and it actually works. There's some hum that's probably due to some sort of ground loop, but that can only be heard during the parts when you're not playing. I'm fairly taken aback that this works as well as it does, although I've never used an actual reamp device before. Cool trick. Considering I'm planning on recording something within the next few months, I might try this method.