Upgrading my home studio, FW1814???

[Finnish]

Ok, two inputs isn't enough anymore.

I need at least 8 inputs in the beginning, mostly for drums, ADAT becomes involved when I need a bigger setup for drums.

I was thinking about that FW1814: If I buy that I can track drums with e.g. REAPER and mix in Pro Tools with MBox. I like very much mixing/editing in Pro Tools. And after a while I would go with PT M-Powered.

So, anyone, who has taken this route before? What is your opinions about this?

[mds]

If you need ADAT and PT, the only other option other than the 1814 is a 002. The 002 won't do S/MUX and doesn't work all that well with other DAWs, IME. It's also a lot more money.

Given your list of requirements I'd say the 1814 is a pretty good fit. It has worked well IME and is pretty flexible. The sound of the unit isn't stellar, but it good enough for basic work. As with all these types of interfaces an outboard mic pre can really improve the quality of your recordings.

Good luck!

Mike

[JHOOKS]

I think it would be a good fit. I have the 1884 model, and so far its been decent,not the best but its a good unit. perfect for a home studio, or project studio use.

[quincyg]

i use one. i don't use it's converters though. works for me. i would recommend the music production toolkit for ptle/mpowered.

[jdjustice]

Originally Posted by Finnish

Ok, two inputs isn't enough anymore.
I need at least 8 inputs......
........I was thinking about that FW1814

I bought the FW1814... I was very disappointed in its construction and I took it back immediately. The 1/4" jacks in the back were finicky and I had to FORCE the cables in it; don't know if it was just this unit but I think a lot of the M-Audio interfaces are sh*tty.

Consider the 002R, or if you can wait, I think (I don't know for sure) there will be a 003 in the near future. I am guessing this because there are currently promotions going on at many retailers where you can get the Factory Bundle for the same price as the 002 by itself... this kind of discount usually means they are clearing out the remaining stock for the arrival of new units..... of course this is just pure speculation and could be totally wrong.

Consider a MOTU interface if you don't need Digi interfaces; it sounds like you do, so the 002 is the only good option now IMHO. JMHO.

Cheers,
J.D.

[Jay Kahrs]

I'm using it's little brother soley as a control surface for SX3 and I can't really complain about it. It would be nice if it had scribble strips...I used it as a converter box for one small remote gig & had zero problems, took about 15 minutes to make it's audio path communicate with SX3 and I didn't even have to crack a manual!

Though if you want to mix in PT and go the whole M-powered route, why not get one of those new M Audio control surfaces with the I/O and all that jazz?

[quincyg]

i bought the 1814 over the 002 bexause it has word clock.

[celticrogues]

I have the 1814 and have been happy with it so far. It has unbalanced analog inputs so I had to build some special cables to interface some gear with it, but I have no complaints about build quality. The only thing I don't like is that the volume knobs for the headphone jacks are digital rotary knobs instead of real analog knobs, which I find annoying and hard to control. It sounds pretty good too, IMO, I used it yesterday to record a band and everyone was very happy with the results.

Cheers,
-MIke