[Jeremy]

I have to share an intriguing conversation I had last week with the manager of a highly regarded pro audio store in the UK where I bought my Duet. He had the Duet on hold for me, and when I arrived to buy it I asked him for a cable adapter that would connect the Duet break out cable (1/4" females) with my SR-71 (minijack). He was confused as to why I would want to do such a thing since the Duet came with the best possible headphone amplifier anyone could need. I told him of my love of the lush organic sound produced by my SR-71 and he laughed kindly, then explained that an amp is an amp. It provides amplification for its intended purpose, such as to drive headphones or speakers or whatever. He insisted that this is all an amp does and there is no variation in sound quality. It simply "amplifies" the signal.

I bought the cable for my SR-71 anyway, but it made me think. This man is extremely knowledgeable about pro audio. He's the manager of one of England's most highly reputed pro music gear stores. He sells to members of Pink Floyd, Eric Clapton, and many many other high profile musicians who live in the area. I'm still happy with my SR-71 and convinced it adds quality to my chain, but I thought I would share this startling conversation anyway. Maybe that's why Ray Samuels asked me after doing the switch test on me between the SR-71 and his most expensive tube amp: "Could you hear a difference?" meaning that I should NOT be able to.

Now it's time to plug back into my Duet and SR-71 and enjoy every minute of my new gear.

 

[Jeremy]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jaska /img/forum/go_quote.gif Hot swapping any FireWire audio interface is a risky proposition. M-Audio has sure faced problems with this, and many users have fried their FireWire devices and even their computers as a result. Unless Apogee officially declares the Duet to be hot swappable, I won't do it.

Thanks for this advice. Is there a chance i have done damage already to my Duet or MacBook Pro?

On a separate but possibly related note, a few minutes after Maestro launches I have occasionally had my Mac suddenly and without warning turn to a blue screen and then to the Log On screen. This has never happened to me before on a Mac.

 

[Jaska]

It's really hard to say. I would certainly advise NOT hot swapping the Duet anymore, and trying to troubleshoot and resolve any hardware problems you might have at your earliest convenience.

Do a quick Google search for FireWire hot swapping, and you'll see that I'm not alone in advising against it. Over many years of helping at Apple Discussions, I can't count the number of times I've encountered fellow users having serious problems with this. I really hope that your computer and Duet are okay.

 

[feverfive]

Sorry, I know this might be a bit offtopic, but I didn't think it deserved its own thread.

I just ordered a Duet (from Sweetwater), and I want to confirm how I connect everyhting w/ my very simple setup. For now, all I have is my Macbook Pro & AudioEngine A5's, which are of course powered speakers. The Audio in for the A5's is simply a 1/8" audio cable that I connect right now directly to the 1/8" headphone/optical out of my MBP. Once I get the Duet, do I simply connect the 1/8" cable to the headphone jack of the Duet, or would it be "better" to buy some sort of 1/8"-RCA cable to connect my A5's to one of the outs on the Duet breakout cable?

 

[Jaska]

I personally would just use an AirPort Express with those speakers.

That said, if you want to connect the Duet to them, you'd need to get a Y cable with L-R 1/4" male TS connectors on one end and a 1/8" male TRS on the other. You'd be using the Duet's breakout cable for this application rather than the headphone jack.

 

[feverfive]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jaska /img/forum/go_quote.gif I personally would just use an AirPort Express with those speakers. That said, if you want to connect the Duet to them, you'd need to get a Y cable with L-R 1/4" male TS connectors on one end and a 1/8" male TRS on the other. You'd be using the Duet's breakout cable for this application rather than the headphone jack.

O.K. Thanks...sorry to be a pest, but is this what I would need to get? ---> Hosa 1/8 in. Stereo to Dual RCA Cable from zZounds.com!


EDIT: NVM....I'm pretty sure this isn't the correct Y cable. I haven't been able to find one w/ the single 1/8" mini audio on one end & two male TS 1/4" on the other end... I'll keep looking; thanks again.

 

[Jaska]

You could use that cable as long as you also bought a couple of these from the same place.

 

[feverfive]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jaska /img/forum/go_quote.gif You could use that cable as long as you also bought a couple of these from the same place.

O.K... cool; I'll probably go that route unless I can find the exact y cable you suggested.

 

[Jaska]

It would be very hard to find such a cable already made up. You could, however, have one built for you very economically by Blue Jeans Cable. Just send them an e-mail and tell them what you need, and I would imagine the cost would be not much over $30.

 

[feverfive]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jaska /img/forum/go_quote.gif It would be very hard to find such a cable already made up. You could, however, have one built for you very economically by Blue Jeans Cable. Just send them an e-mail and tell them what you need, and I would imagine the cost would be not much over $30.

I think I may have found one: Hosa CMP-159 at Performance Audio

I think that's the right one? If not, I'll contact Blue Jeans cable...

 

[Jaska]

Good find! That one will do.

 

[Currawong]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jeremy /img/forum/go_quote.gif Thanks for this advice. Is there a chance i have done damage already to my Duet or MacBook Pro? On a separate but possibly related note, a few minutes after Maestro launches I have occasionally had my Mac suddenly and without warning turn to a blue screen and then to the Log On screen. This has never happened to me before on a Mac.

That's the Window Server crashing. Happened to me once when unplugging headphones from the Duet of all things. Maybe the firewire cable was moved slightly, I don't know.

Doing some cable swapping, I felt that the Duet's break-out cable mushes the sound a tiny bit. The story told earlier of the music shop expert saying "Amps are just amps" doesn't surprise me. I've found a lot of music people are happy listening through fairly crappy hi-fi gear, probably as their recording gear is very expensive.

I have one friend who is thankfully both a recording and hi-fi expert and has no hesitation in building his own mic, break-out and other cables for his gear. Once he gets enough cash together for a Duet, he'll be making up some high quality break-out cables.

 

[Sceptre]

It seems strange that a guy that sells to musicians isn't aware that they are all mega sensitive to playing through their preferred amps. Marshalls, Peavey HH, Martin Audio etc. all have their own 'signature' That signature is what many musicians want, but scientific audiophiles want to remove.

I remember my first homemade speaker upgrade. I had 10 inch diameter concrete tubes about 4 feet tall with 8 inch drivers. When I upgraded the drivers I hated the sound. Why? Because it wasn't what I was used to. After some weeks I could hear the advantages but for all that time thought I had bought some dud units.

If anyone prefers the sound of their Duet through an SR-71 then let them. They have found what they like. We will always look for ways of improving the experience but remember to listen to the music, not the equipment.

I happen to enjoy the Graham Slee Solo MC after my Duet - It adds a 'familiar' warmth that I enjoy.

To date, I have not compared the Voyager to the Solo from the Duet but will play around a little for comment here.

 

[Jeremy]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jaska /img/forum/go_quote.gif I would certainly advise NOT hot swapping the Duet anymore...

The only reason I had been hot-swapping my duet is because Time Machine is using my external firewire 400 hard drive which is connected to the only available firewire 400 port on my MacBook Pro. Apogee does not recommend connecting the Duet to a firewire hub. Is there some other solution I'm overlooking besides having to reboot every time I want to hook up the Duet?

 

[Jaska]

According to Apogee's Duet FAQ, there should be no problem using the Duet with a FireWire hub.