Looking to Buy a Firewire/Audio Interface. Suggestions???

There are a few that look as if they'll do the job for the amount they are selling for,

Such as....

Focusrite Saffire Pro 40

20-in/20-out 24-bit/96kHz FireWire Interface with 8 Microphone Preamps, ADAT/SMUX, S/PDIF, MIDI I/O, and Plug-ins

http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/SaffirePro40/


PreSonus FireStudio 2626
FireWire Audio Interface with Eight Mic Preamps - 26-in, 26-out

http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/FireStudio/

PreSonus FireStudio Project
10x10 FireWire Audio Interface with 8 Microphone Preamplifiers, Digital and Analog I/O, and Cubase LE 4 Recording Software with Included Virtual Instruments and Effects - 24-bit/96kHz Resolution

http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/FireStuProj/


So, which one will it be??  And of course will be using my Greens W/ the interface so the built-in pres dont have to be wow... OMG!!! 



Any sort of relevant comments/recommendations is very welcomed....(my wallet will be very thankful)

http://www.steinberg.net/en/products/hardware/mr816csx.html

http://www.m-audio.com/products/en_us/ProFire2626.html

??

(google also for user's comments)

There's opinions that the MR816 sounds more expensive than it really is. There's also the cheaper '816X version if you don't want much DSP.

There were users that managed to kill it in a couple of days..


With Profire you get to run MPowered..

I think prosonus and m-audio have "cheap" reputation.
I heard mixed things about Saffire.
But that's hearsay..
I personally have MOTU 828 and Echo Audiofire 12, I modded motu with 4562 opamps and like the sound very much. Not using mic pre of course.
Audiofire doesn't sound as smooth, has some sort of edginess to it, but its not modded, so I donno.
But it seems very solid system-wise.

A vote here for Audiofire 12.  No mic pres but that doesn't seem like an issue for you. 

Perhaps it's not the very best quality, but for reasonable money I'm super happy with mine

I've got the Profire 2626, and so far it's been really solid on my pc. No glitches or real probs.
I recentley did a live recording for a band, and it sat comfortabley for 2 hours recording without breaking a sweat......
I was worried coz some computers can be funny when recording long periods of time

I never really use the pres that are built in, but the trs on the back bypasses any of the pre circuitry so I just pump all my DIY pres through that.

What I really like about the profire is the option of taking 2 x adat ins with whatever convertors you like. I own a Mytek stereo convertor that I use through the spdif for most things like gtr, vox, bass, keys etc, and I borrow a friends Lynx Aurora 8 for when I'm tracking drums, giving me 10 nice channels of conersion, and the eight M-audio channels if I need them. Be great to have the full 16 adat going plus the spdif.............
Btw clocking the Aurora off the Mytek makes them sound even better ;D

The old profire lightbride seemed to be buggy as hell, and there's countless threads on forums about all the clokcing issues  with it,
but the 2626 dosen't seem to have any issues like that. All solid, and clocks like it's meant to.

I have three Presonus Firepods (now the FP10).  They are extremely cheap on eBay used.  I picked up my third one for $250.  8 analog inputs, line level or mic preamps, SPDIF in and out, MIDI, and you can link up to three together for 24 analog inputs.

We recorded the latest organissimo CD with them (Groovadelphia) and the latest live Root Doctor Live At The Cadillac Clube record.

I don't find Presonus stuff to be cheap at all.  It's well-made, the drivers are solid, and they work like champs.  The sound quality is very good for the price point.  My next upgrade will be to the SSL Alpha-Link system, since that's about the only thing I've heard that is better that I can afford.

Lowfreq said:

The old profire lightbride seemed to be buggy as hell, and there's countless threads on forums about all the clokcing issues  with it,
but the 2626 dosen't seem to have any issues like that. All solid, and clocks like it's meant to.

Click to expand...

I never had any problems with the profire lightbridge when used to one.  It clocked perfectly from my tascam HD recorder down an ADAT light pipe or over wordclock.  I had no problems recording up to 18 tracks simultaneously.  In your words "it was all solid & clocked like it was meant to" !!

I had a firepod a few years ago. Worked great for awhile and then the firewire chip had massive problems. I had upgraded to a pro tools system before then but I was still really annoyed. Apparently a lot of them had these problems. I'm not sure if it has been sorted since the release of the Firestudios but I assume it has.

But personally I still wouldn't go for a presonus. They aren't that cheap and the sound quality was good for the price but not amazing. Of course I haven't heard the Firestudios.....

Rob

FWIW, Sound On Sound has a pretty raving review of the Focusrite Saffire Pro 40
(Jan 2009 issue)

b3groover said:

I have three Presonus Firepods (now the FP10).  They are extremely cheap on eBay used.  I picked up my third one for $250.  8 analog inputs, line level or mic preamps, SPDIF in and out, MIDI, and you can link up to three together for 24 analog inputs.

We recorded the latest organissimo CD with them (Groovadelphia) and the latest live Root Doctor Live At The Cadillac Clube record.

I don't find Presonus stuff to be cheap at all.  It's well-made, the drivers are solid, and they work like champs.  The sound quality is very good for the price point.  My next upgrade will be to the SSL Alpha-Link system, since that's about the only thing I've heard that is better that I can afford.

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Nice...Say, do you happen to have the name of the EBAY seller that you bought those unit(s) from??

If I can make my purchase through a seller with a good and reliable reputation as opposed to going through via "Sweetwater" , e.t.c... obviously would be the best choice.



BTW what can somone tell me about the Tascam 1184 unit, I have a friend who owns one and he's had no issues as of yet, anything about this unit needs to be considered??


Thanks,

Don't know which unit to recommend but it would be good to pick a one with internal sampe rate converters for all digital inputs. Also check that the ADAT inputs support higher sample rates (S/MUX), and if you want to later add an external A/D more than single S/PDIF inputs would be handy.

Hi ENS,

If you decide to go with Focusrite or Presonus, just give me a call.  I'm a dealer for both.  I'll hook a forum brother up. 
take care
Gil

407-579-1711
or just email. [email protected]

BR said:

Hi ENS,

If you decide to go with Focusrite or Presonus, just give me a call.  I'm a dealer for both.  I'll hook a forum brother up. 

Click to expand...

Another audiophile from Orlando???...LOL I know too many of ya that end up getting themselves trapped down in S. FL untill they can make their escape back up to where they originally started....  hehe

No prob...I'll check with someone (another Orlando audiophile-transplant) I know that may need a couple of items as well ;D


Thanks,

Rather than start a new thread, I'll simply bump the most recent of a reoccurring topic,  this way ya'll know I at least did a search first.

New machine = time for a new audio interface.  I've been slumming it with a Terratec for over a decade and there ain't no way I'm putting that POS in my new machine.  Right now I think I favor the ProFire 2626, but I'd like fresh opinions from those in the know.  All comments pro or con are greatly appreciated.

My system specs are:
Dell Precision 690
2x Xeon 5130 2GHz dual core processors
4 GB RAM
Nvidia Quadro 3450 video card
2x 200GB SATA hard drives
Philips DVD burner
On board LAN, 1394, & USB's

Thanks!
-Richard

In the last year I bought 2 Profire 2626 units to run with my mac mini.
The whole system runs pretty well - I'm using PT M-powered 7.4 (which is not supported on OSX 10.6 but I got it cheap) and Harrison Mixbus and I'm happy with the results.  I also do everything at 96k - haven't tried the interfaces at 192k yet.

I'm satisfied with the interfaces - not so much the PT software.

I have been using an RME Fireface 800 for three years and it's been totally reliable and terrific.
M

I'm interested in getting an SSL Alpha Link MADI AX for conversion. 24 channel AD/DA with ADAT lightpipe.

The MADI is there if I get a Mac Pro some day, but for now I want to stick with my iMac, so I'm looking for an ADAT-firewire interface.

The only solution I can find is the M-Audio ProFire Lightbridge. I've seen mixed reports about the stability of the ProFire, but some folks have had no problems. It seems the software drivers are the critical bit. It's surprising that there aren't more products in this space.

I have been using an RME Fireface 800 for three years and it's been totally reliable and terrific.
M

Click to expand...

+1, it's rock solid, great stable drivers, installation is a breeze, no surprise and no need to call product support with these 

zayance said:

I have been using an RME Fireface 800 for three years and it's been totally reliable and terrific.
M

Click to expand...

+1, it's rock solid, great stable drivers, installation is a breeze, no surprise and no need to call product support with these 

Click to expand...

Yes-I agree!

The most stable drivers I ever used and the unit itself is a supersolid build.
Many of the sound-engineers (the german "Tonmeister") here use them for classic recordings and also for multitrack playbacks-with no known issues.
I highly recommend that RME stuff!

Best,

Udo.