M-Audio FireWire 1814

 FireWire 1814
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M-Audio FireWire 1814
Buy the M-Audio FireWire 1814 from Dolphin Music

Web Price: £249.99 GBP inc VAT

Availability: 3 in stock


  • SRP: £379.00
  • Save £129.01 GBP (34%)
  • Euro Price: €316.10 (1 GBP = 1.26444 EUR)
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The FireWire 18/14 is an 18-in, 14-out audio interface complete with ADAT Lightpipe for multi-channel communication with other digital devices. It features 8 x 4 analog I/O at up to 24-bit/96kHz, and boasts 192kHz on the first two inputs and all four outputs. Channels 1 and 2 also include high-quality microphone/instrument preamps. S/PDIF optical digital I/O provides 2-channel PCM, as well as pass-through of surround-encoded AC-3 and DTS material. Flexible internal mixing allows input and output routing, including an aux bus for effects send or monitor mix. A front-panel momentary switch allows allows DJ-style headphone auditioning between two assignable sources. Other features include two headphone amplifiers, assignable level controller, S/PDIF coaxial/optical digital I/O, 1 x 1 MIDI I/O, and BNC word clock connectors for synchronization to other digital devices.

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Ableton Live Lite 5 delivers much of the functionality of Ableton Live 5—the revolutionary, multi-award winning music production solution that allows you to spontaneously compose, record, remix, improvise and edit your musical ideas in a seamless audio/MIDI environment. Live brings your acoustic, electronic and virtual instruments—as well as your digital audio recordings and MIDI sequences—together in a single interface with unparalleled ease of use.

Features

  • 18 x 14 FireWire audio interface
  • 8 x 4 24-bit/96kHz analog I/O (1/4” TS) or 2 x 4 24-bit/192kHz analog I/O
  • 8 x 8 ADAT Lightpipe I/O
  • Digital S/PDIF (coaxial) I/O w/ 2-channel PCM
  • Digital out also supports pass-through of AC-3/DTS surround-encoded content
  • Dual mic/instrument preamps (Neutrik XLR/ 1/4” TS) with
    • Input level controls
    • 20dB pad
    • Phantom power
    • Signal LEDs
  • Two independently assignable headphone outputs with individual level controls (1/4" TRS)
  • Flexible software-controlled mixing of hardware and software I/O
  • Aux sends on all channels and aux output assign allows for dedicated headphone mixes and sends to external effects
  • User-assignable front-panel level control (output, input, software return, aux send)
  • Near zero-latency hardware direct monitoring
  • Low-latency ASIO software direct monitoring
  • Momentary switch for A/B cueing two software-assignable headphone sources or switching ASIO monitoring on/off
  • 1 x 1 16-channel MIDI I/O
  • Wordclock (BNC) for sync to external devices
  • Power on/off switch with indicator LED
  • Powered via FireWire bus* or included DC power adapter
  • Two convenient high-bandwidth FireWire ports
  • Rugged steel construction

* requires 6-pin connection

Specifications

  • Line Inputs (TS) 1-8
    • Frequency response: +/- 0.1 dB, 22Hz to 22kHz
    • Dynamic range: 105dB, A-weighted
    • Signal-to-noise ratio: -105dB, A-weighted
    • THD+N: <0.00281% (-91dB)
    • Crosstalk: -107dB @ 1 kHz
    • Nominal input level: -10dBV
    • Maximum input level: +2.1dBV, typical
    • Input impedance: 10k Ohms, typical
  • Mic/inst. inputs (balanced) 1-2 at minimum gain
    • Frequency response: +/- 0.1 dB, 22 Hz to 22 kHz
    • Dynamic range: 105dB, A-weighted
    • Signal-to-noise ratio: -105dB, A-weighted
    • THD+N: <0.00281% (-91dB)
    • Crosstalk: -105 dB @ 1 kHz
    • Maximum input level: -3.8 dBu, typical
    • Input impedance: inst in: 500k Ohms, typical; mic in: 1.8k Ohms, typical
    • Adjustable gain: > 40 dB
    • Pad: -20 dB
    • Total gain range: +60 dB
  • Line Outputs (TRS) 1-4
    • Frequency response:
      • 192 kHz: +/- 1 dB, 22Hz – 80kHz
      • 96kHz: +/- 0.5 dB, 22Hz – 40kHz
      • 48 kHz: +/- 0.1 dB, 22Hz – 22kHz
    • Dynamic range: 107dB, A-weighted
    • Signal-to-noise ratio: -107dB, A-weighted
    • THD+N: <0.00301% (-90.5 dB)
    • Crosstalk: -106dB @ 1 kHz
    • Nominal output level: +4dBu balanced, -10dBV unbalanced
    • Maximum output level: +10.2dBu balanced, typical; +2.0dBV unbalanced, typical
    • Output impedance: 150 Ohm
    • Load impedance: 600 Ohm minimum
  • Headphone Outputs at maximum volume into 32 Ohm load
    • Frequency response: +/- 1 dB, 22Hz to 22kHz
    • Power into Ohms: 16 mW into 32 Ohms
    • THD+N: <0.04987% (-66.1 dB)
    • Signal-to-noise ratio: -96 dB, A-weighted
    • Max output level into 32 Ohms: -3.0dBV, typical
    • Output impedance: 75 Ohm
    • Load impedance: 32 to 600 Ohms
  • Word Clock
    • Output: up to 192kHz
    • Input: up to 96kHz
    • Pass-through I/O: up to 96kHz
    • Impedance: 75 Ohms
    • Analog sampling rates: 44.1kHz to 192kHz for analog input 1/2 and all analog outputs
    • 44.1kHz to 96kHz input on channels 3-8
    • Digital sampling rates (kHz) 44.1, 48, 88.2, and 96 for coaxial S/PDIF in and out
    • 44.1 and 48 for optical S/PDIF in & out
    • 44.1, 48, or 88.2, 96 for ADAT I/O in S/MUX mode

(all values tested at 48 kHz sample rate unless otherwise stated)

Compatibility

  • ASIO 2
  • MME
  • Sound Manager
  • DirectX
  • Mac OS X Core Audio / Core MIDI

Minimum System Requirements

  • PC
    • Pentium 3 – 800MHz or higher (may be higher for laptops)
    • 256MB RAM; DirectX 9.0b or higher
    • Windows XP (SP2 Home or Professional Edition only); Windows 2000 (SP4) or higher
    • (Windows 98, 98SE, Me or NT not supported)
  • MAC
    • G3** 800MHz or G4 733MHz or higher (may be higher for laptops)
    • OS 9.2.2 or greater w/ 256MB RAM;
    • OS 10.2.8 w/ 256BM RAM; OS 10.3 or greater w/ 512MB RAM

** G3/G4 accelerator cards not supported; native FireWire ports required

M-Audio Firewire 1814 Review

Jim Howells
June 1, 2008

Rating: 1/10

I have owned one of these and it was so frustrating. Extremely problematic especially under Mac OS X due to a lack of decent driver support. Even when drivers were released, the unit was patchy to say the least.

You'll be tearing your hair out wondering why it's suddenly all gone quiet or why a certain pair of channels are not routing to the output when they were a second ago! You'll be forever "kick starting" it into life by toggling some random switch in the driver control panel.

If you are looking for a multi channel firewire interface for your computer then don't be tempted by the price. Spend a little more for one of the Focusrite 19" units instead which are much much better both in terms of reliability and sound quality.

M-Audio Firewire 1814

Paul Anderson
October 8, 2007

Rating: 1/10

This was my first venture into using Firewire and spent a considerable amount of time choosing what I thought was the right solution. I've loads of experience with my previous M-Audio 1010 rack, but M-Audio are not offering Vista Drivers yet(!). The 1814 seemed an ideal replacement as at least it had Vista (BETA) drivers available.
I downloaded the latest drivers, my brand new Dual Core Intel machine would not recognise the 1814. Contacting M-Audio told me to take everything out of the machine as the 1814 needed priority. I did, and it still would not recognise the 1814. After many hours (I guess 18hours in all) of trial and error, and restore after restore and eventually two complete recoveries. I managed to get it recognised only for it to continually crash after 5 minutes using Cakewalk Sonor 6 Producer in MIDI only. Never got round to getting it working on Audio.

Extremely disappointed, both with the lack of working drivers and the patronising attitude of the M-Audio 'helpline'. I tried this unit on one of my other machines, an Intel Pentium 3.8 running XP, and guess what?, still wouldn't work properly.

Nice shiney box with knobs, but at least Dolphin will refund - I'm still looking for something to replace it.

If you are running VISTA - don't buy.

Problematic

Amontillado Bevis
September 11, 2006

Rating: 1/10

Have had problems running this on OS 10.4.7 as the latest driver is for 10.4.6. The unit seems great for the 2.5 minute run time I get out of it before it crashes. I contacted tech support and they helpfully informed me that no supported driver exists and I would have to wait. If anyone reading this can give me pointers (popedirect@gmail.com) as to how I can run this on my setup, I'd be most grateful.

Drivers

Luke Reatery
September 10, 2006

Rating: 1/10

M-Audio is famous amoungst professionals for having the WORST drivers going. No matter how good there products are, and by the way they are mediocre at best. There drivers blow any good points with the massive frustration of having to deal with a computer that simply will not recognise the hard ware or drops it randomly. I could not recommend them to anyone, whatever you are buying spend some extra moneyin the end missing out on the frustration will be well worth it.

M-Audio FireWire 18/14

Peter Riley
August 14, 2006

Rating: 10/10

After realising that my old 4 input PCI soundcard could no longer supply my needs, I set out to try to find something more substantial with at least 8-10 inputs, and preferably mobility as I was moving onto a MacBook Pro setup. Considering my limited budget, I was suprised to find the M-Audio 1814 offering all I needed.

The 8 analog inputs are clean and can run with low latency and (fingers crossed) no dropouts so far since purchase. Having the two mic/inst inputs on the front panel is very useful, especially for accepting DI guitar/bass signals. The two preamps on these channels are very good, although I prefer to run mic's through a separate tube preamp when not on the move. Monitoring is very flexible, with some great options within the software mixer to enable separate routings for different purposes. I have not yet used the extra 8 channels supported through ADAT but knowing that the unit has this capability puts me at ease for that surprise occasion when I find myself trying to track a full live band setup. The other digital channels on this unit do just as they state on the packaging, and the breakout cable offers midi connectors and other little gems for syncing up your unit. I honestly can’t see myself wanting to do anything anytime soon which will particularly challenge this unit!


On a practical side, the unit is compact and seems fairly rugged. It comes with a power adapter, although I prefer to power it via firewire bus (6 pin) to avoid unnecessary clutter. A note in the manual mentions that the unit must be switched on before the computer to avoid the risk of burning out your unit (or the computers ports). This is a problem with all firewire devices, not just M-Audio, so it’s not a big issue, but worth mentioning.

How does it sound? Fantastic. It certainly seems to perform as well as the M-Audio PCI card I previously used, and sounds as good as several high end models of other makes I have used with a similar specification. I currently use either 24 bit/ 48khz or 24 bit / 96khz but this unit offers up to 192khz on the first two inputs. Either way, if you need to upgrade yourself to something “a bit more substantial” I can only recommend the M-Audio 1814. If this unit had cost me £500 or more then I would still give it 9 out of 10 but for a little over the £300 mark I can only give it full marks!

  • M-Audio Launches Overdub - Comic Book Style Online Guide!

    M-Audio announced the UK launch of Overdub, a new comic book style 'guide to studio production' from M-Audio explaining the techniques and technology behind major recording equipment product categories.

  • Mackie Tracktion 2 - Amazing Price Drop!

    Simple. Powerful. Revolutionary. Welcome to Tracktion 2, Mackie's revolutionary music production software, now available at a great low price - only £29!

  • Part 4: Interfaces and soundcards

    You’ll need to get sounds into and out of your computer when producing music, so some kind of ‘interface’ should be on your shopping list. You might think that you already have the necessary connections, but many of today’s interfaces come with multiple inputs and outputs (for recording bands and outputting to multi-channel surround systems), bundled software, on board sounds and, in some cases, much more, so really are worthy and cost-effective additions to your computer music set-up. In this part of the Dolphin Computer Music guide we’ll discuss all of the interfacing options currently available…

  • M-Audio Releases Beta Drivers for Intel-based Macs

    M-Audio has posted Intel-based Mac beta drivers for their entire FireWire-compatible family of products, including the FireWire 410, FireWire 1814, and the new ProjectMix I/O. There are also beta drivers available for the Fast Track USB and Fast Track Pro.

  • Digidesign Pro Tools 7 software will be available soon

    Pro Tools 7 software introduces new MIDI and audio capabilities, enhanced efficiency, greater mixing flexibility, and improved ease of use, providing a new creative environment for the industry-standard digital audio workstation. Pro Tools 7 is a cross-platform release (Windows XP and Mac OS X 10.4) available for Pro Tools|HD, Pro Tools LE, and Pro Tools M-Powered systems.

  • M-Audio Extends Pro Tools M-Powered Compatibility

    FireWire Solo, FireWire Audiophile, Delta 1010, Delta 1010LT, Delta 44, and Delta 66 are now compatible with Pro Tools M-Powered 6.8.

  • All-new Digidesign Pro Tools M-Powered software for selected M-Audio Sound Cards

    Pro Tools M-Powered is an exciting new version of Digidesign’s award-winning Pro Tools software that is designed to work with select M-Audio Sound Cards.

  • Sound Card Selector - In BETA testing.

    Choosing a Soundcard or audio interface is one of the hardest and most complicated decisions when building your home studio. Why? Because we all have different needs and there are so many products to choose from! We have developed a Sound Card Selector to help to find the best sound card for your needs.

  • What does the bit depth and sample rate refer to?

    Most modern audio interfaces provide the facility to specify the bit depth and sample rate for a particualr project but what differences do these values actually make to the quality of the audio? To help you understand exactly what these measures of digital audio are refering to we have created this helpful guide.

  • Avid to buy M-Audio

    Avid, the video company and owners of Digidesign have annouced that they are buying M-Audio. Digidesign and M-Audio will not merge. When the acquisition is complete, M-Audio will be a business unit within Digidesign, and will continue to function as it has in the past.

  • Beta 64-Bit Drivers for M-Audio Interfaces Available

    M-Audio announced the beta release of their first 64-bit drivers, named Audio64, for pro audio applications. The new Audio64 drivers, developed for the AMD Opteron processor, will be available for M-Audio\'s Delta and FireWire series audio interfaces, making them fully compatible with the forthcoming Microsoft Windows XP64-bit Edition and \"Longhorn\" operating systems, in addition to the current set of operating systems.

Competition - Have your say

Have your say and submit your own product review on the M-Audio FireWire 1814
Please let us know what you think of the M-Audio FireWire 1814 or any other product on our site. The best review chosen from all that are submitted this month will win a fantastic pair of M-Audio IE-30 - High-Definition Professional Reference Earphones with Dual-Driver Technology worth £189.00 M-Audio IE-30
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