Sound:
The Audiofire 8 sincerely has great converters, and honestly with converters in the mid-high end of the market there's not a huge difference between the options you have. I did my first test with an acoustic guitar recording, and it certainly came out very well, and definately transparent. The preamps aren't so great, they're kind of comparable to my Behringer UB802 mixer preamps but a tad better in the midrange, and way off the clarity of my Soundcraft pres, but I think the Audiofire preamps are okay - I have no problems using them! The Trim is a little odd though, took alot to get a good signal into my DAW. Doesn't matter too much though since I use this interface with a mixer and other pres.
Feature:
For me, connecting my mixer to my DAW to stream atleast 6-8 inputs and 2-4 outputs was all I needed, and this fulfilled those requirements very well. I WOULD like to see this model with ADAT for later expansion, but that doesn't matter really, there's still heaps of I/O. The included rack ears were great and the LONG firewire cable was a great bonus!
Ease of Use:
Once this product is up-and-running, you will NEVER have a drop-out at all. I never opened the manual, but you don't need it! It really is plug and play - install the drivers and this thing is rock solid, even on my windows system. I did have alot of trouble getting it to work with my 4pin firewire port on my Dell laptop, but thats an issue with the Dell laptop (for anyone out there with a Dell laptop thinking of connecting it this way, you might want to remember this to save you the worry later!) I bought a firewire express card with a texas instrument chipset for about 50 dollars and now it works beautifully!
Quality:
This unit is solid and well-built, apart from the quality of the knobs, especially the trim knobs. They jiggle and feel extremely loose, but once again I use a mixer with this interface so don't find the need to make constant adjustments. By the feel of them though, they would fall off with heavy use. The connectors fit well into the interface. The front 2 inputs (combo neutrik) makes inserting a jack plug easy, but pulling it out isn't. I've just hooked it up to my patch bay, something about plugging a jack plug into the front combos makes me nervous. Might work better with a different brand plug though!
Value:
For what this product offers it gives great value for money! For those who don't need many preamps want rock-solid drivers with a substantial number of line-level I/O, the Audiofire 8 is definately recommended!
Manufacturer Support:
Never had to use them - I asked a question about the converters and preamps by email once and recieved a prompt and polite reply, so I imagine their support is fine.
The Wow Factor:
I definately want it, because I need it. As long as my gear works day in, day out, and sounds great I don't really care what it looks like unless it's pink with purple spots. The engraved ECHO logo is pretty cool though, and it's one very smooth unit in the way of materials used and the way it was moulded (no sharp corners).
Overall:
This product fits my needs is great, and I'm going to use this product for a long time, because it sure feels like it will last a long time. Well I'll use it until I need more I/O, which won't be for atleast a few more years. Overall the build and sound quality of this unit is very pleasing.
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Sound:
the sound is clean and helped by my mixer
Feature:
i wish it have inputs and ouput leads for each channel
Ease of Use:
is easy to use because all your controls are in your computer and in your mixer board
Quality:
the quality is great, the only mechanical parts are the 2 volumen controls and if you leave them in a permanent possision like 3 o clock & control your volumen with your mixer this box should last you 10 years just keep a extra copy of your favorite software ( I use sonar 5 producer first choise & pro tools second choise ) 2 copies of your music producctions, a new computer every 3 years but by then your Echo will be discontinued the driver wont exist any longer for your new computer and even if your Echo still working you will end buing the new Echo model in the market,,JA JA
Value:
the price hummm bring it down
Manufacturer Support:
not yet
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