M-Audio FireWire Solo User Guide

User’s Guide • Guide de l’utilisateur • Benutzerhandbuch •

Manual del usuario • Manuale dell’utente • ユーザーズ・マニュアル

Introduction

Thank you for choosing the M-Audio FireWire Solo. The FireWire Solo has been designed to give you a professional, portable audio interface for your laptop or desktop computer. Using the convenience and dependability of the IEEE-1394 (FireWire™) bus, the FireWire Solo provides your computer with a high-performance, high-resolution audio interface, complete with microphone, instrument and line-level inputs, in a rugged, lightweight, and highly portable design.

The FireWire Solo was created with portability and versatility in mind. Offering professional 24-bit audio quality in a durable and mobile design, the FireWire Solo is the perfect interface for your FireWire (IEEE 1394) equipped computer. Add a pair of M-Audio’s DX4 Desktop Monitors, our Nova microphone and your guitar, and you’ve got all you need to compose and record your music.

Even if you are an experienced musician and digital recording enthusiast, we recommend you take a few moments to read through this owners’ manual and familiarize yourself with the FireWire Solo’s features and operation. You may also want to refer to your audio software’s documentation, to better understand how the FireWire Solo’s features are integrated with the audio program. Your experience and enjoyment of your FireWire Solo

will be greatly enhanced by a good working knowledge of your audio software.

What’s in the Box

Your FireWire Solo package contains the following:

< FireWire Solo Recording Interface < CD-ROM containing driver software and user manual in PDF form < Printed Quick Start Guide < IEEE 1394 (FireWire) cable – 6 pin to 6 pin < IEEE 1394 (FireWire) cable – 6 pin to 4 pin < 12VDC 1A Power Supply

About the FireWire Solo

The FireWire Solo is equipped with a front panel Microphone (XLR) input, front panel Instrument (1/4”) input, and two rear panel line inputs, as well as two rear panel line outputs. The Mic and Instrument inputs each have their own dedicated level controls. A front panel switch is provided to select the front (Mic and Instrument) or rear (line) inputs. With additional rear panel S/PDIF digital inputs and outputs, the FireWire Solo can function as a four-input, four-output audio interface. A single IEEE 1394 cable connects the FireWire Solo to your computer’s FireWire port. If your computer is not equipped with a native FireWire port, you may purchase a FireWire PCI card at any computer electronics retailer.

The FireWire Solo can deliver high-quality analog and digital I/O in full 24-bit resolution, at sampling rates up to 96 kHz for recording and playback. Its S/PDIF digital I/O supports output of AC3 and DTS-encoded multichannel digital audio under Windows and Mac OS 10.3.5.

IMPORTANT: The FireWire Solo comes with a high-quality six-pin to six-pin FireWire cable. We strongly suggest you use this cable, or one of equal quality, for optimum audio performance. If your computer is equipped with a four-pin interface, you will need to use the included four-pin to six-pin FireWire cable. Note that the FireWire Solo requires a six-pin FireWire connection in order to supply bus power; if you have a four-pin connection you will need to use the supplied power adapter.

NOTE: Some computer manufacturers may use a different nomenclature to refer to their FireWire connections, such as Sony’s “iLink”, or simply “1394.” When in doubt, consult your computer owner’s manual.

IMPORTANT - IEEE 1394 “FireWire” Users: Reports have come to our attention of isolated problems when hot-plugging IEEE 1394 (aka “FireWire”) devices. Hot-plugging refers to making IEEE 1394/FireWire connections when one or more of the devices is powered on (including the computer).

There have been rare occurrences when, after hot-plugging, either the FireWire peripheral or the host computer’s FireWire port are rendered permanently inoperable. While M-Audio products adhere rigidly to the FireWire industry standard and pass stringent internal testing, the possibility remains that hot-plugging your M-Audio FireWire interface to some computers may result in this type of problem.

We strongly encourage you to protect your equipment by refraining from hot-plugging any bus-powered FireWire device, including the MAudio family of FireWire products. Only connect your FireWire device while both the computer and FireWire device are powered off. Power on the FireWire device ﬁrst, and then turn the computer on last. If you are using bus power (on systems with IEEE 1394 6-pin connectors), make

sure to make the cable connection ﬁrst, and turn the computer system on last.

M-Audio is being proactive in investigating any issues that may adversely affect our customers. Please consult the Knowledge Base in the

Support section at www.m-audio.com for updates on this important issue.

Features

< Front panel balanced XLR mic input with switchable phantom power and dedicated gain control < Front panel unbalanced guitar/instrument 1/4” input with dedicated gain control < Switchable rear panel unbalanced 1/4” line inputs < Rear panel balanced/unbalanced 1/4” TRS outputs with level control < Rear panel coaxial S/PDIF I/O. < Front panel headphone output with level control < Versatile mixer/router control panel provides near zero-latency hardware direct monitoring. < Extremely low-latency hardware/drivers. < Kensington lock port for security < Two 6-pin FireWire ports. < Cool blue indicator LED. < Bus-powered (six-pin FireWire connection required) or powered via included PSU. < Frequency response from 20-40kHz < Dynamic range of 102dB < Supports sampling rates of 44.1k, 48k, 88.2k, and 96kHz

Mounting the device to a rack drawer

Holes are located on the left and right of the bottom of the FireWire Solo, to allow you to mount this device to a rack tray. The FireWire Solo is mountable on either the left or right side of the drawer. If you choose to mount the device to a rack tray, you must ﬁrst remove the rubber pads from the base of the unit.

Minimum System Requirements

Windows

< Pentium III – 500 MHz or higher < 128 MB RAM < Windows XP (SP2) with DirectX 9.0b or higher < Onboard FireWire connection or installed FireWire PCI card

The FireWire Solo is not supported under Windows 98, Windows ME or Windows 2000.

Mac OS

< Macintosh G3/G4* 500 MHz or higher < OS X 10.2.8 or later, 256 MB RAM or < OX X 10.3.5 or later, 512 MB RAM < Onboard FireWire connection or installed FireWire PCI card

*G3/G4 accelerator cards not supported OS X 10.3.5 or later required for Dolby Digital and DTS pass-through with Apple DVD player.

Front Panel Controls and Connectors

1. Microphone Input Mic-level input on balanced XLR connector. This connector is only active when the Front/Rear Input Selector (5) is set to “Front” (OUT

position). Input from this connector appears in your DAW software as a mono signal on the left side of the stereo input pair.

2. Clip indicator

3. Phantom Power Indicator This indicator illuminates when the Phantom Power Switch (9) is pressed, indicating that +48VDC power is being applied to the Mic

Input (1).

4. Microphone Input Gain This knob controls the amount of gain at the Microphone Input (1), over a range of 0dB to +40dB or greater.

5. Front/Rear Input Selector

6. Guitar Input Instrument-level input on unbalanced 1/4” phone connector, for use with guitars, basses or other instrument-level sources. This connector

is only active when the Front/Rear Input Selector (5) is set to “Front” (OUT position). Input from this connector appears in your DAW software as a mono signal on the right side of the stereo input pair.

7. Clip indicator This LED illuminates when the Guitar Input signal level exceeds –1 dBFS. If the Clip Indicator glows steadily, reduce the Guitar Input gain

level (8).

8. Guitar Input Gain This knob controls the amount of gain at the Guitar Input (6), over a range of 0dB to +30dB or greater.

9. Phantom Power Switch This switch activates the +48V phantom power, for use with condenser mics requiring external power. When Phantom Power is active, the

Phantom Power Indicator LED (3) lights up. NOTE: It is safe to connect most modern dynamic microphones or line level devices to the channel inputs when phantom power is activated. However, some older ribbon microphones may be damaged by phantom power, and certain unbalanced line level devices may malfunction or produce an audible hum when phantom power is active. Consult the documentation for these devices if you are unsure how to proceed.

10. Output Level Control This knob controls the amount of output gain to the rear-panel Line Output (18) and the front-panel Headphone Output (11).

11. Headphone Output Stereo 1/4” TRS phone jack output for connection of headphones for monitoring the output signal. The volume level is controlled by the

Output Level Control (10).

12. Power Indicator This LED illuminates when the FireWire Solo is powered on, either via bus power or the AC adaptor.

Rear Panel Connectors

13. AC Input Connect the supplied AC adaptor to this input. The AC adaptor is needed when operating the FireWire Solo with a 6-pin to 4-pin FireWire

connection, or when using the FireWire Solo as a stand-alone A/D converter. The AC adaptor is not needed when running the FireWire Solo on a standard 6-pin to 6-pin FireWire connection.

14. Kensington Lock Port This port is provided for use with a standard Kensington-type computer cable anti-theft device.

15. FireWire Ports Two FireWire (IEEE-1394) connectors. Use one to connect to your computer’s FireWire port. The second may be used as a throughput, to

connect additional devices to the FireWire bus.

16. S/PDIF Output S/PDIF digital output on coaxial RCA connector.

17. S/PDIF Input S/PDIF digital input on coaxial RCA connector.

18. Line Outputs Balanced/unbalanced analog line outputs on 1/4” TRS phone connectors. The signal level to these outputs is controlled by the front-panel

Output Level Control (10).

19. Line Inputs Unbalanced analog line inputs on 1/4” phone connectors. These connectors are only active when the front-panel Front/Rear Input Selector

(5) is set to “Rear” (IN position). Input from these connectors appears in your DAW software as a stereo input pair.

Hardware Installation

NOTE: Do NOT connect the FireWire Solo to your computer until you have run the installer program.

Once you have run the installer and completed the installation, you may connect the FireWire Solo to your host computer’s FireWire port while the computer’s power is off. See the section on Driver Installation, below, for further details.

Driver Installation

Windows XP

NOTE: Do NOT connect the FireWire Solo to your computer until you have

run the installer application.

Insert the FireWire Solo driver CD-ROM into your computer. The FW Audio Family Installation dialog should automatically open for you to begin the installation process. Click “Next>” to continue. If it does not start automatically, then from the Start menu, select “Run…” then click the Browse button. Browse to the CD drive and click on the Setup.EXE icon to launch the FW Audio Family Installation dialog, and click “Next>” to continue.

After you’ve read the license agreement, please click the “I accept...” circle if you agree to the terms. Then click “Next” to continue.

The installer will copy the necessary ﬁles to your computer’s hard drive.

During the installation, you will be prompted with a message warning that the driver software has not passed Windows Logo testing. Select “Continue Anyway” and proceed with the installation.

The installer will prompt you to enable DVD/CD performance enhancement settings. In most cases you should leave these in their default (selected) settings. If you are unsure about this, consult your DVD/CD device documentation.

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