I lost an entire week to trying to figure out why the headphone out of my new Apogee Quartet sounded so inferior to the headphone out on Axe II. I tried every imaginable configuration and worked with Apogee and Fractal. No one could figure it out. So I returned the Quartet and bought a UA Apollo Quad.
First, I can say (I have great ears for tone and have owned an amp by about every major manufacturer at one time or another and opened for national touring acts for 2 years with a large amp rig) that without a doubt, the Apollo is dramatically better than the Quartet. Not even close. The Apollo has far better converters and they are far more accurate.
Additionally, oddly, the best sounding out is the XLRs from the Fractal. Go figure. I would have thought using S/PDIF or USB would be better, it's not.
Would love any comments. The Axe II through the Apollo sounds as good as it does out of the headphone out of the Axe II. So I imagine the headphone amp on the Apollo is better as well.
First, I can say (I have great ears for tone and have owned an amp by about every major manufacturer at one time or another and opened for national touring acts for 2 years with a large amp rig) that without a doubt, the Apollo is dramatically better than the Quartet. Not even close. The Apollo has far better converters and they are far more accurate.
Additionally, oddly, the best sounding out is the XLRs from the Fractal. Go figure. I would have thought using S/PDIF or USB would be better, it's not.
Would love any comments. The Axe II through the Apollo sounds as good as it does out of the headphone out of the Axe II. So I imagine the headphone amp on the Apollo is better as well.