Audio Interface With 8 Line Ins??

L

Larry Birdness

New member
Hey guys,

I've got a bit of a situation at the moment. I need an audio interface with at least 8 analogue line ins (bypassing the interface's preamp). I'd much prefer it to be FireWire instead of USB or PCI (I just want to plug in and go).
I've been looking at the Echo AudioFire 12, M-Audio ProFire 2626 and the Saffire Pro 40. I know the ProFire 2626 completely bypasses the preamp when you insert a TRS jack, and the Pro 40 cannot completely bypass the preamp (you have to find the whole unity gain thing, etc.).

I'm just looking for suggestions or encouragement to go with the ones i've been looking at :) $1000 I'd say would be my max to spend on something like this. I'd appreciate any help.
 
Hi,
I have a motu828 mk2 which has 8 line inputs and also has 8 channel adat input.
They're pretty cheap these days and I think some of the other motu models have 8 line ins too.

The 828s suffer from a common fault on the mic channel gain knobs.
It has no effect on the rest of the unit but lowers the resale price so keep your eye out for that. ;)

Beware the audiofire. I'm pretty sure it has no hardware output level controls or headphone outputs or anything.

Motu are bang-up-to-date with OSX drivers, so I'd hope they're doing the same on the M$ side.
 
I was going to recommend MOTU. I also think that RME has a model that has that, I believe the Fireface does.
 
Ripthorn said:
I was going to recommend MOTU. I also think that RME has a model that has that, I believe the Fireface does.
Click to expand...

The fire face 800 is sort of comparable.
I think I read that the 828mk2 converters gave the RME converters a run for their money in some GS loopback test.

Not sure how valuable that is.

---------- Update ----------

TimOBrien said:
I've also used an 828mkII for years. Solid as a tank.
Click to expand...

Hey Tim,
Did you LCD backlight ever blow?
 
Lucky man. Apparently it's a common fault with them.
I replaced mine three times before figuring out that I needed to add a series resistor. It's been fine since.
 
my brother bought the profire 2626 when they dropped the price last year. it has a firewire connection, with ADAT inputs on the back that allows you to expand the track count in the future. the mixer software lets you set up near latency-free headphone mixes. its a nice bit of kit that works well with PC or mac.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top