Echo Audiofire 12

[JAMES BANKS]

I am looking at upgrading an old computer and going to PC based recording with Echo Audiofire 12 and Traktion 2 software. Have any of my fellow forumites used Echo products? I have read the reviews and the only draw back is the lack of digital inputs, all 12 inputs are analog. Why would I need digital inputs? The unit has word clock in and out, midi in/out and 2 firewire ports. I am interested in this unit because it will record 12 channels at one time.
Thanks
James

[Bob Martin]

Well James, while I've never used the Echo Audiofire 12 I can only imagine that it is a good piece. Echo was at the forefront of PC digital audio recording with affordable pci interfaces such as the Gina. At one time they were the only way to fly, but of course things have changed a lot since then.

The important factors are there with the firewire speed and balanced ins and outs. I doubt that you'll ever need the Word Clock function unless you get into using a very elaborate setup with multiple units.

As far as the digital out and in go only you can decide if you will miss them. They are pretty handy to send digital signals out to stand alone CD players for mastering, but if you do all of your own CD burning inside your computer then you will not miss it for that. It's also useful for sending a digital effects signal to your recorder and keeping all signals in the digital domain. If you don't need that then don't worry about it. Along with recording your guitar thru the effects thru the digital inputs you can reamp your recordings if you have the right effects. So again only you will know these things.If at some point you do decide to use a digital input you can always buy a usb coaxial input for very little cash and get it to your computer that way.

Bob

[JAMES BANKS]

Thanks Bob. The unit comes with Traktion 2 software which has all the digital effects, compressors etc in the software. I have a five piece gospel band and all five of us sing. That makes 10 inputs. We want to record ourselves and make a cd to get out to our friends and fans. I have access to the duplicator at church so small run duplications are the cost of the blanks and a donation to the church. I thought it seemed to be exactly what I want. My other thought was to go with a digital workstation, but there seems to be a really big learning curve with those. The Traktion is supposed to be really easy. I really like doing things myself. I video taped our program a couple of weeks ago and edited it with movie maker. Thanks so much for your input.
James

[Bob Martin]

Well James, Tracktion is a great recording app and as you say it's straight forward. Now that doesn't mean you won't need to crack the manual but if you're into video editing this will be a piece of cake.

Since I posted I did some research on the Echo and it get high praises from almost everyone. With you already having a good board this will work great. Of course folks wanting a board, recorder, and Cd burning probably would be better off with a hardware recorder like Boss or one of them. Good luck and may God bless all of your projects! I'd like to hear your band if you get some stuff done and if you ever need a spare guitar player holler we could do it thru wav files on the web

Bob

[Pat O'Hearn]

Have any of my fellow forumites used Echo products?

James, I have used a pair of word-synced PCI card interface Layla 24's for almost 7 years now (model discontinued in 2004, I believe) without any trouble.

Echo Audio makes a good product -- especially their flagship models, such as Layla 24 was, and Audiofire 12 presently is -- and maintains a good driver update and archive on their web site.

Whichever hardware / software you do end up choosing; best of luck!

Pat

[JAMES BANKS]

Pat, thanks for your reply. I have done quite a bit of research and I think these are pretty good units. I am looking forward to getting a 12 channel ordered after Christmas. I like the idea I could connect a second if I want to record more tracks than 12 at one time.
James