M-Audio Fast Track Ultra 8R USB 2.0 Audio Interface

[hepcat]

I'm considering buying the M-Audio Fast Track Ultra, but I'm wary of it's compatibility and ease with Pro Tools M-Powered. I've never used Pro Tools M-Powered and I don't know how well it compares to regular Pro Tools. Anyone worked with the M-Audio Fast Track Ultra? It seems like a pretty cheap alternative to the Digi 003 which I was also considering until I saw the price tag (like $1500!!!!). The Fast Track Ultra runs about $400-$500...then on top of that I'd need to purchase Pro Tools M-Powered (I'm running 6.8.1 right now...I'm desperate for an upgrade) so I'm seeing if a switch over to M-Powered equipment would not only be cost effective, but also wouldn't effect the quality of my work.

Another alternative was the M-Audio FireWire 1814. A friend of mine would be willing to sell me the 1814 for $100 (a good deal in my opinion). This only has two mic level inputs with 48V and 8 line inputs. I'm not familiar with this piece of equipment though. Anyone used it? It's also M-Powered compatible...since it's an older piece of equipment, does that make it compatible with Pro Tools M-Powered 8? Do those 8 line inputs mean that I can plug 8 seperate dynamic mics into them with XLR to TS cables and get 8 seperate tracks in Pro Tools, in addition to the two condenser mics in the mic inputs with 48V? If I can get 10 tracks out of this thing...$100 would be a steal. Just looking for a little help here from someone who is more familiar with the equipment. Thanks!!

[badhorsie777]

each mic needs a preamp of some type to raise the signal strength to "line level" - those line inputs will only allow you to record anything at line level - a cd input, mic preamp output, etc. So no - you'll need preamps.

[kidvybes]

...although I have no experience with that interface, I do use M-Powered PT occasionally with an older PCI based M-Audio interface and it seems very similar to PT LE (which I used to run on my older Mac setup)...I will tell you that firewire interfaces can be a little quirky based on your firewire chipset...do a little research and be sure your firewire card is compatible before buying a firewire based interface...

[hepcat]

Thanks for the info. I don't have a firewire input on my computer, so I'd need to get something compatible with that as well as either one of these I/O interfaces. Things just keep getting more expensive...

[Fast_Fingers]

If you can add a PCI card or Expresscard to your computer, you could get Firewire for a small price. Though Apple's abandoning the interface, it still is popular in the audio world and can separate out each track for recording.

[prene1]

The ultra 8r is the new profire 610 and 2626 equivalent just in usb form. Who said apple is leaving the firewire industry? until I can read that confirmation consider it just man b*tches gossiping. Firewire 400 has a few kinks and fw800 is backwards compatible. Buy the 8r, get mpowered and just make some good music. If your on a desktop get another internal hd, though I use usb hd's frequently with protools it does have its flukes.

No diff between mp and le. If its that bad than go HD (lol). Enjoy yourself.

[hepcat]

Originally Posted by prene1

The ultra 8r is the new profire 610 and 2626 equivalent just in usb form. Who said apple is leaving the firewire industry? until I can read that confirmation consider it just man b*tches gossiping. Firewire 400 has a few kinks and fw800 is backwards compatible. Buy the 8r, get mpowered and just make some good music. If your on a desktop get another internal hd, though I use usb hd's frequently with protools it does have its flukes.

No diff between mp and le. If its that bad than go HD (lol). Enjoy yourself.

Hey thanks man. I'm really interested in getting the Ultra 8r. I was wondering though...if I use an 8 channel preamp with that, can I utilize the 8 line level outputs and get 16 seperate tracks in Pro Tools? Might blow up my computer if I run them at once...I'm only running on roughly 768MB RAM. Only reason I ask is I record live performances (as well as studio style recordings...but I'm less concerned with that...8 channels should be enough for that). We set up more than 8 mics at a time sometimes. Before I was using my friend's Digi 003 with 8 inputs plus his PreSonus DigiMax D8 so we could run 16 max inputs. As sweet as that setup is...I don't have $2400 to go get the Digi 003 bundle...though that would be OH SO SWEET!!! So I'm going the M-Powered route which is a little easier on my wallet.

[prene1]

Originally Posted by hepcat

Hey thanks man. I'm really interested in getting the Ultra 8r. I was wondering though...if I use an 8 channel preamp with that, can I utilize the 8 line level outputs and get 16 seperate tracks in Pro Tools? Might blow up my computer if I run them at once...I'm only running on roughly 768MB RAM. Only reason I ask is I record live performances (as well as studio style recordings...but I'm less concerned with that...8 channels should be enough for that). We set up more than 8 mics at a time sometimes. Before I was using my friend's Digi 003 with 8 inputs plus his PreSonus DigiMax D8 so we could run 16 max inputs. As sweet as that setup is...I don't have $2400 to go get the Digi 003 bundle...though that would be OH SO SWEET!!! So I'm going the M-Powered route which is a little easier on my wallet.

well if that the route you want to go than the 2626 will be the option you will need. I just purchased one last week and its working. Due to the fact the 8r has the combo jack its either you run 8 1/4 line cables or 8 xlr. I havent check the pres due to the fact that im using it just for line level it bypasses the mic pre and hit the converters directly and i can say it sounds good. The 2626 lets you add 2 sets of the converters due to the 2x adat ports. The 8r adavantage is 2 inserts lol. Didnt see that. Purchase through american musical on the payment system which gives you 45 days to test the unit. Then price match with ebay prices in your local gc / sam ash to save $$$

[hepcat]

Originally Posted by prene1

well if that the route you want to go than the 2626 will be the option you will need. I just purchased one last week and its working. Due to the fact the 8r has the combo jack its either you run 8 1/4 line cables or 8 xlr. I havent check the pres due to the fact that im using it just for line level it bypasses the mic pre and hit the converters directly and i can say it sounds good. The 2626 lets you add 2 sets of the converters due to the 2x adat ports. The 8r adavantage is 2 inserts lol. Didnt see that. Purchase through american musical on the payment system which gives you 45 days to test the unit. Then price match with ebay prices in your local gc / sam ash to save $$$

So with the 2626, I can get a full 16 channels? The one thing I liked about the 8r was it's USB over FireWire, since my computer doesn't have a FireWire input. I could easily get the card for that, but still, that's saving some money. I'm still going to have to buy Pro Tools M-Powered 8 and that's gunna be a good bit as well. The 2626 is just about out of my price range. With those 2 inserts on the 8r, can I sent those to a mic pre and get 10 channels at least?

[rackdude]

You won't need protools for this. Just use the DAW that comes with it or Reaper. I mean, you're not doing extensive indepth editing probably, just recording a live performance and putting some effects on.

In fact, maybe something like the Phonic Firewire 24 may be what you are looking for, a mixer that is $400 used that also records firewire.

[danalog]

If you're gonna try to run 8 channels down USB 2.0, make sure your computer has a faster processor. USB 2.0 relies on a strong host (your CPU) to operate at full speed. If your processor is slow, you will not be experiencing the benefits of 2.0. Firewire delegates work to ANY host (your interface), which allows things to run more smoothly.

[jwillis79]

I use m-powered, le and hd on a regular basis. We have two hd rooms and a le room at the studio I work for. I use M-Powered at home and I can transfer files back and forth with ease and th gui are pretty much the same. Plug ins get a lil tricky at time though. So I always try to use the main digi plug ins and if I have to use something special I will just process it before I go to a different version of PT.

[Anaon]

Hello,

I was thinking of this interface to record 7 tracks at the same time (drums) with my laptop (Toshiba Satellite P7450, 500 Go, 64 bits, 4 go ram). Is this a good idea?

Any FTU8 users recording drums with it here?

Thanks

[PaPi61]

Originally Posted by hepcat

So with the 2626, I can get a full 16 channels? The one thing I liked about the 8r was it's USB over FireWire, since my computer doesn't have a FireWire input. I could easily get the card for that, but still, that's saving some money. I'm still going to have to buy Pro Tools M-Powered 8 and that's gunna be a good bit as well. The 2626 is just about out of my price range. With those 2 inserts on the 8r, can I sent those to a mic pre and get 10 channels at least?

I have both the 2626 and the FTU8R (no, I don't use them on the same computer... ) In many ways, they're virtually identical (same pres, same converters, same DSP etc.), except for the protocol, of course. I have tested them extensively and for all practical purposes there's no difference in latency performance between them.

Where the 2626 has the edge is in its expandability. First of all, it can be optically (as in zero latency) connected to another 2626 and the computer will automatically see one interface with 16 ins and 16 outs. Pretty neat. Also the 2626 has two ADAT links that can add 18 channels to the system, for a total of 26 (hence the name.) In order to get that, however, you'll need to buy external DA converters (the Behringer ADA8000 is cheap but very decent, and it works with the 2626. Consider that each unit only has 8 channels, so you'll need more than one.) In theory, with two 2626's and several ADA8000's you could build the cheapest 52-channel digital system on this planet. I don't know how well it would work though.

If 8 ins and 8 outs are sufficient for you, however, just get the FT8UR, because basically you're getting the same product for less.

[fireberd]

I recently bought a Fast Track Ultra 8R. I'm using it with Sonar on Win 7 64 bit and so far no problems with the unit. The Control Program leaves a lot to be desired with routing and hopefully some day they will upgrade it.

I'm using it with my Desktop DAW system and also with a laptop for on-site recording.

[sroreilly]

I've been using the Fast Track 8R for live recording as you seem to be wanting to do. The drivers sometimes have been finicky but I haven't had any real problems. The preamps can get really noisy if you try and crank them but I've never had to do that. Basically every recording on this page was done with the fast track and then mixed down very quickly in pro tool m powered.

YouTube - seanoreillyband's Channel

Honestly, I might go for one of the firewire interface only because I've heard they have good a/d converters but I can't really complain at how the Fast Track has been working for me.

[Anaon]

Thanks for the new replies!

Anyone using it to record drums?

[Anaon]

Hi!

Nearly one year later, are FTU8 users still satisfy? New feedback maybe?

Thank you very much