M-Audio Shipping New FireWire Audio Interface

(Click for a close-up)

M-Audio has announed shipment of the FireWire 410--the first in a new line of FireWire products that take the Company's mobile interfaces to even higher levels of functionality. The unit joins M-Audio's expanding line of interfaces that are fully ready for surround sound mixing and playback.

FireWire 410's 4-in/10-out audio configuration is for personal recording situations where users build up tracks one at a time, yet need multiple outputs. The unit supports 96kHz recording and playback on all ins and outs, additionally offering high-resolution 192kHz stereo outputs. The product's ten outputs allow computer-based recording systems to behave more like traditional analog recorders or samplers, where signals are bussed to and from multiple channels of an analog mixer or to multi-channel monitoring systems. Software-controlled DSP handles all internal routing and mixing. The software drivers also deliver extremely low-latency monitoring, and the unit also offers zero-latency direct hardware monitoring. 1x1 MIDI I/O rounds out FireWire 410's functionality as a one-stop solution for personal composition and recording.

FireWire 410 offers two high-speed FireWire ports for easy connection of chained devices. The unit's ability to transfer data at 400 Mbps via FireWire provides the bandwith to handle the unit's full complement of inputs and outputs simultaneously. FireWire 410's bus-powered architecture gives users the flexibility of mobile operation for everything from field recording to tracking on the run. Users can also power the unit via AC. Additionally, the unit can pass MIDI when the computer is not on or connected.

FireWire 410 features two analog input channels, each comprised of mic/line inputs (balanced XLR and unbalanced 1/4"), preamp with level control, signal/clip LEDs, 48V phantom power (globally switched), and a 20dB pad. The built-in preamps offer a gain boost of 66dB per channel. Eight analog line outputs (unbalanced 1/4" @ -10dBV) include signal/clip LEDs that allow discrete routing of audio channels to an external mixer. Alternately, the analog outs can be used to directly drive multiple powered speakers for surround sound performance without the need for a decoder. Optical and coaxial digital I/O provides 2-channel S/PDIF, as well as AC3 and DTS passthrough for routing to surround decoders. Stereo monitoring facilities include a stereo monitor output with level control, plus two 1/4" headphone outputs with individual level controls to allow easy collaboration.

Specifications of the FireWire 410 include a frequency response of 20Hz-40kHz +/- 1db, 104dB signal-to-noise ratio, 108dB dynamic range (A-weighted), and 0.00281% THD+N @0dBFS.

FireWire 410 is now shipping at $499 MSRP.