# Apogee Quartet Announcement



## Guest (Sep 5, 2012)

Looks very nice. They've got MIDI this unit, something that was a missing feature from the Duet and Duet 2. The form factor is pretty sexy and we know the pres will sound awesome.

But that price. I'm kind of choking on that. I was expecting 2x the Duet 2, not 3x. And it's missing Thunderbolt or USB3. USB2 for connection is kind of lame given the direction Macs are moving (an Apogee is 100% Mac).

Definitely I could see this being my next interface once they start showing up on the used market.












> With ample input and output connections, the signature single controller knob, QuickTouch pads, and Apogee’s conversion technology, Quartet delivers where it counts; sound, functionality and usability. Quartet connects to any Mac via USB 2.0 high-speed for extremely low-latency and stellar performance. From MacBook Air to Mac Pro, Quartet easily connects at amazingly high-speeds no matter the machine or sample rate; 44.1-192kHz.
> 
> Quartet’s four combination inputs offer microphone, instrument and line input with an exceptional gain range of up to 75 dB, leaving plenty of headroom for demanding microphones and sound sources. For additional channels, Quartet’s eight digital inputs create the option of connecting an external interface, like the Apogee Ensemble
> 
> ...


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## ronmac (Sep 22, 2006)

It's a pretty sleek and sexy interface!

We are seeing a lot of new single-user workstation style devices hit the market. Focusrite just announced their version, Stienberg have a version and Rme have their BabyFace. They all have slightly different feature sets and specs, but any could be a great front end and monitor controller for someone wanting an all-in-one solution that doesn't chew up a lot of desk space.

I have been using the BabyFace for a year now and can't tell you how happy I am with it. I use it as a live instrument front end, monitor controller in the studio, live 10channel (with an Adat 8channel mic pre) recording device, etc. 

The price of the Apogee is a bit of a shock, but quality and good looks does have a price. The price would be another couple of hundred, at least, if it incorporated a Thunderbolt port. USB2 is certainly capable of streaming the I/O count of this device.


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## Guest (Sep 6, 2012)

ronmac said:


> The price of the Apogee is a bit of a shock, but quality and good looks does have a price. The price would be another couple of hundred, at least, if it incorporated a Thunderbolt port. USB2 is certainly capable of streaming the I/O count of this device.


I disagree Thunderbolt would have added a couple hundred dollars to the price. You can buy TB-equipped peripherals now that cost less than hundreds of dollars so the I/O protocol can't be that expensive. In any case, USB3 would have been nice since it's: a) backwards compatible with USB2; and b) doesn't drag the entire USB buss speed down to the USB2 spec when you use it on a USB3 equipped computer (which the new Macs have). It's less about what USB2 is capable of and more about what using a USB2 device on a USB3 buss does to *everything* using that buss. Apogee has a bad habit of not looking very far forward with their gear -- I think this is another example of that.

All that being said: preeeetttty. And yea, I want. I'm a happy Duet user and this would be a great upgrade.

I had a chance to touch and play with the Lexicon I-O | 82 this weekend and I was really digging this form factor. The Lexicon is wider than the Apogee, and not as tall, with the idea being you place it at the base of your iMac -- it just kind of works it's way in there naturally and uses that somewhat useless space under the iMac monitor really well.


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## ronmac (Sep 22, 2006)

Excellent points about the USB2 device causing some havoc on a USB3 port. I use my BF on a dedicated USB2 port (using a separate controller) and use the USB3 ports on my VAIO laptop for HDs and other devices. The BF does not like to play nice on USB3 ports!

We've all come a long way from doing ping pong bounces on a 4 (or 2) track cassette deck


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## Guest (Sep 11, 2012)

Just wanted to update this and say: I was wrong about USB 2 on a USB 3 buss -- the latest USB 3 buss chipsets provide mixed speed modes. So 2 devices on a 3 buss don't drag 3 devices on the same buss down to 2 speed levels.

I'm definitely going to watch the used market for one of these.


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