Edirol FA-66 - Any good for recording?

Irish_Tom

Irish_Tom

Irish_Tom

Soldato
Joined
18 Oct 2002
Posts
15,220
Lo all,

I'm looking for some kit so I can start recording/giging with a Macbook Pro and Logic 8 when I get them.

Generally it will just be 1 guitar and 1 mic but it would be very useful to be able to record at least 2 guitars and 2 mics. With 6 inputs this seems to cover my requirements and still provide some breathing space should I require more.

Is the FA-66 any good? It gets decent enough reviews. If you can recommend anything else I would prefer FireWire over USB.

Cheers

Panzer
 
Have a look at this
http://www.m-audio.com/products/en_us/FireWire410-main.html

Has 2 decent balanced mic/line ins with good preamps and phantom power. Has two more 1/4" TP connections at the rear and 8 outputs for various uses. Also has two firewire ports for good transfer speeds and MIDI I/O.

My only concern is that you dont get two balaced outputs for your monitors, which really is what you want if you are spending over £200 and have some decent speakers that you wish to use.
 
Cheers Ozzie, I actually looked at that a while ago and forgot about it!

As you say it lacks balanced outputs. Are there any other alternatives or are these the two main competitors?

Panzer
 
Or an Rme Fireface 800 if you're feeling particularly saucy, a soundcard with good quality preamps and ad/da conversion would set you in good stead for future recordings. ;)

Edit: The Focusrite Saffire range are particularly good soundcards for those on a budget. I hear a lot of good things about them.
 
Last edited:
Cheers guys.

I don't think my budget can stretch to the Fireface 800 but I've found the Focusrite Saffire for £250 which I could manage.

what sets the Saffire ahead of the other two mentioned? It has less inputs but are the preamps better?
The Focusrite website seems to tout the software and plug-ins almost as much as the hardware. Will this really be necessary if I'm running Logic 8?

Sorry if I'm asking stupid questions.

Cheers again.

Panzer
 
Panzerbjorn said:
Cheers guys.

I don't think my budget can stretch to the Fireface 800 but I've found the Focusrite Saffire for £250 which I could manage.

what sets the Saffire ahead of the other two mentioned? It has less inputs but are the preamps better?
The Focusrite website seems to tout the software and plug-ins almost as much as the hardware. Will this really be necessary if I'm running Logic 8?

Sorry if I'm asking stupid questions.

Cheers again.

Panzer
Click to expand...

Ah, i didn't mean that particular saffire, look at the saffire pro 10 in/out (i/o).
It's £50 more, but look how many more preamps you get, 8 in all, definitely worth the extra money.

With regards to preamp quality, any sub £500 soundcard will have similar quality preamps. But generally, Focusrite are a little more renowned than M-Audio, for quality.

The Presonus Firepod is also a decent choice, also with 8 preamps, is also around £250-300.

So, unless you're spending £500 on a dedicated preamp, or over £500 for a soundcard, i wouldn't worry too much about preamp quality. The amount of preamps you get is more important, in that price range.

If you have 8 preamps, you'll be able to mic a drumkit, but wouldn't be able to with the M-Audio or Saffire. Even if you're not going to record drums, it's nice to have the option there.
 
I_Am_Vengeance said:
I've no experience with that soundcard. Did you need help with it, or looking to sell/buy second hand?
Click to expand...

I've been recommended it, but when it was released about 18 and a few months ago, there were quite a lot of problems with drivers/compatibility. And I was wondering if most of them have been fixed...

Just going to be used on a powerful PC, running Cubase and not a lot of soft synths, if any.
 
Thanks for the extra info Vengeance, you do make a strong case for the larger soundcards and at only an extra £50 it seems like a missed opportunity not to go with it.

I had second thoughts about portability but I've just found the dimensions and the pro10 is only 35cm x 23.5cm. It's a bit heavy but that's not a major issue, weight suggests quality I suppose.

I'll just have to wait for a bit of money and sync it with my Laptop purchase. :)

Panzer
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom