Sep 10, 2006 12:51 am you should get M Audio Firewire4 because it is compadable with pro tools and other software like logic, sonar and cubase. and m audio stuff comes with abelton live.
Advice for firewire interface for laptop
Posted on Sep 09, 2006 08:22 pm
VMX
Member Since: Nov 28, 2004
A friend of mine just ordered a PC laptop and asked me what audio
interface I recommended for around $300.
I found the following:
Presonus Firebox
Edirol FA-66
Focusrite Saffire LE
Echo AudioFire4
M-audio Firewire 410
Mackie Satellite
TC Electronic Konnekt 8
Alesis iO|14
Yamaha GO46
Could you please comment the pros and cons of each, and which
one(s) you recommend and not recommend. Any help is appreciated.
Also is the Emu 1616 cardbus interface better
than any of the above?
Thanks
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Sep 10, 2006 12:51 am you should get M Audio Firewire4 because it is compadable with pro tools and other software like logic, sonar and cubase. and m audio stuff comes with abelton live.
Sep 10, 2006 06:05 pm I would recomend staying away from the E-Mu stuff. It is basically a glorified Sound Blaster as they are in with Creative Labs to create those units.
The top 3 you have listed are all very good interfaces with the Focusrite Saffire probably being the most stable and well rounded of the group. Both Presonus and Edirol have some small compatability issues with hardware, but those issues are being ironed out if not allready cleared up. I prefer the pre-amp section on the Saffire as it is a slightly higher grade then the Presonus or Edirol units. But again they are both very good as well. If I were to rank them in oreder it would be the Saffire, Firebox and then the FA-66.
The Echo, Mackie and TC units are a little over priced for their specs and performance. The M-Audio, Alesis and Yamaha units are again over priced and outclassed by the top 3 units you have in your list.
Waht type of recording software are you looking to run on the laptop? That itself might help decide a more well chosen route to take in purchasing an interface.
Sep 10, 2006 10:25 pm Thank you all for your responses.
Noize2u, my friend would like to run Guitar Rig, Tracktion, Band in the Box, Nuendo, and possibly, Ableton Live and Sonar. He plays guitar, so being able to directly plug in, would be desirable, if possible.
As for myself, I plan to get a laptop, hopefully sometime later this year, and I would like to run Sonar, Guru, BFD, Traktor, Ableton Live, and Kontakt.
Do you by any chance, know if there is any
difference between cardbus to firewire adaptors?
I remember reading somewhere that the Texas
Instruments or Lucent chipset is preferable.
My friend bought a Siig cardbus to firewire
adaptor(dual port)"NN-PCM222", but it has no documentation (even on their website)as to what chipset it has.
Thanks again.
Sep 11, 2006 11:04 am Nuendo, and Tracktion, and Sonar?
Nuendo, if you can afford it, should cover all bases. Why would you need other DAWs?
Nuendo envy......
Sep 11, 2006 11:07 am Yeah, thats just silly to have 4 DAW's...tracktion, Sonar and Nuendo are the same thing with varying levels of sophistication, Live has a different twist but essentially the same thing...if you have Nuendo, hell with the others...it'd be a waste of money.
Sep 11, 2006 12:36 pm Yes, I agree with your points. Well, he just wants the interface to be able to run all of these programs without hassle. He is a relative novice, and started with Traction due to it's user friendliness; but would like to move
up to Nuendo in the future. Sonar is something I
recommended to him because I've used it(but I don't use Traction or Nuendo).
So it's simply a matter of thinking ahead and
flexibility, and having one solid interface to do it
all.
Sep 11, 2006 03:49 pm Hey VMX, your top 3 will run those apps without much trouble. The Saphire works very well with all of them from everything I have seen and read as well. It is very well suited to plugging directly in for guitar rig.
As for the interface cards, yes the chipset does have a lot to do with wether the units will function properly or not. TI is so far the top rated chipset, Lucent is well rated also, but not as stable as the TI chipset. Cant help ya either on the Siig unit though.
And indeed, that is a waste to have that many DAWS loaded for on computer. I'm the king of overkill and dont even go there. Sonar 5 PE, soon to be 6 is my only DAW and I run Project 5 v2 ReWired as a synth workstation.
Sep 11, 2006 07:09 pm Noize2u,
I like the top 3 interfaces you mentioned.
Is it true that Saffire LE requires a USB dongle?
or is that only if you use it's DSP plugins?
Also, I see that the regular Saffire is $100 more
than the LE, because it includes onboard effects and goes to 192kHz. In your opinion, is it worth
getting the standard over the LE?
I guess we'll just have to test the SIIG adaptor to see if it works well with the chosen interface.
Thanks again for your help.
Sep 12, 2006 03:27 pm The USB dongle or Interlok is required for their proprietary software pluggins only. There are 4 that come with both Saffire and the Saffire LE. I believe they are EQ, Compresion, Reverb and an Amp sim. It uses the Pace technolgy which has been working well. You will however be able to use any and all VST or AU plugins you allready have in your software.
As for the $100.00 extra on the Saffire over the LE it is for the onboard DSP processing. The LE does not have this feature. It is nice if you have an under powered computer or if you tend to run large amounts of pluggins, or heavy CPU use pluggins. Otherwise it isnt really a needed option.
And at the bottom of their spec page it does indeed state the TI chipset for firewire is the main specced chipset. It does state you may run into problems with others.
As well the Saffire will run on the 6 pin or 4 pin firewire, but it will require an external power supply with the 4 pin as only the 6 pin firewire can supply power to the unit.
The pre amps and all the other goodies are the same in the LE as the bigger Saffire.
Sep 15, 2006 06:10 pm Thanks Noize2u.
I guess if if one hates dongles and likes the
onboard DSP, one should get the standard version.
If one hates dongles, and doesn't need or want
the Focusrite effects, then the LE is sufficient.
Is the Focusrite reverb, for example, superior to
the Lexicon Pantheon(which btw doesn't require a dongle)?
You didn't comment on the 192kHz capability of
the standard which the LE version lacks. Is this
feature alone worth the $100 difference, or
are there limitations to it making it not necessarily, worth the extra money?
Sep 16, 2006 11:37 am I prefer the Lexicon reverbs myself. They have been doing it for a good long time and I think they have it down very well.
As for the 192kHz capability. No, I will say it is not worth the extra $100.00. I personally dont see the need for that high of a sample rate at the present time. Aside from that, most software isnt ready for that anyway.
Higher sample rates are great for precise editing and so on. But the only time I go above 48kHz is when I am doing sample work itself. For normal recorded audio tracks I stay at 48.
Sep 16, 2006 11:33 pm Thanks very much.
I think I will look into the LE version.
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