I finally bought a Berhinger F-Control FCA202 Ultra low-latency 2 In/2 Out 24-Bit/96 kHz FireWire Audio Interface. Great little toy! — real low-latency, fully supported by Core Audio and gets power from the firewire cable. Comes with two ¼” connector inputs and outputs, it provides no phantom power but is perfect to hook up a vocal strip with an integrated phantom preamp and a guitar in our home recording setup.
I also had a chance to use it to record a 1 hour long theatre spectacle coming out of a Berhinger analog mixer and it’s been fully reliable — and it’s really affordable too.
This ultra-compact FireWire audio interface is an ideal companion for laptop musicians and ingeniously complements any studio. Its hot features include: Two ¼” connector inputs and outputs for connecting synthesizers, mixers and more; high resolution 24-bit A/D and D/A converters offer 96 kHz sampling frequency; volume-controlled headphones for discreetly working on your compositions, even on the road. Mac OS X Core Audio drivers guarantee low latencies.
With the ultra-stable metal construction, the FCA202 easily defies the adversities of travel. And its small dimensions make it an ideal solution for laptop recording. Additional features include two 6-pin FireWire connectors, a security port for Kensington locks and the possibility to power the FCA202 via FireWire or a mains adapter, which is included. The hot FCA202 package also comes with the coolest sequencing software for mobile music production: the BEHRINGER Edition of Ableton Live Lite 4. Kristal and Audacity are also included and will empower you to face any recording challenge.
