Quote:
Originally Posted by Timur  I advice everyone to decide on the I/Os needed, and by that I don't mean total number, but specific ports.
On the FF400 you get only 2 Mic preamps, but very neutral and good quality ones. The FF800 offers 8 Mic pres, but they are slightly "worse" than the 400 ones.
While you get only 1 HI-Z guitar/bass input on the 800 (which comes with some fancy but mostly useless features) you get two of those on the 400.
The 800 offers only 1 Midi I/O while the 400 offer 2 Midi I/Os.
The 800's total number of ports beats the 400, but only if you are going to use those.
The 800 comes with an analog head-phone output with a real poti knob. Benefit is that you are better protected against digital/driver bugs (no blowing away your ears), disadvantage is that the poti is likely coloring the sound (especially on low volume settings). Some like the "colored" sound of the 800 better though.
For me the decision was about the kind of I/Os. I need two mics, I need two guitars and I prefer two Midi I/Os. Dead simple then, especially if you consider price.
The FF UC (USB) has just been put on the market though, which is a strong contender agains the FF400/800/HDSPe when it comes to low-latency performance (aka better performing). It's technically a clone of the FF400 coming with the same I/Os. Main disadvantage versus the Fireface is the lack of bus-power. |
thanks for you post. It really helped.
Though I have a question. FF400 got 4 line Ins on the back side. Plus 2 Mic/Line Ins on the front. Thus I can have 6 line ins simultaneously, right? (And use em for example to record 3 stereo outs of my synths). Or I actually have only 4 like ins on FF400?
thanks in advance!