I want to share my experience with everyone here. I am beyond frusration and do not wish anyone to suffer as much angst as I have, but I urge everyone to stay away from the horrendously foul piece of crap that M-Audio calls the FireWire 410. I urge everyone to boycott M-Audio products until they acknowledge that their products are faulty and fix these problems ASAP.

Here's some background information so that those who have similar setups as I may benefit the most from my experience. I'm a very experienced Mac user. Since I bought the 410, I have used it on 4 PowerBooks, a MacBook, and a G5 (Quad). On all these machines, I have had problems with the 410 (which I bought 3 years ago). Thinking it was a defective model, I recently purchased another from Guitar center to try out, only to find out it shared the same problems as the one I bought 3 years ago. I've heard many Windows users use this product without any problems at all. Unfortunately, I strongly believe M-Audio's Mac OS X drivers are to blame for this (every single version of the driver they released has had problems).

The problems I've exhibited are loud, spontaneous pops as the driver "resets" the device, often in the middle of audio playback, random and constant crackling, no audio playback or input... I've spent at least 2 hours a DAY troubleshooting this thing. Worse yet, M-Audio claims that their product will fry your motherboard, fry your audio interface, and void your warranty if you attempt to hot-plug their device.

THIS IS LUDICROUS!!!! I really regret buying this piece of $hit. I'm at wit's end with this one... Can other mac users attest to these problems? Can someone enlighten me on experience with other M-Audio FireWire products? I love their studio monitors, but how is the FW 1418? Any experiences with that? Maybe I should just pick up a Traveller... Either way, I really wish M-Audio (or even Apple) would get their shit together and put out quality drivers that are usable.

Re: M-Audio FireWire 410 is the crappiest product, EVER

yeah i have a firewire410 for PC, i hotplugged it one time and the damn pc won't reconize the unit. i tried to submit a RMA request, those tech support dipshits denies its a hotplug issue, and keep telling me to check IRQ or make sure the power button is pressed >.< later after some tweaking i found out that the PCI slot on the motherboard was fried due to hotplugging. luckly the firewire410 was not damaged. I hear TASCAM firewire products are pretty bad too. MOTU is good.

Re: M-Audio FireWire 410 is the crappiest product, EVER

now I am scared about my FireWire audiophile.... it came with a red flyer that said not to hot swap that shit...

I had crackling issues and buffer problems with it until I realized it was Peak's fucking fault. So I switched to another waveform editor and it has been perfect since.

Re: M-Audio FireWire 410 is the crappiest product, EVER

I'd rather get the 1814 model. As I have both my producer friends have it and have not had problems with them at all, other than when downloading new drivers.

I think i'll stick to buying a MOTU soundcard.

Re: M-Audio FireWire 410 is the crappiest product, EVER

Since i am new to all this sorta stuff what do u mean by hotplugged??

Re: M-Audio FireWire 410 is the crappiest product, EVER

i use a Firewire 410 with a PowerBook G4. i had a few problems in the beginning, but with the latest drivers from M-Audio, the box has been working fine. I use it every week for my DJ sets.

It works, but the quality could definitely be better. The microphone preamps are weak and noisy, and SPDIF sync reading can get a little dodgy. I notice that some apps lie Audacity send the sample rate flying through the roof and trips the box out of whack immediately. So i use another waveform editor, ie: Peak 5 LE and Soundtrack Pro.

about the hotplugging (pluggin in the firewire device while the laptop is switched on), i'm actually quite a renegade and hotplug it quite often with no problems. just wait for the blinky blue light to light up fully and it kicks into action. but don't blame me if your laptop explodes or something. :lol:

oh BTW i'm saving up to upgrade to a Motu Traveler. i've outgrown the 410 and require better preamps and more inputs.

Re: M-Audio FireWire 410 is the crappiest product, EVER

I really need a good firewire audio interface with at least 2 stereo outputs. I was going to get a M-audio 410 but have been reading a lot of negative reviews for it when using it with a macbook pro.

Can anyone recommend one for me that is around the same price?

What about the Focusrite Saffire LE?

Re: M-Audio FireWire 410 is the crappiest product, EVER

dude go check out the PreSonus gear. They have some amazing stuff and at great prices. Go check it out at your local Guitar Center. They've had them on sale and have been selling them like crazy.

I personally can't wait to get me one.

Re: M-Audio FireWire 410 is the crappiest product, EVER

[quote=jeffrey collins;581564]dude go check out the PreSonus gear. They have some amazing stuff and at great prices. Go check it out at your local Guitar Center. They've had them on sale and have been selling them like crazy.

I personally can't wait to get me one.[/quote]

Nice! I have heard good things about the firebox and actually had that on my list next to the focusrite safari.

Thanks for the recommendation, I may have to check that out!

Re: M-Audio FireWire 410 is the crappiest product, EVER

they also have tons of outs and class a preamps for mics. So it works great for making music, as you can really use outboard gear too.

Re: M-Audio FireWire 410 is the crappiest product, EVER

the firebox is just a rebadged 410 design in theory.. with slightly better drivers.

screw them all: go motu: ultralight. :)

Re: M-Audio FireWire 410 is the crappiest product, EVER

[quote=|Thrax|;581733]the firebox is just a rebadged 410 design in theory.. with slightly better drivers.

screw them all: go motu: ultralight. :)[/quote]

I wish I could, but that's twice as much as I had wanted to spend! If I was going to spend that kind of money I'd probably be buying something else in the first place.

Re: M-Audio FireWire 410 is the crappiest product, EVER

i wouldn't buy the ultralight even if i had the money. that thing is getting terrible reviews on musiciansfriend.

Re: M-Audio FireWire 410 is the crappiest product, EVER

Guess this is more than enough ?

[URL]http://www.midweststereo.com/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=PRESONUS-FIRESTUDIOPROJECT&click=2[/URL]

Re: M-Audio FireWire 410 is the crappiest product, EVER

I just bought the firebox and have been very happy with it. Works great with my mac syncing my mixer and ableton

Re: M-Audio FireWire 410 is the crappiest product, EVER

they are built very well. I got a deal from a friend of mine and purchased a first generation 828 and so far am pretty happy with it. Damn I can play piano so much better with firewire than I could using USB interfaces on my mac. I've barely got the buffer up to anything.