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Wednesday, August 10 2011 @ 03:32 PM CDT

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Re:How much better?
Wednesday, August 10 2011 @ 03:43 PM CDT

Apogee One vs. Duet
http://onevsduet.blogspot.com/2010/01/apogee-one-vs-duet.html

Re:How much better?
Wednesday, August 10 2011 @ 03:47 PM CDT

Quote by: bud ... Do you think the Apogee One is a worthwhile investment to enhance playback from a computer that has no line level output? I understand that it has other merits as well - but would you consider it use in conjunction with iTunes?

i have no direct experience with using an outboard D/A - someone here must have some experience with it....

Re:How much better?
Thursday, August 11 2011 @ 07:43 AM CDT

The Apogee One is dandy. I have one and it's great. I don't use it for my main interface, I use a MOTU Ultralite to go to the power amp that drives my passive KRK speakers, and I wasn't aware there were line level outputs on the Apogee One, but I have the original version of the One and I know they came out with a beefed up One recently. I mostly use the One for the convenience and transportability. I'd say it's a very worthwhile investment. And the condenser mic in it is also quite a nice piece of kit. The Duet is better (because of more inputs; but it doesn't have the nice built-in mic) but at twice the price you might not want to go there. I actually had a Duet and returned it for the Ultralite.

Re:How much better?
Thursday, August 11 2011 @ 09:09 AM CDT

Quote by: Jim Bouchard The Apogee One is dandy. I have one and it's great. I don't use it for my main interface, I use a MOTU Ultralite to go to the power amp that drives my passive KRK speakers, and I wasn't aware there were line level outputs on the Apogee One, but I have the original version of the One and I know they came out with a beefed up One recently. I mostly use the One for the convenience and transportability. I'd say it's a very worthwhile investment. And the condenser mic in it is also quite a nice piece of kit. The Duet is better but at twice the price you might not want to go there. I actually had a Duet and returned it for the Ultralite.

Thanks - that pretty much settles it. Saving my pennies.

Re:How much better?
Thursday, August 11 2011 @ 09:24 AM CDT

That said, you might want to make sure you weren't unintentionally misinformed by the fine folks at Sweetwater; according to the Apogee website the only output is for unbalanced powered monitors. http://www.apogeedigital.com/products/one-features.php

I used to use a Tascam US122 for sending a line level signal to my power amp and that worked really well. It's been replaced by this:
http://www.guitarcenter.com/TASCAM-US-144MKII-USB-2-0-4-channel-Audio-MIDI-Interface-105631592-i1474245.gc?source=4LTSWXX1
and that might be a good inexpensive option. No internal mic and not as portable, but obviously has line out functionality.

Re:How much better?
Thursday, August 11 2011 @ 10:42 AM CDT

Quote by: Jim Bouchard That said, you might want to make sure you weren't unintentionally misinformed by the fine folks at Sweetwater; according to the Apogee website the only output is for unbalanced powered monitors. http://www.apogeedigital.com/products/one-features.php I used to use a Tascam US122 for sending a line level signal to my power amp and that worked really well. It's been replaced by this: http://www.guitarcenter.com/TASCAM-US-144MKII-USB-2-0-4-channel-Audio-MIDI-Interface-105631592-i1474245.gc?source=4LTSWXX1 and that might be a good inexpensive option. No internal mic and not as portable, but obviously has line out functionality.

Thanks for the tip. I just checked out the 2 channel Tascamhttp://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/US122mk2/ that seems to suit me for even less money $119.

Re:How much better?
Thursday, August 11 2011 @ 04:11 PM CDT

Quote by: bud No luck changing my mac output to line level in the mac. The fine folks at Sweetwater suggested the best inexpensive way is to go with the Apogee One interface that has line output and high end circuitry for the $249 price tag. currently use a Lin6 Gearbox which is cool - but could maybe be better and a Samson USB mic CO1U. The Apogee One is a mic and interface combo with great ratings. Hmmm. How much better does anyone think songs would sound being played back at line level through a USB interface like the Apogee as opposed to gain output from the computer?

I can tell you that the Apogee ONE sounds much better than even the optical output on my mac mini. A great interface (albeit one channel) and a great sound output to boot. You also get a pretty good condenser mic built in. You can get the ONE for far less than 250. I got mine new for 179. The recording quality of the ONE is quite good as well. no brainer for the money if you only use one channel to record. To maximize, be sure to select the highest quality sound output option in audioMIDI setup too.

Re:How much better?
Thursday, August 11 2011 @ 04:58 PM CDT

Quote by: crissew Quote by: bud No luck changing my mac output to line level in the mac. The fine folks at Sweetwater suggested the best inexpensive way is to go with the Apogee One interface that has line output and high end circuitry for the $249 price tag. currently use a Lin6 Gearbox which is cool - but could maybe be better and a Samson USB mic CO1U. The Apogee One is a mic and interface combo with great ratings. Hmmm. How much better does anyone think songs would sound being played back at line level through a USB interface like the Apogee as opposed to gain output from the computer? I can tell you that the Apogee ONE sounds much better than even the optical output on my mac mini. A great interface (albeit one channel) and a great sound output to boot. You also get a pretty good condenser mic built in. You can get the ONE for far less than 250. I got mine new for 179. The recording quality of the ONE is quite good as well. no brainer for the money if you only use one channel to record. To maximize, be sure to select the highest quality sound output option in audioMIDI setup too.

I spoke with the techs at Apogee and the Apogee One only has a variable db output for phones - no true line level output. Consumer stereos recognize -10db as line level. By opening the audio midi utility in my MacBook I could read the output in db's as I adjusted the headphone/line out volume. With 11 of the 16 squares lit - i get to -11.29db. As close as I can to -10. So - for now I'll stick my iTunes volume at 2/3's and my output at 5 black squares or -11.28db - until I invest in a true line out digital interface like the Tascam I posted earlier.
That's my highly unscientific finding. Thanks again for the input.

Re:How much better?
Thursday, August 11 2011 @ 06:08 PM CDT

Quote by: bud Thanks John and Harold for your responses. I guess I'm also wondering if there will b a notable difference in sound if I do this. I use a very basic interface with a headphone/line output. I'll also see about setting the mac head out to line out. Meanwhile I 'll check around to see if there are other routes that lead to better sound.

I use my 8th inch jack on my iMac... sounds great to me... I also have my Presonus hooked up to my monitors and they both sound about the same. I guess I might add that I don't like to leave my interface on so the 8th inch jack is the most convenient. As far as the macbook... I don't usually hook speakers up to it... just headphones. I noticed that on my first generation macbook, the quality of sound doesn't appear to be as good as the iMac's.