looking for firewire interface

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woody777

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I'm looking for a mid-level (sub $1000) firewire interface to multi-track record a full band. Specifically, I'm looking at these units:

Focusrite Saffire Pro 26 i/o
Presonus Firepod
Mackie 400F

Are there any other units that should be added to the list?

Comparing only specs, the focusrite obviously has the most inputs and outputs and seems to have the most features and flexibility. I would think the Mackie has the best preamps and converters, but it only has 4 mics pres.

Can anybody help me figure out what unit I should get? This is so confusing - fun - but confusing!
 
You could Look into one of the Alesis 16 Track Firewire Mixers...They will let you Record 16 Tracks at once and have 8 Fairly good pre-amps and the Unit is only about $600....

A Friend of mine rescently bought one and he is Very Happy with it.....

Cheers
 
im in the same boat. I was leaning towards the onyx400f then i read a lot of stuff about problems with whine and stuff. Mackie have since fixed the problem but they never recalled the older units which i think is fucking cheap on their behalf. People have reported troubles with the whole onyx range so i think im going to steer clear. Plus only 4 pres so youd be adding external pres if you want to do a live band (generally speaking).

The saffire pro is one fine looking machine. The pres are supposed to sound great and it gives you 26 ins (8 line in, 2 s/pif, 16 adat) which is quite decent. Only direct in (all 8 with optional pres) so if you want to add more ins it must be through adat. US$100 more than the saffire.

And the trusty old firepod. This has been in my consideration list for a while now (im nice and broke so all this is really a huge tease) and it keeps staying there. Not to of the range but from what i understand, nice transparent pres, good converters and stable. 8 mic pres, cheap. I think there is a reason its so popular.

So i dont know. The alesis also looks interesting. Im not sure if there is a reason it isnt as popular or discussed. But yeah. If youre looking for that many pres, theyre your options. also the motu 896 has 8 pres or the 828 has 2 which you could add too....

tell us what you decide on.
 
woody777 said:
I'm looking for a mid-level (sub $1000) firewire interface to multi-track record a full band. Specifically, I'm looking at these units:

Focusrite Saffire Pro 26 i/o
Presonus Firepod
Mackie 400F

Are there any other units that should be added to the list?

Comparing only specs, the focusrite obviously has the most inputs and outputs and seems to have the most features and flexibility. I would think the Mackie has the best preamps and converters, but it only has 4 mics pres.

Can anybody help me figure out what unit I should get? This is so confusing - fun - but confusing!
Click to expand...


i have a alesis mutlimix 16 brand new, that i am kinda wanting to get ride of, there is nothing wrong with it and its brand new.
 
does the multimix double as a control surface? or are the faders somewhat useless as an interface?

also, in regards to the interfaces, the multimix does 24bit/48khz, the firepod 24bit/96khz and the saffire 24bit/196khz so i dont know if you want to take that into consideration?
 
I'd go with the Firepod if you're looking for a cost effective solution and many included preamps. You can check out some reviews here.
 
The best interface you have listed is the 400F, hands down. The Onyx preamps are miles above Presonus, Focusrite and anything else in that price range. The "whine" thing is something I never experienced with my unit so I can't comment on that. Part of the reason I no longer have it though is because it was a little lacking in the input section (no lightpipe I/O, etc) and I felt I needed more flexibility.

If you need more pres, the Firepod is a good choice for very little money.

I have not heard the new Focusrite unit yet, but it's got 26 I/O, including 8 pres and lightpipe for $600. Ask yourself: how good can it be?

As an owner of some Focusrite preamps, I will say they tend to sound dark and kind of grungy at times. Personally I much prefer the Presonus sound in that price range. Much warmer, although fuzzy on the detail.

Dirk
 
You probably don't need more choices but I recently got a Tascam FW1082 and am pretty amazed at the quality for the price. You could probably get the FW1884 for $1000 which has 8 ins all with mic pres and inserts on every channel and it's a control surface so you can twiddle real knobs and push real faders.

http://www.tascam.de/en/index.html

The mic pres aren't bad at all, not great but pretty clean and a good bit of gain. The mic pres and converters in all of these prosumer interfaces will all be much of a muchness, you might notice slight differences but I doubt it.

You could always buy a channel or two of shit hot pres further down the line for critical sources. I have a nice two channel valve mic pre which I put through the line ins for use on vocals and stuff.

I'll never go back to pointing at stuff with a mouse again. :D

Edit: here's a registered tascam dealer selling them brand new on ebay for $900, you could even 'make an offer' and get it a bit cheaper.

clicky
 
i agree that the onyx pres will probably be the best sounding of the bunch, but you'll be stuck with only 4 channels, which isn't going to cut it for a full band...in that price range, i'd probably grab a firepod
 
Yeah i have to agree with studiomaster MOTU have some great stuff out there. :cool:
 
studiomaster said:
MOTU 828mkII beats all those 3 interfaces listed.
Click to expand...
I'd look into the MOTU Ultralite also. Nothing against the 828 but it's kinda getting long in the tooth, and it's not MOTU's latest technology. The Traveler is even hipper, but would break the $1,000 budget barrier.

That RME FireFace 400 will be priced right around $1K too, I think... maybe a smidge more but definitely worth the stretch.

If you're not stuck on FireWire the E-MU 1820M (PCI) is a solid contender at $500.

And... don't get too hung up on the preamps that come with any of these interfaces. They're all usable in a pinch, but you will want to (eventually) get yourself some dedicated "gold" channels for professional results.
 
studiomaster said:
MOTU 828mkII beats all those 3 interfaces listed.
Click to expand...

Not if you want your preamps and A/D conversion to actually sound good it doesn't.

For I/O options it's the most flexible, and definitely a better choice than the Focusrite. But don't kid yourself about MOTU's A/D and preamps. They are definitely a notch below the Presonus gear, and several below the Mackie.

FWIW, I own a Traveler. It's cool and it's convenient, but I only use it for D/A right now (which is where MOTU shines). The preamps and A/D are seriously lacking and that's par for the course with MOTU.

Dirk
 
another vote for the MOTU828.

watch out for the alesis stuff. read up on harmony central or something, lots of people are unhappy with the quality of them.
 
I'd agree with the D/A being better than the A/D on MOTU. I owned the older 896 unit and I did like it (although the CueMix was an early incarnation and not nearly as flexible as the newer stuff), but wasn't greatly impressed with the A/D or built-in pre's. I realize this is an older unit, but I don't think there was a vast improvement with the 896HD (or other newer generation interfaces). I considered sending it to Matt at Black Lion Audio at one point for his mods, but just sold it and moved on. The MOTU's do have pretty lights though, don't they! :D

I owned a Firepod as well - that was a decent interface - especially for the $$$. Tracked one semi-live project with it (using all eight pre's at a time) and it worked like a champ.

Sold the Firepod, and moved back to PCI for now and bought a Echo Layla 3G - partly for the flexibility/expandability. Great sound (I find the A/D and D/A to be great), flawless performance on my PC, and cheap enough where I can move towards getting some better pre's. The AudioFire interfaces offer the same sound quality as the Layla 3G, but give you the firewire instead of PCI.
 
j-boy said:
I'd look into the MOTU Ultralite also. Nothing against the 828 but it's kinda getting long in the tooth, and it's not MOTU's latest technology. The Traveler is even hipper, but would break the $1,000 budget barrier.
Click to expand...

I have the 828mkII, it's great, I got a Behringer ADA 8000 to expand to 10 mic pres (yes i know they're not the greatest quality out there, just explaining my setup).

If the Traveler was out when I got the mkII, I probably would have gotten the Traveler. I believe the Traveler retails new for $849 (828 mkII for $749).
Seems like that's less that $1k to me.
 
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