M-audio Firewire 410?

DJ Gear & Hardware Hardware: Controllers, Mods and Gear
1

M-audio Firewire 410?

Anyone use this one?

http://www.m-audio.com/products/en_us/FireWire410.html

looks nice, but maybe not cheap.

2

i personally would stay away from this card based on reviews and get something like the firebox, which i’m really glad i did.

3

I have not read much about this interface, what bad reviews had you read? I am considering to buy this one also. I want a 8 out interface and at the moment have only found the audio8.

I think the firebox is only 4 out though…

I actually use the m-audio audiophile which is the smaller version of this one and sounds great! No issues so far.

4

I do own one of these and I think it’s good for setting up a portable laptop studio. (i.e. When I do remix/production work on the road.) I have used it to play out with Traktor 3.3 and I get < 5 ms latency. However, my laptop comes with only the mini firewire plug which I feel is a little flimsy for mobile gigs cuz I’m always afraid of it popping out…

Other than that, it’s a decent box… I’ve owned it for a few years now and it has never given me trouble. I’ve used it with Cubase SX 2, Ableton, and Traktor 3.3 and Pro. I have an HP laptop 1.8 Ghz with 2 gigs of RAM. It has performed well for simultaneous MIDI / audio recording and playback.

5

You can install a PCI express card with big firewire plugs. There is another post in which bento sugested this

6

I have one of these at home and have never had a problem with it
its got all the I/O i need and its firewire so its a win win
and its pretty solid too, very sturdy

7

this is just a quick search of the reviews i’ve read:

http://www.zzounds.com/productreview--MDOFW410

http://www.amazon.com/M-Audio-FireWire-410-Recording-Interface/review/product/B0000TP588/ref=dp_top_cm_cr_acr_txt?ie=UTF8&showViewpoints=1

I was interested in one on craigslist in my area awhile ago but passed it up when i read the reviews. then i landed a great deal on the firebox, which has stellar reviews.

8

i had one of those for about 4 weeks. got it from ebay and sold it again.

this was the first ever firewire interface from m-audio. the problems with it are:

-doesn’t work with a whole lot of firewire chipset. search some reviews for the brands and models that work.

-does not support hot plug&play!! pull this out of your macbook while it is on, and you might fry your firewire port :eek: this was the biggest turn off for me, as i want an interface to use on both my desktop and my notebook, means a lot of plugging in and out.

-phantom power is only switchable for both mic inputs at the same time.

i also think the drivers weren’t really updated anymore, everybody knows m-audio sucks big time when it comes to customer support. but not 100% sure about the drivers. read some reviews.

if you’re cool with the above, i guess its an alright interface. can get it for real small money, i paid about 160€ for mine, sold it for 150€.

9

that was a great summary of everything i read. one more thing i read is that it doesn’t really have 4 inputs.

can you imagine if you got your firewire cable unplugged accidently and it fried the soundcard and your firewire port!!!

10

you can get 8 out of the firebox if you can use the digital outs or if you are mixing externally you can have 6 out the back and then use the headphone as an additional two

11

What you mention about unplugging and frying your card is not like that. What you are not able to do (according to my knowledge) is hot plugging your card. This means that you should turn off your computer before plugin in your interface, then power on both. Yo can disconnect the firewire interface while your pc is running, nothing will happen. You can even turn it off and on, but you can´t plug it when the pc is on, specially if you are using the 6 pin conector which bus power the interface. Then the risk of frying is high. I have hot pulgged my aufiophile firewire a couple of time to my laptop and nothing happened, because I was using the 4 ping + external ac adaptor and plugged with the interface off.

12

i have read this in a few different spots: [QUOTE]I did some searching online when this problem occurred and according to m-audio’s site, they explicitly state to not disconnect or connect any of their firewire products while the computer is on.[/QUOTE]

here is the thread it is from:
http://www.futureproducers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=84909

13

Firewire is so delicate! This is why I am looking for a usb interface!! Firewire is great for studio but you have to be very careful if you are using it live. Not being able to plug n play or hot plugging is a great disadvantage.