Gambled on a really cheap audio I/O box

[EGS]

The Focusrite Pro 40 that I've been using for several years on my little laptop rig has been getting iffy; some XLR in's were becoming intermittent. I considered having it fixed (probably just some cold solders here & there) but decided to explore brand-new options instead. I picked this one up for $202.49 new!!! http://www.musictri.be/Categories/Be...MC1820/p/P0B2J I made sure I could return it - just in case. Well, after lots of testing, I'm keeping it!!!

The 8 mic-pre's sound great & have plenty of clean gain. The converters sound really good & the headphone amp is clean & loud. Build quality is solid as well. Installation (Windows 7 in my case) was a breeze, and Pro-Tools saw it right away. Since it's USB2, it crackled @ buffer 32, occasional crackles @ 64, but was solid @ 128. Another thing I thought was interesting is that Pro-Tools sets the sample rate & buffer settings; the I/O box follows suit without issue. They claim that it's designed in Germany, Midas pre's, bla bla bla.

I use this (somewhat under-powered & older) laptop rig ONLY for location recording gigs, i.e. never for ODs, mixing, VIs etc. I use just a few mics, or sometimes a PA feed thrown in for good measure. I usually run @ buffer 1024 anyway, so buffer 64 not working well is okay ... for my purposes. (Although I gotta say, the Focusrite Pro 40, which is firewire 400, was solid @ 64 on the same laptop.) I'm wiring up an XLR input bay, so that I don't stress the XLRs on the unit itself. Also, rather than racking it, I'm gonna lay it on a rack tray & surround it with squishy foam to take up the shock of getting schlepped around town. Let's see if it works over time!!! There ... I didn't even use the "B" word.

[Top Jimmy]

Originally Posted by EGS

Another thing I thought was interesting is that Pro-Tools sets the sample rate & buffer settings; the I/O box follows suit without issue.

Thus belying the claim other manufactures make laying the blame on Avid and Pro Tools for sorry integration due to poor ASIO specification implementation.
(cough, cough, focusrite, cough, cough)




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[EGS]

Originally Posted by Top Jimmy

Thus belying the claim other manufactures make laying the blame on Avid and Pro Tools for sorry integration due to poor ASIO specification implementation.
(cough, cough, focusrite, cough, cough)




Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Yes !!!

So, I just now changed my sig info to reflect this new I/O interface. Still no "B" word ...

[EGS]

More testing with this rig. Made 8 audio record tracks. Added an EQ and a comp to each. Aux send each to a reverb. Routed all to a stereo record "mix" track. Buffer 128 (as explained above) and 48k. Hit record (8 mono tracks plus 1 stereo track); hit stop. Did that 10 times. Then, I hit record and went to bed. Seven hours later, it was still rolling. Hit record/stop 10 more times. Checked playback (an exciting recording of room tone ...) at 5 mins and also at 7 hrs. Works.