M-audio Firewire 410 or USB2 Fast Track Pro?

Would you buy the firewire or USB M-audio device?

Since you phrased it that way, if both were within my budget and both had the features I wanted, I'd always pick the Firewire device over the USB device.

I just purchased and installed a Firewire 410 last night and it works wonderfully. The only minor hitch was having to download and install the updated drivers for Intel Mac, but that went without any trouble.

However, note that the 410 has a power switch -- duh. It took me a few restarts 'cause the Mini could not find the device when I tried to set up the control panel. THEN I saw the power button... DOH!

BTW, I found the 410 at Guitar Center's Memorial Day sale for only $249.

I've used the M-Audio FW410 for many jobs, and it's been stable as a rock. My only nit-pick is that they advertise it as a 4-input device, when it only has 2 inputs. They count the other spdif inputs as additional inputs, I guess.

I'd avoid M-Audio entirely, and just get the PreSonus Firebox.
Yes, I've used both enough to know this, and the M-Audio has been known to damage the Firewire ports on some computers.

Counting the S/PDIF ports as inputs is pretty normal for these devices - all the manufacturers do it. You've got to read the specs carefully. The Firebox has 4 analog inputs, two of which have mic preamps.

The firewire problem of a few years back was not just M-audio devices or interfaces. The problem has long been fixed. Just make sure the device has the latest firmware if available and your os is up to date.

M-Audio's still the only Firewire I've seen that says in the manual to not hotplug it, which is quite inconvenient. I've used lots of FW interfaces: Digidesign, Metric Halo, Focusrite, RME, Focusrite, PreSonus, M-Audio.

One nice feature of the Firewire 410 is dual headphone outputs with level control, but otherwise, I prefer the Firebox.

Greetings!

M-Audio got stung because of some hot-plug problems in the early firmware. Seems a lot of people lost data on HDDs and kit hung beyond repair. M-Audio took the (over) cautious remedy of recommending no hot plug at the same time as they released new firmware, saying it wasn't their fault.

Whose ever problem it was, the 410 is now solid and I use them at my University without problems, whether hot plugging or not. Seems that even thought the problem "was not theirs", M-Audio have fixed it anyway.

Are they good? Yes, converters are silent and the whole thing is pretty reliable. Occasional dropouts but that could be because of complex environments including Soundflower. Interface software is a bit cludgey but it works.

I'd recommend the 410 and the price that was mentioned above seems like a steal.

Pete

I agree with tele_player...

I was also debating about the M-Audio products after moving away from a PCMIA card from Digigram.

I ended up with a PreSonus Firebox, and couldn't be happier...no glitches or drop-outs. Great for GB3 or tracktion. Currently running it with a Midi, Audiotechnica condenser mic, and a guitar.

The footprint of the firebox is smaller than the M-Audio 410 also, so it makes for a pretty good traveling companion.

Plus, if you purchase from Guitar Center you get 30days to play and test it out before would would need to return it for a full refund (assuming you don't like it).

I don't buy the 'not their problem, but they fixed it in firmware'. If hotplugging their device caused problems, and changing the firmware in their device fixed it, their firmware was a problem. I've been a software engineer for a long time - and that sounds like some weak CYA (cover your a--).

I had a Firewire 410 when they first came out, and it didn't cause me any problems. I just didn't like it very much (but I liked the extra headphone output.) I liked the Firebox better.

I want to share my experience with everyone here. I am beyond frusration and do not wish anyone to suffer as much angst as I have, but I urge everyone to stay away from the horrendously foul piece of crap that M-Audio calls the FireWire 410. I urge everyone to boycott M-Audio products until they acknowledge that their products are faulty and fix these problems ASAP.

Here's some background information so that those who have similar setups as I may benefit the most from my experience. I'm a very experienced Mac user. Since I bought the 410, I have used it on 4 PowerBooks, a MacBook, and a G5 (Quad). On all these machines, I have had problems with the 410 (which I bought 3 years ago). Thinking it was a defective model, I recently purchased another from Guitar center to try out (careful guys.. there's a 15% open box restocking fee... not exactly my idea of a full refund), only to find out it shared the same problems as the one I bought 3 years ago. I've heard many Windows users use this product without any problems at all. Unfortunately, I strongly believe M-Audio's Mac OS X drivers are to blame for this (every single version of the driver they released has had problems).

The problems I've exhibited are loud, spontaneous pops as the driver "resets" the device, often in the middle of audio playback, random and constant crackling, no audio playback or input... I've spent at least 2 hours a DAY troubleshooting this thing. Worse yet, M-Audio claims that their product will fry your motherboard, fry your audio interface, and void your warranty if you attempt to hot-plug their device.

THIS IS LUDICROUS! I really regret buying this piece of $hit. I'm at wit's end with this one... Can other mac users attest to these problems? Can someone enlighten me on experience with other M-Audio FireWire products? I love their studio monitors, but how is the FW 1418? Any experiences with that? Maybe I should just pick up a Traveller... Either way, I really wish M-Audio (or even Apple) would get their **** together and put out quality drivers that are usable.

For those who used the FireWire 410 successfully, would you mind sharing how you set it up? and what's up with the "Everything's OKAY-even-though-I'm-turned-off" blinking LED light? Annoying!