Firewire 1814 Review by Douglas Edge
| Review at a Glance |
| What is it? | A FireWire interface with 8 analogue ins and 4 analogue outs. On top of the standard ADAT and S/PDIF I/O you also get MIDI and Word Clock I/O. On top of this, you get two mic pre's that can also accept a High-Z instrument input. |
| What does it do? | Serves as a great front end for a desktop or portable laptop DAW, or even a complete hub solution with it's on board mic/instrument pre's and MIDI I/O. |
| Who would use it? | Anyone who wants multiple outputs, anyone who wants the better latency performance of FireWire over most USB based solutions, and anyone who is looking for an affordable interface that can be used at home or on the road with buss-power. |
| How does it sound? | Very good. At an MSRP of $750.00 (Street $599.00) you are getting a ton of flexibility and sound quality for the price. |
| What is so great about it? | Multiple outputs. Two independent headphone outs. Can power itself off a 6-pin FireWire connection -no Wall-Wart needed! Has good drivers/low latency as well as a very flexible software control panel for changing settings and re-routing signals. |
| What is not so great about it? | LED signal monitors pretty much just show signal presence and clip -no in-between. MIDI, coaxial S/PDIF, and Word Clock I/O are only accessible via a breakout cable (not a bad trade-off for a smaller footprint, more portable unit). Overall, there isn't much I would change. |
| Review Summary? | This could be THE interface for a ton of people out there. Lots of analogue I/O, two independent headphone outs, low latency, MIDI I/O, mic/instrument pre's, and a sturdy but very portable unit make for one of the best solutions out there. Add the fact that you can power the FireWire 1814 with a 6-pin FireWire cable, factor in the price, and the argument could be made that this is THE best solution for someone looking for a comprehensive DAW interface for the studio that is equally adept on the road. |
Set-up
Setting up the FireWire 1814 is easy enough… just make sure you followthe directions and do not connect/power up the unit until you install the driverto help insure that your computer properly recognizes the FireWire 1814. M-Audioalso recommends to never disconnect the FireWire 1814 from the computer whenit is turned on. In other words, it’s best not to view it as a Hot-Swappabledevice.
The Guts
The FireWire 1814 is capable of 196Khz recording, but limits you downto recording 2 channels, channels 1 and 2 specifically, at that samplerate. At other sample rates, like 96, 48, and 44.1Khz, you have accessto all inputs. All outputs are capable of 196 KHz D to A conversion.
As far as inputs go you get a total of 8 analogue connections via 1/4” jacks.While I wish the 8 analogue inputs were balanced, all four of the analogue1/4” outs are balanced. It is nice to see 1/4” jacks forevery analogue input and output –no RCA here, and unbalanced connectorsaren’t usually a big deal unless you are running long audio lines.
As far as other connections you have your two mic/instrument pre’son the front of the unit, two independent headphone outs, and ADAT orS/PDIF optical and coaxial I/O on the back. You also get Word Clock anda 1x MIDI I/O.
While I’m not a huge fan of using a breakout cable for the coaxialS/PDIF connection MIDI and Word Clock I/O, I can definitely see why M-Audiomade the decision. First off, not everyone will actually need these connections(I hardly ever use S/PDIF these days) and prefer the smaller, more portablefootprint the breakout cable affords. Likewise, if you are using thisunit as your single hardware interface you probably won’t be hookingup any Word Clock, but it is nice to have available. By leaving theseconnections on a breakout cable M-Audio has made a smaller, more portableunit, and since the FireWire 1814 can be buss-powered with a 6 pin cableconnection it makes for a perfect laptop companion. I just wish theywould have found space to keep the MIDI I/O on the main unit –thenI would probably never need to carry the breakout cable with me. Of course,most MIDI controllers now use USB anyhow so this isn’t a huge dealin my opinion.
Solidifying the attention to detail for a portable audio device, theFirewire 1814 has a Kenningston Lock Connector on the rear panel to helpinsure your rig doesn’t disappear at a gig. There is also a secondFireWire port on the back that allows you to hook up a peripheral deviceto your computer via the FireWire 1814 –like an external hard driveor CD burner. Overall, the FireWire 1814 is built well –the unitis very sturdy and has a hefty weight, the only slight grudge is thatthe machined holesfor the toggle switches –like pad, mic/line selector, etc, werenot well centered on my demo unit.
Performance
I was able to get down to a input latency of 7ms, an output latency of8 ms, and a low overall latency of 15ms overdubbing to 6 tracks whilerecording a stereo track of guitar (effected via VST plug-ins) goingin at 96 KHz/24 bit using Ableton Live 3.5 running on an Apple Dual 2GhzG5. Latency was not any better or worse with buss powering versus thestandard wall wart power supply –which is a good thing. In short,the FireWire 1814 worked like a charm on my system, allowing me to recordwithout having to direct monitor the input source so I could hear theprocessed track with reverb, delay, etc., as I was recording it.
The mic pre’s of the FireWire 1814 are very usable. One minorgripe -the input signal LEDs for channels 1 and 2 are a bit small –you’llsee green at –30dB and red (clipping) at 1 dB before you clip.It’d be nice if there were a couple more indicators here –butagain it fits with the small, portable form factor the 1814 is goingfor. Also, most users will be monitoring from their software, so thiswouldn’t be a huge issue. One thing that was nice is that the micpre’s have more headroom than most smaller, portable interfacesI’ve tried out –which is great. Of course, it would be unfairto compare the onboard mic pre’s to dedicated mic pre’s butI was very happy with the quality of the vocals and guitar tracks I recorded.I especially got some very smooth yet present vocals.
The Details
Here are some of the things that impressed me about the FireWire 1814… TheFireWire 1814 has a very simple and ergonomic front interface with thetwo headphone outputs located on the front panel, rather than themore inconvenient rear side of the unit. Why is two independent headphoneouts a big deal? If you are remoterecording it will allow you, as the engineer, to set up a different cuemix for the performer while keeping your own monitoring mix “goingto tape”. Another possible application is for those who do livesound FX and music cues for theater. You could have a dedicated headphoneto audition and verify the next cue without the audience ever being thewiser. Another neat feature is the Split A/B cuing button, allowing youto do DJ style cuing with the FW-1814.
Use of Neutrik hybrid connectors for directly plugging in eitheran XLR mic cable or High-Z instrument cable makes the FW-1814 extremelyflexible in the studio as well as out in the field.. You have a Phantom Poweravailableon both mic inputs –but they are not individually selectable.
The software control panel has some nice tricks up its sleeve that allowfor easy routing and rerouting of signals. For instance, you could have a defaultpresetthat utilizes the ADAT I/O for your home studio and easily pull up anotherpreset for your live rig that switches you to S/PDIF I/O and designateswhat two stereo signals (Output 1/2, Output 3/4, or Aux output buss)will pump out of your two headphone outputs.
Conclusions
Low latency, flexible routing, useful software control panel, decentmic pre’s, 8 ins/4 outs on 1/4” jacks, and buss power (with6 pin FireWire connection) make the M-Audio FireWire 1814 a great choicefor an all-in-one interface. The addition of Word Clock and the factthat you can attach a FireWire peripheral like a hard drive or DVD burnerthat your laptop can access really seals the deal.
If you have a home set-up only then there might be other interfaces thatcangivetheFireWire1814 a run for its money, but if you use programslike Final Scratch, Ableton Live, or ACID and utilize laptops in yourlive gigs, or are looking for an elegant solution for truly portableremote recording the FireWire 1814 is the ticket.
Check out the M-Audio FW-1814 here.
