Firewire/usb directly to external hd?

[N3wbi3]

Hi everyone...if I get a Mackie Blackbird Onyx or similar device with firewire/usb, can I plug an external hard drive into it and record directly without a computer / DAW? Is this possible on any recording interface (other than the expensive hard drive ones)? Thanks.

 

[TimOBrien]

No.

They are slave devices and need a computer to run them.

 

[Mo Facta]

You need an interface that can operate in standalone mode and that has a USB hard drive input. They're generally not cheap.

The RME UFX does this, as does the new Allen and Heath ICE-16 that's just launched or just about to launch.

Cheers

 

[Bobbsy]

As Tim O'Brien and Mo Facta say, very few interfaces are designed to work this way. If you think about it, unless the interface has the control features you normally use a computer for, how do you route your channels or hit record (or playback)?