400F vs Traveller vs Saffire Pro 26 i/o - Best Bet?

Hi Everyone,

I'm hoping that keen followers of the Mackie 400F and the firepod vs. fireface threads will chirp in on this one.

I'd been looking seriously at the 400F and Traveller as they seemed to be one of the few that had the gamut of features I was looking for in a firewire based preamp and at a reasonable price.

Of course having a sneaky suspicion that with NAMM 06 around the corner that there were going to be some new products that might fit the bill, I decided to hold off and settle on some tried and true tech that could tide me over an always find a use among my gear (onyx firewire 1220 with firewire card) while I anxiously awaited the news.

Lo and behold, the firestudio and saffire pro 26 i/o. I really like the hardware of the saffire pro, but if the software interface is identical to the saffire, I've heard it is not intuitive to use at all, which with the presonus firestation they are including an incredible suite of software along with what looks to be a promising software mixing engine. I just wish they'd put in a proper power supply as opposed to an in-line.

Anyone here actually see these in the flesh and hear what they sound like? I have my doubts going with something completely new like the saffire as drivers will be in their infancy where presonus has at least had a few rounds of experience with the firepod and firebox.

I'm planning to run on Windows XP primarily although might work occasionally on a Mac for what it's worth I'd love to hear thoughts and opinions

I've tried and tried to find info on the 400f. A review, a comment, some feedback, anything.

I've noticed that there's been a few attempts to start threads about it here. But no one responds, and they quickly recede into oblivion.

It's as if the 400f and the FireFace are in a contest for "least talked about piece of equipment on the internet" and both are winning.

-Peace, Love, and Brittanylips

All I can say is taht RME is a top notch company, ... always up to date on drivers, and allways adding new featers ect....

I don't think you will go wrong with RME, I know I didn't.

Kev.

Brittany Lips, you're kidding right? Did you miss out on the whole review process on the 400F? Take a look here... over 300 posts on the Mackie unit.

http://acapella.harmony-central.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1097071

What I'm rather frustrated by are the lack of meaningful comparisons on similar units. It would seem logical to me to have compared this to a echo audiofire 8, or some of the motu units at the time, but to no avail.

I've heard nothing but good things about the RME units, but i don't know if i can afford to go double the price as a hobbyist - especially at the rate that technology is moving.

With everybody's concerns of an all encompasing interface, i'm suprised there's not more talk of the traveller and new saffire device though... let's hope we get some more posts on this thread.

I am kidding.

I think the effort to dissect the 400f tired everyone out, so the pack is taking a breather before they similarly tear apart the next piece of audio carrion.

RME is good. Good hardware. Good support. Yay RME.

I have a FireFace which is earning its keep although an impending Apogee Ensemble is making the FireFace nervous about its future in my rack.

I used to be into MOTU stuff. Got a Jambox, actually, 10 million years ago, which was MOTU before MOTU was MOTU.

But these days, I'm just not feeling them. Their hardware is less competitive than it used to be, and their service became a drag. The traveller looks good enough, and it may hit the spot, but I'm just not feeling them these days. Not really a scientific comparison, I know, just one of those things.

-PL&B