M-Audio 410 Firewire vs Presonus Firestation

[AllOrNothinEnt]

Both are under $500.00
Both firewire.
Both offer pre-amps and phantom power.
410 has dual headphone inputs which I like.

My question is, for those who know...

Which would have better sound quality?

 

[Darkstar]

I don't know anything about the Presonus but I am 100% happy with the Firewire 410 choice I made. Hasn't given me problem one. Two headphone jacks is a bonus and it even has a pretty blue "on" light that shines brighter than the sun itself, in case you want to turn the lights off and have a little mood lighting in your studio.

Seriously though, 410 is solid. Out of all the units in the $500 range, it was the perfect compromise for me. Everything else had either too little or more than I needed (inputs, outs, headphone jacks etc.) The 410 seemed to cut right down the middle of all of them, in my opinion, on features.

I'm serious about that power LED. You could use it for a night light.

 

[goon88]

Get the FIREStation

I have had mine for a year without any problems. I have not compared it with the M-Audio 410, but I doubt there would be any difference in the sonics. Unless you are prepared to pay double or more for something like the Metric Halo ULN-2, you are not going to get a better sounding firewire interface. The MOTU 828mkII is worth checking out too.

What is great about the FIREStation is that it has 8 in and 8 outs, and a very practical hardware mixer so you can monitor all 8 inputs latency-free, and 4 of the outputs, without a mixing desk.

My computer is a DP1.25G4 Mac, and I use both OS9.2.2 [with DP3.12] and OS10.3.2 [just with iTunes & system audio]. The mLAN software, which is needed for OS9, has a klunky interface, but works fine if you read the instructions carefully. No drivers whatsoever are needed for OSX though - just plug it in and it works!

When I first got it I was using a G3iMac 450mHz [remember megahertz?]. It was painful, but I could survive using minimal plugins.

Now, when I want to monitor what I am tracking through plugins, I can record at least 6 channels at a time into DP, with effects, and 4 channels back out of DP, with a 64-sample buffer -- that is very low latency!

Don't know about PC's though...

 

[jlem]

FIrewire VS USB

Just a quick question-- Which makes for a better interface. USB or Firewire. I have to buy new gear for a G4 and I can't decide if Pro Tools is the way or perhaps M-Audio. Also, does the Firestation come with it's own software for recording audio and Midi? Thanks in advance....