The surprising (old) M-Audio Fast Track Pro . . .

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k brown

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Bought one of these cheap on eBay out of curiosity because some low end M-Audio stuff has surprised me before.

(Before I go any further, I've not assessed it as an interface; just as a standalone pre/AD.)

The quality of the preamps really surprised me, as unlike the DMP3, Duo, and ProFire, these are not built around INA163 or THAT1510, but rather low-power op amps (NJM2115). In my cursory exam of the board (I didn't exhaustively trace out the circuit), it looks like it's three dual opamps configured as a stereo pair of instrumentation amps. I assume they did this because the thing can be powered by USB, and the INA/THATs can't run at that low voltage. The DC jack is 9v, so may have more headroom powered that way.

The pres are noticeably cleaner than those in the Tascam DR-70D.

The AD converter also sounds quite nice. The final Pre/AD output of the thing is much closer to the THAT1510-based ProFire 610 than I would have expected. And this in a very compact, lightweight (less than 1lb, 4oz.) box that can be battery powered.

About the only buzz on the web about the pres is a lot of complaining about them not having enough gain (~40dB), and being noisy when cranked up. Probably an issue with dynamic mics, but not a problem with condensers.

A feature I've seen on very few small, affordable interfaces is a pair of insert jacks between the pres and the converter. Of no interest to me for the intended purpose, but very cool to be able plug the pres directly into another piece of gear; the way I'll likely be using it most (adding two addt'nl pres to another interface).

Also, unlike many small interfaces, in standalone the line outs are from the preamps, not via DA converters. M-Audio also does this with the Duo and the ProFire 610.

It's biggest drawback is that in standalone (for some odd reason) the SPDIF out will only do 44.1; as an interface, up to 96.
 

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It's biggest drawback is that in standalone (for some odd reason) the SPDIF out will only do 44.1; as an interface, up to 96.
It might be an issue of how it handles the switching the clock from normal speed to high speed for 96k. Have you tried plugging in the USB and setting the sample rate to 96k with its control panel? It may be that it will retain that 96k setting after unplugging it and using as standalone converter.

I have an old MOTU 896HD that I have sometimes used as a standalone converter, and this is how it behaves. It is only able to run at 88.2/96k if I first set it to that in the PC's control panel software for it. And once it had been set to 96k, it isn't able to switch back to 44.1/48k unless I plug it back into the computer and set it again with the control panel. It will correctly switch between 44.1 or 48k, or between 88.2 or 96k, depending on the incoming clock from my card, but it isn't able to make that jump between single or double speeds solely from what clock it is sensing. I'm chalking it up to being a quirk of how the S/MUX thing operates. The interface supports 192k, but it is only supported via Firewire and the ADAT and AES connections can't do it.
 

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