I use the Audiofire8 along with two Audiofire 12s as a no frills but good sounding and reliable computer interface system. The 8 has the advantage of SPDIF in and out which I will eventually use for a pair of higher end D/A converters as my main monitoring channels. The preamps are "so so" but I didn't buy this for those. I do use them, in fact, on projects because I'm low on "money" channels right now, and they make an acceptable sound. They'd be just fine for those just starting out in the recording world.
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Could be really solid but has some issues
February 23, 2012
Reviewer:
Jeremy Ruth
The hardware seems solid, but the knobs on the front feel cheap. I have the issue others express of "ringing" when recording. This is only on ins 1-2, the built in pres. With the latest driver it's better but not fixed. Now its brief and fairly low so tracks are probably usable but I wouldn't use ins 1-2 exclusively to record as ringing would compound.
The gain on ins 1-2 increase slowly, until the last 10-15% and then suddenly boost a lot. When you make changes in the control panel, upon exit it saves by resetting. When it does this, it make a loud popping noise. Probably not loud enough to damage speakers, but is annoying especially when wearing headphones.
The unit sounds good when using an ext. micpre on ins 3-8. Still the best deal in this price range IMO for input count and sound quality. There was nothing else with 8 ins at this price that I felt good about. If they can resolve 100% the ringing on ins 1-2 I would rate it a 4. Until then I would say proceed with caution.
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Affordable & reliable conversion
June 28, 2011
Reviewer:
Tim
Bought the Audiofire 8 based on it's reputation for cost effective AD/DA conversion. Its quality coming close to my RME HDSP9632 after running some tests. Better than many units in it's class.
Drivers are updated and stable. Works good in ADAT mode, managed to sync quite effortlessly (with HDSP9632). Firewire works good as well with my laptop. Has stand-alone support too.
Only issue I faced was that the ADAT socket is pretty small and doesn't accept larger ADAT plugs, like the Hear Technologies I bought. But I did manage to find a pair of shorter cables that fit. It needs small 1/4" plugs as well.