M-Audio Firewire 410 Mobile Recording Interface
Includes Maximum Audio Tools containing a great collection of software so you can make music immediately.
Overall User Ratings (based on 273 ratings)
Submitted June 20, 2008 by a customer from libero.it
"Read this if you like to know how to use it for good."
I like the shape, the sound, the very very wide features. You need really take care of following : NEVER DISCONNECT OR POWER OFF THE DEVICE WITH THE COMPUTER IS ON. You can easy damage your firewire card ( or your motherboard). You MUST have a fireware card ( or motherboard) with Texas Instrument Chipset ( TI Chipset), Pyro, for exaple. If not you will have a lot of scratch and noise, Impossible to record !!. So don't start to work around drivers and similar stuffs...power on and power off... and so on. If you got problems , 99% are related to firewire interface.
Sound
It sounds ok. low noise and flawless
Features
2 headphones jacks ... digital in (optical too) ..and more . It has all. Umbeatable for the price.
Ease of Use
You need a little practice with the software. Hardware is easy to use.
Quality
Quality is ok. Only the connectors seems not so solid.
Value
it worths the price ( actually worths more)
Manufacturer Support
If you looks on m audio web site you can find many answers.
The Wow Factor
it is nice
Musical Background:
hobbyst
Musical Style:
electronic, new age, pop
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Submitted June 18, 2008 by a customer from excite.com
"Works good for what it is. "
I keep looking for better, but haven't found better for the price yet. As I stated before, I hope they fix the driver's issue to make it compatible with standard ieee-1394 drivers.
No latency ASIO is great to have.
Sound
I have two of these. The first one I bought four years ago. I went through hurricane Wilma, got soaked, dropped a monitor speaker on it and smashed the top in. It still works fine, but I bought a second one just in case. OK, it doesn't have 128KHZ sampling...
Features
I wish I had bought one with more inputs, but I have a mixer as well so I make it work. It seems to be a pretty rugged box to me.
Ease of Use
The software works most of the time. Seems like the problem is that the hardware needs proprietary drivers. It would be nice if M-Audio were to redesign it to use standard firewire drivers so it could be used with 'nix boxes other than Mac. Sometimes it will interfere with other firewire equipment in the chain, and the computer will have to be rebooted to get them back.
Quality
My first one got pretty badly abused and is still working fine after four years. The second one is also working great.
Value
The price is comparable to other's like it.
Manufacturer Support
I have not had to deal with them directly.
The Wow Factor
It's pretty much a plain-jane silver box.
Musical Background:
Recording engineer, audio and video editor.
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Submitted September 30, 2007 by a customer from aol.com
"Solid on the mac with up-to-date drivers."
Quality for a bus-powered interface.
Sound
You won't get any better at this price range. Mic pres are quiet and full.
Features
All manufacturers include digital and analogue ins and outs in their stats, and blaming someone else on your assumptions is comical. Two headphone outs is great. 8 outs for mixing outside the computer and a through port for the firewire are good facilities. Bus powering make this great for use with laptops sporting a 6 pin firewire port.
Ease of Use
I have been using this on many macs for over 3 years, so those not getting results on macs leave me puzzled. PCs and firewire is always a game of luck, but it seems fine on our Shuttle PC. ALWAYS download the latest drivers rather than use the driver CD.
Quality
Been worked hard for 3 years. No trouble. Being bus powered, I have yet to use the supplied PSU, but I presume it would last.
Value
No obvious beater available.
Manufacturer Support
Not bad in the UK. people that know what they are doing. Driver development slowed dramatically when taken over by Avid. No surprise there then....
The Wow Factor
I wanted it, and if I didn't have one now I would buy one.
Musical Background:
Professional musician and engineer.
Musical Style:
From classical to dance, jazz to metal.
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Submitted October 11, 2006 by a customer from comcast.net
"GET ONE NOW!!!"
Despite m-audio's crappy driver development speed, this soundcard is a great bargain and highly recommended.
Sound
Incredible sound, especially for the price. Driving a couple of BX8's through the XLR jacks offer clean monitoring and deafening sound! Virtually no detectible distortion. The highs are a little crisp though, and the bass is OK. I could use a subwoofer though, as the BX8's are a little shy in the bass department, though this is not a fault of the 410. Used with Propellerhead's Reason, it makes the program come to life.
Features
Plenty of ins and outs. Phantom power a must and a welcome addition; works as advertised. Dual headphones out are handy, especially for an operator at the computer and a singer in a vocal booth (or room across the basement, as it is in my studio)! ;-)
Ease of Use
Doesn't get much simpler than this!
Quality
Feels solid; metal case. I'd be a little careful with the plastic knobs while gigging. A couple of sharp blows and you might loose one.
Value
Price-to-performance ratio is top notch!
Manufacturer Support
As of October 11, 2006 - still no beta drivers for Windows Vista (even at the RC2 stage). Shame on m-audio for dragging their feet on this one...
The Wow Factor
This device has really stepped my audio production work quality up several notches from my Audigy 2 Platinum. If you are faced with a choice between a Firewire 410 and any Creative product, don't hesitate - get the 410! The best in its class IMHO!
Musical Background:
Active musician
Musical Style:
Electronic, industrial-dance, techno, elektro, etc..
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Submitted November 25, 2007 by a customer from mail.com
"So good, nice sound, quite preamps."
Overall this product is highly recomended. I've owned previous m-audio devices including the MobleUSB, and MobilePRE USB, and would never go back to USB. Firewire is simply the best, you'll won't get that many clips and it has great speed. The firewire 410 is my interface of choice till they come out with a new firewire interface, i would probly try that.
Sound
The sound quality is great. It boosts 24bit and up to 192khz audio quality. The mic inputs are quite and soft and if you have a condensor mic your going to love the preamps.
Features
For the price of this you get so many inputs and outputs with outputs being the most. 24bit audio which is great, most programs support this audio range and i use sonar 6 which is perfect for this interface. I love the two headphone outs and the two mic/in's. Just seems like this great peice is balanced perfectly.
Ease of Use
You have to have some experience to use these interfaces but overall after sitting down with it for about a week you'll pick up quick. It was a big change from my MobilePre USB. I have to buy a six pin firewire card since i use it on a regular PC, but it worked right away. You have to have a six pin firewire card, if its four pin you need to use the external power which makes it hard to use if mobile.
Quality
Overall i love m-audio interfaces they do take abuse but like others say its electronics. It only takes one transistor to get knocked out for electronics to fail but with m-audio i banged it around a little bit and it is still working fine. I regret doing it though because it is a sexy looking peice of equipment.
Value
For the price you get a lot here. You may not notice it if your new to audio interfaces but this is a complete sound card too. I took my old soundcard out just to use this exclusivly. It has many inputs and outputs plus it sports 24bit audio. I think its only $100 more then their newest products the USB Pro's and it supports more features.
Manufacturer Support
Never had to use it because i am pretty tech savy so i figure things out on my own. I'm sure m-audio would provide great support seeing as they're a astablished company. They been out there a while and protools is there trademark that THEY designed.
The Wow Factor
Already own it and if it fails, which i think it wont, i would buy another one. It's just that good.
Musical Background:
Producing, Vocals
Musical Style:
Rap, Metal, Clasic Rock, Everything
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Submitted October 25, 2005 by a customer from yahoo.com
"A little device with big potential."
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This review has been selected by our experts as particularly helpful.
Well lets see here, It's a good sound card if you can get it hooked up. I had a lot of trouble making it work with my computer at first, but once I got the hang of it, it was smooth sailing for the most part. Simply put, it gets the job done. I wanted a good quality sound card for a reasonable price, and this was it. It had features that I didn't know I wanted at fisrt, but am now glad that I own, such as S/PDIF, and MIDI. I can't say that I am passionate about owning this piece of equipment, but I am glad that it is a part of my studio. I would reccommend this to anyone who wants a good sound card for a reasonable price
Sound
The sound is good. Not amazing, but good. I connect both my mixer and computer to it.
Features
This product came with some free software and sounds. I don't really use them, but it's nice to have them. I love that it has MIDI, because it makes controlling computer software a whole lot easier. I also like that I can record digitally with S/PDIF. This gives me a nice, clean signal. It has almost every type of input I can think of. It's a great device for hardware people.
Quality
This sound card has been going two years strong, and I don't see any signs of it slowing down. It has almost always been dependable, and I can fix just about anything that's wrong with it within usually less than an hour. Once I understood how it worked, I could solve pretty much any problem. 9 times out of ten, unplugging the firewire plug, then plugging it back in will do the trick.
Value
This is a good buy for the money. You get a good quality sound card with plenty of features for a generous price. The cheaper sound cards don't seem to have all the same features, and the more expensive ones seem overpriced. It's a good deal.
Manufacturer Support
I have never dealt with this company, but I guess that's a good sign, right?
The Wow Factor
This was more or less just a practical addition to my setup. I needed an audio interface that would allow me to easily record from my software to my hardware and this definitely satisfied my needs. This is not supposed to be a flashy product.
Musical Background:
Musician, Producer, Pianist, and recording engineer
Musical Style:
Electronica, hip hop/R&B, Jazz
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Submitted December 1, 2007 by a customer from hotmail.com
"It shouldn't be on the market...."
My pc's built in motherboard soundcard sounds much better and is more stable to work on. I'm telling the truth, even apart from the crashing issues with the 410, when i take a mini jack from my pc's back into my mixer and into my monitors, it sounds better!!!
Sound
Does not operate at +4 dbu. i find that the pre-amps clip before the level meter in my DAW reaches 0!!!!! also i have to operate my focusrite pre-amp at lower levels than ideal in order not to clip it.
sounds ok otherwise. not as good as emu 1212 or motu 828 (old one).
better than audiophile 2496 in my experince.
Features
pre-amps work and have decent amount of gain but don't sound anywhere near special. 2 headphone sockets and seperate volumes, is good although one stopped working properly, pretty early on in the units life! pad switch is very usefull if only because of the units inability to deal with HOT volumes at input.
I have found that it is impossible to use the units midi capability with its audio. I have used a seperate midi interface for midi input and the 410 for midi output (this configuration gave me the least latency)
Ease of Use
It crashes ALL OF THE TIME. I MEAN ALL OF THE TIME!!!!!
Quality
Not very robust and headphone socket intermittent after only light use. I'm not sure if it's the drivers or the hardware but, it doesn't work to an acceptible level. i've downloaded the latest drivers and iv'e tried it on a few pc's and it has never worked properly. crashes often or very often!!!!
Value
it's a real chore to make a recording and to work on it.
Manufacturer Support
i've never tried... perhaps i should have. a bit late now i reckon. until i tried the motu and others, i didn't realise that soundcards were meant to work well.
The Wow Factor
if you don't know that it doesn't work then you may want it for it's apparent features but it really dissapoints.
Musical Background:
professional saxophonist, composer, teacher
Musical Style:
jazz, funk, pop, rock, other
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Submitted May 17, 2004 by a customer from sbcglobal.net
"Very nice combination of features for the price, great sound, and looks cute on desktop"
This review has been selected by our experts as particularly helpful.
I hope this will take care of me for a while. Assuming it continues to be relieable, this would go up to a 10.
Sound
I traded up from m-Audio Ozone to this, and the sound is much better. I'm getting warm, pure vocals with my $40 Audio Technica mike and am very happy. Then again, this is the first time I've used a pro-grade sound card so perhaps I'm easily pleased.
Features
The jacks and controls are just right for my needs and setups, which is why I bought this although I dind't really need firewire, a plain old card with breakout box would have been fine.
Quality
Nice look and feel.
Value
If I was using a laptop and really needed to have firewire, it would get a 10.
The Wow Factor
It's prety cute and high-tech looking, more appeal than most electronic components.
Musical Style:
jazz, vintage pop, house, ambient
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Submitted May 8, 2005 by a customer from hotmail.com
"Only 2 inputs don't be fooled!"
The is the most misleading crap I've ever seen. M-Audio just took a huge dive in my book.
Sound
Sound is ok, it's pretty much what I expected from this price range. No complaints here.
Features
YOU CAN ONLY USE 2 INPUTS AT THE SAME TIME. What a load of crap! Someone needs to sue M-Audio for false advertisement. Even the salesman that sold it to me didn't know how am I supposed to know?! People act like they should've known! YOu know what, if it says 4 inputs on the freaking box, that's what I expect why should I secondguess it?! I am PISSED!
Quality
Preamps could be better but again decent for the price range.
Value
If I'd known it was only 2 inputs I would've gotten an audiophile.
Manufacturer Support
Never had to deal with them.
The Wow Factor
"I want my 2 inputs"
Musical Background:
Producer
Musical Style:
Hip Hop
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Submitted May 22, 2004 by a customer from tid,es
"Good thing."
In general terms, I'm happy with it. I generally use it with my desktop computer, and occassionally plug it on my laptop for live performances.
Sound
Pretty happy with the sound.
Features
would like additional routing options. I also think the input/output ratio is not compensated: I'd change an output for an additional input.
Quality
Hardware, construction and finish : Very good. Compact and Solid.
Software: I used to blame the drivers because frequent hangs, until I found the problem: The unit is *really* sensible to the electricity purity, for example, if I turn a fluorescent light ON, the drivers hang, same thing as if I unplug the TV. Of course, you can say it's my fault, but I don't have a specially bad electricity, it's the first time I have had these problems. I bought a stabilized UPS and problem persists.
Value
It's not an expensive soundcard for its features. I would like to compare it against the new USB2.0 devices.
Manufacturer Support
so so.... The customer support answers are really obvious, and often ask you about the same things. The answers are also short and with little detail. In my case they were not helpful at all.
The Wow Factor
the look is really really good. I like the materials, the colors, the leds are fancy....
Musical Style:
Trance, Techno, DnB
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Submitted August 10, 2006 by a customer from darknessdescends.com
"GAMBLERS! Come one, come all! M-Audio FW410. Take a chance!"
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My overall experience with this product could only have been worse had I not been allowed to return it - no thanks to M-Audio. Unfortunately for M-Audio, I am a very loyal customer who often makes multiple purchases and enjoys relating my experiences to others. Many thanks to those who have been duped into selling this'hit or miss' crap!
Sound
The sound was the worst possible; non existant.
Features
Most of the features included with the 410 never had the chance to present themselves. However, they looked enticing on paper. The software, specifically the instalation disc, absolutely sucked! the 410 drivers weren't included also a .exe files and others were currupt. The only part that downloaded properly from disk was the owners manual. Had I known they were too f***ing cheap to include a hard copy I would never have purchased the damned thing. This seeemingly incidental quirk is actually a reflection of this corporations lack of dedication towards customer satisfaction.
Ease of Use
I never got a sound.
Quality
The product came "new" in a factory sealed package. But, I have my suspitions as there were two large scratches on the top panel that had been acquired prior to my purchase.
Value
Had this product worked, I might believe it had value. As it stands presently, I feel M-Audio owes me for the tens of hours of valuable time WASTED attemping to install a defective product.
Manufacturer Support
Dealing with tech support was like talking to a brick wall. Great echo but no original content. They offered nothing that I had not tried on my own.
The Wow Factor
Sex Appeal, HAH! Are you kidding? This thing is about as sexy as blow-up doll.
Musical Background:
Musician
Musical Style:
Rock, Alternative
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Submitted January 24, 2012 by a customer from yahoo.com
"Very Unstable"
Since having this piece of equipment it has been a real pain to use. It crashes without warning and says that it cannot read device. This happens all the time and then it miraculously will work the next day after 3 hours of frustration the night before.
I have spent so much time installing and uninstalling the software to get it to become stable but in the years that I've had it it has never seemed to work properly.
I called M-audio to ask them about it but they just said re-install software. He did say it might be the firewire cable however so that is always worth checking if you are having connection problems.
For the money that I paid I might as well have bought one for £100 cheaper that was more stable on USB 2.
The volume controls are a disaster with no way to tell how much you are affecting the sound.
They advertised it as having 4 inputs so I thought I could record a jam session with up to 4 people, but no there are only 2, this is very unfair to the customer to mislead them like that.
It does not power itself it does this only if you use the 4-pin to 4-pin which does not fit into most laptops. This makes recording on the road or outside impossible.
Buying a computer now that even uses firewire is getting harder and harder and when I bought my new laptop there were only 2 in the store that had firewire. I was told that firewire was a Mac thing, but I don't use Macs.
My only consolation was that I did get some good recordings out of it and when it does work the sound is good.
But it makes me dread wanting to record and to use the device at all because what should start out as a productive day of recording turns into a frustrating nightmare.
At that price it should have come with full music software not just some free trial that asks you to upgrade.
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Submitted December 15, 2007 by a customer from uiuc.edu
"Hardware that will potentially FRY your firewire port is not acceptable. Safe hot-swap is NOT an optional feature for a firew"
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Dangerous for your other hardware, and marketed dishonestly; honestly would require that the fact that this device can fry your firewire ports be plastered all over the box, if the device stays on the market at all.
Sound
Sound is irrelevant once the device frys your laptop's firewire ports.
Quality
So poorly designed that it is dangerous to your other hardware, and the manual admits this; go read it yourself before buying the product. Software misbehavior on hot-swap is a mild aggrivation, but frying other hardware is just not acceptable.
Value
Buy this, and you might also be buying a new computer to replace the one this device fried.
Manufacturer Support
The product is unacceptably broken and dangerous to your other hardware, and they admit this in the manual. Support is irrelevant; they should immediately taken the product off of the market.
The Wow Factor
Macbooks are sexy. A device that frys their firewire ports is decidedly un-sexy.
Musical Background:
Hobbyist
Musical Style:
Classical, Jazz
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Submitted March 1, 2004 by a customer from shaw.ca
"A strong product with potential shortcomings."
I'm keeping it as I know how to get it to work for me at a reliable level. Only causes problems on boot and hasn't caused problems during use.
My suggestion for those who buy audio cards, try them out. Make sure to return it if the problems are serious, as the manufacturer are unlikely to address your specific problem. I only kept mine as it seemed like the best alternative for my price : performance ratio
Sound
This is the strong part of this product. The quality of converters for semi-pro products has improved over the years and I have always been pretty satisfied with M-Audio's quality in this area.
I never get an noticeable artifacts or pops. Clean and pristine.
Features
I wish it had more inputs for my use, but at the digital I/O is quite useful along with the 410s flexible routing structure. I can now use an external FX rack for sound processing all in the digital domain.
Quality
The worst aspect must be the drivers, as the product itself seems solid (physically and sonically).
Value
Hindered by some flaws, the 410 is still an excellent sounding card. I will use it in a live situation but I'll need sometime to make sure its working and powercycle the card if needed to get a "fresh boot".
Manufacturer Support
The company returned my e-mails and have released driver updates.
The Wow Factor
I used to have a tower and audio cards were not problematic with it. With that laptop this has become somewhat a headache. I settled on the 410 after struggling with USB audio cards (even the USB Audiophile which didn't work at all for me).
Musical Style:
Electronic
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Submitted March 11, 2008 by a customer from aol.com
"Why the bad reviews?"
You honestly cant beat it for the price. The bad reviews are pretty inaccurate. It seemed like most of the stuff was comming from people that are new to recording at home.
Sound
It sounds Really really if you know what your doing, and have been doing it for awhile.(goes for any decent audio interface) But this one is especially good sounding.
Features
Has everything a home artist would need.
Ease of Use
It is very easy to use. BUT, M audio really needs to get their act together with the drivers. Bunch of uninstalling and reinstalling. EVENTUALLY after the first week or two you computer gets the hang of things and you dont get as many troubles. The frist month was horrible. but now its fine. Kinda of a odd thing to happen but i guess its good.
and the mac OS X are good its just the windows ones.
Quality
Very well made.
Value
The Best for its price
Manufacturer Support
M audio will help as needed.
just be ready to wait for a few on hold.
The Wow Factor
Very nice looking product.
Musical Background:
Recording Engineer, In a band.
Musical Style:
Alternative, Indie
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Submitted April 18, 2004 by a customer from hotmail.com
"Don't buy this terrible product"
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I bought this product and wasn't able to install it on my notebook or desktop PC. After many hours of frustration I returned it to the retailer. I wish I would have read all of the bad reviews and problems in the newsgroups and forums before I bought it. It appears to me that the manufacturer is having quality control problems because the chasis was on this product was warped. Whatever you do DON'T BUY THIS PRODUCT unless you like to waste your time.
Sound
Haven't heard it because I it won't install.
Features
Good on paper.
Quality
Don't know because it won't install.
Value
The product doesn't work worth a darn.
Manufacturer Support
It takes them at least two days to get back to you.
The Wow Factor
It looks really good, but the quality control isn't there.
Musical Style:
Rock
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Submitted August 27, 2004 by a customer from hotmail.com
"Extremely usable toy... :)"
great tool for musicians who want 24/96 recording at a higher level
ULTRALOW LAtency with VST Synths - play them IN REAL TIME....awesome
Sound
nothing to complain about. Perfectly suited for professional studio recording (of course, only track by track without the use of an external mixer...)
Features
All you will need.
DIGITAL out/in + 1 ANALOG IN (stereo) make "double track" recording possible, which is a really neat thing when it comes to mixing.
LOW LATENCY FOR VSTi - feels like real time....
Quality
Very good - a little to much plastic, especially when it comes to buttons. However, very portable this way...
Value
Extremely valuable all in one device for home studio / portable studio use.
Manufacturer Support
never needed any
The Wow Factor
very sexy look - intuitive handling
Musical Background:
Home Producer
Musical Style:
Rock, Alternative, many other influences
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Submitted June 20, 2004 by a customer from yahoo.com
"very cool piece of kit."
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the only reason I give an 8 and not a 10 is because I had to down load a couple of drivers over the space of 2 day's untill I found the correct one for my system.
Sound
Sound is great and very easy to use, although you may have to go ro the 'M-audio" web site to get the latest drivers as the supplied CD did not help .
Features
4 in 10 out, with phantom power for a condenser mic and all of this withoutt a power supply ( the computer powers the little sucker)
Quality
very professional
Value
easy and cheap....for what it does i.e compared to the price of gear that I have purchased in the last 20 years.
Manufacturer Support
when I complained to the web site that I had no luck, they sent a very concise and easy to understand e-mail and fast .
The Wow Factor
It does the job it say's it will.
Musical Style:
pop, blues, rock
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Submitted February 29, 2004 by a customer from aol.com
"works fine for me."
hopefully i'll be using this unit for a good long time.
Sound
owned a digi oo2 rack ,motu828, emi2/6 and this box is my favourite. the converters sound absolutely great. i use a mac g4 single processer. it was easy to install and has worked out fine with my logic platinum setup.
Features
has everything i needed digital outs and ins, coaxial and optical.
Value
well worth its price 349.99( what i paid for it)
The Wow Factor
sturdy built very well.
Musical Style:
house,jazz, dub
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Submitted September 9, 2003 by a customer from yahoo.com
"Worth the Wait"
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It's exactly what I was looking for
Sound
I haven't used it extensively, but it sounds great as output device for Reason, using ASIO at 48k or 96k. My initial tests using condenser mics (tlm103, ntk) and electric guitar recording into Cakewalk is that it sounds fine.
Features
Two headphone outputs is nice, bus-powered Firewire makes it useful for remote recording.
Quality
Too soon to say, but box feels sturdy.
Value
There's really no competition at this price point.
Manufacturer Support
haven't needed support yet.
Musical Style:
country/blues/jazz/folk/rock
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Submitted April 5, 2004 by a customer from earthlink.net
"It's got the stuff!"
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I expect to have it for a while, unless I develop a need for more ins and outs, or even lower-latency ASIO monitoring.
Sound
Excellent sound and decent mic pre's for this price point. I A/B'd an acoustic track with one recorded through a Presonus Blue Tube. I'm no recording engineer, but the 410 sounded just as good (albeit different) to me.
Features
Works as advertised. I wish it had ADAT lightpipe but at this price I can't complain. The latency is good enough to record with software effects, something the USB interfaces just can't handle - for only a small increase in price. You can also switch to direct, zero-latency monitoring. All in a unit that doesn't need a powersupply and is easy to carry. Now if only they could convice laptop makers (aside from Apple) to put 6-pin firewire ports as standard...It also comes with Ableton Live software. If you need more ins and outs get the 18/14 or the motu 828. If you don't need to record multiple player simultaneously, this will likely be all you need.
Quality
It actually looks pretty nice, too, although the silver knobs look a little cheap. THe front panel is a little crowded, but I guess they wanted to keep it small and portable.
Value
I think it's a good deal for the price tag. There are a few absent features comparted to the MOTU, but then again it's half as much.
Manufacturer Support
I haven't had to call them for anything as of yet.
The Wow Factor
It's cool. I'm happy.
Musical Style:
Rock and Alternative
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Submitted April 9, 2005 by a customer from earthlink.net
"run, don't walk, from this product."
Verified Customer
zZounds has verified that this reviewer made a purchase from us.
works sometimes. unreliable, unstable, unfit for any professional level live sound production, if you like all the stuff you've made garbled and turned into garbage on output, this is the box for you.
Sound
cracks, pops, dropouts, stuttering - runs fine if you're not doing anything serious with it.
Features
says 4 audio in when it's actually 4 audio in but you have to switch between 2 or 2. not all 4 at once which is implied. in fairness I guess I should have read the one line in the whole manual that says so.
Quality
if I kicked it really hard and jumped up and down on it, it might still work, unfortunately. the blue light on it can be used as a nightlight.
Value
wasted my money completely. I do not think I will buy another m-audio product.
Manufacturer Support
I've done everything from reinstalling the drivers to system software, optimizing my system for audio production, everything possible, defragmenting, rebuilding directories, etc.. of no solution with this product.
The Wow Factor
it looks really good if you want to impress your friends.
Musical Background:
active musician
Musical Style:
electronic
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Submitted April 17, 2004 by a customer from hotmail.com
M-Audio Firewire 410 Customer Review
Verified Customer
zZounds has verified that this reviewer made a purchase from us.
Sound
The bass dropped out while I was playing back audio from Live. It turns out this occurs in both headphone outs. Jiggling the plug in the jack brings back the audio but I can't be trying to mix or concentrate on music only to be disrupted by signal/frequency loss.
Quality
As mentioned in the sound category, bass drops out due to crappy jack mounts in headphone outs. Not acceptable. The rest of the unit is hefty and appears well built. It's too bad the way the jacks are mounted or the kind of jacks used have this problem.
Value
No value if unusable.
The Wow Factor
I took it back. I used to want it. I bought it. I tested it. It's not professional quality at all. I don't want it.
Musical Style:
Dub, Jazz, Middle Eastern
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Submitted July 19, 2008 by a customer from stevenleigh.net
"A real piece of junk."
This is the absolute worst piece of junk audio gear I have ever encountered in my life. Stay FAR FAR away from this and any other M-Audio gear. You will never get it working reliably, and you'll always be wishing you had spent just a little bit more so that you don't have to keep dealing with the headaches.
Avoid M-Audio like the plague.
Sound
It sounds pretty good when it's working, which is about 10% of the time.
Features
The features are great, but since the unit doesn't really work, they're useless.
Ease of Use
It's pretty easy to do endless shut downs and restarts to try and get some sound to come out of it, but I don't think that's what you mean.
Quality
This thing is absolute junk.
Manufacturer Support
M-Audio's version of support is to tell you to reinstall the OS. How's THAT for support.
Musical Background:
Composer, Musician
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Submitted October 21, 2003 by a customer from msn.com
"Goes above and beyond what I expected.. and also above and beyond what I wished i had. It made me cackle."
Verified Customer
zZounds has verified that this reviewer made a purchase from us.
I can definately live with this. shame on them evil salespeople for almost making me buy a protools system.
Sound
Sounds great.. cant complain!
I bought a tascam us-122 recently.. it just doesnt compare to this especially for a person looking to have a laptop setup. I wish I woulda found out earlier that you dont NEED a 6 pin port on your computer to be able to use the firewire 410.. it comes with a wall wart.. all you need is a 6 to 4 pin cable ;)
Features
I would love more inputs of course.. but i can live with 2.. since I havent ever had any better.. yet. BUT this box fixed all my problems dealing with using -Reason in the background via midi through a virtual midi cable (im using a funny little midi sequencer called ztracker that has no sampling ability). Before i had lots of timing inconsistencies with the us-122. after days of figuring out what was going wrong it seemed to be Latency. My audigy2 had no probs with the situation, as logn as it was running LOW latency. SO Latency- this thing.. blows my audigy 2 in my desktop outta the water im pretty sure.. FAR better latency than i ever dreamed id get. fruity loops reports 0ms latency (ha right) when you stick the thing to 96000 / 64 samples in ASIO mode. Reason reports the latency being a little higher ;) Fruity loops didnt even work right with the us-122 I have.
All my problems are solved ;)
Quality
first thing i did when i opened the box was feel how the knobs felt to see if m-audio gave a rats anus about me. the knobs were nice and stiff. Just how i like em. Also the box it came in was nice and heavy.. I like that too ;)
Value
I shoulda bought this dang thing in the first place. i woulda saved 200 bux that i wasted on the us-122 which is now my MIDI in-out usb brick. i dont even trust it with that job after seeing what m-audio can do. this thing seems to go for 399 right now, and i woulda payed the msrp of 499 and i wouldnt have been sad i did.
Manufacturer Support
I went to thier site and found new drivers. i find it quite nice that m-audio might keep improving upon this great product.. the us122 didnt really have any new drivers or anything for me to get. maybe cause they think it works good. ironic in a way.
The Wow Factor
for some reason the actual unit looks much cooler than the pics on the sites. Its more silvery, and the top that says M-AUDIO in bold black just looks cool to me ;)
Musical Style:
All sorts
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Submitted July 31, 2007 by a customer from aol.com
"Check yourself before you wreck yourself, because not knowing your computer is bad for your health."
Verified Customer
zZounds has verified that this reviewer made a purchase from us.
The product works with my setup right now. If I don't have to change it, i won't. I'll wait until I have to work on a new setup.
Sound
For the money that you spend, you will get an appropriate sound quality which is pretty good and plenty loud and clear.
Features
I like the fact that you can plug in multiple "sizes" of inputs, XLR and inputs for guitars and mics. You have to balance the channels yourself with the gains. You have to understand that you may have to put in some work to use it correctly.
Ease of Use
You need a good software product and a good pre-amp to record and operate good sound quality. You need a line 6 pre-amp or something to that affect and good software like cubase, protools, ableton Live, Acid. You have to prepare your sound before you enter it to the soundcard and you need good software to recieve the sound and master it as well.
Quality
Electronics are delicate. You must be careful with all kinds of electronics, they're very complicated devices and banging them around isn't going to help you situation out.
Value
You get what you pay for. Understand what you are paying for before you buy it. Become a technical nerd.
Manufacturer Support
Never had to use support. I researched the product. All these people using laptops should check out there allowable power at the startup of the machine. It's just like Serato, you have to make sure that you computer has the correct startup requirements in order to use the phantom power. Check your equipment and find out what it can and cannot do. Some people have G4's and spend $2400 dollars on it and find out that it does not start up properly for their external equipment....
The Wow Factor
Sex appeal has nothing to do with getting your sound on point. Close your eyes. That's how you make sure it right or wrong.
Musical Background:
Hobbyist, active musician
Musical Style:
Electronica
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Submitted December 30, 2005 by a customer from yahoo.com
"Research this product carefully."
Its just not dependable. Not for recording, not for mixing, not for live performance, not for itunes.
Sound
Scoring the sound depends on when you rate it I guess...when it works, sounds good...the other 60% of the time when it doesn't..it sounds like a robot belching over and over. That is not an exaggeration, that's what it sounds like...Audio comes out in a garbled distorted metallic sounding mess. Constantly have to reset the sound card.
Features
Features rock. 2 mic ins. 2 headphone outs. You can't record 4 tracks simultaneously unless you're running SDIF or ADAT from another machine though. Don't think you're plugging 4 mics or 4 guitars in.
Quality
Mechanically, its seems solid.
Value
I guess it depends on if your unit works or not. A friend of mine has one and his works flawlessly...I'm stuck with my lemon.
Manufacturer Support
I emailed tech support, got the canned response of IRQ conflict...410 is on IRQ 17 by itself, there is no conflict. They guy actually said, "Ok, well that's not our problem, that's your computer, is there anything else I can help you with". A $300 soundcard should not crap out playing freaking iTunes. Their support is a joke.
The Wow Factor
Nope, not again. Not, ever, ever again.
Musical Background:
active musician, recording engineer
Musical Style:
Rock, Jam Band type stuff, blues
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Submitted September 20, 2004 by a customer from hotmail.com
"Hey!! Please go back & fixed your driver!!!"
I give it 9 if the driver didn't cause further problem.
Sound
U can get a clean & cryspy sound. The pre-amp is fine. A value product for home studio.
Features
Good for home user as it'a kind of comprehenssive: 2 mic input co with line input, a midi in & out, 2 headphonejacks (one for the singer & the other one for the engineer)! 100% workable for recording track by track.
Quality
Hardware: Made by metal. No deffect for the moment.
Driver: This is the nightmare i had. I think M-Audio really need invent more on their driver. I had the latest driver but i still can play CD with Media Player. The killing part is i can switch off my PC (Window XP) if i didn't manually turn the unit off. It crash with my PC a lot of time; for instant when i open a software that play sound, the volumn most probably will automatically go to "0" & i need to manually raise it.
And when using softsynth, you will got significant latency.
Value
If not because of the driver, i will give it 9. But, driver not working mean soundcard nor working. OK??
Manufacturer Support
I wrote to them about the driver problem, they do reply but doesn't solve the problem, but i appreciate them for repling me.
The Wow Factor
I just hope that they will fixed their driver; or i will hope harder to earn more and get myself a more expenssive & better one.
Musical Background:
Song Composer, Homestudio Engineer
Musical Style:
Lyrics Based Folk & Rock
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Submitted October 7, 2003 by a customer from yahoo.com
"Execellent interface. Able to push more audio and midi than other interfaces with the same machine."
Will only change if I need more than two inputs at the same time.
Sound
Excellent. Used Aardvark Q10, Digi002, Audiophile 24/96 and like the Firewire 410 the best so far.
Features
Direct sound monitoring. Able to push more tracks than other interfaces with the same machine. Very efficient.
Quality
Very happy. Just as good as the other interfaces I listed above. Especially for the price.
Value
Havn't found anything better for the price.
Manufacturer Support
Having had to call yet.
Musical Style:
all sytes
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Submitted January 31, 2008
"Any review you see with a 7 or above is probably written by someone that's just purchased it. Give them a year and they'll be ra"
Stay far, far away from this product.
Features
This thing is junk. The software has all kinds of bugs that should be easily fixed, but an updated driver hasn't been provided in well over a year.
Ease of Use
It might be easy to use if it worked.
Quality
I very rarely complain about products I purchase. Even if they give me a lot of trouble or malfunction too soon after the purchase. However, this particular product is hands down the single worst piece of worthless crap I've ever purchased in my life. The product has caused me nothing but problems since purchasing it and the support M-Audio provids is terrible.
Value
Put it this way. I will never buy an M-Audio product again.
Manufacturer Support
You kidding me? This product is so jacked up that the guys over at M-Audio don't even know where or how to begin providing support for this thing.
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Submitted January 28, 2008
"Worst thing ever"
Don't go near M-Audio unless you have to (ie pro tools).
Sound
Nothing special
Features
If it worked as it should
Ease of Use
Drivers on OS X are the worst I have ever encountered.
Quality
1/4 inch jack socket strain is taken directly by the PCB solder pads (which break after about a year) had to solder them back. This would be rectified by simply fitting nuts to the jacks.
Value
poor
Manufacturer Support
Don't even bother
The Wow Factor
Only got it still so I can run pro tools
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Submitted December 11, 2007
"Do you feel lucky?"
I read reviews, some good, some bad. I didn't have alot of money to spend and I thought that those people who had problems were just unlucky.
That was a mistake.
You might get lucky, apparently the 410 can work really well. I like it when it worked - but even though it's only 1.5 years old, I will buy a new sound card as soon as I can.
Sound
Sounds fine when it works.
Features
Lots of outputs
Cheap knobs
Binking blue light
Ease of Use
It's easy until it stops working properly. Could be difficult to install drivers (you may need to use a Camcorder style Firewire cable and use Power Adapter to get your computer to recognize the 410). I figured this out after HOURS AND HOURS AND HOURS of fiddling with driver, firewire cards, different operating systems, 4 different computers (all new/newish).
I have a dual boot computer Vista and XP, the 410 has worked with XP although it has suddenly decided to send only metallic, low level audio for some reason (unusable, unlistenable). The Vista boot works however... for how long, who knows. This is a TOTALLY unreliable unit. It may work for you. It may not. It may decide to work then suddenly not.
Quality
It looks ok. Nothing has physically fallen off or broken. Of course, you may feel like throwing it or kicking it, so it really should be more ruggedly designed.
Very poorly designed internally or the drivers just aren't good - I don't think you should buy it.
Value
I paid 200 dollars. It's not worth the hassle I've had with it. I recommend you buy something else unless you feel lucky.
Musical Background:
Active Musician, Hobbyist
Musical Style:
Indie Rock Pop, Electronic
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Submitted December 4, 2007
"Caveat Emptor."
Wore out after just one year. No return. Caveat Emptor.
Sound
Wore out after just one year.
Features
Wore out after just one year.
Ease of Use
Wore out after just one year.
Quality
Product is very cheap. 1/4" Inputs started to fail after 1yr. Then the unit just stopped working altogether. I still have it if anyone wants it. Not sure what to do with it.
Value
Wore out after just one year. No return. Caveat Emptor.
Manufacturer Support
Wore out after just one year. No return. Caveat Emptor.
The Wow Factor
Wore out after just one year. No return. Caveat Emptor.
Musical Background:
15 yrs
Musical Style:
blues/alternative
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Submitted December 1, 2007
"M-AUDIO ROBBED US ALL!"
This product could of been any daw greatest companion. Except for the occasional Hi I am working today and goodbye I am leaving on a unannounced vacation and won' t be back until I say so. I've read bad reviews about the 410 before and dismissed them thinking that it was just problems with each individuals set-up but now realize that everyone is having the same problem. M-AUDIO ROBBED US ALL! They should have a re-call on everyone who has purchased the 410
Sound
Sounds good when it wants to work
Features
great features, two headphone output, 2 simultaneous input and 10 outs.
When it want's to work
Ease of Use
very easy to use
When it want's to work!
Quality
Looks good, could of made the knobs more sturdy
When it wants to work!
Value
i would of given it more credit if i wasn't having so much problems with it since i've got it
The Wow Factor
got it and now maybe i would love to trade it in
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Submitted November 28, 2005 by a customer from yahoo.co.uk
"A worthy candidate for quality mobile recording (only 2 audio ins tho!)"
if i upgrade this will be kept for mobile recording. example: if i want to go and record my friends yamaha upright piano in stereo with 2 good condensers and don't want to carry much more than the 410, mics and a laptop. this really can do a very good job.
Sound
very good for the money.... stuff basically sounds the same as it does going in. pre-amps are good if you want portability. however i use a semi decent pre going into the line inputs... works well.
Features
like others, i was under the impression it had 4 audio inputs! apart from that it is very usefull. 2 seperate headfone amps etc. routing features..all good. however, balanced connections and a +4 dbu operating level would make it untouchable!!!! also probs with midi and audio at the same time, i use it as my midi in and a seperate USB midiman for my midi out. this combo gives the least jitter etc.
Crashed a bit at first but not since i downloaded latest drivers.
Quality
Still going strong despite my 3 year old son's best efforts.
have only used with my desktop set-up so far. this product is ideally suited to mobile recording. my guess is that it's reasonably hard wearing. i feel as tho i really should be using an emu 1212 tho.... on paper a better bet for desktop! i get approx 6ms in and 6 ms out latency with pentium 4 3ghz and 1 gig ram.
Value
pretty good value so far and i have'nt used it for mobile recording yet. it should come in to it's own in that enviroment.
Manufacturer Support
no need. just downloaded latest drivers and problems dissapeared.
The Wow Factor
say's it does a lot and does do a lot. not perfect but very handy and flexible. if i upgrade this will be kept for mobile recording.
Musical Background:
professional musician/teacher. from pub gigs to major tv performances!
Musical Style:
jazz, rock, singer/songwriter, anything real!
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Submitted November 20, 2005
"Great feature set but risky investment..."
Verified Customer
zZounds has verified that this reviewer made a purchase from us.
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.
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.
Features
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.
Manufacturer 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.
The Wow Factor
Nice looking product.
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Submitted September 25, 2005
"Disappointed."
I can't afford to waste money on equipment lie this, and not receive appropriate support. Avoid it at all costs.
Sound
The sound is fine....
Features
The features are good....
Quality
But the quality... I get severe audio drop outs after 1he 30 minutes, leading to total loss of sound. I have tested this on three macs with the same result.
Value
It's cheap. Apparently in more ways than one.
Manufacturer Support
...and the support is terrible. I eventually got them to allow me to send it back for testing and repair. They said they 'soak tested it' but could not replicate the problem, and just sent it back to me. It still does it. I'm almost certain they did nothing at all, and just did not want to replace it.
The Wow Factor
I want something else. I'll not buy another interface from M-Audio
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Submitted March 2, 2005
"Nice, No Problems."
This review has been selected by our experts as particularly helpful.
I figure I'll be happy with this for a couple years; I've got an 1814 on the way for bigger stuff, but this is neat for mobile recording.
Sound
Sounds good; I'm using it with a decent mic for vocals/piano/guitar tracking, and it sounds clean and nice. I wish it REALLY had 4 inputs, because tracking drums without an outboard mixer would be nice, but oh well--I didn't read carefully enough.
Features
Simple, does what it's supposed to. Well-made, works fine. Between software and hardware settings, there is way more than enough gain available. I really dig the two separate headphone outs.
Quality
I like how it looks, it's solid, I'm not afraid that I'll break it. The knobs are plastic, but not too bad.
Value
Not too bad, and better than comparable USB devices.
Manufacturer Support
Dunno--haven't needed to contact them, because everything worked. Either I'm lucky, or the people with problems are incompetent and don't read well.
The Wow Factor
I wanted this one over the Edirol and PreSonus stuff, partially 'cause it looks better. I needed something better than the USB I/O I had and this was it.
Musical Background:
Active Musician
Musical Style:
Pop (i.e. "Power-," not "Britney Spears")
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Submitted June 8, 2004
"section cut off from"
Ease of use: This interface works as a seamless extension of my Mac G4 (latest OS, computer meets required specs). I posted this review to balance out all the horror stories I read here, reporting crashes, incompability, glitches in sound, and overall instability. I think these people mistakenly reviewed the Mbox. My computer meets the requirements, I installed the latest driver online (the included CD will not have the latest), I keep my OS up to date.... and I have never had a SINGLE problem with this interface except this one small thing: If you disconnect and reconnect the interface and the computer doesn't see it, unplug and replug the firewire cable at the interface port instead of at the computer. This seems to do the trick but I don't know why. I also like the layout on the front of the interface. The controls, ports, and LEDs are organized into very clear sections. The hardware and software control of this interface could not be more intuitive.
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Submitted June 8, 2004
"PERFECTLY STABLE!"
This review has been selected by our experts as particularly helpful.
I have had a solid experience with this product, and this has been during the time some of the negative reviews were posted. Maybe I have been lucky, but it's probably because I'm doing things right. I don't want to be a jerk by arguing with other reviews, but I have had such delight with this equipment that I need to offer my experience for anyone who might have gotten discouraged from buying an awesome piece of gear.
Sound
Crystal clear, good converters, definitely no clicks and pops as reported in other reviews... these people may have had old drivers, bad cables, who knows what... I have had no problems.
Features
Though one usually uses the mixer in recording software, the m-audio software mixer is a great tool to keep in the dock for quickly monitoring signals and routing anytime, especially if you aren't recording but just want to adjust a connected instrument you're playing. The software mixer allows more features than could be physically placed on the box, and I find it very useful. I wish the interface had more balanced inputs, but the ones provided are all I personally need. I would record the output from a mixer if recording a live band. I like the additional features like the built-in midi interface and the second firewire port for connecting additional peripherals (though I don't want to mess with the bandwidth). This interface has a good balance of features and quality for its compact size and price.
Quality
Solid metal, could probably go through a lot of wear though I'm sure I'll be over-protective, sort of like those people who keep their Hummer 2s on-road, though my cause is respectful and just.
Value
Clear choice for value.
Manufacturer Support
I haven't had to use support. The website has support information which probably addresses all the problems others had who wrote reviews here. I have to comment on one review I read where a guy whined that support told him to update his operating system. If your OS is old, the latest M-Audio Firewire driver might not work all that well, and it's not M-Audio's fault. It's a simple fact of programming. Drivers need to change to accomodate new operating systems. The computer requirements DO matter.
The Wow Factor
This piece of equipment is sexier than your girlfriend. I could stare at the blue LED all day...it will light your room at night if you're afraid of nightmares about the Mbox.
Musical Style:
electronic-ish, but not limited to
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Submitted May 23, 2004
"A little better than bad."
Hopefully the 18/14 will take care of me. I would have been relatively happy with this unit with just two more line inputs. If you can solve your own problems with drivers and setup, you'll save a couple hundred bucks fir good sound by going with this box.
Sound
I consistently record stereo in at 24-bit 48k while running ultiple outs and have few problems. Occassionally running too many processor plug-ins make it crackle, but as long as you're not just pummeling it, the sound quality is great.
Features
I love the inputs on the front... combination mic/line jacks are handy, especialy with the pad and phantom power. I would love to see a low-cut filter for vox, etc. (a la Mackie mixers), but that can be handled in mixdown. I love the independent dual headphone outputs on the front... makes recording vocals a snap with one person at the controls and the another behind the mic (monitors can be turned off to prevent bleed). It's extraordinarily portable. My biggest gripe with this product is that pictures lead you to believe that you have 4 analog ins. This is not the case however. The two on the back are in parallel with th two on the front. The other to inputs to which they're referring are S/PDIF. I admit I failed to read carefuly enough before buying. This product came heavily recommended and I jumped on it. Now I'm trying to exchange it for a Firewire 18/14.
Quality
The physical onstruction of this unit is quite a bit better than I've come to expect from M-Audio. The headphone jacks are installed a little loose, but it doesn't seem to be causing a problem. The rest seems completely solid. Everything you need is right there on the front. A snake for the back and you're all set.
Value
I bought this because it has almost as many features, as much I/O, and as high sound quality as boxes that cost two and even three times as much as it does. I'll never buy another keystation midi controller from M-Audio, but a little patience will have you in a good interface for much less than other companies. I'll probably be sticking with them for interfaces until I'm making a lot more money to do this.
Manufacturer Support
Once again, M-Audio proves that they care more about selling cheap products fast than making sure their customers are happy and well-serviced. Luckily I didn't have to stay on the phone with them as long for this one as I did for the Oxygen 8, those long-distance charges pile up right along with my temper when I have to cll them. With the exception of Calvin Banks, every person I've dealt with in M-Audio technical support should be trained heavily or fired.
The Wow Factor
I did want it, until I realized I couldn't use it for what I bought it to do, but I won't penalize them to badly because their still offering a better deal with the 18/14 than the next most affordable interface that does what I need.
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Submitted December 14, 2003
"An excellent tool!!!"
Sound
I have the 410 for two weeks now and I'm very pleased with it's sound.I like the pre-amps very much,for recording condensers,or guitars and bass.I also have the studiophile BX5.My aim was to record and produce my hole cd at home and avoid the lazy and expensive pro- recording studios hesitating producers.I thing I'm going to make that possible with my new equipment.(Don't forget:You need time to master your hardware/software and inspiration to create good music!!!).Don't listen to those who say,you need very expensive stuff.Learn to make the best out of your equipment!!!
Features
Latency is out of the question,with anew powerful computer.The two headphone outputs are an amazing tool!!!I don't need more inputs yet,but it would be nice to have more,just in case...
Quality
I think it's very stable and well made.Time will tell...
Manufacturer Support
Very good drivers!
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