All user reviews of 5/5 for the M-Audio Fast Track Pro

For the technical aspect, see the site m-audio
I had a mobile interface
The case is robust but I have doubts about the strength of knob '(plastic) although they support multiple transports for over a year

I use it mainly with Guitar Rig 4 when I have not the opportunity to play at home and taken for guitars

UTILIZATION

Memory, the drivers are not updated regularly.
I'm using ASIO4ALL instead, it gives me a latency of 8ms

GETTING STARTED

The installation is plug and play. No problem.
After that, it only remains to choose the sample rate

I have, from time to time, a problem of recognition Guitar Rig. A reboot and make sure it works ... hard to tell if the crash comes from the card, soft or my old pc

The manual is very concise but good enough given the ease of use of the Fast Track Pro

OVERALL OPINION

It's been over a year I use it and I'm really not disappointed. I have not tried other brand or model of competition.
I love being able to slip it into the cover of my guitar and settle down anywhere.
At that price, quality is the appointment

M-audio is one of my favorite companies and they really pack a lot of stuff into this box. 2 Mic inputs. Pro tools compatible. Monitoring support. Tons of TRS outputs and digital outs. It's even got midi if you want. I had one of the regular fast tracks before I got this one and it's amazing how much more they have packed into virtually the same sized box.

I don't use pro tools very often, although it's nice that this is PT compatible. I basically use this as a mobile interface with my laptop. It fits very easily into a laptop bag or backpack or whatever I'm hauling.

UTILIZATION

Drivers are stable like almost all the m-audio stuff. Latency is good. But the fact is you will only get as much performance as your cpu hardware will allow. Don't blame the device for your bad latency. Cubase generally has good support for maudio products and this one is no exception. I have used a few of their interfaces and all of them have more or less worked great. This interface has two inputs and I haven't had any trouble with mixing them properly. Drivers are especially smooth with the pro for some reason. That's a welcome feature I suppose.

GETTING STARTED

I don't even know if there is a manual because I never read it. Everything is laid out for you and even a beginner can probably figure it out on his own. Sometimes when a unit has this many features packed in, things can get confusing but the pro is laid out pretty clearly. Functions are all easy to access and the best part is there are a lot of functions. To be honest I don't use the midi and I rarely use all the outputs so I can't attest to how it handles a high traffic audio situation.

OVERALL OPINION

I like the fact that it packs everything I need into a tiny box I can carry on the go. I do a weekly podcast at a friend's house, and the best thing about this is I can stick it in a laptop bag and take two mics with me for the whole show. Easy and done. I looked at the other models and this was the smallest interface that had all these features. The only competition is some of the Motu stuff but I believe they are slightly larger? Sound quality is great. I have said for years that digital preamps are every bit as good as the tube gear. I would know because I've used it all. The Pro is in line with my thinking there. I really recommend it.

To see the features on the site M-AUDIO ... but certainly a big plus for the wealth of inputs / outputs

UTILIZATION

No problem install drivers on Windows XP sp3 with cubase ... for now tested a voice recording and AC runs perfectly.

GETTING STARTED

Setting clear, I hardly looked at the manual ...

OVERALL OPINION

I use it for about 3 months ... before I had a sound card integrated ... is day and night.
Issue price / quality ratio is the top ... nothing wrong I'm really happy and I would not change it for anything except to go over really big equipment ...

I bought this sound card for its versatility!
Pianist, I need to plug my keyboard in midi (out and in) to work with Cubase ... I also need to record the buff or concerts (I bought a pair of super-cardioid microphone XLR-connectors) it works perfectly.
It has 2 XLR combo inputs beautiful / jack, so there branch what we want ... the phantom power is also there (for microphones - XLR), the button is at the rear.

Whether for live or studio, this little fact the case! =)

UTILIZATION

So I am using this sound card with Cubase AI4, I've never had a problem, and it's been a year since I use it!
The latency is 2 ms ... without touching the settings.
DO NOT forget to pause your antivirus program when you bump with sound card + sequencer: Your processor will be much more responsive to the requirements of sound processing! (Same for all sound cards).
Otherwise there could be some spitting if you overlay a dozen tracks of virtual instruments ... (which is not always the case, but for me quite often). This is due to overloading ASIO.


GETTING STARTED

Implementation and installation simple and effective. Nothing more to say!

OVERALL OPINION

I recommend the M-Audio Fast Track Pro to any young person embarking on computer music in the studio, etc. ... It's a sound card is easy to use, accessible and versatile.
Around me, guys who are professional use (knowing also other sound cards) and are satisfied ...

In short, good value for money of course!

I would do this choice, but why not the Fast Track Ultra for a number of entries more interesting to live a good record?

- For specifications, see M-Audio website or other notices.

- For my part, I use it mainly with a guitar and an amp for transplanting.

- My setup is basically: dual core 2.2GHz, 2GB of ram ... the "home assembled" works well, basic configuration. Enough for the home studiage basic account does not record 10 tracks simultaneously.

UTILIZATION

- Drivers, I directly downloaded the update for Seven is also faster than installing from the CD.

- on the other hand, it seems to me that I did not GT Player. I have Guitar Rig so it goes. Now it may be gasping for those who rely on the supplied software.

- For my part I use Ableton Live 7 and it goes really well with no concern for recognition etc.. I record 2 tracks max at the same time and that's fine.

- Question ... RAS latency is too low to hear.

GETTING STARTED

- The implementation is not difficult. Drivers, one branch and hop!

- I configured the card for what is the default sound card.

- The only real problem I had is to have the stereo track on ableton. Input 1 goes left, 2 right mono. On ableton in entries must simply choose not 1 / 2 but 1 or 2 depending on the entry. Thus, it was all in stereo (it's stupid but hey ...).

- Otherwise very simple because the sound is good enough to use simple, effective and powerful enough preamp. The outputs are not very difficult because the instructions on the site clearly explains. I put my hi-fi system in the CAR and no worries.

Personally, I'm really happy with this card. She has both the pro side, which allows to do things properly and one side "too complicated" that allows the amateur to navigate.

OVERALL OPINION

I recently and frankly, no regrets.

My goal is really to record my guitar amp for recording group. I wanted something better than my Toneport GX, more comprehensive and pro without spending 400 € and it's all good here!

What characteristics have motivated your choice?
For less than 150 €, was the only audio interface to offer a preamp and entry and exit south.

For what purpose?
I use it as main sound card to replace the internal sound card on my PC, to make recordings of my piano digital input jack on the front, to play virtual instruments from the keyboard to midi, interfacing with vessels monitoring for the headphones ...


UTILIZATION

I had no problem with the drivers in Win7.
There is no perceptible breath with headphones or speakers when the sound comes from the PC. on the other hand if mixed with an instrument input (mix turned fully clockwise), there is a slight hiss that is heard (but that may just be my audio cable jack / jack connected to the front).
The latency is great because I get 5.8 ms under Live. But according to the number of effects, instruments, tracks, sometimes I have to increase the latency of 6.5 ms to avoid hearing the "pops".
The preamp is a bit lightweight headphone. I am obliged to put out the max with a headphone than 80 ohms impedance (I use a DT770 Pro 80 ohms) to provide a proper level. However this is very acceptable and can spare her ears.
The ergonomics are well thought for monitoring.


GETTING STARTED

No problem for installation. Just download the latest drivers on the site of M-AUDIO, install, plug the interface into the USB port and it works.


OVERALL OPINION

For how long have you been using it?
I use it for four months.

Did you try many other models before getting this one?
No, I trusted the reviews I found on the web. And I do not regret it.

Pros:
The ergonomics, sound quality, the integration of the midi interface, very low latency, mic preamps

Cons:
I do not see at the moment

What is your opinion about the value for the price?
very good to less than 150 €

Knowing what you know now, would you make the same choice?
Yes, certainly.

This is the M-Audio Fast Track Pro with 4x4 input lines with Midi In and Out, Phantom Power and a stereo out. I bought this as a foray into the world of digital recording and I haven't had to buy anything else.

The box is incredibly light-weight and durable (not scratch resistant, but durable). One of the features that really enticed me about the box was the unique front two ports on the box which allo you to either go 1/4 in or XLR in; they are dual purpose. I also took a hands on look of one of these at a store and was happy with the general lay out and ease of operation. Nothing complicated, you have knobs for input volume, panning, toggling PAD etc.

I use this box in conjunction with my Intel Dual Core Macbook, which I run Digital Performer on. It took a little work to sync it up correctly with DP but in the end it worked incredibly well. If you are also a Mac User and want to use Garage Band, its as simple as plug and play.

I have taken full use of ever port on this box. I've ran guitars, bass, vocals and microphones through the inputs; ran a MIDI controller into the back and Stereo-ed outed to a sound system. I'm impressed by the extreme capability and ease of use with this tool.

UTILIZATION

The package comes with Abelton software and drivers. The drivers installed with ease and allowed for plug and play connection with most simple software (like I said with DP, it was a bit harder). The Abelton softare never really grew on me, it was more geared towards guitarists who were just entering the world of digital recording/manipulation.

Fortunately enough the programs, drivers and box itself is highly compatible and will work on both PC and Mac (brownie points).

The one thing that irked me was the manual was a little soft on a few areas. As obvious and easy as the box is, there were a few things I had a hard time finding out (for example trying to utilize the stereo inputs).

It seems as if M-Audio wanted to make a great beginners box with a simplistic layout and good beginning software but didn't follow up with any reading material to come full circle.

GETTING STARTED

M-Audio has always been good about releasing updated drivers so as to keep all their products working throughout. Any and all drivers I have to update for this product have been done so with ease, though they are not released very often.

With this box, like I stated above I use Garage Band and Digital Performer with. I lent this box to a friend of mine who used it to record his band via his PC and Sony Acid. He too was very pleased with the plug and play ease and found the learning curve for general line in recording easy. Like me though, he said that using the handful of advanced features is slightly difficult and there is not much material on that.

The box is incredibly responsive as it is bus powered. The box can run off of pure USB power, but I prefer to also have an adapter so as to not put too much strain on the USB connection/computer.

The one thing that is very sketchy about the description of this box is that it says 4x4, which leads you to believe you can do 4 simultaneous recording inputs. Upon further review, the box itself can handle 2 mono/single line ins, or it can record a stereo track for two instruments (two mics/ins each hence the 4x4).

I was a bit disappointed by this and I begrudged the fact that M-Audio didn't make this very clear but in retrospect I still enjoy this product for what it can do.

OVERALL OPINION

I've been using this box for about 3 years. I've used it to record 4 piece bands or even just myself alone.

What I like most about it is that once you really fully understand how to use the box, there is a lot you can use it for. However, like I've stated before the learning curve is very fast in the beginning but then you hit a bit of a wall once you try to move beyond the simple line in features. If M-Audio had better support on these features, I believe this box would be widely accepted by many in all areas of recording.

I paid roughly 250 dollars American for this piece of equipment. I looked extensively at other models. Tascam recorders, other M-Audios, Line 6 and many more. What really turned me on to this box was the dual purpose inputs on the front and phantom power. I know that sounds pretty standard on some recorders but with my small budget this seemed to be the most bang for my buck.

For the price, which I think has dropped down to about 200 dollars due to the release of it's big brother, I think it's not a bad box. Definitely a great tool to use if you are starting out in the world of recording.

Knowing what I know now, I wish I saved a bit more to get something that has more line-ins or simultaneous recording. Those aspects seem to be absolutely golden when it comes to purchasing these, the more the better. But in reality, if you don't know how to utilize them you are better of with starting with something like this.

Ultimately, I have no regrets in buying this product. It has served me incredibly well and I have gotten my money's worth out of it. I wouldn't be so hasty to recommend it right of the bat to somebody but I believe that within the 300 dollar price range this tool is hard to beat.

M-audio’s fast track pro is a 4x4 Mobile Audio/Midi interface with preamps. It ships with Abelton live 4, which is a great software for someone just beginning in the world of recording music. I use Windows XP with a fairley new, cheap Dell computer and it runs flawlesly.What’s great about this particular interface is the extremely low latency; I have been using for over one year and have barely noticed any. The fast track pro has two front Mic/line inputs, which is something I love about it, there is no need to have to lurk behind the interface, the inputs are right there. Eight beside them is the level knob and two very handy buttons, the Mic/line button and the pad button, for when the signal you are trying to record is a little bit too much on the loud side. Beside that are the Mic volume knob and the Output volume knob, which I always found very convienient, because it sucks to have to get up and adjust the volume on your monitors, with the fast track pro you can do it without any effort. The last things on the front panel are the headphone volume knob and input. It really sucks that there is only one headphone input, but it’s something you can live with. On the back panel there s the midi inputs and outputs, 2 TRS inputs for outboard gear and 2 TRS outputs for your monitors. There are also the S/PIDF ins and outs, and the phantom power switch, which I really wish they put on the front panel because it gets annoying having to go behind the interface and switch it on and off. Last but not least is the power button and the AC input.

UTILIZATION

The Fast Track Pro is a bit difficlut to install, it took me a good 2 hours to do. Not because of compatibility issues though, the instructions in my personal opinion were just very hard to follow. Once you do get it up and going though, it works perfectly. I love the fast track pro and will not want a new interface for a long time.

GETTING STARTED

The M-Audio drivers are super stable, i have not had a problem with them once since buying the fast Track Pro. They are never updated really, which i like, less work for me. I use the Fast Track Pro with Abelton Live 7 and it works great.You can record two tracks at the same time, and get almost no latency.

OVERALL OPINION

I have used the Fast Track Pro for about 2 years. My favorite part about it is the super low latency, the only downside to the Fast Track Pro for me is there are only 2 TRS outputs on the back so i can't have surround sound monitoring. I did not try other models before the Fast Track pro, however i am totaly convinced it is the best for the money and i would make the same choiuce to buy it over and over again.