Audio Interface Comparison Chart

product	total analog i/o	s/pdif i/o	pre-amps	ADAT i/o	MIDI i/o	head phone	Word Clock	appr. street price
Behringer FCA202	2/2	no	0	no	no	1		100
Echo Audiofire2	2/2	Yes	0	No	1/1	1	no	180
Onyx Satellite	2/6	No	2	no	no	2	--	180
M-Audio FW Solo	2/2	Yes	1	no	no	1		200
Tapco Link	2/2	Yes	2	no	no	1	no	200
Presonus Inspire	4/2	no	2	no	no	1	--	200
Behringer Podcastudio	2/2	No	2 (on mixer)	no	no	2	no	200
Alesis IO14	4/2	Yes	4	input only	1/1	2	--	200
Focusrite Saffire LE	4/6	Yes	2	no	1/1	1	--	225
TC Electronic Konnekt6	2/2	No	1	No	no	1	--	230
Focusrite Saffire	2/8	Yes	2	no	1/1	2	--	270
Echo Audiofire 4	4/4	Yes	2	no	1/1	1	no	280
Edirol FA66	4/4	Yes	2	No	1/1	1		280
product	total analog i/o	s/pdif i/o	pre-amps	ADAT i/o	MIDI i/o	head phone	Word Clock	appr. street price
Konnekt 8	2/2 plus 2 monitor ch	Yes	2	No	1/1	2	--	280
PreSonus Firebox	4/6	Yes	2	no	1/1	1	--	300
Edirol FA101	8/8	Yes	2	no	1/1	1	--	380
Alesis IO26	8/8	Yes	8	input only x2	1/1	2		400
M-Audio ProFire 610	4/8	Yes	2	no	1/1	2		400
Presonus FP10	8/8	Yes	8	No	1/1	1	--	400
M-Audio LightBridge	0/2	Yes	0	Yes x4	1/1	1	Yes	400
Konnekt 24D	4/4	Yes	2	Yes	1/1	2	--	450
Presonus Firestudio Project	8/10	Yes	8	No	1/1	1	--	500
Motu 8Pre	8/2	No	8	Yes	1/1	1	--	550
Motu UltraLite Mk3	8/10	Yes	2	No	1/1	1	--	550
Tascam FW1082	8/2	Yes	4	No	2/2	1	--	575
product	total analog i/o	s/pdif i/o	pre-amps	ADAT i/o	MIDI i/o	head phone	Word Clock	appr. street price
Presonus Firestudio Lightpipe	0/2	No	0	Yes x4	1/1	1	Yes	650
Digidesign Mbox2 Pro FW	4/6	Yes	2	No	1/1	2	Yes	700
M-Audio ProFire 2626	8/8	Yes	8	Yes x2	1/1	2	Yes	700
M-Audio NRV10	12/4 -mix 10x10 AI	No	5	No		1	--	700
Focusrite Saffire Pro 26	8/8	Yes	8	Yes x2	1/1	2	Yes	700
PreSonus FireStudio	8/8	Yes	8	Yes x2	1/1	1	Yes	700
MOTU 828mk3	10/10	Yes	2	Yes x2	1/1	2	Yes	750
Mackie Onyx 400f	8/8	Yes	4	No	1/1	2	Yes	780
Lexicon Ionix FW810s	8/10	Yes	8	No	1/1	1	---	800
Alesis Master Control	8/6	input only	2	Yes x2 inputs only	1/1	2 (unofficial info)	--	900
product	total analog i/o	s/pdif i/o	pre-amps	ADAT i/o	MIDI i/o	head phone	Word Clock	appr. street price
Yamaha N8	10/2 Mix AI over FW	No	4	No	1/1	2	--	1000
MOTU 896mk3	8/10	AES+ S/pdif	8	Yes X2	no	2	Yes	1000
TC electronic Konnekt 48	12/10	Yes x2	4	Yes+TOS	1/1	2	Yes	1050
TC Konnekt X32	0/2	s/pdif x8+AES x8	0	Yes 2x -or- 6xTOS in 4x TOS out	0	1	Yes	1100
Digidesign 003 LE	8/8	Yes	4	Yes	1/2	2	Yes	1200
M-audio Project Mix	8/4	Yes	8	Yes	1/1	2	Yes	1250
RME Fireface 400	8/8	Yes	2	Yes	2/2	1	Yes	1300
Tascam FW1884	8/8	Yes	8	Yes	4/4	1	Yes	1300
Yamaha N12	14/4 Mix AI over FW	no	8	no	1/1	2	--	1500
RME Fireface 800	8/8	Yes	4	Yes x2	1/1	1	Yes	1700
Korg Zero8	20/6	Yes (out only)	2 XLR 3-31 (TRS)	no	1/1	1	No	1900
Allen&Heath Zed R16	20/6 unverified docs not clear	Yes	16	Yes x2				3000
Digidesign Digi 003	8/8	Yes	4	Yes	1/2	2	Yes	2200
product	total analog i/o	s/pdif i/o	pre-amps	ADAT i/o	MIDI i/o	head phone	Word Clock	appr. street price

How to Read this Chart

This handy chart can help you narrow down your choice of a firewire audio interface. It can save you hours of research and will cut through some of the confusion caused by the inconsistent definitions manufacturers often use. Manufacturers may count inputs and outputs differently. This chart is an attempt to fairly compare the above devices, based on an interpretation of what constitutes a discrete audio channel.

Analog i/o refers to actual analog input and output channels, not necessarily how many input and output jacks are on the device. The first number is the number of input channels and the second number is the number of output channels. This number includes the mic preamps but does not include headphone outs. If a Mic preamp and a line input share the same channel, that channel is only counted once. This is to give you a true idea of how many analog input and output channels the box has. Likewise if the main output pair has "main outs" and "monitor outs" these channels are only counted once, as they "share" the same channels.

How many analog inputs you need depends on how many sources you want to record at the same time. Also, if you have a synthesizer or drum machine you need inputs through which to record and monitor these. How many outputs you need depends on how much gear you have that you want to send audio to. If you want to use an FX box, you need to use an output to send it audio and you need two inputs to get it back. If you want to mix your song on an analog mixer you need a lot of outputs. If you are mixerless and are mixing in your software you only need 2 outputs--those to which you connect your monitors.

S/pdif i/o is either yes or no. This is a stereo digital pathway, and may be either coaxial or optical. S/pdif is useful for connecting digital audio devices, like external a/d converters, effects processors, CDR recorders, even some preamps and keyboards that have digital outs.

Preamps refers to the number of microphone preamps the interface has. Usually these can double as instrument inputs (guitar, bass, etc.) But check on that before you buy. Also some interfaces (but not all) will have insert jacks or send outputs for connecting compressors and other processors. You might want to check on that too when evaluating an audio interface.

ADAT refers to an 8 channel digital input and output. It is useful for connecting more mic preamps, a second audio interface or computer, a digital mixer, or can be used to add more analog i/o through an 8 channel ad/da converter. When you see ADAT x2 in the chart that means the device has two ADAT ports in and out or 16 channels in and out. (Sometimes two ADAT ports may be used for eight channels at a high sample rate like 96kHz)

MIDI i/o refers to the number of 16 channel ports there are on the interface. 1/2 means it has one MIDI input and two MIDI outputs. MIDI inputs and outputs are used to connect a MIDI synthesizer, keyboard controller, drum pad controller, and some control surfaces. You need one port for every device you want to connect to the computer. You can always add more via separate MIDI interfaces.

Word Clock refers the presence of a BNC connector through which word sync signals can be sent to other digital devices. It is important that all digital devices connected through s/pdif or ADAT share the same word sync. For simple setups that may have two digital devices, having a word clock connector is not usually necessary. Sync can be sent along through the s/pdif or ADAT connection. It becomes important in rigs where there may be multiple digital devices where it is impossible to send word sync to all devices.

Prices and specs may change from when this chart was made. You can check the product descriptions at the manufacturers websites for up to date details.

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