Firewire Interfaces

[natethegreat]

I've had this ongoing dilemma for some time now - with the slew of new firewire interfaces coming out into the market now, I'm not sure which one offers the best quality for its price range.

The ones I am considering right now are:

Focusrite Saffire Pro 26 i/o
Presonus Firestudio
MOTU 896HD
MOTU 8pre

I want 8 mic pres with some expandability options (ie. ADAT, S/PDIF not as much). Have any of you had experience with these interfaces and can attest to the mic pre and AD/DA converter quality?

I've also heard of RME fireface quality (but they don't have 8 mic pres) and also the new Mackie 400F, 800R, and 1200F (although the 1200F is a bit out of my price range and the 800R does not have firewire)

For the mic pres, I'm looking for clean and clear - any colouration I will get from another single channel mic pre in the future.

Thanks for the help

Nate

 

[dgatwood]

I've had this ongoing dilemma for some time now - with the slew of new firewire interfaces coming out into the market now, I'm not sure which one offers the best quality for its price range.

The ones I am considering right now are:

Focusrite Saffire Pro 26 i/o
Presonus Firestudio
MOTU 896HD
MOTU 8pre

I want 8 mic pres with some expandability options (ie. ADAT, S/PDIF not as much). Have any of you had experience with these interfaces and can attest to the mic pre and AD/DA converter quality?

I've used the MOTU 8Pre and the Presonus FIREPOD. I would recommend the 8Pre. One of them had a jack break and MOTU swapped it for a new one within a week. I had the entire S/PDIF section of the FIREPOD go out, shipped it to Presonus, and was without it for over five weeks.

The MOTU costs a little more, but when the shit hits the fan and something breaks, they'll get you back up and running.

 

[Hard2Hear]

The MOTUs will give you the best performance and lowest latency.

 

[SuperGeek]

Rme - 800

I've had this ongoing dilemma for some time now - with the slew of new firewire interfaces coming out into the market now, I'm not sure which one offers the best quality for its price range.

The ones I am considering right now are:

Focusrite Saffire Pro 26 i/o
Presonus Firestudio
MOTU 896HD
MOTU 8pre

I want 8 mic pres with some expandability options (ie. ADAT, S/PDIF not as much). Have any of you had experience with these interfaces and can attest to the mic pre and AD/DA converter quality?

I've also heard of RME fireface quality (but they don't have 8 mic pres) and also the new Mackie 400F, 800R, and 1200F (although the 1200F is a bit out of my price range and the 800R does not have firewire)

For the mic pres, I'm looking for clean and clear - any colouration I will get from another single channel mic pre in the future.

Thanks for the help

Nate

I have a RME-800 its got 4 mic pre and 1 instrament 8 line in and out plus spdif - adat 2 in and out as well

The firewire ports on the back are 1 - 800 and 2 -400

Was looking at presonus or a mackie (didnt relize the benfit of RME total mix at the time i was looking)

but got the RME used at a good price.
I would if i paid full price I would still be very happy.


I am looking at a octa8 by RME but for an extra 8 channels or add 2 and get a total of 20 channels of mic pre or you could use the mackie 800R 's (adat out) in stead of the octa8 or any other pre that has adat out

The one thing i do like about the RME is the Total mix software and the solid drivers for it. you can have upto 3 800's on one computer

Lots of options with it. Plus I am extreamly happy with it.

My 2 Watts