Subject:best firewire or usb interface

Posted by: ozzborn

Date:5/10/2006 8:22:25 AM

i am about to buy a new laptop and i need a good firewire or usb interface. i really want the new rme fire 400 but im trying to stay in the 500 dollar range.
my expierence with usb sound cards are not that good, but i am considering a mbox2 because i would like to get protools but at the same time how good are the drivers.

considerations.

mbox 2
focusrite saffire
maudio 1814 or 410
presonus firebox (i think thats the name)

any comments would be appreciated

Subject:RE: best firewire or usb interface

Reply by: SHTUNOT

Date:5/10/2006 9:18:34 AM

The presonus stuff has been reported to work very well with Sony apps. I am planning on purchasing the presonus Firepod FW.

I will get rid of my delta 1010. Move my UAD card to its pci slot. This will give my UAD its own IRQ and the firepod will obviously will be going to my pc via FW.

Ed.

Subject:RE: best firewire or usb interface

Reply by: Laurence

Date:5/10/2006 11:05:56 AM

I must say that I can highly recommend any USB box that uses or can use the driver found at usbaudio.com. I can get solid performance down to 2ms. Also, the Edirol boxes seem to have great drivers. It really is even more about the driver than anything. My MOTU firewire box on the other hand has kind of a lousy driver.

Subject:RE: best firewire or usb interface

Reply by: ozzborn

Date:5/10/2006 12:25:02 PM

which edirol box

Subject:RE: best firewire or usb interface

Reply by: JohnnyRoy

Date:5/10/2006 2:30:31 PM

Don’t forget that all the M-Audio firewire boxes are now ProTools compatible so you don’t need to buy a USB MBox just to use ProTools. I have an M-Audio FW-410 and it works great with all of the Sony software (Vegas / ACID / Sound Forge) and it's M-Powered for ProTools 7.

~jr

Subject:RE: best firewire or usb interface

Reply by: Sari

Date:5/10/2006 2:38:17 PM

Check out Mackie Onyx plus FireWire Option.

Subject:RE: best firewire or usb interface

Reply by: switchman

Date:5/10/2006 8:45:05 PM

PRESONUS FIREBOX: i run it into my sony vaio laptop.

virtual mixer
under 300 bucks.
2 simultaneous inputs.
4 outputs.
and a FIREWIRE rather than a usb connection to your computer, trust me there is a huge difference. i started with the lexicon omega, and took that garbage right back. once intially configured, i've never had a problem with the fire box working well through sony, cakewalk, cubase, adobe, or even my bcf2000 controller. they also have outstanding customer support.

Subject:RE: best firewire or usb interface

Reply by: noisemaker

Date:5/11/2006 10:06:53 AM

I love my Presonus Firebox...rock solid and sounds great.

Rich

Subject:RE: best firewire or usb interface

Reply by: Laurence

Date:5/11/2006 11:23:15 AM

I understand that the M-Powered version of Pro-Tools is missing a few features of the Pro-Tools LE feature set: that it won't import/export OMF files for instance whereas Pro-Tools LE will.

Subject:RE: best firewire or usb interface

Reply by: deusx

Date:5/11/2006 11:56:55 AM

Well, since you mentioned RME, I would save a few more pennies and buy that.

I have the 800 version, no complaints, and even before buying it every single person, dealer, whotever I spoke to, stressed that RME is beyond anything else in the same price range.

Subject:RE: best firewire or usb interface

Reply by: kbruff

Date:5/11/2006 1:05:54 PM

RME is a class by itself -- superior quality and excellent manufacturing

M-Audio is great too, the optional of picking up Pro-Tools M-Powered edition is very attractive, it provides more learning oppurtunity and creates the optin to support pro-tools projects at a low cost.

Subject:RE: best firewire or usb interface

Reply by: ozzborn

Date:5/11/2006 4:25:42 PM

i already have a rme multiface and i really like it but i dont want to spend a grand on a box that i am only going to use some time.

i think i narrowed my choice to the firebox.

could some firebox users explain how the mixer works, and is there a forum for the firebox

thanx in advance

Subject:RE: best firewire or usb interface

Reply by: Rockitglider

Date:5/11/2006 4:49:01 PM

Hello,

I use the Fire Wire M-Audio Ozonic, It's a audio interface and a Midi Keyboard as well and it works great with Acid. Seems to be very durable so far, and it has a joystick control and severall other sliders and knobs. It also has Phantom power for mics. Good luck on your choice.

See ya, Rockitglider

Subject:RE: best firewire or usb interface

Reply by: switchman

Date:5/12/2006 5:22:56 AM

ozz-
don't know about the forum- but i'm sure one exists. this is one of the few audio tools though that works so well, the manual is so straightforward, and customer support so good you probably won't need a forum to use it...
the mixer is a very basic 4 channel icon that allows you to pick the firebox's latency, sample rate and audio levels. it also gives you the option to boost your input freq.'s if you're using a quiet mike or something. i highely recommend it: it;s one of the few devices i've come across that didn;t drive me out of mind to learn how to use. an afternoon of experimenting, and you should be set for any application you want to use. they retail for about $300, but you should be able to talk any retail outlet down some.
a big seller for me when i first bought mine- i called customer support with a question, and was prompted to leave my name and phone number on a voicemail. i thought "yeah,right!" but went ahead and left it anyhow. imagine my amazement when less than an hour later i ACTUALLY RECIEVED A CALL BACK and they patiently walked me through all of my issues. perhaps some other bigger, bloated companies should follow the presonus lead............

Subject:RE: best firewire or usb interface

Reply by: JohnnyRoy

Date:5/12/2006 7:24:21 AM

> i think i narrowed my choice to the firebox.

I am curious as to why you are leaning toward the Prosonus Firebox. The M-Audio FW-410 is the same price ($299) and it has everything the Firebox has plus 20db pad switches on the inputs, programmable level control, two headphone outputs (with separate monitor mix via software mixer), S/PDIF coaxial and TOSlink optical, 8 outputs, and MIDI interface with passthru.

The FW-410 has so much more for the same price I’m just curious as to what is attractive about the Firebox?

~jr

Subject:RE: best firewire or usb interface

Reply by: ozzborn

Date:5/12/2006 8:24:42 AM

i think the 410 is a good choice but the presonus from what ive heard is built better.i hear the divers are almost as solid as rme.

one stupid reason is because it takes up 1/3 rack space and you can put a firebox, a headphone box, and a tube pre in one rack space
http://www.presonus.com/store/product_info.php?cPath=28&products_id=65

presonus is known for good converters,and im banking on good drivers.

Subject:RE: best firewire or usb interface

Reply by: kbruff

Date:5/12/2006 9:39:22 AM

I have the FW410 -- it is super solid and works flawlessly with all my apps....

1 - Wavelab 6
2 -Sound Forge 8
3-Every single Native Instruments Appplication
4-FLSTUDIO
5-Vegas
6-ACID
7-Pro-tools
8-Traktion
9-Standalone --Mic Pre
10-Digital input/output box for format conversions, etc

and more!!

I use it so many clever ways -- and I cant get enough it!

Are there better interfaces -- yes, but this one works very well!

Bye,
Kevin

Subject:RE: best firewire or usb interface

Reply by: JohnnyRoy

Date:5/12/2006 10:39:23 AM

> i think the 410 is a good choice but the presonus from what ive heard is built better. i hear the divers are almost as solid as rme.

Thanks. Those are certainly solid reasons. There is no substitution for well built equipment with solid drivers. ;-)

~jr