Yeah, I tend to think so; from what I've heard, the FF pre's are good but nothing special, but the fact that the Onyx 400F can only have a maximum of 10 inputs is the deal breaker for me (I'll just use the FF400 preamps until I can afford a really good one, like a Great River). However, I still maintain hope that Mackie will change their ways - check out this email I just sent them 
:
"Hello! I'm very interested in the Onyx 400F firewire interface, mainly because of the great reputation of the Onyx preamps but also for the converter quality and extra features such as two headphone outs and two hi-Z instrument inputs. However, it breaks my heart to see that there is no ADAT I/O (or even just an ADAT in), because I really don't want to limit myself to just 10 inputs. That being said, however, the 1200F is just too expensive for me, so I would like to suggest (or beg of you, really) to consider adding ADAT functionality to the 400F, cuz I would buy it in a hot second if you did. I highly doubt it would sway any potential buyers away from the 1200F (if that's what they were originally after), because the latter still has 12 preamps (and more importantly, 12 analog ins in general), 4 headphone outs, etc., and MOTU has both their 828 and 896 ADAT equipped, for example, without a problem of competition between the two.
I won't be in the market for a new interface until this coming summer, so I can wait, but I just thought I'd make my plea heard with ample time in the hope that you could complete the promise of the 400F being the greatest 1 RU interface in terms of overall value in existence!"
:"Hello! I'm very interested in the Onyx 400F firewire interface, mainly because of the great reputation of the Onyx preamps but also for the converter quality and extra features such as two headphone outs and two hi-Z instrument inputs. However, it breaks my heart to see that there is no ADAT I/O (or even just an ADAT in), because I really don't want to limit myself to just 10 inputs. That being said, however, the 1200F is just too expensive for me, so I would like to suggest (or beg of you, really) to consider adding ADAT functionality to the 400F, cuz I would buy it in a hot second if you did. I highly doubt it would sway any potential buyers away from the 1200F (if that's what they were originally after), because the latter still has 12 preamps (and more importantly, 12 analog ins in general), 4 headphone outs, etc., and MOTU has both their 828 and 896 ADAT equipped, for example, without a problem of competition between the two.
I won't be in the market for a new interface until this coming summer, so I can wait, but I just thought I'd make my plea heard with ample time in the hope that you could complete the promise of the 400F being the greatest 1 RU interface in terms of overall value in existence!"
It's a doozy, though like all things, I'm sure there's a middle ground (though I honestly don't know what it is, so I'd be curious about anyone's recommendations for a good one- or two-channel preamp for under, say, $800)
