Edit Review: M-Audio ProFire 610 and Studiophile BX8a Deluxe

The M-Audio ProFire 610 FireWire interface covers the territory between M-Audio''s FireWire 410 and ProFire 2626 interfaces.

If you bring analog sounds into your recording system — and who doesn't? — you'll need an audio interface that converts them to digital data and back into analog signals on the way out to your loudspeakers. Speaking of loudspeakers, are you in the market for a pair of reasonably priced near- to mid-field monitors? If you're looking for an affordable, high-quality conversion device or a reasonably priced set of studio monitors, or both, you'll want to check out what M-Audio has to offer.

Founded in 1988, M-Audio (initially known as Midiman) developed a reputation as a manufacturer of low-cost gear with a high price/performance ratio. In one of a series of smart business moves, Avid acquired M-Audio in 2004. Some industry analysts wondered if M-Audio's lower-end technology would drain business from Avid's higher-priced Digidesign Pro Tools line, but the marriage has proved successful. M-Audio, which has retained its name and profile, manufactures the ProFire 610 FireWire interface and the Studiophile BX8a Deluxe monitors.

The ProFire 610 includes a pair of mic/instrument inputs as well as two headphone jacks on the front panel.

There was a day — not so long ago, in fact — when you had to spend thousands of dollars on a set of quality converters. Here's the short review on the ProFire 610: It sounds great. There is no audio-for-video application — including HD stereo broadcasts — that will find it wanting in quality. In addition, this small, bus-powered device is perfect for recording audio in the field.

The 610 covers the territory between M-Audio's FireWire 410 and ProFire 2626 interfaces. If you're not sure which interface is right for you (a decision based largely on the number of inputs and outputs you require), check out the following link for specifics on all three: www.m-audio.com/index.php?do=products.family&ID=Fwinterfaces.

M-Audio provides an installation disc for this dual-platform device, but the startup guide suggests that you bypass it and go directly to the company's website to download the latest drivers. (The full manual is a download from M-Audio's website.) Installing them on my Windows machine went without a hiccup. Once the drivers were installed, the ProFire 610 became available as an audio interface in my digital-audio workstation (DAW)'s Device Set Up window.

If you're working in your studio, you'll use your DAW's mixer, but if you capture audio in the field, you'll be more likely to rely on the ProFire 610's software mixer, either in conjunction with a host application or in StandAlone mode. The internal mixer has some excellent features. For example, say you have an external hardware device (a compressor, perhaps) in your rig, but you don't want its level to be affected by the Master Volume knob. Head over to the Settings tab, uncheck the output that the compressor is connected to, and only the virtual faders connected to the device affect its gain. I liked the fact that all of the input and output faders can be named and saved with your session.

If you need to record material for 5.1 broadcast, the 610 is not for you. The unit has a pair of 1/4in. line inputs (finicky audiophiles may miss XLR connections) on its backside and another pair of mic/instrument inputs on the front. No trim controls are provided for these inputs, so all gain adjustments must be made at the source. Other FireWire interfaces, which cost a bit more but are not so far out of the 610 range, do offer gain control at the inputs. So if you're recording live and are concerned about the possibility of sudden volume fluctations, you may want to consider this omission. If you like to back up your session to RDAT tape, you can hook up a DAT machine via the S/PDIF connections that the 610 houses. A pair of headphone jacks are also included, and the gain to these outputs was more than sufficient in my tests.

Preamps are a critical component in the recording chain, and the ProFire 610's Octane preamps will serve all your broadcast requirements beautifully. I noticed no discernable distortion at any of the inputs, and all of the preamps have a 73dB gain range — more than adequate for any studio or field situations you're likely to encounter.

The 610 can record at 24 bits, of course, and also at rates up to 192kHz. Chances are, however, that if you're concerned about capturing the most pristine audio possible — which will chew up the hard-disk space that 192kHz recordings require — you'll also be inclined to use converters that are even better than the ones in the 610. Nonetheless, 192kHz is a nice feature to have. When you've got some downtime, you may want to conduct a shootout among the various sampling rates.

I was very impressed by the ProFire 610. I would recommend anyone who is looking for a device of this kind give it serious consideration.

The low-frequency driver in the M-Audio Studiophile BX8a Deluxe studio monitors is constructed from Kevlar.

The BX8a, which offers 130W of biamplified power, is M-Audio's latest entry in the field of studio monitors. Over the last several years, the trend toward active monitors has been, well, active. Self-powered monitors have the advantage of delivering the exact amount of power that is required. Biamplification extends the design by providing discrete power sources to the high and low ends of the spectrum. The BX8a's low-frequency driver is constructed from Kevlar, a strong synthetic fiber that was developed by DuPont in the 1960s and is currently popular in loudspeaker production.

The line separating near- and mid-field monitors has blurred a bit over the last several years, and the BX8a is a good example of the trend. Clocking in at a hefty 26lbs.-plus, and with a low-frequency output of 70W, this loudspeaker packs a wallop that will allow you to check out your mixes from a variety of vantage points in your studio.

The unit's backside houses both XLR and balanced 1/4in. inputs. A bass-reflex port is also built into the rear. Unfortunately, no EQ control is provided, which is a pity. That's because a somewhat muddy low-end response is the BX8a's chief weakness. Though a less-than-ideal solution, onboard EQ could help mitigate this problem. Also absent is automatic power switching, a useful feature that shuts down a loudspeaker when no audio has passed through it for several minutes.

I listened to a variety of material on the BX8as — including some favorite cuts by George Strait; James Taylor's beautifully mixed “Mean Old Man,” which features a lush string introduction; and several classical recordings. Low-frequency material in the 40Hz-to-60Hz range packed a nice, warm wallop. However, as I climbed up toward the top of the bass range, roughly the 90Hz-to-120Hz area, I noticed a pronounced lack of definition, which had the unfortunate tendency to mask the clarity of the entire mix. Things improved dramatically when I loaded up the Waves Q10 digital equalizer and strapped it across the stereo output of Steinberg WaveLab 6, the application I was using to listen to .wav files. I used a slope filter to cut the 70Hz-to-90Hz range by about 6dB and noticed an immediate improvement: The bass line in Fleetwood Mac's “You Make Loving Fun” was brought into focus, and the mix was tighter and easier to listen to. You could achieve similar results by running the IK Multimedia ARC system I reviewed recently (see digitalcontentproducer.com/videoedsys/
revfeat/ik_multimedia_arc), but you'll have to decide if the inconvenience and CPU sap nullify the effort.

The stereo image for all material was quite good, and the BX8a offers plenty of output. It's sleek-looking, with an aesthetic that should fit well into your streamlined studio. The BX8a might not offer perfect fidelity out of the box, but it is an extremely cost-effective loudspeaker that can — with a bit of tweaking — yield excellent sound at an affordable price.

bottomline

Company: M-Audio
www.m-audio.com

Product: ProFire 610

Assets: Excellent sound quality, impressive software mixer makes the unit easy to operate in StandAlone mode.

Caveats: No individual input gain controls, no XLR connections.

Demographic: Anyone looking for an affordable, high-quality conversion device for studio or field work.

PRICE: $499.95 (MSRP)

Company: M-Audio
www.m-audio.com

Product: Studiophile BX8a Deluxe

Assets: Plenty of volume, good stereo imaging, solid construction.

Caveats: Lack of clarity in the bass range, no EQ control or auto power switching.

Demographic: Anyone looking for a reasonably priced set of studio monitors.

PRICE: $599 (MSRP FOR A PAIR)