Performance Report M-tools Firewire 410 and 1.5 P4

[soundeq]

Ok so I figured i'd be a guinny pig and buy pro tools M-powered today... Got both the firewire 410 and m-powered from Guitar Center for $700...

My machine... Win XP SP1, P4 (non-hyperthreading), 512mb of PC2700 memory. Nothing fancy, just a solid 1.5 year old machine. Intel chipset motherboard.

Tools RUNS AWSOME!!! loaded up a 20 track 24bit/44.1k session from work, put a (EQII 4 band) (BF76) and (Dverb) on 10 of the tracks (yes 30 plugins). Plays fine! Loaded up Reason (another session with about 20 tracks) and it played along fine as well! (lowered the buffer size to 64 in the m-audio control panel) and still played great... Latency is non-existant in soft synths through reason, i couldn't feel any delay at all YAY!!!

Goodbye Mbox and it's crazy bad latency!

This combo is perfect for me, no big 002r to cary around, and the firewire 410 doesn't need external power!!!! perfect for a laptop airplane carrying setup (what I'm using it for)

THANK YOU DIGIDESIGN!

[danhops]

Sounds cool. I wish I could get mine to work. BTW, I paid about $680 for my 1814 and M Powered software. Drop me an email and I can tell you where I got my stuff so you can see what the prices are on the 410 and maybe get GC to match it.

[SeanDerMan]

SoundEq, I saw u mention tht it is an ideal setup for a laptop/airplane...
Correct me if I'm wrong, but the firewire devices do need 6pin firewire ports to get power from. Do u have a laptop that comes with a 6 pin std fw interface. If u do, plz lemme know which laptop tht is. (Of crse leavin the apple powerbooks aside).

[soundeq]

The apple powerbook is exactly what I had in mind

Recorded some vocals with it today, no latency at all that I could hear monitoring through pro tools.. I'm very happy with this combo.

[Mikey Ace]

Hey Danhops, What is your Email Address, So I can find out where you got the M-audio software for the best prices.
I am very interested in returning my Mbox tomorrow for a Fire wire 1814 and Mpower software.
I still have 2 days to retun my Mbox to Sam Ash.
I am running a Power Book 1.5 512 ram.
Mbox has been fine with me the last 2 weeks I had it, But the latency is annoying, and I often get usb holdoff messages saying to delete tracks and plugins.
Im hoping the Fire wire 1814 plus M-power software will give me bettter latency, better track and plugin performance, and more inputs and outputs for around the same price.
The only thing that is scaring me about this switch, is that I feel that Digi will advance there LE series over the Mpower series, and I will be stuck with Mpower software that cannot be updated. But I am willing to take that chance, if I can get better latency, performace and power for right now. What are your opinions about the Firewire 1814 so far, and do you think it will become more stable soon. And my most important question to Digi is, will Mpower software be compatible with the new Tiger OS for Mac.

Thankyou in advance,
Mikey Ace

[Loudnoize Ent.]

The apple powerbook is exactly what I had in mind

Recorded some vocals with it today, no latency at all that I could hear monitoring through pro tools.. I'm very happy with this combo.



Hey SoundEq, you mentioned no latency. What buffer size do you have PT set at?

[danhops]

Hey Danhops, What is your Email Address, So I can find out where you got the M-audio software for the best prices.
I am very interested in returning my Mbox tomorrow for a Fire wire 1814 and Mpower software.
I still have 2 days to retun my Mbox to Sam Ash.
I am running a Power Book 1.5 512 ram.
Mbox has been fine with me the last 2 weeks I had it, But the latency is annoying, and I often get usb holdoff messages saying to delete tracks and plugins.
Im hoping the Fire wire 1814 plus M-power software will give me bettter latency, better track and plugin performance, and more inputs and outputs for around the same price.
The only thing that is scaring me about this switch, is that I feel that Digi will advance there LE series over the Mpower series, and I will be stuck with Mpower software that cannot be updated. But I am willing to take that chance, if I can get better latency, performace and power for right now. What are your opinions about the Firewire 1814 so far, and do you think it will become more stable soon. And my most important question to Digi is, will Mpower software be compatible with the new Tiger OS for Mac.

Thankyou in advance,
Mikey Ace


1814's latency is very good. I was running the demo with 20 tracks and recording direct with my POD, and it was barely noticeable, A huge upgrade from the MBox which I have never owned, but have used from time to time. To run on a Mac, I'd suggest installing the latest driver via the M-Audio website, but updating the firmware on a PC before plugging into the Mac. I thought I was the only one, but apparently lots are having problems with it unless they did it that way. As for prices, I purchased the 1814 through B an H Photo, and the M Powered software through Alto Music. I think if you do this as well, you will be more than satisfied for what you paid.

[danhops]

The apple powerbook is exactly what I had in mind

Recorded some vocals with it today, no latency at all that I could hear monitoring through pro tools.. I'm very happy with this combo.



Hey SoundEq, you mentioned no latency. What buffer size do you have PT set at?


Probably 128 samples.

[soundeq]

actually I've been set at 256 samples, and DAE buffer at 2... 80%cpu...

Yah I was singing, and monitoring through M-tools yesterday, and I didn't notice any latency at all. Even slapped on an eq plugin' and didn't notice a delay.

[Loudnoize Ent.]

Way to go dude. In fact I've been recording tracks at 256 without even noticing latency as well. I've posted this elsewhere but did you know I can use my Audio Instruments with Buffer set to 1024. I couldn't believe it. If there's any little bugs, I'm sure M-Audio are workin' around the clock to fix them.

BTW, I've also been slappin' plug-ins and there's is NO delay what-so-ever. It's all good!

[Mikey Ace]

Thank you for the information DanHops. I will let you all know how it pans out for me when I return the M-box for the M-audio. Also check out my post called "An idea (Best of both worlds)". I was analazing the differences between Protools Le and Pro-tools M-power for days, and came up with a way to try to get the best of both worlds.

Mikey Ace

[thegoodone]

Okay guys, I took the bite. After settling down from my Katrina disaster, I got a yamaha motif, m-audio firewere and pro tools.

Any ideas on getting these to work together? Are there any forums or m-audio sources 0r yamaha sources that tells you how to get these items to work together? I suffered a stroke so my memory ain't all that good. (I used to hook up other peoples systems)! Now I need the help1

holla back at me, here or 210greg@excite.com

Thanks!

Greg

[injun]

This combo is perfect for me, no big 002r to cary around, and the firewire 410 doesn't need external power!!!! perfect for a laptop airplane carrying setup (what I'm using it for)





i think M-audio's FW interfaces can only be powered by a 6-pin Firewire port. Most PC laptops do not have this 6-pin but rather the 4-pin which does not provide bus power.

Thought you might want to know this.
For my setup, i got to use the AC adapter to power my FW SOLO which connects 4-pin to my laptop.

[injun]

This combo is perfect for me, no big 002r to cary around, and the firewire 410 doesn't need external power!!!! perfect for a laptop airplane carrying setup (what I'm using it for)





i think M-audio's FW interfaces can only be powered by a 6-pin Firewire port. Most PC laptops do not have this 6-pin but rather the 4-pin which does not provide bus power.

Thought you might want to know this.
For my setup, i got to use the AC adapter to power my FW SOLO which connects 4-pin to my laptop.



Which M-audio FW interface did u get?

[haydini]

I have an AMD X2 4400+ machine with an m-audio Firewire 1814.....I was recording with instrument plugins yesterday at 512 samples I couldn't notice a delay. Awesome!!

[neatguys]

I just got the firewire 4 10 and cant for the life of me get the buffer below 256
I ran my m box at 128!!!
I got this to get a lower buffer !
I am running a 4 to 6 pin .
I wonder if thats the problem?

[neatguys]

Ok figured it out!
I did it in the firewire control panel.
I was trying to change it within live.
I closed live and opened the control panel and have been recording smooth at 64 buffer at 96 sample rate!!
It sounds fantastic!!!
I am very happy with this unit!
Also works great on my kids tower with a built in 6 pin firewire jack.
Bus powered glory!
If I get a stereo mic pre with digital out can I record 4 mics simultainiously with this?