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Hatsubai « Works in a pinch »
Published on 06/19/11 at 19:57M-Audio has been one of the leaders in developing practical and nicely priced interfaces. Among those was the M-Audio Duo USB. This devices is a mic pre that plugs into your USB port to allow to you record music or other types of audio. There are two mic inputs and two balanced TRS inputs to make sure you can always be able to connect up your peripherals to this device. Its first gain stage is 40 dB, and the second one is 30 dB, it features phantom power, has a -20 dB button for each mic input so you don't overdrive the converters, and it does this all in one small package.
UTILIZATION
M-Audio did a pretty good job setting this whole thing up. The interface itself is nicely laid out, and everything is easy to use. There are no annoying breakout cables that cause a tangled mess. However, there is one very major problem. This is USB 1.1. It is slow and is plagued with latency. In today's world where latency means everything, it can be almost unusable unless you turn off all of your plugins and track 100% dry. M-Audio has also dropped support on this, so I question how long this'll last.
GETTING STARTED
Setting up is very easy, just like any other M-Audio device out there. Simply plug in the devices to their corresponding ports, and you're good to go. I didn't experience any compatibility issues, and that's a great thing. This works with both PC and Mac, so nearly anybody can use it without a problem. I never read the manual, but I can't imagine a real need to unless you're trying to figure out how certain connections work. Anybody who has used an interface before should know exactly how everything works.
OVERALL OPINION
Chances are, if you bought this, you bought it second hand. It's not on the market anymore, and it's mainly because of the major USB 1.1 flaw. It's simply not acceptable when it comes to today's standards, but the device itself is old, so it's hard to fault the actual device for not being ahead of the curve when it comes to the latest I/Os. If you have a chance to buy one, I'd pass unless you need something real cheap.
UTILIZATION
M-Audio did a pretty good job setting this whole thing up. The interface itself is nicely laid out, and everything is easy to use. There are no annoying breakout cables that cause a tangled mess. However, there is one very major problem. This is USB 1.1. It is slow and is plagued with latency. In today's world where latency means everything, it can be almost unusable unless you turn off all of your plugins and track 100% dry. M-Audio has also dropped support on this, so I question how long this'll last.
GETTING STARTED
Setting up is very easy, just like any other M-Audio device out there. Simply plug in the devices to their corresponding ports, and you're good to go. I didn't experience any compatibility issues, and that's a great thing. This works with both PC and Mac, so nearly anybody can use it without a problem. I never read the manual, but I can't imagine a real need to unless you're trying to figure out how certain connections work. Anybody who has used an interface before should know exactly how everything works.
OVERALL OPINION
Chances are, if you bought this, you bought it second hand. It's not on the market anymore, and it's mainly because of the major USB 1.1 flaw. It's simply not acceptable when it comes to today's standards, but the device itself is old, so it's hard to fault the actual device for not being ahead of the curve when it comes to the latest I/Os. If you have a chance to buy one, I'd pass unless you need something real cheap.