I'm about to get my hand on a C400 for a ridiculous 100$ CAD.

Seems like everything is functional.

Anyone tried one of these.

Any problem you've encountered ?

I'm going to plug my monitors on 2 output and a Reel to Reel on the 2 other output.

I want to plug a Bass occasionally on one Input and the return of my Reel to Reel on the other input.

Does that seem right so far ?

The interface will be plugged on my laptop in USB.

Anything in that setup seems weird ?

 

Last edited: Nov 17, 2016

yep it will fit the purpose! the only "bad thing", if you are on win, are the pretty old drivers

 

Buyer beware...these tend to malfunction and no support available....I have had the c400 and c600 neither lasted a long time...

 

I always liked M-audio products but man they have really bad customer support!

 

Ok,

So old driver and no customer support.
Other then that...decent interface (AD/DA) for the price ?

What Interface would it compare in term of Dynamic ?

Obviously , i'm not hoping for an Apogee like type of Interface but what can I hope from that Interface....is it pure crap or just above ?
It was retailed 700$ CAD before being discontinued....was it worth the 700 $

I like the idea of a monitor control type of huge Knob.....this is a very useful feature for me.

I'm wondering if ill get a Loop hole if i connect my reel to reel to an output then back to an input ...

Anyone know ?

 

The Driver Site for this states support for Windows up to Windows 10 and macOS up to 10.12 Sierra (lateste Driver 26.10.2016)

http://avid.force.com/pkb/articles/download/Fast-Track-C400-Drivers

 

Yeah, thats what i saw aswell, only those drivers date from 2014 under PC

Also, would i be better off putting 100$ more to get a Focusrite Scarlett 2i4 ?

Any opinion on date ?

 

My friend had this model and experienced some occasional blue screens (in Windows 7) caused by the driver.

 

Here an Audiophile 192 - M-Audio , no more drivers on this since windows 7 , so be aware ...

 

I had the M-Audio Fast Track Pro and that thing crashed continuously. It either crashed the DAW or locked up the PC/Blue Screened. I don't know if this is similar for all M-Audio interfaces. If you do get it, save your work OFTEN (which you should do anyways). I can't speak as to the quality of the AD/DA convertors or preamps. I had zero for monitors while I was using this thing.
Most stable for me has been my MOTU HD192 with Sonar Platinum.
I've been using the M-Audio primarily as a MIDI Interface right now. No crashes there.

 

I've had 2 M Audio audio devices in the past. An audiophile PC card and a FireWire 410 they were both very problematic with crappy drivers. DAW crashing, bluescreens....I don't think I would ever buy another m-audio audio device.
On the other hand, my axioms 49 + 66 1st gen were/are both great (sold the 49) and my trigger finger old as it is has never given me a problem. Well the computer wouldnt see it directly plugged in but a usb hub solved that.
I have also owned a Focusrite saffire firewire that I ended up donating to another member on this forum when he had soundcard issues. It was decent too, never had any problems with it.
My current audio device is a mackie 820i which is been solid and never given me any problems. But I would stay away from m-audio soundcards. And their customer support is non-existent

 

Last edited: Nov 17, 2016

What about the Focusrite 2i4 ?

I've had some card with crappy Dynamic range and it seems like those 2options mention before fall under the low low dynamic range type of card.
If i recall correctly, its something like 48db
( edit , they say its 104 for the focusrite and 106 db for the C400)

I've seen some DIY AD DA that give 120db of dynamic range. ( i think the guy ask 150 euros for his kit )

Let me tell you that it gives a whole new world to mixing when you can hear whats going on in 3d with your soundcard.

I've played with an apogee and its like playing with a fisher price keyboard then falling with a steinway B.

Can anyone relate to what i say ...or am i going coocoo for too long

 

Last edited: Nov 17, 2016

First rule with this interface (as well as C600 and Fast Track Ultra): do not plug it and do not uplug it when Windows running - only do it when the computer is switched off (otherwise you will experience frequent blue screens).

Good thing about it: very good performance (low CPU usage/low latency) for a USB interface.

 

Yeah, just turning off the power on the 410 FW would bluescreen my laptop. My mackie I can turn on and off, plug and unplug the FW all day with no issues

 

Fasttrack Ultra 8R here, which has the same preamps, interface looks the same (as is Avid Mbox).
Quality: no top, just decent. Drivers are eol, but got it running both on Mac & Win with a workaround.
Support: non existing.
Power cycle on Mac: don't do it. On Win: no problem.
No bsod's.. I'd say the c400 is easy worth a 100 bucks .

 

@5teezo the Mac drivers are up to date but the windows counterpart is, indeed, pretty old (Oct 10, 2014)

 

Audient iD14 has been getting lots of praise for a relatively inexpensive interface. It might suite you well.

 

Yes you're totally right.

I'm looking at the spec and its out on its own....


DIGITAL TO ANALOGUE CONVERTER (DAC 1&2):
(measured under AES-17 at line outputs 1&2)

MAXIMUM OUTPUT LEVEL: +12 dBu (0 dBFS digital maximum)
DIGITAL REFERENCE LEVEL: +12 dBu = 0 dBFS
OUTPUT IMPEDANCE <100Ω
FREQUENCY RESPONSE: ±0.1 dB 10Hz to Fs/2 (flat to nyquist)
CROSSTALK: <-105 dBu @ 1kHz & 10kHz
THD+N @ -1dBFS (1kHz): <0.003% (-90.5 dB)
DYNAMIC RANGE: 114 dB un-weighted
117 dB A-weighted
1/4" TRS Jack Tip (Hot), Ring (Cold) & Sleeve (Shield)

Quite impressive compared to other brand with 2 in 2 out ( even tho this one has only 1 output )

Only problem here is that i wont find any of those used or at least close to the 100$ CAD for the C400.
This is 400$ CAD here (New)

This is definitely the type of gear im going to buy when i upgrade later on ( but its lacking an output for my reel to reel tho' )

 

Please, take this into account: Most manufacturers don't tell us the whole truth about latency. Sometimes they show that a given interface can go e.g. as low as 32 or 64 whatever samples, but they don't tell us that this is only the value in the ASIO driver control panel - but interfaces have also hardware buffers which are not presented to the user. In case of some interfaces (e.g. some Focusrite USB models) those hardware buffers are a couple of times bigger than ASIO buffers - so yout REAL latency is A COUPLE TIMES bigger than what you set in the control panel.

M-Audio C400 is an exception here - it has quite low RTL (roundtrip latency) with low CPU stress. That's a good thing about it. In this regards it is much better than many more expensive models.

 

I'll get it tonight so 'ill be able to tell you guys with my config.