Apogee Minime Purchase

[EjA]

I've gotten a lot of great advice from many of you out there, so now that I'm ready to make a (rare) gear purchase, I thought I'd ask if anyone can see anything wrong with my choice before I spend my dough. . .

I'm using a Digi 001 on Panther, on a Dual 800 G4 with lots of RAM. My only mic is a Rode NTK (thanks, Where) and I use the 001 stock pres and converters. Yuck. Muddy. Boring.

My reasoning for the Minime is this: My mic is tube and I think that going with an uncolored mic pre is probabaly smart, as opposed to a colored tube pre. Also, I obviously need the converters. 'nuff said about those.

I record my own singer/songwriter, R&B, soundtrack, Jazz kinda stuff. One track at a time, almost always.

So that's it. Bang for the buck, reputation, quality, it's all there. No, I haven't listened to the combo yet on my own system, but I figure that's what a 30 day return policy is for. I guess that leaves ebay out. . .

Anyone gone down this same road? Any advice? Do I need the USB option on the Minime? Is my assumption right about going with an uncolored mic pre? Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. And. . .

Thanks in advance,

EjA

[EjA]

Uh, bump? Anyone out there?

[Bee-man]

I bought the mini-me about 2 months ago.And like you i also have an NTK,w/001....There is NO comparison between the two at all.The apogee has such definition,presence and clarity you'll be shocked if you've only been using the 001.I was literally in awe the first time i ran my synth through it via S/Pdif.
I really like the mini-me,it's sound is very transparent.You don't have to worry about "coloring" at all.For instrument such as
Ac. guitar,harmonica the setup rocks!
For my personal prefernce on vox,i think i'm going to try a vintech 1272 or a great river single channel unit(affordable).
Not that the apogee doesn't sound good it's just not quite what i'm looking for in the vox dept.

The good thing is that you can always use it as a converter if you upgrade to another mic-pre.

The only benefit that the usb will give you is if you use logic or DP,you'll have a mic-pre/converter ready to go.Pro Tools won't recognize a usb input,that i'm aware of.I may be wrong about that,but i don't think so.

I Don't work for nor am i associated with apogee in any way,JMHO......YMMV

[EjA]

Thanks, Bee-Man. That was really helpful. The Minime has audio out, so one could always use it as a mic pre no matter what program, right?
Any more?

EJA

[cedricl]

Take a look at Sound Devises USB Pre. It won't do 24/96 but will do 24/48. It's a 2 mic pre, two line in, plus spdif I/O and connects via USB. I've used it with Mac OS 9 and OSX and PC. It's a cheaper alternative to the Minime.

[Stage]

mini-me is well worth it... great conversion.. good pre's

petr

[michaux]

Mini me rocks! I love it! I made 2 major upgrades to my 001 system last year soley from months of research on the DUC. Minie me on the front end, Masterlink on the back end. I am a R&B/Soul singer. I use a MXL V69M tube mic. You will love it with any mic, tube or otehrwise. The compressor and soft limit settings are awesome!

[Bee-man]

"The Minime has audio out, so one could always use it as a mic pre no matter what program, right?"

Wrong,the mini-me only has aes/ebu and s/pdif outs (digital) and usb,although i'm not familiar with running audio via usb.

There are no analog audio outs on it.However running it into the 001 via s/pdif doesn't get any better, superb digital quality.

This unit really opened my eyes to the whole ADC process.Next i have got to try out some DAC unit.Benchmarks DAC or maybe the new apogee mini DAC.I guess they've earned a repeat customer,plus i could get that rackmount case they make for the mini series.

I better go to bed before i grab for the visa

Just buy it you'll be happy.They go for around 950.00 now.

[michaux]

Wow, 950? I didn't know they were down that low. Is that with or without usb? I paid around $1,250 last year with the usb option.

Anyway, run, don't walk, and get one. You won't be sorry. If you consider 2 channels of high qaulity mic pres, converters, compressor (pre-sets) and soft limit, it's a bargain!

[EjA]

Thanks very much to all of you. That just solidified my position. Wow, $950.00? Just tell me where and I'm in. I saw one on ebay for $900.00 just recently, but I missed.

Anyway, that really helped. Thank again!

EjA