[Mr.Sneis]

Quote:

I just came from APOGEE in Santa Monica... the mothership. I go back in 2 days in case any one has any questions.
 
I dropped off my Apogee Mini-DAC to have the volume potentiometer replaced (sounded scratchy). The word from the head techs is that USB 2.0 had hte drivers re-written in Apple 10.6 and now are no longer inferior to firewire.
 
I have a firewire Mini DAC.
 
I enjoy that it sounds amazing  (was better than original Duet) and that it can function as a stand alone piece.. so I can use it in so many ways.
 
1. As a headphone amp (transportable)
 
2. To add two more channels of output to my Macbook Pro as part of an "Aggregate device" in Midi so it effectively becomes a 4 channel sound card- I monitor my pre-mix dj'ing with macbookpro headphone out/TTVJ Millett Hybrid Portable/Ultrasone Edition 9.
 
3. It functions as a stand alone DAC being fed airtunes/airportexpress/wireworld Optical TOSLINK/apogee mini dac/Genelec s30d ribbon studio monitors (re-clocking the crummy jitter laden signal withs its asynchronous DAC) this adds another  zone of music to my home.
 
4. In my car it gets....   McIntosh API/iPad/Wadia 171i/Apogee Mini DAC/Nakamichi TP 1200MKII Special Shop Limited Edition remote headunit/ Remote Nakamichi Pre-amp in trunk with visco elastic and spring islolation/McIntosh MEN 452 5 way Electronics crossover/ McIntosh MEQ 4 channel 6 band parametric EQ/McIntosh MC4000M 6 channel 1000 watt and and MC440 6 channel 400 watt amp/ Jehnert.de door panels for Mercedes E500 w124 chassis.
 
5. Or in the car it gets- iPad/remote app/controls Macbookpro 15" music Library with 500 GB solid state drive/channel D Pure vinyl/ flac 24 bit 192 which controls itunes/Apogee Mini DAC 24 Bit 192khz in//Nakamichi TP 1200MKII Special Shop Limited Edition remote headunit/ Remote Nakamichi Pre-amp in trunk with visco elastic and spring islolation/McIntosh MEN 452 5 way Electronics crossover/ McIntosh MEQ 4 channel 6 band parametric EQ/McIntosh MC4000M 6 channel 1000 watt and and MC440 6 channel 400 watt amp/ Jehnert.de door panels for Mercedes E500 w124 chassis.
 
6. Or in the car - Airtunes from anyones ipod touch, ipad or iphone - Airport express- Hosa Optical converter optical to spdif coaxial/ Apogee Mini DAC spdif coax in//Nakamichi TP 1200MKII Special Shop Limited Edition remote headunit/ Remote Nakamichi Pre-amp in trunk with visco elastic and spring islolation/McIntosh MEN 452 5 way Electronics crossover/ McIntosh MEQ 4 channel 6 band parametric EQ/McIntosh MC4000M 6 channel 1000 watt and and MC440 6 channel 400 watt amp/ Jehnert.de door panels for Mercedes E500 w124 chassis.
 
And sometimes...
 
it is taken out of the car when I get to the ski house... and ..
 
256gb Solid state Red Wine audio Imod/wadia 171i/ apogee Mini-DAC/ Audio Research VT-100 MK2 tube amp/Magneplanar Tympani 1-d Loudspeakers.
 
I like that it works whether it is attached to a Mac or not. Apogee said to me yesterday the only step up sonically from the Mini DAC was the Symphony.
 
I would be curious to hear Headphone Addicts opinion of the Mini DAC vs the Duet 2 A/B'd  - I did an a/b of the mini DAC vs the Lavry -21 and found the Apogee Mini Dac won out. And I really thought the Lavry would win (plus the Lavry looks nicer- I wanted it to win...)..but the Mini DAC for me was the clear winner delivering a deeper more 3 D soundstage with my Magneplanar Tympani's- and a more cohesive midrange.
 
 

Glad to hear the MiniDac is still an awesome DAC compared to several years newer gear!  Honestly I don't even believe the parts inside are "top of the line" or anything but the Apogee implementation is just that good.  Have you played around with upgrades to your Power Supply?
 

 

[violeta88]

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 preamp outs having a little more three-dimensional sound, and the differences I am hearing are due more to interconnect differences than the breakout cable.  Interestingly Apogee finally posted the technical specs of the Duet 2.  The THD+N specs on the A/D converters of the Duet 2 are somewhere in between the Rosetta 200 and the AD16X, and the D/A converter's THD+N specs of the Duet 2 are considerably better, and are above the DA 16X and only a little worse than the Symphony I/O.  http://www.apogeedigital.com/products/duet2.php#specs
 
--Eric

 

[DjAmTraX]

I for one am very HapPy with the Duet 2.  I wish they would come out with a NEW Mini-DAC or a DAC that does DSD processing.

 

[chronicled]

 
Quote:

I for one am very HapPy with the Duet 2.  I wish they would come out with a NEW Mini-DAC or a DAC that does DSD processing.

 Seconded. I was looking for a MiniDac but they dont sell them anymore. I wonder why they stopped the Mini Dac's.
 

 

[violeta88]

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 1/4" output going into my amp, using a similar quality cable as the new 1/4" to RCA's I have now.
 
--Eric

 

[violeta88]

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 disappeared when I used balanced cables with it.  Apparently, the Duet 2 has no unbalanced mode via its line out, and via its unbalanced headphone jack causes a ground loop in most unbalanced, grounded speaker amplifiers.  I have used it successfully with a Meier Audio Arietta and Stepdance via the Duet 2's headphone out with an adapter cable, with no issues, so it seems to be isolated to amps with grounded power supplies without the "star ground" power grounding scheme.  At any rate, the Duet 2 is a great source if you have a balanced speaker amp that you wish to use the Duet 2 as a preamp for (or wish to use the Duet 2 as a headphone amp [the headphone output is very clean and powerful, unlike previous Apogees]), but other DAC's will probably be better if you need unbalanced outputs.  I still love my Duet 2, and the new speakers ended up being an overall upgrade over the setup I had before, though I need to get some different balanced interconnects for the speakers eventually.
 
--Eric

 

[DjAmTraX]

glad to hear the problem is resolved.  I love my Duet 2 as well.

 

[violeta88]

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

 

[DjAmTraX]

I have the Focal Twin6 BE studio monitors.  The Duet 2 is a perfect match for any Focal monitors IMO.

 

[digaddict]

Quote:

I just came from APOGEE in Santa Monica... the mothership. I go back in 2 days in case any one has any questions.
 
I dropped off my Apogee Mini-DAC to have the volume potentiometer replaced (sounded scratchy). The word from the head techs is that USB 2.0 had hte drivers re-written in Apple 10.6 and now are no longer inferior to firewire.
 
I have a firewire Mini DAC.
 
I enjoy that it sounds amazing  (was better than original Duet) and that it can function as a stand alone piece.. so I can use it in so many ways.
 
1. As a headphone amp (transportable)
 
2. To add two more channels of output to my Macbook Pro as part of an "Aggregate device" in Midi so it effectively becomes a 4 channel sound card- I monitor my pre-mix dj'ing with macbookpro headphone out/TTVJ Millett Hybrid Portable/Ultrasone Edition 9.
 
3. It functions as a stand alone DAC being fed airtunes/airportexpress/wireworld Optical TOSLINK/apogee mini dac/Genelec s30d ribbon studio monitors (re-clocking the crummy jitter laden signal withs its asynchronous DAC) this adds another  zone of music to my home.
 
4. In my car it gets....   McIntosh API/iPad/Wadia 171i/Apogee Mini DAC/Nakamichi TP 1200MKII Special Shop Limited Edition remote headunit/ Remote Nakamichi Pre-amp in trunk with visco elastic and spring islolation/McIntosh MEN 452 5 way Electronics crossover/ McIntosh MEQ 4 channel 6 band parametric EQ/McIntosh MC4000M 6 channel 1000 watt and and MC440 6 channel 400 watt amp/ Jehnert.de door panels for Mercedes E500 w124 chassis.
 
5. Or in the car it gets- iPad/remote app/controls Macbookpro 15" music Library with 500 GB solid state drive/channel D Pure vinyl/ flac 24 bit 192 which controls itunes/Apogee Mini DAC 24 Bit 192khz in//Nakamichi TP 1200MKII Special Shop Limited Edition remote headunit/ Remote Nakamichi Pre-amp in trunk with visco elastic and spring islolation/McIntosh MEN 452 5 way Electronics crossover/ McIntosh MEQ 4 channel 6 band parametric EQ/McIntosh MC4000M 6 channel 1000 watt and and MC440 6 channel 400 watt amp/ Jehnert.de door panels for Mercedes E500 w124 chassis.
 
6. Or in the car - Airtunes from anyones ipod touch, ipad or iphone - Airport express- Hosa Optical converter optical to spdif coaxial/ Apogee Mini DAC spdif coax in//Nakamichi TP 1200MKII Special Shop Limited Edition remote headunit/ Remote Nakamichi Pre-amp in trunk with visco elastic and spring islolation/McIntosh MEN 452 5 way Electronics crossover/ McIntosh MEQ 4 channel 6 band parametric EQ/McIntosh MC4000M 6 channel 1000 watt and and MC440 6 channel 400 watt amp/ Jehnert.de door panels for Mercedes E500 w124 chassis.
 
And sometimes...
 
it is taken out of the car when I get to the ski house... and ..
 
256gb Solid state Red Wine audio Imod/wadia 171i/ apogee Mini-DAC/ Audio Research VT-100 MK2 tube amp/Magneplanar Tympani 1-d Loudspeakers.
 
I like that it works whether it is attached to a Mac or not. Apogee said to me yesterday the only step up sonically from the Mini DAC was the Symphony.
 
I would be curious to hear Headphone Addicts opinion of the Mini DAC vs the Duet 2 A/B'd  - I did an a/b of the mini DAC vs the Lavry -21 and found the Apogee Mini Dac won out. And I really thought the Lavry would win (plus the Lavry looks nicer- I wanted it to win...)..but the Mini DAC for me was the clear winner delivering a deeper more 3 D soundstage with my Magneplanar Tympani's- and a more cohesive midrange.
 
 

 
I recently had the oppourtunity to purchase the mini dac used for £250 a great price but opted not to because i couldn't figure a way to use it for dj'ing. Am i right in thinking it is a single channel d/a coverter and therefore cannot be used to monitor another deck independently of the main output (cue'ing in the next track).
 
Are you saying that you can set traktor or another dj software app to play audio from the deck you are cueing in through the headphone out, which is then amp'd. And play the mains out from the mini dac. I have active monitors and would opt to use the mini dac's xlr out for the monitors.
 
I have recently staggered into the world of the audiophile and am slowly getting lost. Just bought a pair of grado rs1i's and am planning on getting some hd 650's soon. The mini dac seemed like a good headphone amp to power a range of quality headphones, with a qualiy dac......
 
Although the duet 2 claims to have that sound quality with the added functionality of another channel and new mac compatibility. The mini dac although glorious sounding seems to be a bit of a dinosaur....
 
would appreciate some opinions soon. the mini dac i viewed won't be on sale at this price forever. Thanks
 
raoul