Firewire Interface for MacBook / Logic

[Yareek]

Alright, I'm making the switch from PC to Mac, would like to know a couple things.

First, is the onboard sound card serviceable? Is it going to be noisy and distorted or relatively clean?

Second, any recommendations for Firewire audio interfaces that work well with Core Audio? I'd like to use Logic Express and would love to have a trouble free driver experience

I'm using an EMU 1820 right now, which is great but is PCI only. Optimally I'd get something with at least 2 mic pres and at least 6 additional analog ins (I have a mixer with 8 mic pres I can use for the rare occasion I need that many ins). Bus power and a small footprint is a plus.

Right now I'm thinking M-Audio Firewire 1814, MOTU UltraLite, and Presonus FireBox/FirePod...

 

[Soulgolem]

I recently made the switch to Mac and never looked back. I use a MOTU Ultralite and it works great, I really like the pres on it, more versatile than my RNP's pres.

Francis.

 

[dgatwood]

First, is the onboard sound card serviceable? Is it going to be noisy and distorted or relatively clean?

I haven't tried the audio on the Intel hardware, but the Apple hardware I have used is pretty clean at line level (no preamp hardware). According to the specs, the Macbook supports 192kHz/24-bit on the analog side, plus optical S/PDIF at up to 96kHz/24-bit.

That said, it is just line level, so you're going to be carrying around bulky external hardware anyway. Might as well just get an interface and be done with it, IMHO.

Second, any recommendations for Firewire audio interfaces that work well with Core Audio? I'd like to use Logic Express and would love to have a trouble free driver experience

I've been really impressed with MOTU's drivers thus far, but then again, I haven't done any Mac OS X updates since installing them, so ask again in a few months.

Bus power and a small footprint is a plus.

Bus powered interfaces aren't all they're cracked up to be. See my comments in the FIREPOD S/PDIF thread about the M-Audio FW1814 and how the ADAT ports (at least on mine) go unstable unless it's the only device on the FireWire bus. I strongly suspect this is at least partly due to it being a bus-powered device.

I've never been in a situation where I needed to do mobile recording where I couldn't plug in a power cord. If I ever did need to do that, I think I'd buy myself a portable DAT recorder that supports S/PDIF and use that instead.