M-Audio FireWire 410 4-In / 10-Out FireWire Mobile Recording Interface Review

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(More customer reviews)I bought this soundcard and have been wrestling with the drivers non-stop for two months... nothing seems to work. Crackles and a high level of whitenoise in the background.
Tech Support responds very courteously and quickly, however, their advice is to reinstall the drivers... Gee who would have thought of that. I've only done that about 100 times... Sometimes the meters on the driver interface are dancing wildly when no sound is going through it... Sometimes when I reinstall the meters behave normally. That's the only thing "fixed" by reinstalling - however the fix is always temporary...
I get the impression that the tech support knows that there are some problems with the driver and with the unit. Hot swapping has blown a lot of firewire boards - including mine (replaced it and now I never hotswap).
I have had nothing but problems - my ipod's system software is trashed if ever I plug it into the firewire port beside the 410. It took me three times to realize that the problem was the 410 not the iPod. This was just salt in the wound... Solution from Tech support - "don't plug an Ipod OR ANYTHING ELSE into the firewire port if the 410 is plugged in also. But, whatever you do, don't hot swap the 410 or it could blow your board!" Thanks a lot. So I have to shutdown. Unplug the 410, plug in the iPod and restart just to sync my iPod... so much for the convenience of firewire.
Tested the 410 in my powerbook in an attempt to isolate the problem... bad idea. Now my once rock solid powerbook doesn't recognize the firewire card and the wireless PC card would not talk to the airport base station. Solution: reset basestation, clean reinstall system software to reinstall drivers for the PC cards (native to OS 10.3). Thanks alot.
I have read reports of people having problems with this unit. It only seemed like a fraction. I hoped I wouldn't be one. I am.
If I had a G5 that was dedicated to music, I bet I could get this soundcard to work great. But, unfortunately, I have a G4 (maxed out with RAM and the hottest processor I can put in it). And I use it for writing, photos, video, games AND music.
For any mac user who is not making a dedicated music work station, I would highly recommend that you steer well clear of the 410 and of M-audio products just to be safe. There are other options out there that don't have the same problems.

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CC Witness 2GB Digital Recorder/MP3 players with AM/FM Review

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(More customer reviews)Great little recorder. Received mine yesterday, charged it up, recorded a few test recordings on AM and FM. Programmed it to record from midnight to 4am and it worked great. Fairly easy to use! AM receiver is sensitive and worked well with no interference. I followed the instruction manual and turned off th AM Radio display to minimize/eliminate any interference. Uses SD Memory devices as big as 16gb! That is in addition to it's built-in 2gb of memory. Maybe in a future model it will use a USB Thumb Drive or maybe a regular USB External Hard Drive! This unit is going to make late night recording and recording of specialty radio programs a real easy task. I calculate my recording usage at slightly more than forty hours a week.

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ADS Technologies RDX-150-EF Instant Music for Mac and PC Review

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(More customer reviews)Instant Music is a great idea, by simply connecting the RDX150 to your PC with a USB cable, you should be able to convert your old LP's and cassettes into wav, MP3 or other digital files which you can then burn on CD or download to an MP3 player. Even someone as lo-tech as me can figure it out, I mean I don't know the first thing about computers, but the RDX150 was easy to install. The Nero software that came with the RDX150 is also pretty east to operate. Simply by clicking on the "Wizards" tab, all I had to do was basically push "play" on my stereo and click on "record" on the software, again very easy to use. The problem came when I actually began to record some of my cassettes. I have read other reviews that spoke of a "hum" that was audible during the recoreding, I wasn't even that lucky....at times I was getting such a loud static sound as feedback, that I wasn't able to hear the original audio! I tried replacing the USB cable that hooked up Instant Music to my PC, and that didn't work. I even used a different stereo hoping to solve the problem. I moved the Instant Music box away from all electronic devices in hopes that by getting it away from the monitor, PC etc. I would cut down on the interference...nothing worked. I e-mailed ADS three days ago with the problem....put it this, I ain't holding my breath for a response now. And just to put it in perspective, I am not trying to get optimum sound for recording, I am not trying to transfer hi-definition, I am simply trying to convert my collection of old radio shows from the 30's, 40's & 50's. Most of which contain enough static on their own, and all of which are mono recordings. So I don't need pristine sound. I finally gave up yesterday, and bought a product called "INport" by Xitel. Basically, it's the same thing, but I found out the "INport" is grounded....I have no clue what that means, but it works! Unfortunately, I don't care for the software that came with the INport, so I am using the Nero software that came with the RDX150. The INport is about $20 more, but it's well worth it, and will get the job done!

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Easy Capture into Popular Music FormatsJust plug the Instant Music into a USB port on your computer and you are ready to begin recording from any analog audio source into the most popular digital audio formats available such as MP3, WAV and WMA (Windows Media 9 Audio) and AAC. Once in a digital format you can create Audio CDs, MP3 CDs or have the audio ready to be played for your personal music enjoyment on a variety of MP3 player devices. Convert your old collection of cassettes and LPs into crisp, clear digital audio and then create audio CDs and MP3 CDs so you can keep a personal archive of your collection that will not degrade or deteriorate over time. Use the LP or Cassette to Audio CD Wizards in the included Nero SoundTrax software to go from LP to CD audio in 4 simple steps. ADS Tech respects the rights of copyright owners and asks that you do the same. Record Your Old LPs and Cassettes to CD, MP3 or your iPod Save music as MP3, WAV, WMA and AAC (iPod) audio formats Burn professional quality CDs Capture from any audio source: cassette, turn table, TV, radio, DVD Mac Users can use Instant Music with Garage Band or Sound Studio 2.1 Audio IN: RCA Stereo (Left and Right); SPDIF (Toslink) Audio Out: RCA Stereo (Left and Right); SPDIF (Toslink) Power: USB bus power (no external supply needed) USB: USB 1.1 and USB 2.0 compatible as a Full Speed Device

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Apogee Duet - Audio input adapter - IEEE 1394 (FireWire) Review

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(More customer reviews)I bought the Duet to use with my Aluminum iMac and Logic Studio 8 and have had zero problems with the unit. The interface is very streamlined so you have to get used to using a single, multi-function knob for everything. The quality of conversion between analog and digital is head and shoulders above anything else near this price level. It sounds as good as units costing 3 times as much due to the designers' emphasis on quality sound. To get the high quality conversion at this price you are limited to the line outputs and headphone output levels being permanently linked. Some people find this a drawback, so be aware before you buy if this feature is something that is a deal breaker for you.
The small form factor is nice because as anyone with a home studio can attest to, space is not a luxury we have. I didn't pick this for its portability but as it is the size of a paperback book I can imagine it being very easy to tote around with a macbook/pro.
The included Maestro management software is straightforward and lets you set the unit up in seconds with a very easy to understand user interface. Configuring my iMac to use this as the audio input and output took less than a minute from reading the instructions. Making Logic label its mixer to match is equally simple. One thing I found convenient is how OSX lets you still use the iMac's built in speakers for the system alerts so that an error message gong sound isn't sent out through your 100watt studio monitors. You can set the output level of the system alerts separate from the duet's outputs.
The breakout cable is securely attached and the plugs are labeled with big, clear markings so changing hook-ups is easy. It has phantom power if your mics require it, which is set using Maestro.
Most audio interfaces in this price range try to win you over with more I/O channels or other add-ons instead of making the best sound conversion. They trade quality for quantity with predictable results. Apogee decided on doing a simple 2 channel interface, a single physical control and top shelf A/D/A converters so the result is the best 2 channels you can get. When you want more channels without sacrificing quality then you can step up to their Ensemble line.

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