Roland Duo Capture EX: So far so good!

[polaris20]

So I picked up one of these devices, as a potential replacement for both my iRig Pro and my Steinberg UR-22, and I'm happy to say it works as intended.

While the iRig Pro does sound good, the lack of headphone output for better quality headphone usage was annoying, and for $50 more, the Roland unit gets you dual XLR-1/4" jacks, phantom power, battery power, USB bus power, or AC adapter power, and 1/4" outputs, as well as MIDI. Not a lot more, for a lot more of a feature set.

The pre's seem to be quieter than the UR22's were, and when plugging a guitar directly in for use with either BIAS on the iPad or S-Gear on the laptop, I had no issue with even a moderately hot pickup overdriving it, as I did with the Steinberg UR-22. For example, a Tone Zone from Dimarzio had me at about 9 o'clock on the gain. On the UR-22, even with the gain turned all the way down, it was distorting the input. Not good.

It's obviously not as small as the iRig Pro, so that might certainly be a factor, but for functionality's sake, I do like it better. If you want to do a stereo room recording of a practice, it's easy enough to do with a couple pencil mics, an iPad, and Cubasis/Auria/Multitrack DAW.

Overall, I definitely recommend. It works well with both iOS and Mac, and I'll be trying it on Windows this weekend as well.

[fozziemusic]

Great, thanks, I am considering getting it as well. So please keep us posted of IOS and other use of the duo capture EX!

[polaris20]

Great, thanks, I am considering getting it as well. So please keep us posted of IOS and other use of the duo capture EX!

Will do. I'm going to hit it hard this weekend on iOS, with direct guitars (BIAS/JamUp), as well as miking up my acoustic guitar with phantom power. It's also smaller than you'd think. Well, smaller than I thought it would be, anyway. Nicely compact, for sure.

[fozziemusic]

I just noticed the new focusrite dock that is announced for NAMM2014. Now I will have to wait for that. Tasty, although not battery powered

[paradiddle]

I was looking at buying this very card since I already have the octa-capture. Do you know if this works with the ipad air?

Thanks!

[polaris20]

I just noticed the new focusrite dock that is announced for NAMM2014. Now I will have to wait for that. Tasty, although not battery powered

Yeah, the problem with that being it looks like you have to take it out of the case in order to use it. Not a great design, IMO.

I was looking at buying this very card since I already have the octa-capture. Do you know if this works with the ipad air?

Thanks!

Yes it does; that's what I've got.

[paradiddle]

Thanks!

[knockman]

I've been using one of these for almost a year both on the iPad and PC. Overall, I'm very happy with it.

My only issue is that even with the input sensitivity all the way down, there is still some signal coming through whereas I'd like to be able to kill the sound completely. Of course you can kill the source but it would be nice to do this on the interface and leave all other levels set.

I thought this a little odd and searched online to see if others had commented on it but I haven't seen it mentioned anywhere. It's only a minor gripe and I can live with it - the features and sound quality are very decent.

[polaris20]

I've been using one of these for almost a year both on the iPad and PC. Overall, I'm very happy with it.

My only issue is that even with the input sensitivity all the way down, there is still some signal coming through whereas I'd like to be able to kill the sound completely. Of course you can kill the source but it would be nice to do this on the interface and leave all other levels set.

I thought this a little odd and searched online to see if others had commented on it but I haven't seen it mentioned anywhere. It's only a minor gripe and I can live with it - the features and sound quality are very decent.

Hmm, I'll have to check that. Not something I'd normally worry about, personally.