Product: Phonic Firefly 808
Price Paid: USD 800
Submitted
10/22/2008
at
03:25am
by
Henry Lehmann
General
:
No Opinion
The 808 is a rackmount unit and is 2 rack spots. There's 8 different level meters on the front and they can be changed between the input and output signals. There are VR controls for all the analog inputs on the front. The case is metal and I think it's very strong metal. You can't mix on the 808 but if you mix in the computer it can keep your settings when you disconnect it.
Connectivity
:
10
FireWire/IEEE-1394 connectors are at the back, and it says it can be daisy-chained but I've never done it. I connected it to my mac and it started working right away.
I/O
:
10
I bought the 808 mainly because of the digital plugs. It has both kinds of SPDIF and AES,EBU and ADAT for in and out. It's got MIDI too, but I don't use it. SMUX works too. I have no complaints about the preamp quality. They sound pretty good to me. All the analog inputs are balanced. Two nalog connectors are on the front which makes it easier when I want to plug something in for just one session.
Power
:
No Opinion
There's phantom power on all of the inputs and it's true. There's no bus power or battery power option.
Technical specs
:
No Opinion
It can go up to 192kHz on some inputs, but it depends what you're using.
Other
:
No Opinion
There is Cubase LE with it and there is mixer software for mac that I installed.
Overall
:
10
I'm happy with this unit. I think because it has lots of digital inputs and outputs, so I don't find much fault. I wish they had more controls like EQ for every channel on the front but I think the Firefly would take maybe 4 or 5 rack spaces then. I can add EQ with the software anyway.
