ESI Quatafire 610 - input monitoring?

[Paulie Phonick]

I was just about to buy M-Audio Firewire 410 when I found out that it doesn't allow for using all it's analog inputs at the same time. As I need to be able to use 4 inputs at once, this problem makes the 410 too limited for me.

Fortunately, I've found about Quatafire 610 - but it doesn't have a manual available online (yet?) so the only way I can check if it does what I need is to ask you, Quatafire users - does Quatafire 610 allow for monitoring (and preferably recording as well) 4 inputs at the same time, in full duplex operation?

What about the overall quality of the interface? Any problems with drivers/latency/stability?

Perhaps the Quatafire come with an english manual in electronic form you could email me?

[Crossinger]

No answers to your questions, but:

Do you know that the Quatafire 610 - unlike the M-Audio products - is WinXP/SP1 *ONLY* ?
Just FYI!

J.

[Paulie Phonick]

Being WinXP only is not a problem for me, at least for now as won't be using it under other systems (at least for now). Problem is, however, that the drivers seem to be buggy and under construction at the moment, which could cause serious problems...

QuataFire users,

[Paulie Phonick]

Hmm, nobody uses Quatafire? That's not a good sign either...

[ik]

I am using a Behringer 1202 mixer (~$90),
(4 mono + 4 stereo in) with an m-audio firewire audiophile (~$195). Works well ....
You may consider something similar..... (?)
ik.

[Lo Fi Massahkah]

Hi Paulie,

I own the Quatafire 610, but I haven't really tested all it's features. But from what I gather the drivers are not buggy. There are a few routing possibilities in the software mixer not yet implemented - but that haven't stopped me from recording and/or playing with low latency (2ms) without glitches or other problems.

I haven't recorded four simultaneous inputs, but two. This was done in Live 3.04 while playing different loops. No problem.

From what I gather by reading the manual. Simultaneous recording of all channels is possible - only not when recording in 192kHz (when only two channels are available).

[Paulie Phonick]

Good to hear the drivers are ok. Still, as this would haunt me - could you please make a little recording test for me? Try to record from one (or both) of the mic inputs on the front and from line inputs on the back while playing back. If it's possible to do that, I'm happy. If it's not, try if you can at least monitor those signals while playing back.

On the other hand, the solution proposed by ik also sounds tempting, even though I'd rather avoid an extra piece of gear. Still, not only does it offer true zero latency monitoring, but is also cheaper, which means I could also fit some nice mic in my budget... But I wouldn't be able to do true multitrack recording...

Dammit, I hate making decisions

[Lo Fi Massahkah]

Paulie,

I'm sorry - my studio is a mess at the moment. My laptop is packed and everything is rather cluttered. Hang on for a few days and I might be able to help you out.

Remind me if I forget!

Cheers,
Mikael

[Perret]

Hi,

I've tried recording all four inputs at once, it seems to work ok even with higher CPU loads as long as the latency is high enough.

I've been having some problems with latency; for more demanding projects (say, 70-80% CPU load) I haven't really been able to get less than 10ms without glitches. For light projects I can get 4ms, but 2ms has been completely out of reach for me. 4ms will result in noticeably more CPU load than 10ms.

FYI, I use the latest drivers, have updated the firmware and my computer is a P4 2.4 with an ABIT AI7 (865PE) motherboard (I've tried the card with another desktop computer and a Compaq laptop as well). As a comparison, a PCI-based ST Audio DSP2000 worked fine at 4-5ms with the same "more demanding" projects, being even a bit lighter on the CPU load.

Here are some other findings:

- The drivers seem to work ok, but are not completely developed yet.
- The control panel is really basic and doesn't offer much control in the way of mixing. Basically it does the same thing that the Windows sound panel (the playback section) does for regular sound cards, with the addition of setting the samplerate and latency.
- The WDM latency settings don't seem to actually adjust below 10ms, even though they appear to work when looking at the control panel.
- The construction of the unit seems ok to me, and it's nice and small for easy portability.
- The level controls on the unit are a little hard to adjust at higher settings; they get really sensitive all of a sudden once you get past 3/4 of travel.
- The Hi-Z (high impedance) setting for direct input of guitar or bass works, but doesn't sound that great to me (too flat and a bit dull). I need to use some EQ to get a sound I like. Then again, maybe it's just my guitar...
- Regarding the comment from Lo Fi that you can record two tracks simultaneously at 192kHz: I think you can actually only playback at 192kHz, not record.
- The XP SP1 only thing took me by surprise, I hadn't been reading the ESI web site well enough and my dealer didn't think to tell me about it (I think they didn't know). This means I now have to upgrade my W2K laptop to XP
- The card has been fairly stable but not perfect: I got some blue screens when using the ASIO drivers under Sonar (WDM was stable, go figure) on the Compaq laptop, and my ATI All-In-Wonder 9700 Pro TV software crashes when I try to configure it to use the Quatafire for recording.

All in all, I recommend you buy this card from a dealer that lets you try it and then return it if it doesn't work out for you. To me, it does maybe 70-80% of what I had hoped for. Mainly it's the latency and the XP only requirement that's bugging me.

I'm putting some hope in future driver releases, but I might swap it for another solution if I can find one that will give me that final 20-30% I want (at a decent price). The M-Audio Firewire 1814 seems interesting, but it's a bit more expensive. We'll see what the future brings.