MacBook Pro with Apogee Duet or Headamp Pico or neither?

[Jaska]

Originally Posted by grawk

I'm saying that without a doubt, no question in my mind, the amp in the duet sounds better.

How about mixing it up just a bit and assuming someone out there might have a Duet + Arietta (very possible ). What would you tend to think about that setup as opposed to using strictly the Duet for DAC + amp functions, and using headphones such as HD580s and DT770-80s (again, very possible that someone out there might own all of this ).

[wanderman]

when I saw Apogee I was thinking swiftech...continue

[grawk]

I can say that the duet sounds great feeding my balanced m3, and I can't imagine it won't do just fine feeding any amp. So if you like your amp, and just want to improve your source, both the pico and duet would do a fine job of that. Then you can trust your ears as to whether the built-in amp outperforms the external amp.

[Hartfell]

Originally Posted by grawk

I'm saying that without a doubt, no question in my mind, the amp in the duet sounds better.

I've read several "implications" in various Pico threads that the amp section of the Pico, though good, is not it's strong point. How would you say the Pico amp compares with the SR-71? I'm not going off on a tangent here. Just trying to gather data while I make up my mind.

Also, I'm curious, why you have both? Are you a musician?

[grawk]

I have both to compare them.

I'll just say you have to trust your ears whether you think the sr71 is better. I had one, I kept it for a couple of months, and sold it in favor of the supermacro v1. That was several years ago.

[Jaska]

There's some good information in this thread. I honestly didn't have very great expectations for the headphone amp in the Duet when I recently bought it. Both it and the new Arietta are in the mail and should arrive (hopefully) tomorrow.

On a side note, for anyone who uses a Mac, I think the chances of switching back to a PC are pretty slim at best, so investing in something like the Duet seems relatively low risk in that sense.

[grawk]

So I've spent some time with both, with my hhf1s and hd600s. Both are amazing for what they are. I'm using the duet to feed my m3, and have it set up for mute to toggle between the line outs and the headphone jack.

I don't feel comfortable with the pico feeding the m3, mostly because it's so small it doesn't feel solid with a cable that's more substantial than the amp, but it sounds great. With a less massive amp, the difference of scale would probably make things different.

Anyway, I think I'm gonna end up owning both. The duet sounds great, is very flexible, and allows me to do analog captures of my sacds and dvd-as, so that I can listen to them via itunes in as good a manner as possible. The pico sounds SO good, and is tiny and great for office/plane/etc use. I'm amazed every time I glance up and see the pico sitting there while listening to it.

[Hartfell]

Originally Posted by grawk

So I've spent some time with both, with my hhf1s and hd600s. Both are amazing for what they are. I'm using the duet to feed my m3, and have it set up for mute to toggle between the line outs and the headphone jack.

I don't feel comfortable with the pico feeding the m3, mostly because it's so small it doesn't feel solid with a cable that's more substantial than the amp, but it sounds great. With a less massive amp, the difference of scale would probably make things different.

Anyway, I think I'm gonna end up owning both. The duet sounds great, is very flexible, and allows me to do analog captures of my sacds and dvd-as, so that I can listen to them via itunes in as good a manner as possible. The pico sounds SO good, and is tiny and great for office/plane/etc use. I'm amazed every time I glance up and see the pico sitting there while listening to it.

This is a really tough call for me. I still haven't decided. No one is saying one is better than the other in terms of sound quality, which makes me lean toward the Duet more because of its bus-powered convenience, it's exceptional cool looks and its other Mac features that, who knows, I may just use some day.

[grawk]

But the pico is smaller, can be battery powered, and can be used with your ipod .

I look at it like this: with either the duet or the pico, you're paying $250 for a top notch computer source. Then the other $250 on the pico goes for portable headphone amp, and the other $250 on the duet goes to top notch ADC. So it just depends on which you need more. And your ears, of course. I'm happy with both, so the odds are good I'll end up with both...

[grawk]

After a day with the pico and duet and hd600, I can say the headamp in the pico is a better match than the duet with the hd600s. It's less striking with the grados.