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Old 11-06-2017, 02:53 PM   #1
cerealboxfort
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Default Recommendation: Apogee Duet vs. RME Babyface

Hey guys, looking for a quick recommendation from anyone who has used both the Apogee Duet and the RME Babyface. Apogee just announced Windows drivers for the Duet this month so I want to upgrade, and looking at these two in particular.

https://www.thomann.de/ie/apogee_due...+duet_307972_0

https://www.thomann.de/ie/rme_babyfa...yface_361826_1

Two channels is enough for me, 99% of what I do is recording DI tracks for guitar and I want the best quality of exactly that. My band will be doing a record soon and I will be doing all my guitar tracks at home to be sent for reamping.
I am currently using the Focusrite Scarlett 18i20.
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Old 11-06-2017, 03:46 PM   #2
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What is it you hope to get out of this upgrade? The interface you have is pretty decent.
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Old 11-06-2017, 05:27 PM   #3
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I am looking to try and get the highest quality DI tracks I can for our next project, and I have no need for more than two channels. So I am trying to get something that's priced based on low quantity and high quality basically.
During our last project I brought in DI tracks recorded on my 18i20 and the engineer said they were entry-level preamps and the quality could be better.
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Old 11-06-2017, 06:51 PM   #4
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I seriously doubt that the quality of the pre-amps is what is letting you down. Maybe the high Z DI electronics could be a weakness, but that is often true of more expensive units anyway, and can be solved with a decent DI box, bypassing the high Z circuits on the audio interface.


Just so I can get my head around the situation, why are you recording electric guitar straight into a DI, and how do you know that the sound you are getting isn't just what your guitar sounds like? Have you achieved better results recording things exactly the same way you do at home, but plugged into a better interface?

Unless you are sure of exactly why you are hearing what you are hearing, and sure of what would change the sound to be more like how you want, then buying more gear is a game of trial and error.

Last edited by drumphil; 11-06-2017 at 08:04 PM.
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Old 11-07-2017, 02:01 AM   #5
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I wouldn't even begin to half trust brand new Apogee drivers
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Old 11-07-2017, 02:19 AM   #6
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You've specifically asked for an answer to a specific question. But, annoyingly I'm sure, I'm going to completely agree with drumphil instead.

My instinctive reaction to the story as you tell it is that the engineer didn't really mean "next time buy better gear". Maybe his ears are so good that he can hear limitations in your (in no way shabby) preamp and converters after reamping, I'm pretty sure I wouldn't be able to, but it seems far more likely to me that he was diplomatically trying to say that recording your parts at home in advance was not a great way of making a great record. Perhaps because they lacked the timing of the studio track, or you had overworked them to be sterile, or they just lacked the vibe of everyone in the room making a record. That's a far more credible explanation to me, and in no way a criticism of you individually, because it happens all the time.

So; my advice, which I again acknowledge you didn't ask for, would be, in order:
  1. Take that money and put it into the recording budget for extra time to record your parts in the studio, with the band and the engineer, while you're making the record. They might be technically less perfectly played, but I bet you they'll belong...
  2. If you really don't want to do that, upgrade your chain instead of replacing it. Add a Radial DI, or a Golden Age preamp, or something like that.
  3. If you're really hell-bent on buying one of the two you mention, I haven't tried the Apogee but am a foaming at the mouth RME zealot. So ...er ...I'd say get the RME The computer side is the best that money can buy, at any budget. The digital side is very good and certainly as good as my ears can hear. The analogue side is neither good nor bad nor anything subjective, its just very very clean and neutral, which is great for many things and easily enhanced with all manner of external dirty preamp goodness in the future if needed.
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Old 11-07-2017, 02:23 AM   #7
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Quote:
Originally Posted by pipelineaudio View Post
I wouldn't even begin to half trust brand new Apogee drivers
Well now, hang on, lets give them the benefit of the doubt. They might be fine. Lets see who they're up against ...oh. Its RME. Ummmm.... *cough* ... yeah, good luck
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Old 11-07-2017, 03:15 AM   #8
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Quote:
Originally Posted by White Tie View Post
Radial DI, or a Golden Age preamp, or something like that.
This would make sense. Add wa12 maybe.
Personally, I've been using a MP566 tube preamp for DI,
and a Blue Robbie. ymmw
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Old 11-07-2017, 04:08 AM   #9
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Quote:
Originally Posted by White Tie View Post
I'm pretty sure I wouldn't be able to, but it seems far more likely to me that he was diplomatically trying to say that recording your parts at home in advance was not a great way of making a great record. Perhaps because they lacked the timing of the studio track, or you had overworked them to be sterile, or they just lacked the vibe of everyone in the room making a record. That's a far more credible explanation to me, and in no way a criticism of you individually, because it happens all the time.
Well, I was thinking that too, but I guess I held back in the interests of being nice.. Which ultimately is just a wuss out when I could have said the rest of what you said.

But hey, for all I know his guitar and playing are fantastic, and it's the high-Z inputs on the audio interface letting things down. So, at least now he has some useful perspective from people who are being honest.
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Old 11-07-2017, 06:13 AM   #10
cerealboxfort
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Guys thanks a lot for the feedback and appreciate the explanations.
You guys might be right about the actual performance side of things, however, recording my guitar tracks at home is kind of a necessity considering the style of music we do. Also, it seems like another issue.
What I am getting it basically the difference of quality of inputs on an 18i20 are negligible, especially if I pick myself up a Type 85 or something like that. The paranoia just came from assuming the engineer could hear something I couldn't. If you guys all think that a decent DI box into an 18i20 can give pro standard DI recordings than I have no need to upgrade at all really.

Last edited by cerealboxfort; 11-07-2017 at 06:20 AM.
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Old 11-07-2017, 06:36 AM   #11
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Quote:
Originally Posted by cerealboxfort View Post
If you guys all think that a decent DI box into an 18i20 can give pro standard DI recordings than I have no need to upgrade at all really.
Basically that. Nobody ever ruined a great performance on a good instrument through well made electronic interfaces because the end result was recorded with a Focusrite 18i20. The Focusrite gear is very unlikely to be the weak link in any recording that doesn't sound good. Heck, just about all modern gear is an order of magnitude better than the gear that most of the classic albums we grew up with were recorded and mixed on.

Last edited by drumphil; 11-07-2017 at 06:43 AM.
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