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Apogee Officially Introduces 'Quartet' Desktop Audio Interface for Mac
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Not sure what you're talking about. My FW Duet is still going strong. The only problem I ever have is with the damn MagicJack being on the same machine (out of necessity, unfortunately).
Why is this news? This is WAY overpriced. MOTU's 4Pre is 1/3 of the price. Hell, the 8pre is 1/2 of the price!
It's in the blog section - not a news headline. The first time was about the tease.
MOTU is pretty good, but seriously... Even Digidesign isn't that expensive, and THAT's saying something.
Great. Another person I can sell swamp land to. How much would you like to buy?
Seriously, when it comes to "high end" audio, the sky is the limit for the amount of BS snake-oil "properties" companies can sell to people that don't know any better. Apogee is quality equipment, but it's way overpriced for what you get IMO in the areas that matter these days. Sadly, no quality of op-amp is going to save you from either USB 2.0 latency issues (unforgivable here given the price) or Apple earbuds being the playback medium of consumer choice these days OR the fact that a typical pop album has about 10dB of dynamic range on average (since the record labels believe louder = better even if it's clipping). So what is the point in buying the "best" recording gear if the end product could have been reproduced on the worst dreck out there?
Even so, typical "low end" (price-wise) amplifiers and receivers on the consumer end have improved drastically over the past decade as have speakers from companies like PSB that can make +/- 1dB frequency response a reality in speakers that cost under $1k a pair (unheard of 20+ years ago anywhere near that price). But it still takes at least a modicum of thought to find these good speakers since places like Best Buy are not the place to shop for such things and at this stage, the idea that the typical consumer is EVER going to have the kind of system on the playback chain that warrants ever increasing diminishing returns high-end equipment on the recording chain is about exactly ZERO.
There are, of course, classical labels that cater to high-end audio for recording (seeing they don't need to pay rock stars), but if classical and jazz isn't your thing you're sadly limited to a handful of pop or rock recordings that are worthy of more expensive gear (some Tori Amos and Pink Floyd recordings come to mind).
In any case, I'm afraid far more damage is done via editing and mastering on most albums than any op-amp on a cheaper input device would ever provide to a typical recording. Apogee is about the brand name reputation in "high-end" circles (snake-oil or not) more than the products, IMO. The fact they made a consumer EQ "palette" device for high-end speakers ought to tell you something about the nature of typical recordings out there. An accurate speaker should NEVER need any kind of EQ what-so-ever, but sadly the recording end is where most music gets screwed up (whether by incompetence or being ordered to by music execs that don't give a flying crap about sound quality, only perception based studies on loudness = higher sales data).
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champ01
Guest
There are so many audio interfaces which cost way more then this quartet.
Apogee is expensive but you get what you pay for. Apple isn't cheap either but clearly people see it as the best choice.
You buy pro audio gear based on how it sounds. ******* money.
Apogee is expensive but you get what you pay for. Apple isn't cheap either but clearly people see it as the best choice.
You buy pro audio gear based on how it sounds. ******* money.
Good on ya, but it was a real clusterf*** about a year ago where only the new USB Duet was supported and nobody at Apogee could or would say if the FireWire Duet would ever be supported. Don't believe me? Read the other comments in this this thread or do a search on "Apogee FireWire Duet Lion". The whole experience was enough to make me sell mine.
If you're sticking with ProTools HD, then of course you would because you got at least five figures invested in it.
If you're talking about ProTools SE or LE, the software that will only work with bundled Mbox or m-audio interface, then this Apogee hardware is in an entirely other league.
I had the FireWire Duet, and I've still got the MOTU UltraLite mk3 hybrid (and had the non-hybrid version before that) and although the MOTU is versatile as hell, the pres on the Duet blow the MOTU out of the water for really anything mic'ed (vocals, acoustic guitar, etc.)
Do an A/B with your ears, not just your wallet.
There are so many audio interfaces which cost way more then this quartet.
Apogee is expensive but you get what you pay for. Apple isn't cheap either but clearly people see it as the best choice.
You buy pro audio gear based on how it sounds. ******* money.
Audio gear shouldn't "sound" at all. It's supposed to be transparent. After a certain point, it is and people are fooling themselves with golden ear crap.
Pro Tools don't have LE anymore, and the new M-boxes are pretty solid actually. Digi003 rack is also pretty good, with good converters. The build quality is so-so though. But Pro tools works fine with almost all interfaces, including apogees. M-audio has never been good though.. I would prefer a digi003 rack or even a mbox pro interface to apogees any day. And then an artist series controller
as long as it's for prosumer usage of course.
C
champ01
Guest
Let me guess. You're one of those that think if the buy a UAD plugin the got the real thing and sounds exactly the same?
Audio gear shouldn't sound at all? Are you serious?
Should I tell my clients to dump all their tube gear etc. because it doesn't sound transparent and therefor not real pro audio gear.
For that price, go buy a M-Audio Profire 2626 for $500. Then send it to Black Lion Audio to have them mod it. BLA says it has the same chip as the Apogee Ensemble. So after the mod you've got 8 analog I/O and 16 ADAT I/O for about $1200 with the same quality converters and a better clock.
Why would I buy plugins that attempt to mar the sound with discolorations when I already have tons of built-in options to alter the sound with EQ, phase and other effects?
It depends on what you're looking for and where it is in the chain. It should NEVER change the sound in the playback chain in a system that claims any kind of accuracy to the signal as you are then modifying what is in the recording by altering it. On the recording side, it should be accurate as possible in the standard studio chain and only modified by the artist before being input into the system if they're looking for a certain sound.
In other words, if your goal is to record a live orchestra and have it sound as real as possible, the LAST thing you'd want is a stack of tube pre-amps between the microphones and the recording gear. If you have a rock band that wants that "tube amp sound" on their guitars, it's an artistic choice, not a question of fidelity. In short, I would not want this Apogee device imparting its own colorations to the signal. That is not its job.
Should I tell my clients to dump all their tube gear etc. because it doesn't sound transparent and therefor not real pro audio gear.
There's a difference between using something because you want to create a certain sound (e.g. tube amps create even-order distortion which sounds pleasant to the ear) and having equipment that colors the sound regardless of whether you want it or not (i.e. amplifiers in the recording chain that have nothing to do with artistic input or on the playback side where instead of recreating what the artist intended you to hear distort it by adding their own color). One example is the turn-table on the playback side. The reason some cartridges sound "warmer" than others is that they're changing the sound. Hey, if that's what you want, fine, but don't pretend it's accurate playback. It's no different fundamentally than adding a graphic equalizer on the playback side. If you want to crank up the bass or mid-range for a given album, go ahead but it's not what's on the album. Choosing speakers for a "warm" sound is the same difference.
The bottom line is that if you want to hear what's on the recording, be it the playback chain or the monitor speakers in the studio, you need ACCURATE equipment. Otherwise, you're making adjustments to adjustments and the end result on true high fidelity (as in accurate playback) equipment will be an unknown.
So no, I don't agree with studios that use cheap playback speakers because it's an "industry standard" or it gives a certain sound. That's a crock to any real engineer that wants accuracy, not marred sound. "Pro" unfortunately doesn't mean accurate and that's why there's a LOT of bad sounding albums out there (and I don't mean the artists' performance).
You might as well use plugins to alter the sound if that's what you're after since all you're really doing is changing the frequency response, harmonics, phase, etc. anyway. By all means, make it sound like you want it to for a given project, but don't tell me it's a good idea to use colored gear in the studio in general since you'll never have an accurate base point to start out with.
I wish it lay flat, personally I'd rather have had a breakout cable than that arch, I never had a problem with breakout cables used to them, a few people moaned Apogee listened and you have this Arch - for me it's too big to travel with, I guess it's more desktop but I'd have preferred it lay flat with a breakout cable rather than this arch.
I like the design though except for the "Arch".
Apogee your stuff sounds incredible ! the designs used to be so lovely and tankish, Applelike - the Ensemble, DUET classic! but then they got ...not so pretty, i like "pretty" audio gear.
i can aggregate two plastic Duet2s for cheaper than this unit costs.
Anyway can't fault the sound quality of Apogees preamps!
There's always Sound Devices USBPRE4 (coming November I'm told).better preamps similar price point.
I like the design though except for the "Arch".
Apogee your stuff sounds incredible ! the designs used to be so lovely and tankish, Applelike - the Ensemble, DUET classic! but then they got ...not so pretty, i like "pretty" audio gear.
i can aggregate two plastic Duet2s for cheaper than this unit costs.
Anyway can't fault the sound quality of Apogees preamps!
There's always Sound Devices USBPRE4 (coming November I'm told).better preamps similar price point.
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Pro Tools don't have LE anymore, and the new M-boxes are pretty solid actually. Digi003 rack is also pretty good, with good converters. The build quality is so-so though. But Pro tools works fine with almost all interfaces, including apogees. M-audio has never been good though.. I would prefer a digi003 rack or even a mbox pro interface to apogees any day. And then an artist series controller
I was trying to point out that there are a lot of low-end audio interfaces that are still being sold with the old, hardware-locked versions of ProTools LE/SE. Those will only function with the hardware attached.
Until Apple figures out how to solve its issues with the new machines and their USB3 problems with audio interfaces, it ain't goin' anywhere.
These are boxes with few inputs and no one in their niche market is going to use more than a stereo pair of outs, and the word clock, optical (and probably two of the inputs) will never get anything plugged into them. USB2 was much more awful for such simple audio when computers were half as powerful as they are today. The fact is that USB2 is a dumb interface to have on an audio interface in 2012 but this unit would not benefit from anything faster.
It's not a pro box. It's an Apple Store version of an audio interface to sell to Apple Store clientele. It specs out nicely (and the Duets sound great) but line them up in a store that sells all manufacturers and no one walks out with one of these. If the preamps sound as good as the Duet's it'll be nice, but still a terrible bang for the buck.
Maestro 2 doesn't "see" my fw duet anymore (it did on 10.7 but not on 10.8) - so while I can play music and do all kinds of audio output-stuff just as fine as before - I can't reach any recording-related settings anymore... I've re-installed and tried various tricks to get it working but it just won't work anymore... I guess I need to contact Apogee support.
i think this piece is great news. perfect size and capacity for the ubiquitous "professional home studio" operation, and I personally love apogee's conversion. the duet is fantastic, this is basically a larger duet with more advanced features.
and as far as the latency argument goes, in my time A/Bing I've found USB 2 to be a whole lot better than FW400 on mac. it's faster, and the drivers are better with more recent OS's.
didn't realize so many had such a bone to pick with apogee
and as far as the latency argument goes, in my time A/Bing I've found USB 2 to be a whole lot better than FW400 on mac. it's faster, and the drivers are better with more recent OS's.
didn't realize so many had such a bone to pick with apogee
It's not the recent OSs as much as it is the recent processors. Having two or four (or more) cores "solved" the "unsolvable" USB audio interface problem where CPU cycles dedicated to i/o, etc. could starve a single core processor doing A/D conversion.
MVM...I am guessing too many years in a heavy metal band has reduced hearing to point where can't tell difference between Apogee and Radioshack pre.
It needs Thunderbolt. It doesn't NEED thunderbolt, but someone needs to realize daisy chaining potential. Also, most will only have one free USB port after burning one on a retarded iLok.
http://www.avid.com/static/resources/us/images/products/cw_800x700_PTfamilyLatency.png
Allegedly it does help latency... It shows "top performing" FW being slightly better than USB2, but I'm sure it depends on the device. And PCIe/Thunderbolt "blows" em away.
This is for Avid's stupid-expensive HD system though.
Aaaand no daisy chaining, sigh.