Converted

Converters have changed the face of recording -taking continuous analogue signals and chopping them up into discrete little bits that our DAW software and programs can utilize. AD/DA converters come in many formats, sizes, resolutions, and price. Just because two converters have the same sampling/bit rate doesn’t mean they have the same quality. Moreover, just because a converter has a higher sampling rate than another doesn’t mean it will sound better. Chip sets, the components around the converter itself, and overall design all contribute to the sound of a converter. In fact, some converters might look better on paper with respect to specs, but not sound as “musical” as another converter with “lower” specs. Finally, with high quality, expensive converters it can come down to individual preference and subjectivity.

Apogee Mini Me

Apogee has always been known for building higher end converters. Recently, they have gone back to their roots with the Apogee Mini Me A/D converter. This little portable package packs a ton of features into a small case, but it is important to realize off the bat that the Mini Me is predominantly an A/D box with limited digital to analogue capabilities. Basically, the only D/A conversion is a small 1/8” jack on the back of the unit. I’m not pointing this out as a negative -as the Mini-Me is billed as a A/D converter -preamp combo. It’s just that many will probably expect at least a 1/4” headphone jack or stereo analogue outs. So, you will want to interface the Mini Me with another unit that accepts S/PDIF, AES, or USB digital signals and has a more adequate D/A section for serious monitoring. Of course, Apogee has a new Mini Me clone (aptly called the Mini DAC) that would work perfectly for this.

Under the Hood

As mentioned above the Mini-Me packs a ton of features in a portable unit. Specifically, it has two channels of mic/line/instrument pre’s and A/D converters as well as Apogee’s Soft Limit compressor/limiter. The mic/line/instrument inputs use combo XLR/1/4“ jacks, the A/D section is 24 bit and supports sample rates up to 96kHz (up to 48kHZ with USB). The digital output is via AES, S/PDIF(RCA), or USB outs. What’s cool about the USB connection is that it will follow the bit/sample rate settings of your software independent of the front panel settings on the Mini Me. In other words, you could send a signal out AES at 16bit/44.1kHZ for a CD recorder while feeding your DAW a 24bit/48 kHZ signal via USB (Apogee’s UV22HR process will automatically dither the signal). Another nice feature of the unit is a Direct/Return Mix section that allows you to mix a direct source you are recording with pre-recorded signals coming from your computer via USB.

Under the Hot Lights

I tested the Mini Me out in a friends studio against both API and Telefunken mic pre’s as well as testing the converters of the Mini Me by themselves without the mic pre’s against his Panasonic DA-7 digital board (which has some nice converters).

Mic Pre’s

The Apogee mic pre’s are very nice. They came across as clean and very musical against both the API and Telefunken on both guitars and vocals. In the end, I still preferred the other pre’s as the Apogee’s had a pronounced boost in the low frequencies. Of course, this is a personal preference and depending on what you are trying to record the Mini Me mic pre’s could easily hang with mic pre’s as expensive as the Mini Me itself.

Converters

This wasn’t the first time I heard the Mini Me converters. A friend of mine who composes for film bought a Mini Me and we set it up in his patch bay so we could feed different synths that were normaled to a MOTU 2408 for comparison. In short, there was no comparison. The Mini Me was so much more accurate and smooth compared to the 2408. It was to the point that patches sounded different when they went through the Mini Me, as if the 2408 “smeared” the signal. The difference was obvious. When I put the Mini Me converters up against my friends DA-7 board the difference was less apparent -but overall the Apogee was smoother in the highs and in general less brittle. These are great converters and when you realize how portable the Mini Me is you start to realize what a powerful package Apogee have created.

Compression/Limiting

Apogee pack their soft limiting technology into the Mini Me with an additional feature called Push IT. Basically, this allows you to choose between three soft limit curves. I don’t use much limiting and only some compression. However, I was pretty impressed with the compression/limiting on the Mini Me as it could go from subtle to fairly drastic brick limiting. I personally like the sound of some of the more extreme limiter settings.

Conclusions

The Mini Me is a great product. It’s portable, of high quality, and well designed. Of course, it’s also a bit expensive at $1,295 compared to many pre/converter combos out there that might be more familiar to the typical bedroom/project studio musician. That said, when you add in all the features on top of the portability this is an excellent piece for someone looking for a high quality, all-in-one box that can connect directly to your laptop. The ASIO drivers worked great under OS 9 on both macs that I hooked the Mini Me up to and it is also compatible with Core Audio in OS X. I wish the Mini Me at least had a 1/4” headphone out rather than just a stereo mini-jack, but other than that you can’t find much of anything wrong with the Mini-Me. If you currently use “middle of the road” converters you may find that an upgrade to the Mini Me drastically improves the quality of your tracks. Even if you have some great converters already the portability features of the Mini Me would be great for location recording and quick set ups. In the near future, I think we will start to see more high quality converter setups in portable packages, but for now the Mini Me is definitely the best I’ve heard.

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