• Nice Audio signal paths!

  
  As reviewed by Don Belisle on 10/5/2010

  I needed a digital IO for mastering from my main DAW. The audio signal paths sound pristine! The big thing for me was a clean headphone monitor output that was true to the mix I sending to the SPDIF input. Installing the unit was simple, I went to the web and downloaded the latest driver 1st. The unit did a firmware update for the FastTrack`s hardware. My fresh install of Win 7-32 bit loved the interface. I have no problems at all running mastering worthy mixdowns thru the unit. I use Sonar 8.5 for my choice of tools. Not a problem at all with Sonar finding the interface. Things appear to be rock solid! Low noise and great preamps. I feel I got more than my monies worth for an 8 channel USB 2.0 audio interface. It seems the latest version of the FastTrack Ultra, with the latest firmware update is a huge winner for my needs. I still use my M-Audio FW410 as well as the Motu Ultralite III. All were purchased from GC. I did not even look at the software included, and the mixer GUI for the FastTrack Ultra needs updating. But the functionality is still there. I would buy again for sure, the price was comfortable, but not cheap. If your interested, get a new one ( don`t go used! ), update the firmware driver, and rock on! I`m very pleased! DB

  3 of 3 people found this review helpful.
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• Awesome piece of equipment!

  
  As reviewed by Tyler on 7/26/2010

  After reading reviews I was dead set on purchasing this interface for recording my band. 96k, 24 bit recording with NO noticeable latency on a dell laptop. 3gb RAM with Vista 32 bit. This thing is awesome! After adding 2 preamps I'm able to record 6 simultaneous inputs for drums. The preamps sound great, low noise and plenty of gain. Cubase has a way to adjust the click track volume so the headphone amp volume is not a problem for me.. pretty loud. As of right now I'm EXTREMELY happy with my purchase. You won't be disappointed!

  3 of 3 people found this review helpful.
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• Sweet deal, Awesome piece of gear!

  
  As reviewed by AudioRuso on 4/30/2009

  I don't understand what all the fuss is about. I've gone through many different operating systems and computers, and drivers and have not had ANY issues with this product. It works flawlessly on XP/XP SP1/2 and Vista. It has a couple very minor issues on Vista X64 but nothing that would break the work flow noticeably. I'll begin by saying that it has probably the best layout I have ever seen on a sound card. It is also the most powerful at the time for USB sound cards all together. It has 6 1/4 inch inputs on the back very well laid out, and 6 matching 1/4 inch outputs on the back aswell... this setup keeps wires nice and neat (unlike others where you gotta plug stuff in all over the place in all directions..... on the front you could either hook up four mics or two mics and two instruments.... what nice is that the first two inputs can either be xlr or 1/4 inch..... All four inputs have knobs right there on the front to control the preamps for each channel individually. Also on the front.... TWO, not one, TWO headphone outputs with individual volume controlls and LED's to indicate clipping and signal (that can be assigned to play different channels alltogether). And of course there is a volume control, right there on the front. What I should note is that there are four buttons to switch from the front inputs to the back ones. Some other nice features include an input and output for an insert effect (so you can hook up for example a compressor)... the only flaw with it (actually what' nice is that I called m-audio and they took a unit from their warehouse, set it up, and tinkered with it trying to figure it out).... but anyways the only flaw is that it cannot be inserted to any channels but channels 1/2..... Of course the thing has phantom power but if you choose to run with it off you can still use normal mics... What's also so nifty is that if you want to go somewhere with a lap top for example you can ditch the power supply alltogether and still have channels 1/2 for input and output powered by the USB bus. The latency on this card is great... I can't say it's as perfect as I want it to be (especially with Vista x64) but I can safely run a 128 sample buffer running under 10ms completely safely and if no input is needed and those are disabled a 4 ms delay is pretty safe and works great.... Another great thing is the software mixer, you can route just about anything into anything else, it simply makes this card have no limits as far as routing (except for that insert effect thing but I don't really use it anyways since I use the daw for that) The only serious issue is that after switching to Vista x64 I have not been able to get the "High Performance Mode" to work which affects the buffer a little bit. Other then that, solid 5/5... I've recommended this product to many people, all have bought it, all had no problems. The biggest issue with this card is people, people that can't install the damn driver. It's a little bit more of a pain in the butt then simply installing a CD but if you follow directions it will work. Would buy again but I'm more then happy with the one I got :)

  49 of 50 people found this review helpful.
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