Mackie Onyx 820i vs Apogee Duet

[SAMO]

Right now I'm using one of the discontinued Tapco firewire interfaces for recording into my Mac. I was planning on picking up one of the small Mackie analog mixers just for monitoring purposes, and so I don't have to re-patch every time I switch instruments. I had also been contemplating a move up to an Apogee Duet soundcard due to all of the rave reviews. While researching mixers I came across the Mackie Onyx 820i that has firewire built in that has got me thinking...
For those who are more experienced in computer recording, would you get the Mackie Onyx 820i or the Apogee Duet and a Mackie 802-VLZ3? (for use with Logic on a Macbook Pro)
Any detailed explanation on either choice would be greatly appreciated.

[Nelson89]

If you only need 2 channels at a time, duet all the way. The pre's, ADA conversion, the driver stability, the integration with logic will smoke the Onyx. But thats only half the argument, if there are certain things you need that the onyx offer's, but the duet doesn't, go with the onyx, it won't stop you making a hit record, you go with what you NEED and then weigh up price, although if the Duet provides everything you absolutely need, then i would pick it any day of the week.

Reasons for the Onyx:
-More channels and routing capabilities
-multiple output channels
-3 usable mic pre's
-balanced outputs

Reasons for the Duet:
-Only 2 channels, however VERY high quality for the price
-2 mic pre's that offer upto 75db of gain (drives ribbons and an sm7b)
-bus powered so its a lot more portable
-cheaper

I've already stated which i prefer, but i suggest you decide on what you personally need from the setup. As far as sound quality goes, the duet is better, but the Onyx series from mackie aren't bad.

[steveh]

Not entirely what you're asking but I have a Duet and bought a Mackie Blackjack to try out - Simply because it has two Onyx pres and these have a great reputation...and the Blackjack is way cheaper than the Duet. Both are 2x2 and I used them to record steel-string acoustic in stereo, nothing else.

I kept the Duet. It sounded significantly better. Not surprising give the price difference; I guess I was hoping for too much but the Onyx pres do have a great rep. However, I much preferred the Duet overall.

The duet has worked faultlessly in my system (iMac and Logic) for years. Gret kit.

Cheers,
Steve

[SAMO]

Thanks guys. I'll try to explain myself better.......I'd like to have an an external mixer so I can monitor directly without latency. I'm thinking that using an external analog Mackie mixer might negate the great mike pres on the Duet so going with the 820i would end up being cheaper. Do you guys use an external mixer with the Duet? If not, do you have any latency issues while monitoring?

[Nelson89]

as long as you use the maestro software properly you should have no latency