M-Audio Fast Track Ultra 8R USB

n-Track Studio Discussion Forum
1

Any one using with N-Track

2

I am looking for a multi track USB or firewire interface for my niece to be able to record multiple tracks live on her laptop or desktop. It looks like this interface has 8 channels / Tracks and will do everything my 8 track mixer and 4 16 Edirol USB sound cards can do on my home recording system only in 24 bit mode. Looks like it uses standard MME drivers. Here are the compatability specs;
M-Audio Fast Track Ultra 8R USB Interface with Pro Tools SE

System Requirements

Compatibility:
WDM
Core Audio
ASIO II
MME

Minimum System Requirements (PC):
Windows XP (32-bit) with SP2**
DirectX 9.0c (included in XP)
USB 2.0 port
Windows Vista (32-bit versions) / Windows Vista SP2 (32Bit , 64 Bit) / Win7 (32Bit , 64 Bit)
1.6 GHz processor (CPU may be higher for laptops)
512 MB RAM*


Is there anyone out there using this adapter with n-track on a Windows platform or do the specs look OK for N-track

TIA

3

I don’t think N_track would present a problem.
It is difficult to comment on using any interface with a particuylar laptop.
My experience is that the laptop itself may cause issues even when the interface works great on someone elses laptop.
Download DCP Latency checker from www.thesycon.de and run it on the laptop.
That will check the laptop for latency caused by interupts or drivers that would cause the laptop to not handle the recording very well. In many cases you can disable drivers until you find the problem - internet, modums, LAN, and evern DVD players on autoload can be issues.
In some cases I have found that a USB mouse can cause problems with a USB recording interface.

I have a nice laptop that I paid a lot of money for and it never worked well for recording because the video driver does "not behave well."
Given all that said, I don’t have the same laptop or interface as the one yu asked about. However, I would buy from a vender that will allow you to return the unit if with will not work correctly.
Bax

4

Thanks much for the reply and download info…
I am not sure if my niece is going to use a laptop or her desktop. I am contacting her. I used n-track on an HP Pavilion Laptop without problem but as I said I used 4 Edirol usb 16 bit sound cards in a usb hub and they seem to work.
Musiciansfriend.com has great return policy so no problem there. I downloaded the DPC latency checker and ran it on my HP. Here’s the outcome;

This machine should be able to handle real-time streaming of audio and/or video data without drop-outs.

Thanks,
Croz01

5

Glad to here that.

6

you are going to be hard pressed to find laptops (other than Macs) that have firewire inputs that can handle audio, they usually come with the mini firewire which ain’t good.

IBM made some in the 90’s and so did Asus, HP may still have ONE model that has standard 6 pin firewire inputs, VIO? don’t remember…

the thing to look for with firewire is TI chipsets integrated, very few manufactures are using them anymore.

before I know about the TI chipsets I tried the the M-Adio Fastrack and the Mackie ONYX using a firewire expansion card on a Compaq laptop both were miserable failures with drop outs. :disagree:

with laptops also you have to look out for bass vibrations, they can also cause problems during recording.

dontcare :cool:

7

I’ve had good luck using the card bus (express card) with a TI chip set. I have had good luck with SIIG brand, but check the specs.