m-audio profire2626. What's ur rate?
- Thread starter lordtech
- Start date
PostMortem1666
Ocean Planet is on burn
90% of the time I would never trust a sales person. It doesn't matter to me what company they are from. And I can tell you that the pres in the 2626 are thousands times better than those bullshit 002 pres. I am not sure about the 003 though.
AudioGeekZine
arsehole know-it-all
I did a long ass review of it on the newest podcast.
My review won't be posted on my site until I sell the 002
My review won't be posted on my site until I sell the 002
Melodeath
Moonbow
Maybe scope out the M-Audio/PT forums for info on that (I'm sure those places are a real barrel o' laughs )
)
AudioGeekZine
arsehole know-it-all
What whole DAE thing?
Whoever that guy was is making shit up.
Review is up now. all the cons I've found so far are listed there.
http://www.audiogeekzine.com/?p=796
There was a post on Gearslutz not too long ago, basically doing a converter shootout. Taking a song playing out the interface and back in the input. the 003 and 2626 were in the shootout.
With each clip, I could detect that there was a difference from the original, but I couldn't be certain exactly what was different.
What I take a way from that is that despite the difference in price I can't clearly distinguish an improvement in sound from one set of converters to another.
002 preamp vs Octane preamp in 2626? Very audible.
Whoever that guy was is making shit up.
Review is up now. all the cons I've found so far are listed there.
http://www.audiogeekzine.com/?p=796
There was a post on Gearslutz not too long ago, basically doing a converter shootout. Taking a song playing out the interface and back in the input. the 003 and 2626 were in the shootout.
With each clip, I could detect that there was a difference from the original, but I couldn't be certain exactly what was different.
What I take a way from that is that despite the difference in price I can't clearly distinguish an improvement in sound from one set of converters to another.
002 preamp vs Octane preamp in 2626? Very audible.
Melodeath
Moonbow
I posted the question over at the DUC. I'll let this thread know what I find out.
AudioGeekZine, audible in favor of which? Any experience with the 003 preamps? Sound on Sound says they are greatly improved over the 002. http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/may07/articles/digi3.htm
They even say it compares well to a Focusrite Octopre (about which I have heard conflicting things, from 006 and LSD-Studio iirc).
I would look at SoS's review of the 2626, but it's not going to be free for awhile I think.
AudioGeekZine, audible in favor of which? Any experience with the 003 preamps? Sound on Sound says they are greatly improved over the 002. http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/may07/articles/digi3.htm
They even say it compares well to a Focusrite Octopre (about which I have heard conflicting things, from 006 and LSD-Studio iirc).
I would look at SoS's review of the 2626, but it's not going to be free for awhile I think.
I ran an Octopre into my 002R when I was running that rig. The Octopre is way better than the stock pres that were in the 002, but as far as the 003 I have no clue, never used one. However, as you mentioned already, pretty much everyone is on the same page saying the 003 has better pres in it than the 002, and I don't doubt that as it's something that was needed for a long time.
My main concern is what really am I losing out on by using M-Powered and the 2626 versus getting LE with like an MBox? I need to get something going because I have lost some projects because of me not having PT. My original idea was to sell the Saffire Pro 26i/o and replace it with the Profire 2626 and get M-Powered. Keep in mind I'm only going to use PT to bounce the stems out from PT sessions. I will not be using it to track or mix in whatsoever.
~006
My main concern is what really am I losing out on by using M-Powered and the 2626 versus getting LE with like an MBox? I need to get something going because I have lost some projects because of me not having PT. My original idea was to sell the Saffire Pro 26i/o and replace it with the Profire 2626 and get M-Powered. Keep in mind I'm only going to use PT to bounce the stems out from PT sessions. I will not be using it to track or mix in whatsoever.
~006
Melodeath
Moonbow
iekobrid
Authorized XSr Dealer
Both LE and M-Powered software use the Digidesign DAE. Otherwise, the program would have to be re-coded from the ground up.
PT LE hardware uses Digidesign's CoreAudio driver. M-Audio hardware like the 2626 use OS X's CoreAudio driver. PT LE locks the Digidesign hardware while it is running, so don't expect to be able to jump over to iTunes or anything without quitting PT first. The 2626 uses the OS X CoreAudio driver and in my experience it is more stable for it, not to mention you can monitor multiple apps simultaneously.
I had a 002 modified by BLA (preamps, analog stages, and clock) and I replaced it with the 2626. The BLA pres are better than the 2626's which are better than the stock 002's. I have not heard the stock 003 pres but I can't imagine they would be be better than the 2626's. Digidesign LE hardware is a joke. The 003 is reportedly much better than the 002, but it is still more expensive than a 2626 + M-Powered and a lesser value and less expandable. At first I was hesitant about using M-Powered, but now I prefer it for a number of reasons, not the least of which is the hardware.
There used to be an 18 I/O limit in PT LE/MP but with the 2626 and PT 8 I can assign and record 26 tracks simultaneously at 44.1kHz and 18 tracks simultaneously at 96kHz. Using LE you're limited to 18 I/O no matter what you do. It's obvious Digidesign wants to keep their LE hardware in the market so they are putting silly limitations on M-Powered like the CPTK and DV/Timecode which will keep post users using LE by necessity. Keep in mind Digidesign is owned by Avid. Now guess who owns M-Audio...
2626:
$760 w/ M-Powered (includes free iLok)
26 I/O (8 analog [8 preamps], 16 ADAT [SMUX], 2 SPDIF)
24/192kHz, external power supply (less noise)
MP is compatible with lots of M-Audio hardware.
vs.
003:
$900 w/ LE (no free iLok)
18 I/O (8 analog [4 preamps], 8 ADAT, 2 SPDIF)
24/96kHz, internal power supply (more noise)
LE is compatible with 001/002/003 & Mbox only.
PT LE hardware uses Digidesign's CoreAudio driver. M-Audio hardware like the 2626 use OS X's CoreAudio driver. PT LE locks the Digidesign hardware while it is running, so don't expect to be able to jump over to iTunes or anything without quitting PT first. The 2626 uses the OS X CoreAudio driver and in my experience it is more stable for it, not to mention you can monitor multiple apps simultaneously.
I had a 002 modified by BLA (preamps, analog stages, and clock) and I replaced it with the 2626. The BLA pres are better than the 2626's which are better than the stock 002's. I have not heard the stock 003 pres but I can't imagine they would be be better than the 2626's. Digidesign LE hardware is a joke. The 003 is reportedly much better than the 002, but it is still more expensive than a 2626 + M-Powered and a lesser value and less expandable. At first I was hesitant about using M-Powered, but now I prefer it for a number of reasons, not the least of which is the hardware.
There used to be an 18 I/O limit in PT LE/MP but with the 2626 and PT 8 I can assign and record 26 tracks simultaneously at 44.1kHz and 18 tracks simultaneously at 96kHz. Using LE you're limited to 18 I/O no matter what you do. It's obvious Digidesign wants to keep their LE hardware in the market so they are putting silly limitations on M-Powered like the CPTK and DV/Timecode which will keep post users using LE by necessity. Keep in mind Digidesign is owned by Avid. Now guess who owns M-Audio...
2626:
$760 w/ M-Powered (includes free iLok)
26 I/O (8 analog [8 preamps], 16 ADAT [SMUX], 2 SPDIF)
24/192kHz, external power supply (less noise)
MP is compatible with lots of M-Audio hardware.
vs.
003:
$900 w/ LE (no free iLok)
18 I/O (8 analog [4 preamps], 8 ADAT, 2 SPDIF)
24/96kHz, internal power supply (more noise)
LE is compatible with 001/002/003 & Mbox only.
Jarkko Mattheiszen
The FU guy.
iekobrid said:
Precisely. I still need the i/o features like the Saffire Pro, dual ADAT, line outputs, but I need to have an interface that will allow me to use PT. Basically, I'm sacrificing pre quality, but losing nothing in i/o, and gaining PT compatibility. Somewhat of a "breaking even" trade-off here. I know a lot of people dig the Octane pres, I've used them and they are OK, so it's not that big of a deal, I'm not producing huge bands or anything so it's whatever.
Jesse Z said:
Thanks. That's exactly what I needed to hear and confirmed my suspicions of the SweetWater rep just trying to upsell. That's not a new trick
Just like at GC, a lot of talk with no real knowledge to back it up, although I'd probably take a SW rep's word/advice over a GC rep's, but not by much, lol. Looks like the 2626 is definitely the way to go over a Digi interface, not only because of price, but look at the i/o options. It's a big difference and a deal-breaker. Not to mention you aren't STUCK with using only PT, which is a major plus in my book. I'm sold. ~006
AudioGeekZine
arsehole know-it-all
Holy shit, they'll probably squash that bug in a cs update.
The price of the profire went up in November here in Canada used to be $699, now its $879
AudioGeekZine
arsehole know-it-all
there isn't a digi interface where you're 'stuck' using only pro tools. They all have ASIO drivers, but my 002r didn't work with Sonar, every other daw I tried was fine.
Holy shit, they'll probably squash that bug in a cs update.
Digi could be trying to distinguish LE as the post/video solution and MP as the tracking/mixing solution. It just seems unlikely that this "bug" would happen twice to M-Powered. (This happened before in a 7.x version with the Lightbridge)
Right. Apologies if I wasn't clear about this. It's been a long time since I've used Windows, but I used my 002 with Ableton Live and Reaper on PC (ASIO) and with Ableton Live, Reaper, and Garageband on Mac (CoreAudio). Where you are stuck with LE is when you have PT open, you can't use the hardware to monitor any other apps.
AudioGeekZine
arsehole know-it-all
right. (I was actually replying to 006)
but with the 2626 you can and I love it!
The only limitation I'm having now is sending audio from PT to Skype, I have to loop the adat output to adat input and use an aux send.
I haven't tested it yet, I don't even know if it will work.
but with the 2626 you can and I love it!
The only limitation I'm having now is sending audio from PT to Skype, I have to loop the adat output to adat input and use an aux send.
I haven't tested it yet, I don't even know if it will work.
I remember trying my 002R rig out at the last studio which used Vegas on WinXP, didn't work, Vegas didn't see the i/o. However, we did use three Delta 1010's (the rackmount ones) so we ended up getting M-Powered (it had literally just came out, to give you an idea of how long ago this was) but never used it before I left. I had heard of using the 002R, 002 and MBox with other hosts and that is why I tried it, unsuccessfully. I tried using my 002R with Cubase SX on OSX 10.3.x and no dice there either, but I will admit I didn't give it much of a chance and didn't try to get it going. Either way, I'm not arguing the ability to use the interfaces with other hosts, that isn't important to me. I still need the i/o, which Digi's LE interfaces do not offer and the 2626 seems to be the only shoe that fits. I really do appreciate you clearing that up though, Jesse. 
~006
~006
egan.
daylightdies.com
This was my thought exactly. I doubt digidesign who won't recode to sell 64bit compatible versions would bother to recode just to make a parallel version of existing software so they could claim a difference.
For the record I have successfully and repeatedly used my 002 with vegas, soundforge, sonar and cubase.
And for the record I'm considering the 2626 switch as well.
