List Price: Price Unavailable
Sale Price: $595.77
Today's Bonus:
- FireWire (IEEE 1394) and USB 2.0 audio interface
- 24-bit resolution, up to 192 kHz sampling rate
- 18 simultaneous inputs and outputs FireWire/USB audio interface
- 8 microphone preamps with trim control and individual phantom power switches
- 8 analog line inputs including 2 instrument inputs
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When I saw the 1 bad review for this product, I had to post MY review to counter act.to the other reviewer: you are calling for a firewire interface, but using USB?.. did you know there are 2 drivers for this, 1 for USB and 1 for Firewire? You cannot install both on the same system. If you read the manual...
I've been using the Firefly 808 since the first revision that didn't include USB. You CAN pair the older non-USB revision with the Universal and they play together well. I admit, when I first got the second interface (you can daisy chain up to 8 to octuple your inputs and outputs.. maybe more) They were going out of sync, I kept getting clips and pops, but THAT WAS MY FAULT I didn't set 1 to be the clock source and the other as the slave (CS...and something... I don't have my rig on at the time of writing this) It was the customer service at Phonic's main page that helped me with this. They responded in less than 24hours!
Using Reason and VST's I get near zero at the most 2ms latency which is not really detectable when using Midi instruments. ALSO there is a direct monitoring fader (within driver software) that allows for direct monitoring for your singer/drummer. I've plugged guitars directly into the firefly and used VST amp modelers with ease.
My main DAW at this moment is Ableton Live for all the built in instruments, VST compatibility, composition and recording capabilities. I have used the Firefly 808 Universal successfully with Reaper, Sony Acid, Sony Soundforge, and Native Instruments bundles. I created a box with two of these units, headphone distribution amp, SM Pro Audio EP-84 Multichannel Microphone Preamplifier with ADAT add-on (you can use the Behringer ADA8000 8-Channel Converter also) to add 8 more mic preamps for individual recording channels, 1 space mixer and a couple compressors. It is portable and was set-up for stage use. My computer is a Windows 7 x64bit machine.
The set-up is quite unique as I have tied my turntables into the mic inputs directly. I then rout my turntables to use in Tracktor Pro 2 and use my Numark Omni control as my mixer this might sound complex, the set-up takes a moment to wrap your head around, but it works! I also use it to record drums (phenomenal results I use a rack compressor, but there is no need, you can do it with software if you need), guitars, vocals and whole live sessions. Preamps are very low noise... I can't say enough good things about it.
The only features I would add to the driver software, is the ability to save your presets. Every time I boot for a new session, I have to set the Master Clock/Slave and also pan the direct monitor mixer. Something simple to do, but something that should be done once with a preset. And maybe tone controls (can be software) for the headphones.
Upon researching; I found the price of this unit is so low because they are OEM builders for the other major brands you see. They get their parts in bulk, no advertising, totally invest in the product.
I was not new to recording when I made the purchase for the first Firefly 808 nor new to computing.
A suggestion: DEDICATE a computer for audio capture slim down your operating system by using a fresh install, without graphical candy, no internet connection or virus detector program running; as they have the potential to 'erk' your recordings.
There are many topics the novice should research before delving in. ASIO (this unit has low latency ASIO... that's what you want), DAW (start with REAPER, it is free), VST, MIDI, compression (or learning to record below the RED +0db)... I can go on for days... better yet, get this unit (it is best price/feature unit you'll find)Somebody wrote "Low quality. Too noisy to use for serious recordings. You would be better off spending more money on something else."
I don't understand how he came to this statement. Look at the data sheet and you would see that this statement is impossible. The source of noise must come from a different source. This interface is absolutely quite and even if you turn up the volume all the way you can barely hear any noise.
A detailed review is shown here:
I am using this interface with professional SW (Magix Samplitude ProX)and I love the results. I play the violin for 46 years and I am extremely picky if it comes down to recording quality. Most problems are rather in microphones or poor SW then in this interface.
I love that the phantom power of each input can be switched on/off individually.
One thing took me a while to find out is that the inputs are always routed onto the outputs. This can be changed by opening the firefly808 audio interface where you find a slider for completely detaching the input from the outputs or the playback onto the outputs so only the inputs can be heard. Once you get used to this it is a nice and powerful way to record and play back.
You can cascade up to 8 audio interfaces which will fulfill all your needs.
This Audio interface is fairly priced and cheaper then most other interfaces. I compared almost 20 interfaces for price, # of channels and technical data.
I decided for the firefly 808 because of the convincing data. It keeps the promises in every aspect.
I did not have any problem with the interface to my windows 7 PC. Obviously all bugs are out. You still should download the latest driver.
I am using firewire and did not try out the USB interface.
The headphone output is absolutely quite and works excellent with an Audio Technica ATH-M50 Headphone.
Everything together 5 stars from me. As soon As I have the money I will buy another unit.The sound thru these bad boys are clean no hiss very detailed i bought two cause the first sounded great.the only problem is older macs like my g5 dont recognize it by fire wire connection only usb and phonic corp is no help at all other than that your music will sound greatMy purchase of the Phonic was driven by the need to replace my old unit that was firewire only. Most new laptops don't come with firewire or the ability to add it, so I was pleased to find that the Phonic supported both firewire and USB.
I have owned a Phonic Helix mixer, so I was familiar with Phonic products and quality prior to buying the 808 interface. Setup was a breeze and Reaper configured it correctly without my intervention. Within 10 minutes I was recording with the new interface. I find the preamps to be very quiet and the quality of the unit to be excellent. It's a very intuitive layout and works very well. The inclusion of ADAT allows me to connect an a/d d/a strip for more inputs. The mixer software is simple and easy to use. I had planned to spend twice as much on a unit that didn't fit my specs exactly because most of the better units are firewire only, but I think that the Phonic was the better choice at half the cost.
When reading specs and online reviews of this product, some doubt was raised as to whether the 808 can record 8 channels at once. I tested the unit immediately after receipt and it recorded 8 simultaneous tracks flawlessly. The 808 is a stellar buy for the money.
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