Apogee Duet - Turning Off?

[ausdave]

Hi there.

I love my Apogee Duet.

However when I turn my iMac off it stays on (the LED continues to blink).

I didn't even think that was possible (I thought that when the computer was off everything plugged in was off too).

Any ideas how i fix this without unplugging it every time.

Thanks.

 

[MacSiggy]

I'm having the same problem, I didn't think it was possible either! Also, when my iMac is in sleep mode the Duet gets warm; is this normal?

 

[ausdave]

I have emailed Apogee support, who were very helpful (and very quick).

Unfortunately its just something you have to put up with, but they have assured me that it won't hurt the device at all.

They leave their testing Duet module plugged in 24hrs a day with no adverse effects.

I've just learned to live with it (just seems like a waste of electricity more than anything to me... I usually like to turn everything off), but since i'm so good with everything else I guess I can't feel guilty for drawing such a small amount of power constantly (probably less than my alarm clock anyway).

 

[Sir Cecil]

I have emailed Apogee support, who were very helpful (and very quick).

Unfortunately its just something you have to put up with, but they have assured me that it won't hurt the device at all.

They leave their testing Duet module plugged in 24hrs a day with no adverse effects.

That's not good enough. Mine's not used as a "test" machine and I can't stand that light flashing day and night when everything else is shut down. And the wear and tear of continually pulling out the firewire cable is not an answer. They should provide a fix or modification for such a basic and annoying problem.
As for "it won't hurt the device", what else are they going to say? That it will shorten its life dramatically? Imagine the commotion if a light as bright as the Duet's was flashing as prominently on a computer even when it was asleep or off. It would be called INCOMPETENT DESIGN, wouldn't it?

I bet their Mk II device will not have this problem. But us Mk I users will be stuck with the light-show version.

 

[Luap]

Is this not more of a fault of how Macs work, rather than any hardware issue with the Apogee Duet?
I say this because a lot of bus powered firewire hardware does exactly the same thing. Bus powered Firewire HD's for one.

However, a workaround might be to use a powered firewire hub. And switch that on and off, instead of the hardware connected to it.

 

[TTripp]

It is annoying, isn't it? My iMac is connected to a surge strip, I power that off and the Duet turns "off" off.

 

[NGMstudios]

Thanks for this thread

I feel the same way. I wish the device had an "on/off" button or something. I don't really like leaving it on. Seems like it would be detrimental to the device in some way. (?)

I did however contact Apogee by phone and the guy I talked to nonchalantly said, 'Yeah, that's OK. You won't have any problems.'

I just hope this small nuance doesn't contribute to the device going out in 2-3 years. Yes, I do have the tendency to have things like this for that time, plus.

 

[hakukani]

I've always found that electronic devices actually like to be left on. Cycling on and off can be quite stressful on the electronics.

 

[NGMstudios]

Hakukani

Admittedly, I guess it's more of a paranoia thing, ya know, lol..

I just hope the low heat that it does put out doesn't affect the unit long term. It is a high price for the unit (although well worth it because they do 'sound amazing') and I guess that is where the concern comes from.

I have used it for about 5 days now and anyone looking to get an audio interface should definitely look into the Duet. It seems very robust and sturdy.

 

[Luap]

I've had mine for well over a year now, and it's always been left plugged in. So effectively, it has been powered on all that time.

Zero problems.

This is Apogee. Not Behringer

 

[ChrisA]

Hi there.

I love my Apogee Duet.

However when I turn my iMac off it stays on (the LED continues to blink).

I didn't even think that was possible (I thought that when the computer was off everything plugged in was off too).

Any ideas how i fix this without unplugging it every time.

Thanks.

It's an easy "fix". Buy a simple power strip. After you power off the Mac then flip the switch on the power strip and all A/C power will be removed from the system.

If you are worried about the cost of the power, don't be. The cost is about 10 cents per year.

Don't worry about heat either. Do you know how they manufacture electronics? After the parts are placed in the PCB the assembly then goes into an oven and is heated enough to melt the solder. The parts are designed to take that kind of heat. Anything you can touch with your hand is not really "hot".