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Unless you're using your Duet to connect microphones, instruments, etc., there's really no need to ever open the Apogee Maestro application. The default settings, at least since the time the latest driver package was released, are OK for most uses. If you feel like changing the mute behavior of the device under certain circumstances, then changing things in the application's preferences would be advisable, but otherwise a successfully installed driver package means no need to use Apogee Maestro.

But, to answer your question, line out is what you'd want to select; however, the same thing can be accomplished by clicking the control knob until you see a green light on the Out LED.

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Got it! THanks man~ was just wondering since that maestro program automatically pops up every time duet is connected... maybe I will get into it later on if im interested in recording ^ ^ Thanks.

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Are you sure you're using the latest driver package for your Duet? This is one of the things that was changed not too long ago--the default setting of Maestro automatically launching. First, make sure you're using the latest software, and if you are, go to Apogee Maestro -> Preferences -> Advanced Preferences and disable the setting "Launch Maestro automatically when connecting a device."

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That's a great setup you have going there.

I got stevenkelby to make mine so you could try him, but really any of the decent diy'ers here on the forum could make you one. I believe the pin out details for the vga plug are still on the apogee website if they are needed. I've also seen one available on the apuresound website as well, a bit expensive perhaps for some but gives you a couple of options to try.

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Is 24/96 a default setting or do we need to go in and change it?

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That's the default on the duet but just make sure you have audio midi settings on the mac set to 24/96 as well.

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Where does one find the audio midi settings to check?

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I'm pretty sure some screen shots have been posted in this thread somewhere along the way, but Applications > Utilities > Audio MIDI Setup. Within the Audio Devices tab, make sure Properties For: is set to Duet, and that Default Output: is set to Duet. Then, in the Audio Output area, you can set the Format: according to your needs/preferences. I leave mine set at 96000.0 Hz.

I just spent some time with the Duet and the Grado GS-1000 using the headphone out on the Duet for the amp instead of an external amp. I read earlier in this thread the Duet headphone out is a great match for Grado's and I agree. I will do head to head comparison with that setup against the Sony R10s/RSA HR2. It would be pretty cool if the Grado's/Duet would be a sound I could live with even if it may not quite match the R10/HR2 because it would really simplify the system. I mean Macbook>>Duet>>GS-1000s. You can't get any simpler than that. No cd player, power cords, interconnects seperate heahphone amp, ect. My only concern from my initial listening tonight is the Duet seems just a little to bright on some recordings. We'll see.

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Thanks. Can you tell me some improvements I might expect form the non stock cables?

I am on vacation this week, so I spent the morning a/b headphones into the HR2 and Duet. Here is my findings and I learned a little about some of my headphones too. I mostly pitted the Grado GS-1000s to the Sony R10s. I did not think there was to much of a difference between the headphone amp on the Duet and the HR2. The HR-2 is a tad warmer and a little more refined. I had to really spend a lot of time to determine that though. The HR-2 also has a little more treble extension on the tracks I played, but let me emphasize not by much. I used Radiohead, The Church, The Cure, The Replacemets and the Primitives as the music. So mainly post punk alternative stuff.

The Grado GS-1000 has bigger bass than the R10s, might be a bit bloated, but certainly more bass to be heard, more prominent in the mix. This gave it a darker sound. With that said, I suspect the Grados would give me listening fatigue a faster than the R10s. The R10s have superior treble extension and midrange. Voices on the Grado were recessed in comparison to the R10s through both amps. If the bass on the Grados was tighter and if it had the midrange and treble extension/detail of the R10s, you would have one hell of the headphone. Of course I realize the Duet and HR-2 are not anywhere near the top of the line amps one can use with the headphones so that may make a difference too. I also tried the HD600 and the Ety ER-4S. The HD600 would be the best phone to protect the ears, I like it enough, but just not my cup of tea as much as the others. Don't laugh at this, but the ER-4S had the tightest bass of them all through both amps.

So, really I have not decided to take the HR-2 out of the mix or just use the Duet. I can live with both, but if I notice I am getting listening fatigue through the Duet after a longer session, then it would be wise to just stick with the HR-2 and use the Duet as a DAC only. Again, As for sound quality there really is not a whole lot of difference between the two with the HR-2 as slightly better, but as I said, it is not obvious at all, especially at first. I have seen people post in this thread the amp section on the Duet is nothing special, but i suspect those people have a lot better amps to make their comparisons. Okay, I will stop rambling now.

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The type of cable you choose will, of course play a big part in how much difference you notice.

This was the one i had made by steve. He used 4 strands of silver plated copper wire terminated with Eichmann silver bullets and a really good quality VGA plug. It was far from cheap but I definitely noticed increased detail and better bass response compare to the stock cable. Plus it doesn't take up half the table

Looks good, this cable didn't introduce any brightness or harshness did it? Thanks

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Not at all in my setup up. I had the duet connected up to the Wooaudio GES tube amp and i found it to be an excellent sounding combo.

Noob here, so sorry if this has already been covered -- this is a long thread!

I read somewhere it might be better to set the Audio MIDI Setup bit depth/sample rate to match the native recording and not to the default 24/96. It was claimed that if the MIDI was set to 24/96 that iTunes would be doing the upsampling (for native 16/44.1) before the Duet. Since I can't set the MIDI bit depth at anything but 24 bits on the Duet, this sounded odd to me.

As such, I remain confused. Any thoughts?

Also, how tricky is it to make a DIY breakout cable for the Duet? I am a novice with a soldering gun and somewhat of a moron when it comes to electronics. Sounds like in the above post there are some gains to be had with a custom breakout cable.

Whatever sample rate you set the duet at, you need to start itunes after you set it, or you have itunes doing the resampling instead of core audio. You definitely want core audio doing the sample rate conversion. The bit depth on the output device being 24 won't hurt anything, because a 16 bit file is converted to 24 bit by simply adding 8 bits of 0s to the front. No difference at all.

Bit depth isn't sample rate, and sample rate isn't bit depth. One is for loudness (bit depth), one is for sound wave shape (sample rate).