Stereo Da Ad converters firewire

[Paul Maybury]

Hi, does anyone have a recommendation for the above?
We are looking for a no-frills but good quality and reliable solution for our live to air studio at PBSFM for archiving performances. It will be replacing a 002.
The only thing I can find that isn't audiofile nonsense and price, or loaded with features we don't need, is the Echo AudioFire 2.
Anyone have experience with this unit?
http://www.echoaudio.com/Products/FireW ... /specs.php

[ChrisW]

Apogee Duet?

[Paul Maybury]

Thanks for the reply, but the Apogee duet is a table top box with breakout cables(too messy) and mic pre amps , metering and a data input wheel that we don't need.
What we need is a rack-able line level stereo DA AD with no extras. It is for permanent installation in our live to air
studio.
The Echo Fire 2 still looks like the only solution. i have trawled the net and am kind of surprised that it is the only unit that fits the bill.
Cheers!
Paul Maybury

[Ben M]

Hey there Paul. Something like a secondhand Apogee Rosetta 200 with firewire card might be good. But again, perhaps more than you need for the purpose.

[Text_Edifice]

I haven't used the Audio Fire 2 but have used the Audio Fire 8 and would be confident recommending Echo converters and drivers. I reckon they'd be more than adequate as a replacement for the converters in a 002.

[Paul Maybury]

cheers Ben, a rossetta would be sweet, bit pricey though.
How about this ?
RME ADI-2 Stereo AD/DA
It will be used with a new Mac Mini running pro tools and waveburner.
I am trying to make the recording system as bullet proof and simple as possible. It is for archiving live to 2 track mixes. I don't want to use too many boxes, just a computer and a stereo converter. can I use the adat/ toslink i/o in the Mac Mini or is it not really up to the job?
Thanks for your help

[Paul Maybury]

And thanks Dave, good to hear that about the Echo Fire units.

[Kurt]

Why not go straight to cd or dvd with a stand alone unit?

[Paul Maybury]

I've thought about this option, maybe a Masterlink or similar, which would suit me personally , but we need to keep archive copies on dvd and cd, provide artist copies on cd, sometimes edit, master and make compilations of various performances which may have happened a year or more apart. All of this is more manageable on a computer with a nice big internal hard drive or two..
Cheers !!

[Drumstruck]

Hi Paul,

fyi I'm running a MacMini server (Quad core 2.0GHz / 8GB RAM / Lion / PT9 / Wavelab 7.2) with 32 I/O over firewire - it performs fine.

edit - MacMini also runs a 1.5TB USB drive (archive) and 500GB firewire 800 drive (recording).

[Paul Maybury]

Thanks Ian, I'm going to go firewire with an Echo Fire 2. 'Puter will have a system drive and a file drive.
Should be ultra stable running just stereo in/out! The guy speccing the Mac for me says firewire is the way to go on these machines.
Thanks everyone for your input.
Now all I have to do is re-cap and install a 32 channel Soundworkshop Series 34 to replace a Ta@#$% M600 and all should be well....