M-Audio Firewire 410

With 4 inputs and 10 outputs all into a good sized interface this could be the best interface to have for your home setup. Even if you don’t need the 4 inputs or all of the outputs right now, it will still leave some room to grow once you need more inputs or outputs they will already be there and you wont have to go out and purchase another interface. You can also choose to switch the phantom power off or on depending on whether you want the low noise or not.


UTILIZATION

I didn’t like the manual with this interface to much, It seemed to be a really lengthy manual and it didn’t need to be. The unit was very easy to use and to understand I don’t get why the manual would be so complex. You wont even need to touch the manual at all if you have general knowledge of interfaces and even if you are a beginner you wont need to use the manual . Just load the drivers and you are good to go.


GETTING STARTED

The back of the unit does have some inputs on it though, I think it has two inputs and 8 outputs and they are all quarter inch jacks. So this unit is useful on the front of the panel and on the rear panel. So where ever you have this unit at you will need to be able to access the front and the back, which makes me thing they should have just made it a rack able unit and put everything on the front. But I think they where aiming at trying to make it a portable fire wire unit that had plenty of outs and ins.


OVERALL OPINION

It is portable and still has enough inputs and out puts to run a major session. Using this interface couldn’t be much easier. You wont need a manual , its plug and play. Run it in any major daw that you use on your pc. I am not sure about mac though, I haven’t used it with a mac.

I purchased the M-Audio FW410 from Sam Ash (12/29/03) for $384 pre-tax to record my girlfriend's audition CD.

I'm using the FW 410 with an iBook G4 and Behringer B1 microphones. For recording software, I use felt tip's Sound Studio 2.11 ($50).

At $400 or less, the FW410 is one of the cheapest Firewire audio recording interfaces. It supports 24 bit / 96 kHz audio playback/recording. It has two XLR microphone inputs and eight channel line level outputs. I also like the fact that the unit can be powered from the Firewire bus alone (though it's probably not a good idea if you are driving two condenser microphones off the Firewire bus). Although I haven't had the chance to test the SPIF audio stuff it's good to know that it's there when I needed. Finally, it has MIDI in/out for those who need it. The bottom line is that it has the speed and feature to serve the need of most home recording studios and pro's on the road.

Because this is my first computer audio recording interface (skipped USB completely), I have nothing to compare the quality of the audio with so I'll have to get back to the discussion of audio quality after using the unit for a while.

The startup is just a little flaky sometimes. There were a few times that I turn on the unit and my iBook G4 doesn't see anything connect through Firewire. It might a problem with Mac OS X though. Restarting the computer would fix the problem. (Remember to disconnect any firewire device when restarting your computer, doesn't matter what is connected!)

All the inputs/outputs are UNBALANCED. I wish they are balanced I/O but at given that the unit is targeted primarily for high end consumers, not professionals, it's really not a big deal.

The FW410 is meant to be used with a computer so it can't be used without a computer unlike the MOTO 828 MKII, if you desire computer independent operation, this is not what you want.

Solid construction, have only had it for a few days so can't say much about reliability yet. It feels good though.

The M-Audio Firewire 410 is an amazingly well conceived and executed product targeted at musicians and audiophiles desiring Firewire audio without the associated high price tag. It's ideal for stereo recording in a home studio setup and to take with on the road. Highly recommended!

I would give it 4.5/5 because it's almost perfect. I might write a follow-up review once I have used it for a while.

This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com

I bought this unit because I have a desktop and a laptop system. I wanted a flexible solution to have good sound in both systems and , at the same time , keep the laptop thing portable. I bouhgt it online at Midi-Store (http://cdbm.com)

The sound is really nice. I'm happy with the latency as well. I use included ASIO drivers (will discuss it after) with 64bit buffer length. I have around 8ms latency, using several outputs and processing inputs in real time.

The drivers are NOT mature. I've suffered a lot of problems. There are conflicts with most motherboards regarding IRQ sharing (specially laptops). I had to reinstall the whole systems several times until I got an stable configuration. My issues are not solved yet, although it works better than first days, when it was really a nightmare. I had to fix many things without help from customer support, which in my case has not been good at all (I sent very long emails explaining all my System/ACPI/IRQ configuration and the answers were like "have you installed the latest drivers?" ... About that, they only released one update 2 months ago.



No complaints about this. I like the design and the materials. It's a solid metal box with fancy lights. The rotary controls are OK. I like the 2 front XLR inputs.

I think it will be an excellent sound card if proper, more stable drivers are released. I like how it sounds, but at the moment can't rely on it for live performances.

I know some people get this to work without problems, but you have to be very very careful choosing your motherboard and peripherals, as most modern motherboard don't offer a lot of control regarding resource assignment.

The customer support should really improve, or at least have updated FAQ's, as everybody is asking the same over & over again. I've contacted a lot of Firewire 410 users in Cubase.Net forum and we all have the same problems. It's a pity we have to trial & error time-costing solutions found wherever in the net, instead of getting a straight solution from the customer support.



This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com

I purchased the gear in a shop after looking on the internet for affordable professional recording gear. I bought it because I knew it was exactly what I needed.
I paid £363(528 euro) for the unit.

I am accustomed to the consumer line Soundbalster SB Live for recording and playback. The first, very notable difference was the fact that with speakers or headphones plugged in and with the volume up full (with no noise playing) there was complete silence. There is no background noise or static whatsoever. It makes for crisp, clean recording (from DI source or mic) and incredibley clear playback.

So far, there is nothing unsatisfactory abou the unti whatsoever. It is perfect for recording (up to four inputs at once) and for playback (up to 10 discreet outputs or 7.1 suround sound).

The FW410 is solid in its metal casing. It is heavy duty, but not too heavy for portability. All knobs have a "nice action" (as Alan Partridge would say) and it is very simple and straightforward to use and install.

For anyone who is considering buying a low-price, professional soundcard for home recording or for live electronic performance this is the one for you. The unit has 4 inputs for recording (2 XLR / 1/4" hybrid inputs [with optional pads and phantom power] and 2 1/4" line inputs) it also has 10 discreet line outputs (8 1/4" and 2 SPDIF). It also has 2 headphone sockets, each with its own voume control. It works through FireWire and I am currently using it on a laptop and am achieving crystal clear recording and playback audio.

This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com