The M-Audio Profire 2626 Firewire Audio Interface

The 26 in the name doesn't necessarily mean that you can record 26 tracks with the Profire 2626. You can get up to 12 tracks if you use sampling rates of 88.2 or 96 kHz and loer the rate and get up to 18 tracks.

If you really needed all 26 tracks you could do so by using your own mixer in tandem with the Profire's DSP mixer. The 2626 is good for on the road and also on your rack at home.

The M-Audio Profire is both PC and Mac compatable. I've heard some bad reviews from users complaining about M-Audio drivers not getting along with certain computer systems… since 2010 most of the problems have been addressed by M-Audio and getting the updates from their site will ensure you get the most up to date drivers for your system.

Key Features:

Quality mic pre-amps

On-board Mixer/router

Now besides all the technical information about this interface, the most important thing is the actual sound quality because that's really whats most important when all is said and done. The reason for the quality audio is the premium digital converters M-Audio built into the 2626.

As a stand alone 8 channel pre-amp it can be connected directly into your first 8 ADAT output channels. Use the instrument and mic lines with whatever other peice of gear you like.

The on board mixer and router was the best feature on the 2626. You can create as many as 8 stereo mixes and be able to call them up later.

You can route 52 audio streams and send them to 26 hardware outputs and with the mixer you can select any of the 26 hardware inputs and 26 software returns as sources for any of it's 18 input channels.

Another of the best features are the very nice preamps which are on each of the 8 analogue inputs which will record pro quality 24-bit/192kHz resolution.

The M-Audio Profire 2626 isn't the best Firewire interface out there but if you need a versatile audio interface to run with your DAW for use on a live location recording and/or in your studio then this will more than do a good job. After comparing all it has you'll have a hard time getting all this for the price.

For more information on the Profire 2626 where you can read the full review and check out more studio recording equipment while you're at it.