To upgrade from Duet 2, or not?

[ze kink]

Hey guys!

I've been happily recording and mixing with the Apogee Duet 2 for a few years now. Needless to say I've been quite happy with it, though the fact that they came out with the iOS version later is a bit lame. I'd like to use it with the iPad I recently got, but alas etc.

Anyway, I've recently had a bunch of live gigs and drum recordings and stuff, so I again have an occasional need for more than 2 channels of input. I still have a Profire 2626 I've used for those, but I'm thinking of retiring it for just 8 channels of conversion. The rMBP I've upgraded to doesn't have firewire anymore, and besides, the Profire is already a legacy product, with the newest drivers being a year old. The pots are becoming a bit scratchy too and whatever.

At home, with vocal recordings etc. I'm completely happy with just 2 channels, and the Duet 2 being small is great for mobile recording/gigs/mixing on the road. I like the sound of the converters, really like the size (again), and having the touch buttons for quick mono checks and mutes is cool. The headphone amp on it is good enough to drive high impedance cans too, such as the HD-650's I mainly use. I know the Babyface needs a separate headphone amp for those, for example. I use cans a lot because I tend to work a lot on the go, so that's kind of important.

So, what'd you do? Sell the Duet 2 and get something similar, just with ADAT (e.g. Audient id22)? Or keep using the Duet 2 until I can afford something like the new RME Fireface 802, and hope I can pull off any coming up recordings with the old Profire?

Also, any particular recommendations would be welcome! I guess the Appgee Quartet could be an option to consider, for example.

 

[ze kink]

Any opinions or ideas would be welcome, guys! Aren't there any other people thinking about an interface upgrade at this point?

 

[Punkyskunky]

I recently upgraded my Apogee Duet to an Apogee quartet due to the same reason (not having enough inputs). I think with 4 analog inputs + 8 ADAT it's a good choice until you can afford something in the much higher price brackets, also it might be psychological but I do think it sounds quite a bit better than the Duet! Plus it looks more professional...

 

[ze kink]

I recently upgraded my Apogee Duet to an Apogee quartet due to the same reason (not having enough inputs). I think with 4 analog inputs + 8 ADAT it's a good choice until you can afford something in the much higher price brackets, also it might be psychological but I do think it sounds quite a bit better than the Duet! Plus it looks more professional...

I've been thinking about the Quartet too, but damn, it is a bit expensive for what it is. Essentially though I'd get the things I like about the Duet 2, just more of them. So it's definitely one option I'll consider!

I guess the Audient iD22 is so new that nobody here has any experience with it? It seems pretty killer and the reviews have been really good. I was pretty surprised that it even has insert points in the pres - which are apparently pretty much the same as in the Mico. And less than half the price of the Quartet, too... I wonder what they've done with it to get the price so far down, haha.

 

[neptunian]

The Audient ID22 doesn't currently have iPad support but I heard they're working on it. Reviews/specs look really impressive otherwise, though. Cross-platform, in case you ever wish to build your own music PC. I'd say either sell your current Duet and get the new Duet for the iPad support, or save up some more and get the Audient or Quartet depending on your platform needs. If Audient adds iPad support then the choice is clear.

 

[ze kink]

The Audient ID22 doesn't currently have iPad support but I heard they're working on it. Reviews/specs look really impressive otherwise, though. Cross-platform, in case you ever wish to build your own music PC. I'd say either sell your current Duet and get the new Duet for the iPad support, or save up some more and get the Audient or Quartet depending on your platform needs. If Audient adds iPad support then the choice is clear.

Cheers for the reply!

Now that you mention it, I think I read about Audient working on iPad support somewhere, but had entirely forgotten about it. I guess it's becoming pretty obvious that I should just go with the iD22 at this point. I guess I'll wait for a little bit more first though and order it after my financial situation stabilizes a bit.

The only issue I can foresee with the iD22 is that the DI input seemed to sound a bit bad from some comparison clips I heard. The input impedance is only 1MOhm and with the Duet 2, it's specified at >2MOhm, so that might be why.

The Profire 2626 apparently works fine as an ADAT pre, I presume? I recall seeing a thread about some latency issues with it recently... I've only used mine as an interface so far, so I don't really know.