Apogee's Mini-Me is intended to be a complete solution for mobile, lightweight, stereo recording when used in combination with a laptop through its USB connection. It comes with built-in mic preamps, a soft-limiter, and a compressor. The Mini-Me can also be used to add two more channels of good analog to digital conversion to your studio set up with its S/PDIF and AES/EBU outputs.
I've used it in both settings and have been consistently impressed with the quality of the analog to digital converters. The mic preamps are very clean and tend to work well with most mics. In particular, I love the Mini-Me with a Sennheiser e609 silver when recording guitar amps. This combination gives me a highly detailed and clear guitar sound that sits nicely in the mix. When compared side by side with other combinations in my studio, the Mini-Me and e609 silver consistently win out for electric guitar. However, in certain applications, there are some mics that don't work well with the Mini-Me. For instance, an SM57 pointed at a moderately loud cabinet produces too strong of a signal to use with the Mini Me. Clipping occurs even with the gain turned all the way down. I have not had the opportunity to try a pad on the input but a 10 dB pad might have been a useful addition.
The phantom power also seems to be a problem with certain condenser mics. I've talked with several other engineers that have had this same experience. In fact, when I first got the Mini-Me I thought the phantom power didn't work at all until I discovered that you have to hold the switch in position for a couple of seconds for it to kick on. This seems like a poor design decision.
When recording live bands I like to use the Mini-Me as my premium converters and usually match it up with a good set of drum overhead mics. The Mini-Me sounds great with my Josephson C42s. The combination give me an "in your face" drum sound and does an excellent job on the cymbals. I typically run the "soft-limiter" in this application which keeps the occasional cymbal spike from clipping out. On certain kits I do find it to be a little brighter than what I want. In this case I may choose to match it up with a ribbon mic or run the Josephsons through a different pre. I typically consider the overhead drum mics to be the most important tracks in a live project. The Mini-Me can be a great addition to your studio set up for the "money" tracks.
For mobile stereo recording, it is hard to beat the convenience, mobility, and sound quality that the Mini-Me provides. With a lightweight laptop, the Mini-Me, two mics, and a USB cable you can go anywhere and make high fidelity recordings. Unfortunately, you can't power the Mini Me through USB, however, you can match it up with a simple battery pack and it will run off of AC or DC from 6 to 16 volts. I've used the Mini-Me on several occasions for remote ambient capture and it has functioned very well in that capacity. Matched with a good set of mics it produces very little noise when capturing quiet sources.
All and all I am very pleased with my purchase and wish I had another Mini-Me so that I could use them for mobile surround sound capture. If you are looking to beef up your studio or do remote stereo capture, the Mini-Me is an excellent choice, but, as with all gear, make sure you purchase from a dealer that allows you to return for a full refund if it’s not for you.
The Bottom Line: It's a quality mic pre, A/D, compressor and soft limiter that lets you take your recordings mobile or improve your A/D at home. Highly recommended.
Link relating to this review: Apogee
