2. pc-audio
  3. 1230838656

Opinions on Apogee Duet performance

I am looking for opinions from those of you that use the Duet or have used it. I am most concerned with the sonic characteristics used as a dac. If you can compare it to other dacs you have used that would be helpful.It looks like a good option for me as I was looking at the Mini dac in a mac based system and for it's headphone capabilities.. I am assuming that since it is made for mac that it should be plug and play. What are your experiences?

Cheers.
rrboogie
cfcjb
37 posts
 
I've got one and use it to listen to music through my headphones. Aesthetically, it is beautiful to look at and beautifully built. It has a wonderfully slim form factor and partners any Mac wonderfully.
As for sound, it is wonderfully smooth yet at the same time highly resolving, it also projects a very realistic sound stage with my headphones. I find listening to it for long periods totally non-fatiguing. At its price point it is nigh on unbeatable in my opinion.
Highly recommended.
rrboogie OP
47 posts
 
Cfcjb,
Have you ever tried it in your big rig? What phones are you using? I will be using a pair of HD 650.
cfcjb
37 posts
 
Rrboogie, I haven't placed it in my main system but I would not be surprised if it compared very favorably to my Resolution Audio Opus 21 CDP, which in and of itself is a great CDP.
The headphones I use for listening are Audio Technica ATH-W1000.
I used to listen through a Red Wine Audio modified Ipod and Ray Samuels SR-71, both excellent products and truly portable but the Apogee/Mac combo beats it. It really is that good. If it were to be produced by an audiophile company you could comfortably triple the price.
rrboogie OP
47 posts
 
I am even more eager to hear one now! I have emailed apogee with some technical questions and if I can make it work in my system this will be my next dac.

Thanks for your reply!
suji9
5 posts
 
I love my Duet. The price is right, set-up is pretty much plug and play and it sounds great. Just remember it's not a stand-alone DAC. It will only take digital input via Firewire and only from a Mac. That means you will have wires going from your laptop to the Duet and from the Duet to your stereo. You will need a big enough hard drive to hold all your music. Also, you can't use the Duet with another kind of transport or with a wireless streaming setup like a Squeezebox.

I didn't like the break-out cable so a friend built me an interconnect. It has just a d-sub connector on one end and a pair of Eichmann bullets on the other. It sounds better, I don't have to use adapters, and I don't have all those extra wires and connectors to deal with.

Just some things to keep in mind.

Sue
More to discover