m-audio firewire 410 simultaneous tracks

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theloniusjones

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hey everyone - i've been reading some posts and it seems a few of you are using this external card. i'm thinking about buying it but i'm confused about how many inputs it has. i know it has the 2 xlr inputs on the front but it also looks like is has 2 line inputs on the back. can i use the 2 xlrs for mics but also use the 2 line inputs in the back for recording direct guitars/bass? would i be able to record those tracks separately at once? what i mean is is it possible to record 4 separate tracks at once? also, what would i need to record mics in the back inputs? separate phantom power (for condensers), preamps, and balanced>unbalanced transformers? thanks for the help.
 
The xlr & 1/4" inputs are mutually exclusive, so they can't be used together. You can use either pair of inputs in conjunction with the s/pdif ins to give you 4 tracks at once. However obviously you need something that can output s/pdif
 
do you think i'm looking at the right card? i haven't done a whole lot of research. i liked the fw 410's balanced xlr ins, phantom power, preamps, 2 headphone outs, and the portability of firewire (i'd like to be able to use it on a friend's computer too). but i would like to be able to do 4 simultaneous separate tracks. what else is out there that i should look at? i'd like to stay around $400. i'd be running this on a powerful pc running xp.
 
Bull Hits was pretty clear about it.
You can only record 4 tracks simultaneously when you put the spdif digital input to use. 2 analog + 2 digital.
I don't think there is a firewire device with 4 analog inputs on the market yet for anywhere as low as $400,-.
 
sorry, that last post of mine was a bit unclear. what i meant was i was wondering if you all thought that card was a good choice for me - number of inputs aside (4 would be nice, but i can do with 2). thanks.

btw, are there mixers out there that output digital signals? that seems like it would be a good solution for the extra inputs.
 
I was in the same boat as you are. If you don't mind the 2 ins only, its a great little box. That was the only thing worrying me going into the purchase but it was fine for me. The MIDi inputs were a huge bonus for me. Do some looking around and you'll see a lot of fine units don't even have MIDI.

If you absolutely need the inputs, like christiaan said you won't find a Firewire device in the $400 range. In fact, I think the next Firewire up with 4+ inputs are the 1-2 grand range MOTUs, but I could be mistaken.
 
theloniusjones said:
btw, are there mixers out there that output digital signals? that seems like it would be a good solution for the extra inputs.
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Soundcraft M-series
 
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