Apogee Duet 3 USB-C Audio Interface

Owned a Duet 2 for years that I've always liked, needed a second interface and the Duet 3 fitted the bill. Simple to use, great sound quality and beautifully built. The new Control 2 software is a nice improvement on the previous Maestro software ... and supports the old Duet 2!

Love this newer version of the Duet. Plugged in, worked immediately. Replaced my aging Duet II. Sound quality is as pristine as always, and the new model is slimmer, with a neat ultraviolet/purple glow under the main control dial. I’ve owned all three Apogee Duet models over the last 15 years and they have been near perfect. Used for music listening, producing trance in Ableton, and recording podcasts and radio shows. My Beyer Dynamics headphones require a bit of juice to get decent output from, and the headphone amp inside these units is more than capable. Highly recommend to anyone running a home music studio that does most things in the digital realm. I don’t need many ins/outs, so this unit is perfect.

I upgraded to this unit from an Apogee Duet 1 (Firewire) I'd been using since 2008. It was a great interface and sounded good, so I thought I'd try the newest Apogee Duet version. It's great, the midrange clarity, punchy and defined bass and sparkling highs make ti a pleasure to listen to and the overall stereo imaging is definitely superior to the old version. Everything I listen to through it sounds great. The built in DSP FX make any recordign sound fantastic, and that's also a noticeable step up from the Firewire version. The software is easy to use and it works well with Logic Pro on Big Sur. I'd recommend this to anyone looking for an easy to use interface.

Apogee Blew It

This audio interface had the potential to be one of the best audio interfaces in any price range...unfortunately it is lacking some features and severe design flaws.Sound quality is excellent. Nothing to say about that. I would give it 5 stars when it comes to sound quality. But I can't recommend this due to severe design flaws.Design is terrible. I think Apogee tried to make this as compact as possible and it looks beautiful. However, it comes at an expense of big design flaws. The headphone jack is close to the surface that if you are using the dock it lifts the interface at about 30-35 degree angle and depending on which headphones you are using or how big the headphone plug is it will hit the surface of whatever it's resting on, so each time you press on the ... MoreThis audio interface had the potential to be one of the best audio interfaces in any price range...unfortunately it is lacking some features and severe design flaws.Sound quality is excellent. Nothing to say about that. I would give it 5 stars when it comes to sound quality. But I can't recommend this due to severe design flaws.Design is terrible. I think Apogee tried to make this as compact as possible and it looks beautiful. However, it comes at an expense of big design flaws. The headphone jack is close to the surface that if you are using the dock it lifts the interface at about 30-35 degree angle and depending on which headphones you are using or how big the headphone plug is it will hit the surface of whatever it's resting on, so each time you press on the volume knob to switch from headphones to speakers or other inputs it will press on the headphone plug as well. I believe in the long run this can cause damage to the headphone jack or potentially damage the headphone plug itself. You can probably buy an adapter that extends out...but for a unit that costs 649 dollars this is not acceptable. If you're gonna lay this flat and not use the dock and just use the dongles with it, you should be fine. I just want to make you aware of it before you purchase it.The front headphone jack is only a 3.5mm, so if you have headphones that have a 6.5mm plug, you will have to use adapter to plug into the front or if you have the dock ($179) it will be on the back where you plug the monitors. Extremely awkward placement.Another design flaw is when you adjust the volume there is no volume indicator on the unit to tell you what DB the volume level is unless you have their Apogee Control Software open. It has some confusing bars and you'll never know what the volume level is.Needless to say Apogee you blew it. You had potential to have something phenomenal here and instead created something with severe design flaws. Terrible.This should have had the same design functionality as the Duet 2 and that one is much more user friendly. Unfortunately, they went backwards in functionality.Returned this immediately.

Apogee better fix this problem!

Really nice device! Very Clear But problem is to much random static. No Update! Apogee you can do better than that! I would say for now Stay far away! Until they say there's an update. I want to show photos of random freezing and video of the random Statics but for some reason i can't uploadsome reason i

Best portable audio interface

At first glance you will just fall in love with how this interface looks.with an all black design and a scratch resistant glass on top this is a thing of beauty. This whole design by apogee resembles apple's design Philosophy and it fits perfectly on your desk next to your mac . But the beauty of this device lies in the knob. Its clicky and extremely tactile delivering a luxurious-feel for dialing in monitor levels and mic pre gain. It also has meters on the front which shows audio level while playback and recording. Btw did i mention this knob glows.. Now enough of me drooling over the design lets talk about the ports. So the ports are available via the breakout cable with2x Mic/line inputs2x " Instrument inputs2x " Balanced outputs2 USB Type C ports and ... MoreAt first glance you will just fall in love with how this interface looks.with an all black design and a scratch resistant glass on top this is a thing of beauty. This whole design by apogee resembles apple's design Philosophy and it fits perfectly on your desk next to your mac . But the beauty of this device lies in the knob. Its clicky and extremely tactile delivering a luxurious-feel for dialing in monitor levels and mic pre gain. It also has meters on the front which shows audio level while playback and recording. Btw did i mention this knob glows.. Now enough of me drooling over the design lets talk about the ports. So the ports are available via the breakout cable with2x Mic/line inputs2x " Instrument inputs2x " Balanced outputs2 USB Type C ports and one 0 ohms headphone output which means you get the best performance with any headphone available today, regardless of headphone impedanceFor full breakdown pls check my reviewBest Portable Audio Interface: Apogee Duet 3 Reviewhttps://youtu.be/gOcrxKoorb0

Confidence inspiring interface

I bought the Duet 3 with the Dock and just love it. The sound is great! The design execution is beautiful! It integrates with the new M1 MBP/Logic flawlessly. The Control 2 software also is designed very well and when purchased with the Dock, comes with the Clearmountain ECS channel strip, great! The Dock has a 1/4 inch headphone jack and the Duet a 1/8 inch, so having two is wonderful. The Dock also keeps everything very tidy. If you don't need a lot of I/O's and want a superbly engineered interface that works perfectly, looks super cool, you will take pride in and inspires you with confidence, this is a great choice. Thank you Apogee!

Does Not Work

I was an avid Apogee fan and used the Duet 2 for close to 10 years with no issues despite multiple computer changes and updates. I'd been waiting for months to purchase this item yet it does not function in any way how I had hoped. At first my iMac wouldn't recognize the device even with the driver installed and all firmware updates completed. When Apogee released the Intel Mac compatibility update, it actually recognized my Mac for a second and then would disappear. After tons of trouble shooting, I've determined this product was either released too soon or not properly tested before being released as it does not work whatsoever and I could never even get any sound (input or output) to go through the device. I am returning the product and moving away from Apogee ... MoreI was an avid Apogee fan and used the Duet 2 for close to 10 years with no issues despite multiple computer changes and updates. I'd been waiting for months to purchase this item yet it does not function in any way how I had hoped. At first my iMac wouldn't recognize the device even with the driver installed and all firmware updates completed. When Apogee released the Intel Mac compatibility update, it actually recognized my Mac for a second and then would disappear. After tons of trouble shooting, I've determined this product was either released too soon or not properly tested before being released as it does not work whatsoever and I could never even get any sound (input or output) to go through the device. I am returning the product and moving away from Apogee after this huge headache of an experience.

Faulty Cable

The USB cable provided died within the first week. Iv'e been doing audio for 20 years and I've never seen a USB cable stop working. They wanted to charge me extra to ship out a new cable. Guess Apogee is not so great at customer service. The unit sounds good otherwise but I would have expected the manufacturer to guarantee the product works for at least the first month.

LOVE this interface and wouldn't use another!

I have had a Duet on my officedesk since the first one was released [X] years ago. Since I am constantly listening to music, reviewing mixes and making sure I have the cleanest, highest quality audio coming out of my Mac, my Duet is the only DAC I trust to ensure that I'm hearing music as it's intended to sound. And the Duet 3 is just the sleekest, coolest looking one to date. I love the big control knob, the ability to quick-mute without having to reach for my mouse, and how straightforward, intuitive and seamlessly it integrates with the Mac OS (for outputs and inputs alike). Apogee gear, and the Duet specifically, have just become such a trusted part of my setup - I don't ever want to listen to music out of my rig without it.