Hey all... The mini-me looks like a great companion for my laptop.. I was
wondering if anyone has an opinion on the pre/AD? I noticed that it can
playback through the USB connection. Is this DA just for simple playback to
track with or is a good high quality DA as well?

Thanks
Brian

In article et writes:

Hey all... The mini-me looks like a great companion for my laptop.. I was
wondering if anyone has an opinion on the pre/AD?

Being an Apogee design (with their reputation to uphold) the A/D
converter is probalby pretty good. People have reported that the
preamp is on the noisy side. This usually means that they crank it up
to full gain and hear hiss, though I believe I have seen some actual
numbers (noise level in dBu) posted here. You can do the google thing
if numbers matter to you.

What should matter is whether it will be good for your applications.
You might want to try one with a mic or two that you're likely to use
with it, and record what you're likely to be recording with it. If
you're looking to record electric bands in clubs using condenser mics,
I doubt you'll have a problem. But if you want to record crickets
chirping in your yard using a dynamic mic and like to see the record
level meters move, you'll probably be using it at full gain. Evaluate
whether the noise is bothersome to you.

I noticed that it can
playback through the USB connection. Is this DA just for simple playback to
track with or is a good high quality DA as well?

What's the difference? Would you accept tracking when monitoring with
a bad D/A converter? I'm sure it's fine.


Thanks
Brian




--
I'm really Mike Rivers )
However, until the spam goes away or Hell freezes over,
lots of IP addresses are blocked from this system. If
you e-mail me and it bounces, use your secret decoder ring
and reach me he double-m-eleven-double-zero at yahoo

In article et writes:

Hey all... The mini-me looks like a great companion for my laptop.. I was
wondering if anyone has an opinion on the pre/AD?

Being an Apogee design (with their reputation to uphold) the A/D
converter is probalby pretty good. People have reported that the
preamp is on the noisy side. This usually means that they crank it up
to full gain and hear hiss, though I believe I have seen some actual
numbers (noise level in dBu) posted here. You can do the google thing
if numbers matter to you.

What should matter is whether it will be good for your applications.
You might want to try one with a mic or two that you're likely to use
with it, and record what you're likely to be recording with it. If
you're looking to record electric bands in clubs using condenser mics,
I doubt you'll have a problem. But if you want to record crickets
chirping in your yard using a dynamic mic and like to see the record
level meters move, you'll probably be using it at full gain. Evaluate
whether the noise is bothersome to you.

I noticed that it can
playback through the USB connection. Is this DA just for simple playback to
track with or is a good high quality DA as well?

What's the difference? Would you accept tracking when monitoring with
a bad D/A converter? I'm sure it's fine.


Thanks
Brian




--
I'm really Mike Rivers )
However, until the spam goes away or Hell freezes over,
lots of IP addresses are blocked from this system. If
you e-mail me and it bounces, use your secret decoder ring
and reach me he double-m-eleven-double-zero at yahoo