About dual years ago, we motionless to dirt off a collection of guitar rigging in my closet and get behind into a song scene. Since then, in further to re-learning to play again (ouch, my fingers), I’ve been upgrading a pickups (I’m a large fan of a Seymour Duncan Pearly Gates and DiMarzio Gravity Storm pickups) and removing improved tube amplifiers. However, my studio in ubiquitous wasn’t set adult to do recordings. The Apogee Quartet helps change that.
Up until now, I’ve been using a iRig HD as my primary submit device. The iRig is excellent for many of my recording — generally when I’m regulating program amps — though we indispensable something that had multitrack inputs.
What is a Quartet?
The Quartet is a 4-input, 8-output USB audio interface for iOS and OS X. It’s a unequivocally well-built device that looks fantastic, The face of a section is about a same distance as an iPad, and it stands somewhat taller than an iPad on a Smart Cover. The front face has a touch-sensitive control pad that lets we lets we name a submit we wish to adjust (choice of 4 inputs) as good as adjust a levels for a outputs to studio monitors. The Quartet provides a Word Clock out connector for synching an outmost A/D converter to Apogee’s higher clocking technology. Sweetwater has a good write-up about Word Clocks here. There are no dermatitis cables required, and a section sits high adequate off a table, creation it unequivocally easy to insert cables and keep them organized.
You can bond a Quartet to your iPad (my examination section usually upheld a 30-pin connector, though Apogee is now shipping a chronicle with a Lighting cable) and a Quartet will also assign a unit. Swapping a wire to a USB wire lets we block it into your Mac.
It’s also not inexpensive during $1,395. This is a pro-level square of rigging during pro prices.
The Maestro app
Before we do most with a Quartet, you’ll need to download a Maestro app (available for Mac and iOS). The 4 analog inputs on a behind are multiple inputs (they do both instrument and XLR cables). The Maestro app allows we to set possibly any submit is a “microphone” or “instrument,” as good as adjust some levels. The app afterwards flashes a settings to a Quartet, so they stay set even if we spin off a section and bond it to another device.
Using Quartet with Logic
As I mentioned final month, Apple’s Logic is my primary DAW these days. Using Quartet with Logic is sincerely straightforward. In Logic Preferences, go to Audio and set a Quartet as a submit device. If we also wish to siren sound out of Quartet, set it as a outlay device as well.
Then go to a Mixer, name a lane we wish to set a submit for, name Input and name a analogous submit from a Apogee. If you’re regulating essentially analog inputs, we will usually need to regard yourself with inputs 1-4 (additional digital inputs comment for a other 8 inputs we will see). If you’re multitracking, repeat these stairs for any input.
After you’re done, usually remember to set any lane as recordable (click a tiny R for any track) in a categorical Logic lane screen.
Using a Quartet with Auria
Auria ($49) is a multitrack recording program for a iPad. It allows we to record adult to 24 coexisting marks on a iPad, and guard adult to 48 tracks. Again, this is on a frickin’ iPad! (Aside: this is a computational energy we can’t wait to see when a iPad has a new A7 chip.) I’ve hardly had time to do most on it, though removing a Quartet to work with it is was unequivocally easy. When we plugged a device into my iPad and launched Auria, it auto-detected a Quartet. Since a submit settings we had set on my Mac were still installed into a Quartet, we usually had to tell a marks in Auria to use a correct Quartets inputs and we was good to go.
How we use a Quartet
Every now and then, we get together with some friends to jam and we wish to record a sessions. It’s zero fancy, usually a mememto of a evening. we wanted it to sound improved than usually tossing a microphone in a center of a room and anticipating for a best. Instead, we now use a Quartet with Logic. we mike my amp, and use an ABY box (a pedal that lets me send a outlay to dual amps simultaneously) to also get a purify vigilance into Logic. Other musicians possibly go approach into a Quartet, or use additional ABY boxes. I’m a enormous fan of purify signals, generally for drum and vocals. I’m 90 percent happy with my amp sound, though we like to also squeeze a purify vigilance for possibly double tracking an effect, or usually only replacing my lane with a program amp.
I do something identical when I’m recording my amp. Even if I’m a usually one recording, we like to set adult a integrate of mikes on my amp, though also use a ABY box to get a purify signal.
I’m also starting to use a iPad with Auria more. Right now, people we jam with come to me, though in prior bands we went to a operation space. with a Quartet and my iPad are tiny adequate we can put in my wire bag along with a few microphones and have a good tiny approach to constraint a moment.
Final Thoughts
I unequivocally favourite a Quartet. Its build peculiarity looks right during home subsequent to my Apple products, and we adore how easy it is to record adult to 4 inputs with it. we tend to be flattering severe on my gear, and a Quartet seems like it will tarry a unavoidable bumps and drops.
I’m not during all tighten to a pro-level musician, though a Apogee line has been synonymous with pro-level audio peculiarity for a prolonged time. Reviewing equipment that cost this most income are a tiny tough since during a behind of my mind is always “it costs how much?” With a Quartet, if we need to record some-more than dual inputs (Apogee also makes a two-input Duet that we will be posting a examination on soon) and need a unstable device that works with your Mac or iOS device that gives we pro-level sound, afterwards yes, a Quartet is value a large cost tag.