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Today's Bonus:
- On-board ASIO 2 compliant mixer and software control panel provide total routing flexibility -- including monitoring with external effects
- Ultra-low latency software monitoring and zero-latency hardware direct monitoring
- Two headphone outs with independent level controls
- Can be completely bus-powered for totally mobile operation
- 2-In / 8-Out 24-bit analog I/O
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I have had two different units (and access to a third for a short time), I used them with three different computers (all macs: a PowerMac G4, PowerMac G5, and a PowerBook G4), and I had loads of problems with every configuration. The units were a bit temperamental and I sometimes had to restart the computer to get them to work properly. As mentioned in other posts, these units are not hot-pluggable and doing so could render the computer, the FW410, or possibly other connected firewire devices permanently disabled. This is particularly a problem since firewire cables have no mechanism to be locked in place--like thumb screws--and they can easily become accidentally unplugged. I called M-Audio and they really tried to shrug this off as if it was no big deal although the FW410 comes with an urgent warning sticker covering the firewire ports that tells you not to hot plug. In fact, I personally know of one computer where the logic board was fried due to the FW410 being unplugged and plugged back in while the computer was on.Also mentioned in other posts is the FW410's propensity not to play well with other firewire devices, particularly firewire 800 devices. I can attest to this. On my PowerMac G5, I had the FW410 as the only device on the firewire 400 bus and I had an Iomega FW drive plugged into the FW800 bus. Everytime I would restart my computer I would have to make sure that I turned my speakers off because of the loud popping and clicking noises that would happen when the Iomega drive was plugged in. I'm not really good at remembering things like that and I believe that this is what blew one of my M-Audio BX5a powered monitors (which, by the way, I like). To back up my computer to the Iomega drive, I would have to shut my computer off, unplug the FW410, then restart my computer and back up. Otherwise, I would get those horrendous (and loud) popping and clicking noises, or the FW410 would become disabled and I would have to restart anyway to get it back.
You're probably wondering why I had two of these units. Well, the first one became stopped working and, fortunately, it was under warranty and M-Audio sent me a new one (though I was without music for over a month). I thought my problems might have been due to a faulty unit but the second one was no better. I had all the problems described above (and others...yes, there was more) with different versions of the drivers (up to 1.8.1) even after reinstalling the drivers many times. I always thought the problems were just my setup until I did more research. I should point out that I am using Macs and everything may work perfectly with PCs, YMMV.
I own other M-Audio products (the aforementioned BX5a powered monitors and an M-Audio keyboard) and I have had no problem with either of those. One thing that I didn't like about M-Audio is that their tech support made it seem like I was the ONLY user that is having problems with this product. As for my FW410, you can look for it on eBay (it's only a couple of months old).
At this point, I have just unplugged the FW410 because I am in fear for my system. After further research, I'm probably going to buy a PreSonus Firebox. This unit seems to work well with Macs, is hot pluggable, and six simultaneous inputs are possible unlike the FW410 in which only two simultaneous inputs are possible (despite the name).
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Video review of the M-Audio Firewire 410 WATCH BEFORE YOU BUY!M-Audio FireWire 410 4-In / 10-Out FireWire Mobile Recording Interface
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I bought this soundcard and have been wrestling with the drivers non-stop for two months... nothing seems to work. Crackles and a high level of whitenoise in the background.Tech Support responds very courteously and quickly, however, their advice is to reinstall the drivers... Gee who would have thought of that. I've only done that about 100 times... Sometimes the meters on the driver interface are dancing wildly when no sound is going through it... Sometimes when I reinstall the meters behave normally. That's the only thing "fixed" by reinstalling however the fix is always temporary...
I get the impression that the tech support knows that there are some problems with the driver and with the unit. Hot swapping has blown a lot of firewire boards including mine (replaced it and now I never hotswap).
I have had nothing but problems my ipod's system software is trashed if ever I plug it into the firewire port beside the 410. It took me three times to realize that the problem was the 410 not the iPod. This was just salt in the wound... Solution from Tech support "don't plug an Ipod OR ANYTHING ELSE into the firewire port if the 410 is plugged in also. But, whatever you do, don't hot swap the 410 or it could blow your board!" Thanks a lot. So I have to shutdown. Unplug the 410, plug in the iPod and restart just to sync my iPod... so much for the convenience of firewire.
Tested the 410 in my powerbook in an attempt to isolate the problem... bad idea. Now my once rock solid powerbook doesn't recognize the firewire card and the wireless PC card would not talk to the airport base station. Solution: reset basestation, clean reinstall system software to reinstall drivers for the PC cards (native to OS 10.3). Thanks alot.
I have read reports of people having problems with this unit. It only seemed like a fraction. I hoped I wouldn't be one. I am.
If I had a G5 that was dedicated to music, I bet I could get this soundcard to work great. But, unfortunately, I have a G4 (maxed out with RAM and the hottest processor I can put in it). And I use it for writing, photos, video, games AND music.
For any mac user who is not making a dedicated music work station, I would highly recommend that you steer well clear of the 410 and of M-audio products just to be safe. There are other options out there that don't have the same problems.
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Many of the negative reviews of the Firewire 410 posted are in my opinion symptoms of the purchaser's computers' limitations. Many factors can affect the "performance" of a digital audio interface. I'm no expert, but I have a good aptitude for reading manuals, and a good aptitude for the general properties of digital audio. Latency and lack of memory issues can be demonstrated by symptoms of popping, and crackles in a recorded track with any interface, USB or Firewire. Often it's a matter of setting the correct buffer size in the recording software or adding memory that can help avoid this issue. A deficit in memory can cause freeze-ups and anomalys in the final tracks. I would be inclined to believe that many of the complaints about this product could be fixed if folks understood the limits of their computers that they plug these interfaces into. It only amplifies these issues when you are utilizing a firewire (faster) interface to record music. The computer can't keep up. I have purchased the M-Audio Firewire 410 and found it to demonstrate all of these symptoms reviewers have described, except I was able to resolve the issues. I benchmarked my own computers' limitations and got back to reality that just because I spent $299 for an interface that it isn't a cure-all for recording the perfect track. So I can confidently say that IF you have a computer that meets the minimum requirements have a good knowledge of the properties of digital audio (Know what latency is, have enough memory, and how to adjust your buffer size), this interface performs superb. An analogy would be if you painted a rock, it may look good. It's still a rock. you can't buy something that will compensate for a lack of knowledge of digital audio and poor computing performance. this product may only amplify the shortcomings mentioned above, mainly because it performs better than a soundcard. Step out of the box, M-audio has partnered with Pro Tools. Most things you hear in the mainstream media were produced with Pro Tools. Get it?
Feature set is also pretty good. Mic preamp has 66db of gain which is exactly what you need for those ribbon mics. Has a pad and twin headphone jacks as well.
Quality:
Although the physical quality of the product was great, I had problems with the drivers. For a while the 410 recorded fine but then Cubase seemed to loose sync with the box. When I created a new project everything worked fine but then I noticed after saving it a few times the project would make the sound card stop responding. I played with this for a while and just gave up and returned it. Personnally I think that it was just the firewire connection that was flacky and not the card itself. If you are tempted to buy this, make sure you can return it in case your computer's firewire isn't up to the challenge.
Value:
Feature set is great but the firewire side is just not reliable. I'm sure my problems weren't 100% the 410's fault but M-Audio shouldn't be selling these things if its not willing to support and diagnose problems that arise. I would have been much happier with the product if it had some log file that just said "Firewire card failure" or "IRQ failure". Instead I wasted a lot of time failing to diagnose what was wrong.
Desirability:
Nice looking product.
Sound:
I don't have a "pro" setup but as far as i could tell the card sounded great when it worked with my AT3035 mic. No complaints here.
Support:
They responded to my initial email with a generic "IRQ conflict" answer. I sent them my system information which clearly indicated that the firewire connection was not sharing a connection and I never got a replay after that. They just gave up on me.
Overall:
Feature set is good. Like I said, I don't know if my problems were specific to this card or firewire in general. However, I tried it on two machines and they both had the same problem. I ended up returning mine and am now waiting for a gina 3d in the mail. The product is great when it works, if you are feeling lucky than give it a go.
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