Set-up

Setting up the FireWire 1814 is easy enough… just make sure you follow the directions and do not connect/power up the unit until you install the driver to help insure that your computer properly recognizes the FireWire 1814. M-Audio also recommends to never disconnect the FireWire 1814 from the computer when it is turned on. In other words, it’s best not to view it as a Hot-Swappable device.

The Guts

The FireWire 1814 is capable of 196Khz recording, but limits you down to recording 2 channels, channels 1 and 2 specifically, at that sample rate. At other sample rates, like 96, 48, and 44.1Khz, you have access to 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 analogue 1/4” outs are balanced. It is nice to see 1/4” jacks for every analogue input and output –no RCA here, and unbalanced connectors aren’t usually a big deal unless you are running long audio lines.

As far as other connections you have your two mic/instrument pre’s on the front of the unit, two independent headphone outs, and ADAT or S/PDIF optical and coaxial I/O on the back. You also get Word Clock and a 1x MIDI I/O.

While I’m not a huge fan of using a breakout cable for the coaxial S/PDIF connection MIDI and Word Clock I/O, I can definitely see why M-Audio made the decision. First off, not everyone will actually need these connections (I hardly ever use S/PDIF these days) and prefer the smaller, more portable footprint the breakout cable affords. Likewise, if you are using this unit as your single hardware interface you probably won’t be hooking up any Word Clock, but it is nice to have available. By leaving these connections on a breakout cable M-Audio has made a smaller, more portable unit, and since the FireWire 1814 can be buss-powered with a 6 pin cable connection it makes for a perfect laptop companion. I just wish they would have found space to keep the MIDI I/O on the main unit –then I 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 deal in my opinion.

Solidifying the attention to detail for a portable audio device, the Firewire 1814 has a Kenningston Lock Connector on the rear panel to help insure your rig doesn’t disappear at a gig. There is also a second FireWire port on the back that allows you to hook up a peripheral device to your computer via the FireWire 1814 –like an external hard drive or CD burner. Overall, the FireWire 1814 is built well –the unit is very sturdy and has a hefty weight, the only slight grudge is that the machined holes for the toggle switches –like pad, mic/line selector, etc, were not well centered on my demo unit.

Performance

I was able to get down to a input latency of 7ms, an output latency of 8 ms, and a low overall latency of 15ms overdubbing to 6 tracks while recording a stereo track of guitar (effected via VST plug-ins) going in at 96 KHz/24 bit using Ableton Live 3.5 running on an Apple Dual 2Ghz G5. Latency was not any better or worse with buss powering versus the standard wall wart power supply –which is a good thing. In short, the FireWire 1814 worked like a charm on my system, allowing me to record without having to direct monitor the input source so I could hear the processed track with reverb, delay, etc., as I was recording it.

The mic pre’s of the FireWire 1814 are very usable. One minor gripe -the input signal LEDs for channels 1 and 2 are a bit small –you’ll see green at –30dB and red (clipping) at 1 dB before you clip. It’d be nice if there were a couple more indicators here –but again it fits with the small, portable form factor the 1814 is going for. Also, most users will be monitoring from their software, so this wouldn’t be a huge issue. One thing that was nice is that the mic pre’s have more headroom than most smaller, portable interfaces I’ve tried out –which is great. Of course, it would be unfair to compare the onboard mic pre’s to dedicated mic pre’s but I 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… The FireWire 1814 has a very simple and ergonomic front interface with the two headphone outputs located on the front panel, rather than the more inconvenient rear side of the unit. Why is two independent headphone outs a big deal? If you are remote recording it will allow you, as the engineer, to set up a different cue mix for the performer while keeping your own monitoring mix “going to tape”. Another possible application is for those who do live sound FX and music cues for theater. You could have a dedicated headphone to audition and verify the next cue without the audience ever being the wiser. Another neat feature is the Split A/B cuing button, allowing you to do DJ style cuing with the FW-1814.

Use of Neutrik hybrid connectors for directly plugging in either an XLR mic cable or High-Z instrument cable makes the FW-1814 extremely flexible in the studio as well as out in the field.. You have a Phantom Power available on both mic inputs –but they are not individually selectable.

The software control panel has some nice tricks up its sleeve that allow for easy routing and rerouting of signals. For instance, you could have a default preset that utilizes the ADAT I/O for your home studio and easily pull up another preset for your live rig that switches you to S/PDIF I/O and designates what 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, decent mic pre’s, 8 ins/4 outs on 1/4” jacks, and buss power (with 6 pin FireWire connection) make the M-Audio FireWire 1814 a great choice for an all-in-one interface. The addition of Word Clock and the fact that you can attach a FireWire peripheral like a hard drive or DVD burner that your laptop can access really seals the deal.

If you have a home set-up only then there might be other interfaces that can give the FireWire 1814 a run for its money, but if you use programs like Final Scratch, Ableton Live, or ACID and utilize laptops in your live gigs, or are looking for an elegant solution for truly portable remote recording the FireWire 1814 is the ticket.

Check out the M-Audio FW-1814 here.

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