Should I get an Apogee One or iRig Duo pro?

Mischief · #1 01-04-2016, 08:18 PM

Okay I'm champing at the bit to get an interface. I'm looking at the Apogee One and the iRig Duo.

I like that the one has a Mic built in and would use that feature. However I also could utilize 2 balanced in.

I will be using it exclusively with my IPhone 6 Plus, likely to record into garage band. Also I would like to use my external mic and guitar into my Acoustic Play pedal then out via either 2 balanced out or I can run it as one if needed to the interface for recording one take videos without splitting sound from video.
Other times it will be to start loading
Demos etc to sound cloud.

My computer is a POS and I've been unhappy using my Behringer USB mixer and Audacity.

I want portability, good sound, ease of use and a dependable stable product.

I wish the Apogee one had 2 combo in jacks and 2 combo outs even if it was on a separate break out cable. I'm not a fan of the break out cable but seems no one has issues with these anymore.

iRig does not record as high bit rate but should be good enough I would think, its not a lot cheaper here in Australia so price wise I'm not concerned it's more which will do a better job to meet my needs.

Thoughts

BTW I have an Apogee One on hold at the moment for a reduced price $50 savings if I down grab it I'll miss out on the savings so I need to decide right away.

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chitz · #2 01-05-2016, 06:27 AM

Subscribed. I too am shopping for an iOS interface.

I'm considering the Zoom offerings for Thunderbolt connection.

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/pro-a...bolt-interface

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/pro-a...bolt-interface

KevWind · #3 01-05-2016, 09:17 AM

That's a tough question to answer .

If the Apogee has the same mic amp and converters as the Duo it probably the has the better fidelity of the two (if you will actually hear that is a different question)

The IK unit is more flexible, it 2 mic inputs w / phantom power ( the Apogee does not list phantom power for the mic input), The IK unit actually has a great assortment of software effects also (may or may not matter with your intentions)

Either one would appear to make a good unit to get started with
So the answer is probably more dependent on if you would like the ability to record the guitar in stereo with microphones, right away. Which would seem to indicate the IK unit.

Mischief · #4 01-05-2016, 02:17 PM

At this point I'm not interested in stereo recording as it will be vocals and guitar all the time and done in one take as the way I play and sing the two feed off each other when I perform. In other words I'm probably not proficient enough at performing them isolated since I always do the two together.

The IK unit I believe does not have as good of preamps, or sound. But wether I could hear the difference within my chain and area of recoding is unknown but I suspect it would be minimal.

Also in the near corse able future I don't plan on getting a condenser mic.
Although I suspect with the roughly $130AUD savings if I go with the iRig I could put that towards a condenser but would probably budget $200 AUD max for a condenser mic. Then I'm not sure it would give me anything my se935 won't?

It's vital that whichever one I pick plays trouble free with my iPhone. Not sure if the iRig plays with iPhone as well as Apogee?

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guitar12 · #5 01-05-2016, 03:20 PM

I know that you said that your are chomping at the but you might want to wait a few weeks and see what vendors come out with at the NAMM show. There always seems to be new and wonderful things in this area.

Rob

Mischief · #6 01-05-2016, 09:30 PM

Thanks Rob. Likely anything announced at NAMM will take months and months to become widely available at reasonable street price especially here in Oz where things stay inflated until they loose enough sales from abroad.

The other reason I'm Champing at the bit .... (I do chomp at big Butts though so you must know me [emoji6]) I have a special anniversary surprise for my wife where she thinks I have a surprise Gig on our anniversary for someone else. When we get there I'm having everything set up for a private show for her and am going to perform a set of select special songs. Then run other tunes share a few dances and food and drink etc. I would love to be able to record the set for her as a momenta and it's only 2 weeks away. I could just set the camera up but I'd sure like to be able to get better sound then that for the occasion. Since I have to mail order anything I'm going to get and it will take near a week I kind of need to make a decision in the next few days.

So far it looks like this to me.

Apogee one
pro:
easy to use
More compact
Built in mic (I do like the idea of this)
Superior sound

Cons
Limited outputs 1/8" stereo (really wish it had two balanced outputs)
Only 1 balanced input plus one instrument (maybe that's not a big deal)

IRig duo
Pros
Bit cheaper
2 combo balanced ins
Balanced outs
No break out cable

Cons
No built in mic
Sonically not quite as good as Apogee
Not as compact requiring external mic always.

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Mischief · #7 01-05-2016, 11:40 PM

Seems iRig duo Pro all sold out in Australia looking at about a month to get in local might be 2 weeks if I go international so that's cutting it close.

In reality how important is it for me to have better out then 1/8th stereo that Apogee One offers?

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Mischief · #8 01-07-2016, 10:36 PM

Okay here's an update. The iRig is all sold out in Australia and starting to ship at the end of the Month. I think having two mic preamps would suit my needs better. I ended up looking at other options then apogee one and thinking of more versatility in future.
After leaning towards the iRig and then thinking of picking up a condenser mic. That lead me to reading great things about the scarlet. That led to some great comparisons with the Presonus iTwo. The Presounus will run on the iPhone but I'll be limited with third party apps but I use garage band anyway.
So I pulled the pin and got the Presonus bundle deal with their M7 condenser mic and another set of headphones. I hope I've made a sound choice [emoji23]. Seriously I hope I have made the right choice for me.
I got the bundle package for only$15 more then the stand alone unit. So that was a big push for me. So I've still saved over $100 over the apogee I can put towards another condenser in future maybe a used Octavia or something.

I hope the Presonus will have at least as good sound as the iRig duo pro and ideally better but I could not find any direct comparisons.

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mtsusean · #9 01-23-2016, 11:33 PM

I'm also researching this a bit

Wave Machine Labs (Auria app) has a list of "MFi" devices that will plug straight into the device and interact with the chosen app (Garageband, Auria, etc.)

My understanding is otherwise, you have to find an alternate way to connect the microphone/input into the iPhone/iPad. The way I'm reading it is the "MFi" devices will simplify this and can also supply phantom power if needed.

http://www.wavemachinelabs.com/Suppo...dio-interfaces

mtsusean · #10 01-25-2016, 09:40 PM

don't know if your endstate is the same as mine, but here's what I ended up with today.

I already have a Allen Heath Zed 10 and an Audio-Technica AT4033, along with a Roland R-26 and Nikon D810.

I wanted to be able to use the 4033 to get audio into either the D810 and/or the iPad and Garageband.

I picked up a USB to lightning cable tonight, plugged the iPad into the mixer, and shazam, everything I could want. Record anything I want to now off the mixer via the USB output.