I was fortunate enough to get an Apogee Duet 2 recently. This device hooks up to your computer's USB port (and is powered from there) and allows you to monitor audio. I'm not gonna go into all the details, see our review of the original Duet. At first I thought I'd never really need it, but after a few rounds of stem mixing and editing in Pro Tools on my laptop via the headphone jack it became obvious that something had to give. I set it up on my desk and hooked up my tiny Tascam VL-M3 monitors. Even my wife noticed the change in sound when we put on music in the background. And the nice big volume knob made turning listening levels up and down much nicer than buttons on a laptop. But this week the Duet 2 hit its stride. During a recent mix sesion my laptop became the "nitpicky editing suite" on the producer's desk, and man, did the Duet make this job a lot easier. And this weekend I'm taking it, along with a tube mic and headphones, to a client's house to retrack some vocals (it even has built in mic pres!) as my studio is booked up. I love my Dangerous D-Box, but it's currently in another state, sitting in a rack and doesn't feature the handy remote like its big brother the Dangerous Monitor ST. Having the small Duet on the desk with excellent sounding converters and headphone jack and a big volume knob saved my ass. An excellent tool... Good job Apogee.
More Entries
Blog
Vinyl Lives?
by Larry Crane
James Goss has interviewed many independent record store owners across the country to see how they stay in business and what they sell. Every month a new store will be profiled with interviews and photos. Pretty fun. Here's the link: Vinyl Lives
Blog
Some Maybe Not-So-Obvious Items Every Studio Needs
by Larry Crane
Some Maybe Not-So-Obvious Items Every Studio Needs In the past we've run a few columns about items every studio should have, like Sharpie pens and masking tape, but here I decided to look around me and think about all the items that aren't...
Blog
Nashville Recording Summit Nov. 13-15
by Larry Crane
Tape Op contributor, Chris Mara, has organized an amazing studio event coming up. I wanted to go but sessions have stopped me. If you can make it, this sounds like a lot of fun. Tape Op Messageboard Thread and instructions Welcome to 1979 Studio
Blog
End Rant #104: Food for Thought
by Larry Crane
I've pulled together a collection of recent thoughts I've had about the recording process. You can agree or not agree. The important thing is to use your ears, mind, and creativity to make great recordings. Recording equipment...
Blog
Put Down the Phone
by Geoff Stanfield
It wasn’t that long ago that when you went into the studio you basically disappeared from the rest of the world into a place with few (or no) windows, and low light. Where time seemed to have a way of getting distorted, finding yourself rolling...
Blog
Damian Wagner and the Sound of the Earth?
by Larry Crane
Ina previous blog post, we saw the beginnings of this project. Damian Wagner was in issue 64 - here's a crazy project where he's amplifying the sound of the earth! "After destroying 3 subwoofers and having to completely redesign the playback engine I...
Blog
Tape Op Staff Favorites of 2020
by Geoff Stanfield
2020. What a year. Since very few of who reading this will have recently relocated from a nearby galaxy I won't get into the specifics, but we all know what kind of year it was and many of us are glad it's almost gone. It certainly will not be...
Blog
Red Panda BitMap Video Review
by Geoff Stanfield
Ivan Anderson reviewed the Red Panda BitMap 2 pedal in the latest issue of Tape Op, but he also makes great and highly entertaining videos for many of his reviews. Enjoy!