Internally, the Groove houses an ESS Sabre dac chip and unlike most portable arrangements, the Groove uses the full desktop chip with 8 paths rather than the mobile chip that only contains 2. The buttons do not have a positive click to them but are not easily pushed by accident. Two large rubber coated buttons on the surface are separated by a string of 3 LEDs. The underside has a rubber pad that covers most of the bottom and provides a non-slip/ non-marring surface. The housing is solid metal with a micro-USB port at one end and a 3.5mm female port at the other end. The groove isn’t much bigger than a pack of chewing gum, but has substantial heft and the build is very solid. The one comment I would make is the bag is oversized for just the Groove and only a single pocket so storing the Groove and the cable together may still wind up scratching the surfaces. Inside the Groove is protected by a foam surround with the manual hidden below it along with a cloth carry bag and a USB-A to micro-usb cable. The box is black cardboard with the Apogee logo on front and the specs on the rear in silver. Alternatively, refurbished models are also sometimes available via Apogee’s website. If you have an interest in the Groove, the best deals are the bundles with Sennheiser headphones which discount the groove fairly substantially. I have no affiliation with Apogee, nor was I provided any incentives to write this review. I purchased the Groove without any incentives or discounts. More Apogee products are now Windows compatible and the Groove has come down to a price point that while still high for its class is much more attainable. Recently though that has started to change. Most of the gear Apogee makes is targeted to professional studios and priced accordingly, and second most of their gear is designed for Apple and I have never been a fan of the Mac. Two things have conspired to keep me from buying their products until now. I became aware of Apogee years ago as they make one of the more popular lines of studio Analog to digital equipment and chances are pretty good at least one of your favorite recordings was made using Apogee gear.
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