$300 Budget to blow, Lookin for feedback/input on Firewire A

don't mistake this $300 i done saved up wit BLOOD, SWEAT and tears OVER the last 8months, summer job and all that!!

SO believe I ain't tryin to just pick 1 joint blindly and jus roll with it... I done went to guitar center and dude was like jus like STRAIGHT cop the 410 firewire joint and he wouldn't even entertain no other option i gave up.. talkin bout TRUST me, you don't want anything else... so on the strength of that alone.. i'm like nah, nah I'm not make a choice till i research this some more..

so here I am.. jus put 2 hours on the net researchin and tweakz site to..

got it down to like 3 options in order of preference...


1. M-audio Firewire 410 http://www.m-audio.com/products/en_us/F ... -main.html $300, I mean despite dudes hard core pressing of this product, its still my #1 choice due to its time tested'ness and all the good ish i read about it.. my only negative on this is its been out for a while so i would think its "newer" competitors would have improved on it right?


2. Alesis IO-14 http://www.alesis.com/product.php?id=95 $300 this one seem to be the new kid on the block, haven't read much about it good nor bad.. but i'm sayin... jus came out like less then a year ago...


3. Presonus Firebox http://www.presonus.com/firebox.html $300, NOW this one here was NEW to me till jus now...and it seems LIKE another contenter to consider..


My aim is to be a sampled based producer and eventually move to recording vocals to my tracks off aspiring emcee's and whatnot..

I got reason 3.0 and an mpc1000 for now and got Ableton Live 5.02 on a macbook pro..

so what exactly should I be lookin for or LOOKIN into when making this decision?

again reason i'm considering these is my budget is $300 FIRM and plus i guess these little boxes work good on the go huh?


but PLEASE do let me know yall


oNe

I recommend against the firebox/firestudio.

I have one, and while the inputs and outputs are ace (sound crisp as hell, professional quality), the drivers for both mac and PC are kind of dicey. Presonus just doesn't really take the time to put in work and make sure they are solid across all platforms.

my two cents.

i have a presonus firebox and have to disagree with lithion. mine has been rock solid for the last 1 1/2 years plus i get really low latency(2ms).

put in more blood, sweat, and tears and grab a motu 828mkII.

are you using a Mac or a pc

if using MAC try one of the fireboxs i tried one out at L&M

and i didnt need to install anything it just picked it up and worked right away.juss plug it in via firewire and go.

get the 410 i love mine!


havent tried vocals on it yet though.

The Alesis would be my choice...and this is why...http://www.stereophile.com/news/11340/. Personally, I would save up a little more and get something better.

PRESONOUS FIREBOX!!!!!!!! amazing preamps for the buck. i got it, and i have a friend with a m-audio box. trust me, only bad part is protools only works with m-audio products other then that FIREBOX!!!!!

i use to own a firepod (i believe it is the fp10 now) before i switched to a mackie onyx 1620 w/ firewire. I must say i never had a problem using the firepod on my macbook pro w/ logic. Go for the presonus

yo wize i went with the fire box its a good look im runnin it with a mac its doin its thing for round $300

^^what he said!!!

I recently copped a firepod/fp10 second hand (but brand new in box) for 300. I'm really happy with it. It took some time to set up correctly though.

good choice especially with the mac as well, you wont go wrong with the firebox

Damn its too funny because at first i was gonna git me some whack as alesis item for the same price, and it had a mixer already on it, but it looked like a childstoy, i actually did some research and it turns out i did the right thing by buyin the firebox. i didnt know it was so popular when i bought it.