Apogee Duet gain and hiss

Hey Thomas,
I have logic pro with one track armed the channel and master output is set at 0db.
I have an sm58 plugged into XLR 1 input and is set on XLR mic.
I have the input gain on 47.
The headphones are set at -12db
The Maestro mixer is set to L&R Out everything at 0db.
With these gain stage settings everything is quiet and clear and I have plenty of track input and a ton of headphone volume with no hiss.
When I unplug the mic with these settings still no hiss.
With the mic unplugged the hiss will come in at -6 on the headphone volume.
It will also come in at -6 on the Maestro mixer at either the input or the out put slide fader.
As a test try these gain stage settings and see what you get.
Blessings!

Hello,
I am having the same problem with a Duet I borrowed from a friend for a recording session this weekend. I hooked up my Rode NT2 to it and it worked fine for the sound check. I then unplugged it to adjust the stand and plugged it back in and all I heard was a MAJOR hiss.
I tried unplugging all the mics and resetting the duet. The hiss went away. I then turned on the phantom power, with no mic plugged in, and it was ok for a second, then all sorts of loud crackling and popping for about ten seconds and then the steady hiss. I turned the phantom power off, the unit crackled and popped loudly for a few seconds, and then the hiss was gone. Seems to be only on channel one from what I can tell.
The friend I borrowed it from never told me about any problems...so I'm pretty worried he'll think I did something to it. ****!
-Chaz

Hi,

Just wanted to update this thread with the results of my misadventures.

I sent the unit back to Apogee, and they sent it back to me, and it still had the same problem.

Apogee was VERY COOL about this, and I thank them for it. They worked with me and the Guitar Center (also VERY COOL) where I bought it, to arrange for me to get store credit.

So I used the store credit to get an RME Fireface 800. I've just now got the unit, and it seems to be working fine. The RMEs are noted for their reliability, from what I've read, so I think my interface issue is solved.

So to those who are having similar problems (and I still have no idea what the cause was)you should contact Apogee. They were extremely honorable in helping me with this issue, and I can happily recommend them, understanding that if you have any issues, they will not be jerks about it 🙂

Thanks Apogee, and thanks Guitar Center. Maybe in a year or two, I'll check out some more Apogee products, because, other than the hiss, the Duet did sound pretty good.

Good to hear you got it all worked out. Sometimes you just get a bad unit, happens with every man-made product. Good to hear Apogee was so cool, they are known for that.

I really can't believe you people are describing the Duet. Mines been running almost constantly for about two years and the sound is still superb (both for guitars and vocals) and I'm someone who's been making and recording music for a loooooong time. For the price this unit is a total steal. I have a strong feeling that the problems you are describing are down to user error or perhaps poorly grounded/shielded studio wiring.

si

Chaz75 wrote:
Hello,
I am having the same problem with a Duet I borrowed from a friend for a recording session this weekend. I hooked up my Rode NT2 to it and it worked fine for the sound check. I then unplugged it to adjust the stand and plugged it back in and all I heard was a MAJOR hiss.

I don't know if it pertains to this poster... but, never plug/unplug a Mic with the Phantom power on. Just don't do it, turn it off, give it 10 seconds to settle then plug/unplug the mic.

pancenter-

After searching "apogee duet hiss" on google, the first item the came up was this:

http://www.head-fi.org/forums/f46/apogee-duet-hiss-44-1-88-2khz-not-48-96khz-low -impedance-headphones-395445/

After doing some quick experimentation, I found there was a huge difference in noise level between 441 (loud hiss) and 48k (quiet) sample rates. I work at both sample rates and prefer 441 when working with logic and messing with logic's apple loops as they seem to only work properly at 441... but that's a whole other discussion. Work at 48k or 96k for less hiss.

Hi,
I bought my Duet from Apple online store, June 09. First I used it for mixing. Then after a while I began recording, and then here we are:

When the phantom power is on, there is a considerable hiss on the first input channel of the duet. On the second input channel with the same amount of gain and same condenser mike there is no hiss.

I hook up a Rode NT 2-A mike to the second channel everything works fine. But when I connect it to the first channel I have to maximize the gain to have any input. Also there is a considerable amount of hiss, since I crank up the gain.

I tried the same thing but this time with a dynamic mike and the phantom powered off, and everything works just fine.

So Apogee I have a problem.

So e-mailed Apogee about this issue.A guy named Jay Wolf kept in touch with me. Now I am living in Europe so I had to sent it back to them, they asked me to.

It took about 3 weeks that me Duet arrived back. Today I tried it. So far it seems as if this issue is fixed. If course it is not something that someone would like to experience. But far more important is how they handle this issue. And I think it is o.k.

One thing more...do not plug in/off phantom power on, I think it is something that triggers this issue.

Peace.

Same deal here. XLR Mic inputs are unusable. Tried recording through Shure Beta 58A, Shure SM7B, Shure KSM32; tried removing all cables and possible sources of interference from Macbook Pro; no improvement. Gain doesn't even get close to what is required before noise is overwhelming.

Have written to Apogee tech support for second time, though I don't think there's much hope for this unit. Money back would be nice. It's a shame when this unit showed so much promise.

Nothing against Apogee, but the Metric Halo ULN2 is a super-quiet 2-channel interface, FWIW.