[Skyfall]

Hey guys,
 
 
I have the latest Duet and what is even better is using a dedicated balance amp for your Duet. I have Liquid Carbon and the improvements is significant !
The level of detail, depth and sound placements is on another level..The sound is so powerful with great impact. 

 

[skhan007]

  Hey guys,
 
 
I have the latest Duet and what is even better is using a dedicated balance amp for your Duet. I have Liquid Carbon and the improvements is significant !
The level of detail, depth and sound placements is on another level..The sound is so powerful with great impact. 

Cool! So you're running the 1/4"  or RCA out of your Duet into the Cavalli? Sounds like a great idea. Were you concluding that running headphones directly out of the Duet was not doing it for you? I'm liking what I hear with my Duet and Senn HD800's, but I have put the volume on the Duet at about 50-60% on the dial to power the cans. I'm curious if that means I need an amp. 

 

[Skyfall]

Yes, I'm running 1/4" headphone out to stereo RCA on my Liquid Carbon- get the best sounding cable you can find
Running straight from Duet it's not bad at all but you're missing the the true capabilities of your headphone especially LCD and all Sennheiser HD. The other good thing about Duet it doesn't have any peakiness and harshness in the upper region and even when you turn it out loud - a great match for my HD700 and HD800.
 
One humble advice, if you like head-fi so much you should invest a dedicated amp with balance option they make a huge difference..not gimmick. And the CAvalli Liquid Carbon IMO represents the best value in the audiophile industry, it is a true audiophile quality amp that can fully convert a single ended signal to balance without sounding weird or introduce any distortions. It's not about how loud it can go but more of how correct and accurate the presentation of the whole music is within the two channels between your ears. 
This is especially wonderful when you do your mixing in the box with your headphones - you can literally "see" every instruments more vividly and carefully manipulate them as you go 

 

[skhan007]

  Yes, I'm running 1/4" headphone out to stereo RCA on my Liquid Carbon- get the best sounding cable you can find
Running straight from Duet it's not bad at all but you're missing the the true capabilities of your headphone especially LCD and all Sennheiser HD. The other good thing about Duet it doesn't have any peakiness and harshness in the upper region and even when you turn it out loud - a great match for my HD700 and HD800.
 
One humble advice, if you like head-fi so much you should invest a dedicated amp with balance option they make a huge difference..not gimmick. And the CAvalli Liquid Carbon IMO represents the best value in the audiophile industry, it is a true audiophile quality amp that can fully convert a single ended signal to balance without sounding weird or introduce any distortions. It's not about how loud it can go but more of how correct and accurate the presentation of the whole music is within the two channels between your ears. 
This is especially wonderful when you do your mixing in the box with your headphones - you can literally "see" every instruments more vividly and carefully manipulate them as you go 

OK, so you're suggesting I find an amp that has balanced outputs? The Duet outs are all unbalanced, so going from my 1/4", I'll convert to RCA, which will all be unbalanced. I've heard a lot about Cavalli amps and they look very cool. I especially like what I've seen of the Liquid Glass amp. They are pricey, though!! Sounds like a good match for the Duet. I'm currently thinking about a MicroZotl2 or Woo Audio WA2 and hope the Duet pairs well with these. 

 

[Skyfall]

Keep in mind that Duet's tonality is a little warm already pairing them with tube amp might make it really warm unless that's what you're looking for.

 

[skhan007]

  Keep in mind that Duet's tonality is a little warm already pairing them with tube amp might make it really warm unless that's what you're looking for.

I'm actually finding it bright. Perhaps it's the Sennheiser HD800 cans. In any case, the high end is good and not harsh/fatiguing. I like it. What I'm currently reading up on is tap length and other features in current generation DACs, to determine if my Duet is still a good contender. Sounds good to my ears, but I hope to do some A/B comparisons with other DACs and see. 

 

[Skyfall]

In my previous post here I had mentioned how Duet compared to Hugo and now I also have Yulong D200 with balance out.

 

[skhan007]

  In my previous post here I had mentioned how Duet compared to Hugo and now I also have Yulong D200 with balance out.

Oh wow, I'd be really interested in reading about that comparison. Do you recall how long ago you posted Duet vs. Hugo? I'll need to dig through the pages and find that post. 

 

[skhan007]

I have the latest which works with IPad and IPhone. As far as the DAC goes the newer version is clearer and cleaner sounding overall, better mid range and a bit more detailed. The system is also more stable ,no hiccups or anything at all.

I compared Duet 2 with Hugo. Hugo has more better micro details and cleaner sounding. The highs are more extended and less warm. The Duet is warm and a bit darker in tonality but it has more punch in the bass and somehow it feels more spacious than Hugo.

I feel the Duet is more musical with its warmer tone and less detail oriented. It pairs with headphone a lot easier .

OK, cool- found your post! I have the first gen Duet, so I'm keenly interested in how it stacks up. The number of taps seems to be quite the prominent topic right now, with Chord products, anyway. I hope to do an A/B with Duet first generation vs. Hugo someday (assuming I can find a local Hugo). 

 

[dip registered]

If anyone could do an apogee duet 1st or 2nd gen with any chord product it would be greatly appreciated!

 

[Jlink18]

reviving an old thread here and was curious if anyone has any experience with the Duet and Focal headphones?

 

[arjuna93]

How does it compare to M-Audio Profire 610 and Focusrite Saffire Pro?