EDIROL FA-101
Oct 1, 2004 12:00 PM, BY DOUG EISENGREIN
The FireWire AudioCapture FA-101 is Edirol's first foray into FireWire-based audio and MIDI. The half-rackspace unit packs a load of features into a pint-size body. Sporting a 10-in, 10-out interface, the FA-101 is designed to work as both a desktop and a mobile recording interface, allowing users to track multi-input sessions at as high as 24-bit, 192kHz recording. The unit is also fully compatible with current Mac and PC systems. But enough with the introductions: It's time to dive in.
A LITTLE RED BOX
As stated previously, the FA-101 is a 10-channel-in, 10-out analog and digital audio interface with 16 channels of MIDI I/O. It is capable of recording and playing back 24-bit audio in a variety of sample rates up to 192 kHz, in full duplex, and all 10 channels (in and out) are simultaneously operational to 24-bit, 96kHz. The unit features a pair of front-mounted microphone preamps with switchable phantom power. Both mic inputs come on combo XLR-TRS jacks, each has a dedicated input sensitivity gain, and one doubles as a switchable Hi-Z instrument input. Inputs 3 through 8 and outputs 1 through 8 feature balanced ¼-inch TRS connectors and operate in stereo pairs. Inputs 7 and 8 have a dedicated trim control to adjust the line level between +4 and -10 dBu. Both inputs and outputs 9 and 10 carry stereo S/PDIF digital audio via optical connectors.
The FA-101 features a front-mounted potentiometer for selecting among five different sample rates ranging from 44.1 to 192 kHz, and directly above that is the Digital In Sync switch. A rotary-style crossfader sweeps between a direct-monitor mix of all inputs and the signal coming from the main outputs (jacks 1 and 2). The Direct Monitor section also has switches for Soft Control and Mono modes. On the front panel is a single ¼-inch headphone output with a dedicated volume control, and the MIDI I/O interface is located around back. The FA-101 includes a power supply but can be bus-powered; the power switch has positions for Bus, Off and DC In. Also present is a ground screw, which is useful for connecting turntables, among other things. And, finally, the FA-101 features dual FireWire connectors.
I tested the FA-101 with an Apple Mac G4 running Emagic Logic Audio Platinum 6.3.3, a handful of outboard gear, my voice and a good condenser microphone. The unit made a good first impression: I found it to be slick in appearance and seemingly quite sturdy. Although the anodized red and black chassis is small, all of its connectors and controls are clearly labeled and don't feel overcrowded. The top panel has a handy schematic that displays the signal flow for the entire unit, and useful diagrams denoting the rear connectors make working with the FA-101 a breeze — I could easily plug in and out on the fly without having to look at the back. A red LED on the front face lights when a FireWire cable is connected, and a bright-blue LED indicates that the FA-101 has power. A two-color, four-segment LED acts as a level meter for inputs 1 and 2.
AND AWAY WE GO?
For Macintosh users, one of the things that the manual does not stress (though it should) is that you absolutely must have the latest Mac OS (10.3.3 or later). As it goes with most new products that I try, I dived right in to the FA-101 while consulting the manual but (initially) ignoring the box. I followed the manual's directions exactly, only to run into a bevy of roadblocks, not the least of which was only parts of the audio drivers being detected by my Audio MIDI Setup and no MIDI at all detected. The FA-101 failed to produce any sound from every application I tried. I scoured the manual — which is thankfully short, well-illustrated and concise — and troubleshot everything I could think of until at last I looked at the box for those dreaded minimum system requirements. And then off I went to the Apple store to purchase Jaguar.
Ninety minutes and several dollars later, I still could not get the FA-101 to function — until I finally downloaded yet another upgrade from Apple's Website for my fresh-out-of-the-box OS. After revving up my Mac to version 10.3.4, the FA-101 indeed worked, immediately and as expected. Whew! I was thankful to have been, um, pushed to upgrade my aging OS, but Mac users be warned: If you're not running at least Mac OS 10.3.3, you're likely to run into similar big issues unless you upgrade.
Now that things were rolling, I decided to direct-monitor some things just to test out the overall sound quality. It was good. I set my board to 0 dB and compared the direct-monitored signal of a well-recorded acid-jazz CD to the same signal going straight to the board. The FA-101 passed signals through itself cleanly, but (with the exception of inputs 1 and 2, which possess the preamps) the signal volume was cut down substantially, as much as 8 dB. Turning up the master on my board to compensate, however, revealed a clean, detailed signal with little or no noise added. When I monitored through inputs 1 and 2, I was able to push the signal up to +6 dB, well into the red, before any distortion occurred. I opened up Logic and passed my test CD through the computer via the preamps, revealing a signal that was nearly identical in quality, as I swept back and forth between the direct-monitor signal and the main outputs, which carried the signal through Logic. Latency was definitely noticeable, so I went into the Audio settings in Logic, and lowering the buffer setting from 512 to 64, I effectively cut latency down to a trickle. It became a slight phase instead of an obvious delay.
HUMMING ALONG IN HIGH RES
Next, I decided to test with some basic stereo recordings. I used a pair of the regular line inputs (3 and 4) and compared that to the results of the same source recorded through the preamps. For this, I fired up my Technics SL-1200 turntable, plugged in and put the needle to a well-recorded four-on-the-floor track. Upon first monitoring the incoming signal, I got audible intermittent digital errors, so I upped the buffer again to the default of 512, and that did the trick.
For the first pass, I recorded the track at 24-bit, 44.1kHz. The results were pleasing. The recording was detailed, mostly warm and displayed good stereo separation. I felt that the highs were a tad gritty and brittle, but, again, when sweeping between the Direct Monitor and the recordings, there was amazing similarity between the two, which canceled out my concern. Having the ability to adjust the gains on inputs 1 and 2 proved valuable; the line inputs produced particularly low volume. I felt that the sound quality of the preamped recording possessed slightly more depth, but the line inputs held up well. I then upped the sample rate to the maximum 192 kHz and recorded through both sets of channels again. The first thing I discovered at the higher sample rate was that direct monitoring only worked on inputs 1 and 2 (the manual confirmed this), but the audio passing through the computer played back fine in real time. Some latency was definitely present, but considering the slow processor that I was working with (slightly less than the FA-101's minimum requirements), I wasn't complaining.
Functionally speaking, everything worked like a charm. All I needed to do was change the sample rate in Logic and switch the FA-101, reboot the drivers and voil! Was there a significant improvement at 192 kHz? Although I could hear the crackles in the vinyl quite clearly and perhaps a better stereo spread, the difference to my ears was not phenomenal. It could be my untrained 192kHz ears, or it could simply be that even at 44.1, the sound of the FA-101 was excellent.
MULTITREKKING
To really run the unit through its paces, I plugged in my Evolution MIDI controller to the FA-101's MIDI Input and then connected the FA-101's MIDI Out to my Oberheim Matrix-6R analog synth. I made the proper virtual connections in my Mac's MIDI setup, and all units were immediately recognized — no fuss. I was impressed by the responsiveness of my keyboard.
First, I recorded a solo pad from the Oberheim into Logic through the preamps while monitoring a raw beat from vinyl. The FA-101 did a fine job of capturing the analog tonality of the Oberheim; it preserved the fatness nicely. I then set that audio track to output through channels 3 and 4 and armed another track in Logic to rerecord it through inputs 5 and 6. I called up a different patch on the Oberheim and armed another Logic track to capture an overdub solo. I reset the vinyl to the beginning of the beat and set up a track to record that, as well. I recorded all three stereo tracks into Logic using six inputs total on the interface while outputting through the mains (1 and 2) plus the original Oberheim take on 3 and 4. All in all, I was simultaneously using 10 channels of audio, checking out latency and testing the MIDI capabilities in real time. This was all done at 24-bit, 96kHz.
With a buffer setting of 512, the Edirol and my Mac performed like champions. The FA-101 captured everything without as much as a hiccup, and the recording sounded great. The MIDI was on the money; I was able to play away, and MIDI latency was a non-issue. In fact, despite the high buffer setting, everything synched up nicely. By now, I was pretty darn satisfied with the multitracking performance of the FA-101, but one final test that I ran was to simply play back a 21-track remix-in-progress that I had on file, utilizing all of the Edirol's 10 outputs. All audio was previously recorded at 24-bit, 44.1kHz. The sound was good — consistent with all of my previous tests — and, again, the FA-101 functioned perfectly, with the buffer set at 256 samples or higher, I should mention. If I lowered it, digital clicks and pops ensued.
MIC THAT THANG
Finally, it was time to take the mic preamps for a spin. I connected an M-Audio Solaris directly to input 1, engaged the phantom power and tested my own less-than-stellar vocal cords. The Solaris is a very sensitive large-diaphragm condenser; for vocals, it easily captures loud and crystal-clear sound from a vocalist standing 1 to 2 feet away. The reason I bring up this point is that like its line outputs, the FA-101's mic preamps do not possess an overabundance of gain. The upside is that it took a lot for me to clip the preamps, yet I just about needed to push them to maximum to get a healthy signal for the recordings. I performed a few takes, first at the lowest sample rate of 44.1 kHz and then at the highest of 192. I indeed set the preamp gain to max. All of the vocals that I tracked sounded sweet, and, there, the 192kHz difference became more obvious. The 44.1 setting sounded fine, but in 192 kHz, the vocals possessed intense detail. The slightest lip smacks, crescendos and inhale and exhale sounds were pristine. A nice surprise was that despite the maximum gain push, there was silence, as far as I could hear, in terms of additional noise from the FA-101. My console produced more hiss than the Edirol.
Next, I did a few takes with the gain midway up at 12 o'clock. Although the results still sounded good, they were clearly not loud enough. Whereas the first round had my console channels at a conservative -20 dB, the 12 o'clock setting forced me to crank my board to almost 0 dB to achieve the same volume, and it did lack the definition of the earlier recordings. To sum up, you needn't be afraid of the gains on the FA-10. In fact, I would have liked to have more juice in the box.
GET THE BALANCE RIGHT
All in all, Edirol's FA-101 is a fine interface for your studio or mobile rig. The basics, such as the mic preamps and MIDI, sound clean and work with ease. Twenty channels of audio should give most project studios I/O to burn. More preamp gain and hotter output levels would be nice, but you're not likely to blow any speakers with the FA-101. A few other nice additions would be coaxial S/PDIF connectors or perhaps a set of RCA I/O, but perhaps those will come in a future Edirol FireWire piece. You can't always get everything you want, but in my book, Edirol has scored with the FA-101.
Product Summary
EDIROL
FA-101 > $695
Pros: Small, sturdy, packed with features. Excellent sound quality. 24-bit, 192kHz-capable. Simple to use.
Cons: Compatible only with Mac OS X and Windows XP. Conservative preamp gain and output volume. No MIDI Thru.
Contact: tel. (360) 594-4276; e-mail sales@edirol.com; Web www.edirol.com
System Requirements
MAC: G3/800 or G4/700 (G4/1.4GHz for 24-bit, 192kHz operation); 256 MB RAM; Mac OS 10.3.4; factory-installed FireWire port
PC: Intel-compatible/900 (Pentium 4/2GHz for 24-bit, 192kHz operation); 256 MB RAM; Windows XP; IEEE 1394/FireWire port
Acceptable Use Policy blog comments powered by Disqus
| Want to use this article? Click here for options! |  |
