Motu 828 Mk3 Vs Apogee Duet 1 or 2

[Casperrobo]

So I'm looking to get a new interface to step the game up from my little Line 6 UX1. I'm looking for one that obviously sounds good with the possibility of adding more eg. sends to compressors and other gear.

I have narrowed it down to these two from what I've looked at. The Duet, whichever version i'm sure will have the better pre's and is more portable which may be useful but limited on features and the Motu is pretty much the opposite, (Not saying it has bad pres, from what I've read Apogee are hard to beat here)

Does anyone have experience of either of these? I would mainly be recording bass and guitar and vocals, possibly drums but thats less likely. What's your opinion on them? Is there any other alternatives i've missed?

If I could I would have the Apogee Ensemble in an instant, but I'm not that rich

 

[BrianVengeance]

As an owner of the MOTU 8pre, I am entirely looking forward to the day that I get the firewire jack fixed so I can sell it for a Duet. They aren't terrible by any means, and you'll definitely be getting a step up from a less expensive, but the units themselves are somewhat fragile. The pres are clear and quiet, but they don't have a lot of headroom (come on very strong late in the dial) and they are relatively neutral, but in a sterile sort of way.

My money would go for the Duet.

 

[Killspringer]

I love motu and even digi gear. I own both as well as apogee. Right now, converters are the weakest link of any home studio. If that's your main concern, go for the duet, although if you want expandinility the motu stuff is pretty hard to beat for the money. With the adat and spdif you could always add another converter to your system and get like 10 more channels. Motu's cumix feature is really a pro feature that I can't say enough good things about. Also, check out Black Lion audio if your interested in motu gear. They do amazing mods for motu and digi gear. Definitely not hype.

99% of folk won't hear the difference in converter quality per their crappy playback system, and it won't really screw your mix until you start piling tracks up.
If you're a podcaster doing 100% voice, or a producer on the go selling solo guitar tracks commercially, the duet is awesome.
You said you do guitars and vocals? It would be nice to get a stereo pair on the guitar and another mic on vocals

Like the above poster said, either one is a big step up from line 6 junk.
I plan on getting a duet when i finally upgrade to protools 9, but if you dont have another interface (i have 7), i vote motu.

...have you checked out the ultralite?

 

[Casperrobo]

Thanks for the advice, I will check out the ultralite, from what I've read already it seems like a very slightly stripped down version of the 828

I'm going to have to factor cost in as I'm a student so I SHOULD spend money on studies you have a point with people won't even hear the quality through their playback systems or ipod headphones

 

[Charling]

Thanks for the advice, I will check out the ultralite, from what I've read already it seems like a very slightly stripped down version of the 828

I'm going to have to factor cost in as I'm a student so I SHOULD spend money on studies you have a point with people won't even hear the quality through their playback systems or ipod headphones

The ultralite is pretty good, ditto the above advice though, I'd stick with the duet!

Regarding people not hearing the extra quality, I think this misses the point a bit. Its an argument that often comes up and one I've never really agreed with. Most casual non musician listeners will not hear the difference between 2 distortion pedals, 2 guitars even! But its out job as the cvreators to pay attention to all the little details so the overall result at the end is as good as possible.

Recording music is 99.9% about the finest details, converter quality being one of them. Cover enough of the fine details and the result will come out good!

Having nice converters for the creation process will subtly benefit playback even going through ipod converters into earbuds! What you get is a flatter, slightly grainy-er version of a dense 3d sound, if you recorded on crappy converters to start with you get a flatter, slightly grainy-er version of an already flat and grainy sound!

 

[MNAirHead]

I own motu stuff... along with Lexicon omegas.. m-box etc.

Whatever you buy... ensure that it has a usb option.. firewire is going the way of Betamax video... who cares if it's better if you can't use it.

I called the BestBuy coroprate when folks were giving me advice...

They commented.. who cares what is a better interface... Apple now embraces USB.... Sony rarely sells gear with it onboard. the world is moving toward USB

 

[Casperrobo]

I think FireWire is dying as apple are now moving to Thunderbolt ports that are faster and better than FireWire.

I see completely and agree with the above poster about the grainy flat sound, you can't polish a turd!