so, on the table.... 003R or 2626 or ......?

[440Hz]

the hat's been thrown in the ring.

Who wins 'Best Interface" in the powerhouse that is PT9?

- I/O
- AD/DA
- Sample rate
- ADAT/SMUX
- Monitoring
- Pre's & bypass-ability

This should spark a healthy discussion into a subject that many are probably considering due to the liberation of PT9.

[albee1952]

Opinion only(and based on reading, not using) the ProFire 2626 seems to get higher marks for quality over a stock 003r(a BLA modded one is another story but lots more money). You also need to peek at the Saffire56 and the RME ff800. Of course, the Presonus Firestudio Lightpipe opens you up to a full 32 inputs with 4 of anybody's lightpipe preamp(including the 2626)

[440Hz]

Originally Posted by albee1952

Opinion only(and based on reading, not using) the ProFire 2626 seems to get higher marks for quality over a stock 003r(a BLA modded one is another story but lots more money). You also need to peek at the Saffire56 and the RME ff800. Of course, the Presonus Firestudio Lightpipe opens you up to a full 32 inputs with 4 of anybody's lightpipe preamp(including the 2626)

The FireStudio looks like a good option. Whats the software monitoring situation with this unit? Anyone using one in their system with PT9 yet?

[BaileyBass]

Originally Posted by 440Hz

The FireStudio looks like a good option. Whats the software monitoring situation with this unit? Anyone using one in their system with PT9 yet?

Will let you know very soon as I will be testing the Firestudio Litepipe with 4 digimax fs's..... 32in and out... 5 rack spaces.... potentially a killer remote recording rig. I have used the FS's a lot and they are satisfactory. Should have it in a week or two. SB

[440Hz]

Thanks SB for your input. We look forward to the feedback on your system...

Anyone else care to chime in?

[440Hz]

Originally Posted by BaileyBass

Will let you know very soon as I will be testing the Firestudio Litepipe with 4 digimax fs's..... 32in and out... 5 rack spaces.... potentially a killer remote recording rig. I have used the FS's a lot and they are satisfactory. Should have it in a week or two. SB

.... so, how'd you go????

[gsanoff]

As the owner of a Profire 2626 that has not been modded, I'd highly recommend avoiding it. Its got a great feature set and I reckon if you get the BLA mod done it probably improves the sound a decent amount as well.

But what the mod will not do is fix the f*kin bugs in this thing which are seriously annoying. This product is clearly not a priority for the company either, as their driver updates are few and far between. As far as I know, the bugs I reported to them over a year ago, still exist.

Here's just one example of its lameness: anytime I connect a firewire drive to my computer, the damn 2626 loses contact with my computer and I have to cycle the power on the Profire. I have used most of the Digi/Avid interfaces over the years, and this one takes the cake for sheer frustration. Its too bad because it really can do a lot when its not driving me nuts. But if you have actual work to do, do not buy this thing as your primary ProTools interface unless you like being on the phone for HOURS with tech support.

Buy the 003R on ebay and enjoy it till they stop supporting it. You'll save yourself some coin and be rocking a stable rig for a couple of years.

[Dave Lang]

Don't buy any Avid or M-Audio hardware if you're planning on using ProTools native. The 003 family will not be supported past ProTools 10. Avid likes to limit the capabilities of their own hardware in ProTools in an effort to force you to buy a more expensive system from them. They can't limit the capabilities of third party interfaces as easily. Things like "Low Latency Monitoring" and "Aggregate I/O" are often disabled on Avid & M-Audio interfaces. I've owned an 002R and currently own a 2626 and I wouldn't recommend either to anybody.