Apogee, one of the world’s leaders in digital audio with top tier analog to digital conversion. In other words, it doesn’t get much better than Apogee when it comes to audio interfaces for home recording and pros in the studio. The company is now running a notable promotion on its latest Thunderbolt interface known as Element 88. Anyone who purchases one from an authorized dealer from now through August 15th will receive an Apogee Control for free.

Apogee Element 88 certainly isn’t cheap at just under $1,500, but with the $200 Control thrown in Apogee is certainly adding some value to the proposition. In my hands-on review of the new interface and controller for our Logic Pros series, I found the system to be worth every penny, if you do indeed require this kind of setup. It is easily one of the best options under $2,000 in my opinion.

Element provides 8 channels of high quality conversion for all your mics, synths and instruments, along with intuitive companion software for Mac/iOS to keeps things organized. More details below.

I’ve been a longtime Apogee user and currently use the company’s excellent Quartet as my main audio interface for my Mac and home studio. Today Apogee introduces its latest line of audio interfaces, the Element Series, introducing Thunderbolt connectivity and a new design somewhere between its more expensive pro line and its popular prosumer products like the Quartet and Duet.

Update (1/04 2:20pm): Adorama has the Denon DA-300USB High Resolution Audio DAC Headphone Amplifier for $219.99 shipped (Reg. $455+).

Adorama is offering the Apogee Electronics Groove portable USB DAC and headphone amp for $239.99 shipped. That’s $55 below the going rate from just about all major retailers including Amazon and B&H. While we have seen it discounted as part of larger (and more expensive) recording bundles, this is the lowest direct discount we have ever tracked since Apogee released the Groove DAC. While reviews are some what light here at 4.8/5 stars from only 30 Amazon customers, Apogee is widely considered to be a (if not, the) recording industry leader in analog-to-digital conversion and just about all of its gear has 4+ star ratings.

This mini portable (“Quad Sum”) headphone amp/DAC offers studio quality audio playback on-the-go and is great for driving high-end headphones. It features 24 bit/192kHz audio, USB 2.0 for direct connection with your Mac/PC, and a Made in the USA all-aluminum exterior. You’ll find even more details right here. 

Update (7/24 11:40am): This deal is now dead at Amazon, but it is still live at Adorama.

Adorama via Amazon is offering the Sennheiser HD650 Audiophile Dynamic Hi-Fi Stereo Headphones bundled with the Apogee Groove portable USB DAC/headphone amp for $549.99 shipped (matched at Adorama direct). That’s $204 off the current going rate for these items individually and the best price we can find for either. Even at the lowest price we’ve seen for these headphones, you’re saving about $20 more. Apogee’s new Groove DAC has never been on sale before.

The HD650s feature a 10 – 39,500 Hz response, neodymium magnets, and “specially designed acoustic silk to ensure precision damping over the entire frequency range.” They have a 4.7/5 star rating from over 340 Amazon customers.

Apogee has been a leader in DAC technology for many years and its portable Groove solution has seen favorable reviews thus far. You can learn all about it in our announcement post.

If you’ve been waiting for the Groove to go on sale, Amazon is also offering the DAC/headphone amp bundled with other high-end headphones right now from Beyerdynamic as well.

Apogee, an industry leader in digital audio, is now offering some serious software packages with its stellar home audio interfaces. Apogee’s Duet, Quartet and the professional Ensemble interfaces, now come with a free Waves plug-in bundle. While you will be paying regular price for the interface itself, these Waves packages are regular $600 for the Silver bundle and $800 for the Gold package.

You can grab a Duet or Quartet on Amazon right now for $100 less than the new Waves bundles, and you can get these particular plug-in packages for about $200 under their regular price on Amazon. But we rarely see Apogee interfaces go for much less than that outside of special holiday events, and it’s usually manufacturer refurbished models. Anyone in the market for a new Apogee will likely see a lot more value (between $300 and $600 depending on the model) with the new Waves bundle offerings.

These Waves plug-in bundles come with a number of very popular products among professional audio engineers/producers including complete EQ and compression suites for Logic Pro X or Pro Tools etc:

• Over 30 essential audio plugins for mixing and mastering
• Great introduction to the world of Waves
• V5 features new versions of Enigma, MondoMod, Super Tap,
• Includes compressors, equalizers, reverbs, effects and more

Be sure to check out our new weekly series: The Logic Pros, where we explore all the most interesting gadgets and software for making music on your Mac/iOS devices.

Adorama has the Apogee GROOVE Portable USB DAC and Headphone Amplifier for Mac and PC for $229.99 shipped. That’s nearly $70 below the regular listing, $50+ under Amazon and the lowest price we have tracked. Rated 4+ stars from over 50 Amazon customers.

Apogee is well known as being an industry leader in digital audio conversion, so you can be confident this is a high quality product that produces a much better sound than a built-in sound card.

Announced today, Avid and Apogee have teamed up to offer a new line of Avid Artist Suite interfaces. The new Avid branded Apogee Duet and Quartet feature the same awarding winning I/O and functionality as their non branded counterparts, but sport an all black exterior and come bundled with Pro Tools 11.

With the new interfaces we are getting full Mac and Windows support along with a bundled download of Pro Tools 11, over 60 virtual instruments/effects and an iLok key to authorize it all. There is also access to EUCON-enabled (Extended User Control) I/O software for direct control between the Pro Tools software and the new Apogee hardware.

As for the hardware itself, both the Duet and Quartet pack the same impressive specs and functionality with up to 24-bit/192 kHz recording resolution, a combination of mic/line/instrument/digital/analog I/O, and USB connection for a MIDI keyboard or DJ controller. These interfaces come with Apogee’s reputation for some of the best sounding converters in pro audio, industry standard Pro Tools software, and are priced accordingly:

The new Pro Tools Quartet pre-order will run you $1,899 and the Duet is going for $1,099. If you aren’t interested in Windows support or the bundled Pro Tools software, both the Quartet ($1395) and Duet ($595) can be had at nearly half the price with iOS support included. Apogee has a couple nice charts outlining the differences between each model in detail.

Full Press Release below: