Thanks for the update on the Breakout Box.  Does the sound quality change any with the addition of the breakout box?  I have a breakout box on backorder, so I am a little curious if there is much of a difference between the breakout cable and breakout box sonically.   --Eric   P.S.  I...

No problem.  The Duet 2 is a really nice unit, and it has a pretty good headphone section built in as well, with enough power to drive both my Sennheiser HD600 and AKG K701.   --Eric

Quote: In response to your first question:  turning the volume up and down on the mac when the duet 2 is connected is the same as turning the knob.  The knob on the Duet 2 is an encoder switch, which controls a digitally controlled analog volume control circuit (most likely a relais of...

You can use a pair of 1/4" TS to RCA interconnects from the 1/4" mono outs on the breakout cable.  Many of my issues with whining noises on Duet 2 are due to my having a faulty unit that is going to be fixed soon.  another option that is more susceptible to ground loops is using a 1/4" to RCA...

The HD558 ear pads are too large to fit on the HD448.  If you want velour-like ear pads for the HD448, you must use the HD518/HD538 ear pads, though the sound will change, especially the bass on the HD448 with the velour-like pads, not necessarily for the better.  I'd stick with the stock pads...

If you were using higher end headphones, like the HD600 or K701 open headphones, or something that had very high current needs, like a Denon, a better headphone amp might be needed.  But, the internal headphone amp on the Duet 2 is actually very good, as it uses very low distortion op-amps (the...

The flexibility on the bridges is actually a very good thing, as the old models had a very brittle, hard plastic that broke when flexed.  The new plastic on the HD598 is surprisingly impact resistant and flexible, and should last quite a while.  I use mine portable a lot, and while they are not...

Actually I hooked up the same unbalanced cable to the Focals, that I was using with my old speaker amp, and the Focals work fine with it.  I think there was just an incompatibility between the Duet 2 and the old amp I was using.   --Eric

I have an update on the issues I was facing with using an unbalanced amp with the Duet 2.  After conferring again with an Apogee Tech Support person, I decided to buy a pair of studio monitor speakers that had balanced inputs, a pair of Focal CMS 40 powered speakers, and voila the ground noise...

Are you planning on using a portable amplifier with the Apogee ONE? If so, it will work fine as a DAC, though you may need to turn the volume level on the Apogee ONE to -12 db or so to avoid overloading the input on the portable amp.  If you are planning on using a home amplifier with the ONE...

After upgrading my 1/4" to RCA cables to a more optimal configuration, I can now confirm that the breakout cable wasn't the weak link in the signal chain, and that the 1/4" preamp outs on the Duet 2 sound better to my ears (more detailed, clearer, with a more three-dimensional sound) than the...

I wanted to update my earlier comments to reflect that the plug adapter (Ebtech Hum-X) did eliminate the ground loop problem that I was having after all.  Also, when the ground loop problem was eliminated, I have now realized that the line out and headphone outs are of similar quality with the...

The one downside to the Duet 2 in my opinion is the so-so quality of the breakout cable.  I get much more detail and dimensionality using the headphone out as a preamp out to my speaker setup, however, this causes some other issues (ground loop problems) with my speaker amp, caused by noise in...

Hey everyone,   Some of you may remember me from the earlier pages in the thread.  I have been relatively silent about the amp as of late due to my failed attempt at replacing the unit's voltage converter, thus I haven't been able to use the unit in high voltage/current mode nor with an...

The HD438 and HD418 pads will work on the HD448.  BTW the HD438 and HD418 pads are the same part, but I don't remember the exact part number, as it has been a long time since I ordered them.   --Eric

I am happy to say that with the new beta version of the Apogee Duet 2 driver for Mac OS X Lion, is quite stable with Lion.  Actually I am having less problems with the Duet 2 stability wise with the new beta driver than with the old Snow Leopard one.  However, my old copy of Logic 8 is not...

As far as OS X Lion is concerned, Apogee has stated that once Lion is released, they will have driver information ready. The June update probably won't work with Lion, but most likely they will have one ready this month that will.  The June release requires 10.6.4 and above.   --Eric  ...

I don't own Amarra, but Decibel has plenty of its own "special moments".  The ONE and Duet seem to be able to coexist with my audio playback software, but I haven't tried aggregating them yet.  I'll probably try that sometime this weekend as I finally side-graded to Logic Express 9 after using...

Device aggregation would probably work better between the ONE (USB) and Duet 2 (USB) than the Duet (Firewire)  and Duet 2 (USB), as Apogee has stated in other forums and in the duet 2 manual that aggregation works best between like devices (USB and USB), not USB and Firewire.   --Eric

I have to somewhat take back my comment about the headphone jack vs. the breakout cables.  I think there is a slight volume difference between the two outputs, with the headphone out being a bit louder, and at times a touch more harsh at higher volumes than the breakout cable outs.  The Breakout...

I have had my Duet 2 since last Wednesday, and in comparison to my prior Apogee ONE, it is a considerable improvement as a DAC/headphone amp and as a DAC/preamp for my Speakers. As a headphone amp, the Duet 2 has considerably more clean output at much higher volumes, and is also much more...

Quote: Sorry if my post was too cranky or blunt.  I don't even own a high end CD player let alone a good high-resolution disc-based source, as my computer and Apogee Duet 2 are the front end for my stereo, I am finding it is cheaper overall to use an existing computer and use a high...

Quote: Are the files mp3's? if so, switch over to lossless files.  MP3's always clip, due to their raising the volume 1-3db during the encoding process.   Also, yes, you should hear clipping in both drivers if there is clipping present in both channels.  If this persists, it may be...

Quote: No problem, if the problem persists with better quality music that you can confirm is not clipping (use lossless files for this, not youtube), then try eliminating the headphones as the source of the distortion, or your computer as well.   As to using CD Players as testing...

Quote: I just played that track on my Apogee Duet 2, and what did I notice first, that my level meters on the Apogee were clipping heavily, in that the signal from the source material (that video) is highly distorted.  The headphones are fine, the quality of the music is not.  Try...