Apogee Duet?, Question - what to purchase for Logic Studio/iMac Options

[sounds2me]

Hello....

I will be running Logic Studio on iMac 20" 2.16. Korg keyboard, Kirtzweil Micro Piano, and possibly the Yamaha Drum machine.

Has anyone had experience with Logic Studio and Apogee Duet?
The Duet does not have faders... looks like a knob..
Apple says it is designed for Logic...

I am also looking at PreSonus Firebox with Alpha Track USB controller..

Will appreciate your ideas.

Also... What firewire external Hard drive is the Best for audio production on the iMac?
(Firewire, 7200, size GB? manufacturer?)

Thanks,

sounds2me

[Mac Daddy]

Dear Members,

Just got the latest issue of Sound On Sound. They are featuring 'Apple Logic 8'.

Price, £319.

No XS Key is required. Only a serial number.

Comes with 10 DVD's. Installation can take over a hour.


Pros: Intuitive single-window interface makes Logic easier and faster to use.

Improved mixer and audio engine, with better surrond support annd the ability to record busses internally.

Many long-standing issues heve been addressed such as sample-accurate region editing.

Cons:

Many long standing issues still haven't been addressed such as the tick-based MIDI delays and the lack of full support for Macs with more than two processing cores.

MIDI functionality has stayed much the same, with no improved editing for composing music.

Surrond functionality has improved, but is still lagging behind some of the competiton.

Summary:

Logic Pro 8 is a significent achievement. It makes advanced music production tools accessible, both in terms of features and price, without alienating exsisting users.

Never thought I would leave Logic 5. Then I said the same for 6 and 7. Looks like I will be making the move to 8. It's the move to 10.4.9 or later that I'm concerned about.

Too much info for this Post and my weak typing.

For full details, go to soundonsound.com

[mickazoid]

Hi guys! First post, I think.

I am loving my new Duet (4 days old)! It's flawless, in combination with Logic Studio, the PreSonus FaderPort and a whopping 200gb FW800 external drive.

All my Logic Studio sessions sound wonderful, the stereo mix is a lot clearer and distinct than my old M-Audio box. Works very well with Studio and I figured out Maestro's control panel so it's all good there as well.

The mic pres are pretty clear and there's a lot of gain. If you don't push the gain into the stratosphere, the noise level is eminently usable. I found using more than 50db (for ribbon mics, as an example) was a bit noisier than I liked. I started having to think about applying noise reduction, which is something I try to avoid.

So for most stuff, I find Duet amazing. With a really good outboard preamp matched to your mics, Duet is nothing less than astonishing. When they make a similar multi-channel device that is portable (maybe a 'Symphony Mobile/Octet'-style device, I'll be in line to buy one.

Here's a link to some of my music for those who may be interested:
http://www.icompositions.com/artists/mickazoid

This post has been edited by mickazoid: Mon 22 Oct 2007, 20:01