Customer Reviews

M-Audio Fast Track Ultra High-Speed 8x8 USB 2.0 Interface

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(9)

 

 

I've been using the Fast Track Ultra for about a month now.

System:

Gateway MC7801U Laptop

Pentium Duo 2 core 2Ghz T5800

4G RAM

Vista 64 Home Premium

Sonar 8 Producer 64 bit

I almost returned the product initially because it was locking up my laptop. After some persistent searching, I found a message buried on the MAudio website that fixed the problem:

[The high-performance mode can be a bit tricky on some systems and what you are seeing is not a surprise. High-performance mode basically misuses the host computer CPU clock. On typical PC systems this allows the driver to increase the performance of the USB bus. On computers that are already tweaked for high performance or have high performance graphics cards or the like, this mode can !!!!cripple the operating system. It works best with older PCs!!!...]

AHA! I had enabled "high-performance mode" and that appears to have been he cause of the system lockup.

After uninstalling / reinstalling the driver AND LEAVING "high-performance mode" OFF, the unit has been performing flawlessly. I have enough confidence in it now that I will shortly be placing it into service in live performance for a weekly contemporary worship service.

It would be beneficial if MAudio would update their documentation - or even provide a pop up confirmation / warning when the high-performance mode is enabled - to advise users of the dangers of "high-performance mode".

1 star deducted for not documenting this "feature".

I don't understand what all the fuss is about. I've gone through many different operating systems and computers, and drivers and have not had ANY issues with this product. It works flawlessly on XP/XP SP1/2 and Vista. It has a couple very minor issues on Vista X64 but nothing that would break the work flow noticeably.

I'll begin by saying that it has probably the best layout I have ever seen on a sound card. It is also the most powerful at the time for USB sound cards all together. It has 6 1/4 inch inputs on the back very well laid out, and 6 matching 1/4 inch outputs on the back aswell... this setup keeps wires nice and neat (unlike others where you gotta plug stuff in all over the place in all directions.....

on the front you could either hook up four mics or two mics and two instruments.... what nice is that the first two inputs can either be xlr or 1/4 inch..... All four inputs have knobs right there on the front to control the preamps for each channel individually. Also on the front.... TWO, not one, TWO headphone outputs with individual volume controlls and LED's to indicate clipping and signal (that can be assigned to play different channels alltogether). And of course there is a volume control, right there on the front. What I should note is that there are four buttons to switch from the front inputs to the back ones.

Some other nice features include an input and output for an insert effect (so you can hook up for example a compressor)... the only flaw with it (actually what' nice is that I called m-audio and they took a unit from their warehouse, set it up, and tinkered with it trying to figure it out).... but anyways the only flaw is that it cannot be inserted to any channels but channels 1/2..... Of course the thing has phantom power but if you choose to run with it off you can still use normal mics... What's also so nifty is that if you want to go somewhere with a lap top for example you can ditch the power supply alltogether and still have channels 1/2 for input and output powered by the USB bus.

The latency on this card is great... I can't say it's as perfect as I want it to be (especially with Vista x64) but I can safely run a 128 sample buffer running under 10ms completely safely and if no input is needed and those are disabled a 4 ms delay is pretty safe and works great....

Another great thing is the software mixer, you can route just about anything into anything else, it simply makes this card have no limits as far as routing (except for that insert effect thing but I don't really use it anyways since I use the daw for that)

The only serious issue is that after switching to Vista x64 I have not been able to get the "High Performance Mode" to work which affects the buffer a little bit.

Other then that, solid 5/5... I've recommended this product to many people, all have bought it, all had no problems.

The biggest issue with this card is people, people that can't install the damn driver. It's a little bit more of a pain in the butt then simply installing a CD but if you follow directions it will work.

Would buy again but I'm more then happy with the one I got :)

I've work with this for over a year now, it got all the inputs and outputs I need, the recording quality is nice and clean, the effects on the headphones is the perfect thing to get my artist 'in the mood' to perform. M-Audio Fast Track Ultra got a driver issue, sometimes my pc just don't see it, I've tried and tested it with different systems and OS even 64bits systems. The second problem is input 1 & 2 controls behave more like a switch rather than a level control, very big difference in levels in just a small turn and the meters response to audio is difficult to measure. It's a nice product but should be $75 less, I still give it 4 stars.

I bought two of these. Both were defective, out of the box.

It seems the USB Interface has problems and when powered off and on, the computer does not recognize the unit, e.g., no plug and play. Even with Device Manager, you can not select the drivers and get the computer to recognize it. MAudio's site has a whole one page drill for doing this which involves diabling virus and spyware, uninstalling the program and drivers, re-downloading new drivers, then plugging in the unit and praying.

If you check out MAudio's Support Site, there must be over 100 really angry people who after 30 days (the warranty limit) are left with a paper weight. Add to this MAudio's Impossible to Get To Telephone Support (1 Hour on Hold) and 3 day email support turnaround, and I don't think I'll buy another MAudio product again. I will say this, the tech guy at MAudio was quite frank that the product sucked and I should just return it.

Thankfully, both of mine crashed within three weeks. The best advice is not to buy this unit (go with a firewire or PCIx unit) or never unplug it. One Star is not low enough.

I have had this unit for about a year, and have had mixed results--as others have--due to non-recognition of the unit when plugged-in or turned on.

I have found that the timing of activation/connection is important. The best results have been obtained after allowing my laptop to fully boot, logging in and waiting for the hard drive to settle down before turning the M-Audio on. There seems to be a delay in the loading of the drivers until everything else has loaded. I have also exited any unnecessary background programs.

I have also had mixed results in USB-powered mode(stereo-only). Sometimes the laptop fails to recognize the card if the (included) adapter is not attached. Perhaps some of my USB ports do not supply enough power. More testing needed.

Otherwise, a very powerful product, and a clean sound.

I have been using this product for about 6 months with Apple's GarageBand and have since upgraded to Logic on a MacMini with 2GB of RAM. So far so good. I haven't used all of the features of the interface or the software but I have been using it to record 4 tracks simultaneously.

The pre-amps for the mics could give a little more power but it hasn't been an issue.

It is a great little interface for my projects. I am recording drums, guitars, congas, bass, and vocals. Only catch is best your going to do without a mixer is 6 tracks at a time.

I haven't routed any midi through it yet.

Excellent hardware. A little tricky to understand the router and mixer at first, but when you do get it, you find out it is pretty versatile. I was trying to decide among the many options available for USB soundcards, but the fast track ultra had the right combination of plenty inputs and outputs for what I need (given that I don't record many instruments and vocals). It also has the advantage of working with pretty much any DAW, including Pro Tools. Would highly recommend if you want to keep your options open to use Pro Tools M-Powered.

I use win xp sp3, so I had to download the driver from maudio website, no big deal, but a little annoying. The product is fine, great sound, good features, great look and easy use.

I started off with an M-Audio Fast Track Pro, and was impressed with abilities and ease of use. When, by error of my own, the FTP died on me, I decided the best route to go would be the Fast Track Ultra (I record my own music and my band, so it only made sense), and I have not been let down. I'm not a techie by any means, so I won't pretend like I know all the specifics. I will say that if you want a product that is easy to use, easy to install, and fun to work with, look no further then this piece of equipment. The ONLY drawback I have found thus far is not having Red and White (RCA?) audio jacks like my FTP did, but the Ultra otherwise has me hooked. And, f.y.i., the new install is available through M-Audio sites for the SP3 problem that everyone has been cackling about.

I've seen a couple of reviews saying that this device does not run on Vista. Well, I don't know what those people are doing, but mine installed without any problems (Vista 32-bit SP2).

You do have to read the manual, since it is not as plug-and-play as some other devices. Basically, you need to first install the drivers with the device unplugged and, after that, plug it in. That's it.

I even installed it on Windows 7 RC, just for kicks... tweaked the installer a bit, because it said that 7 is not a supported OS. Turned on Vista SP2 compatibility mode for the .exe file, and worked exactly as it did on my Vista PC.

Now, regarding the device itself, It delivers what it promises: superb peerformance. I tested it on Sound Forge 9 and Sonar 8 Producer. Worked flawlessly.

I connected an old MIDI keyboard, and got top performance in Sonar.

You can even set your computer's audio output to the device, so you can monitor everything in one place.

So, at the end of the day, this is certanly a great device. I'd fully recommend it to anyone that needs portable high-quality sound. I intend to use it to record audio for video production on the field, with my HP Pavillion laptop.

Just read the manual and user guide, and you'll be up and running in no time.