| The 800R is not a firewire unit. I have one and enjoy it... I just leave the close drum mics normalled into it, with ADAT out.
Certainly the 1640i is a better value if you have the space for one and want to use firewire. The three things I deeply dislike about the 1640i are:
1) Line inputs go through preamp gain stage
2) Insert points are unbalanced
3) Inserts do not have a bypass switch
Otherwise it's a big leap ahead of the old 1640. Would be nice to put all the line level stuff on D-subs.
The old firewire drivers were written by 3rd parties and sucked. They brought firewire dev in house for the i series Onyx, and they don't want to bother with the old crap anymore.
The 800R is an innocent casualty in all of this. Maybe they will come out with a better one of those. |