Phonic FireFly 808

I bought two Phonic Firefly 808's, with the idea to daisy chain them to obtain 16 inputs/outputs. The installation of the drivers was a real pain in the neck!
I got messages as "The device doesn't start", "No device found" etc.
After a full day of trying I finally got it working, anyway: that was what I thought...
The next time I turned the computer on, I got the message "No device connected" again.
Again it took me hours to re-install the driver. It seems that as long as there are traces from a previous installation, the setup procedure for a new install doesn't seem to work. The only way the reinstall is to manually remove all previously installed software components and also manually cleanup the Windows registry.
Now, WHEN it works, the quality is good. Daisy chaining works if you use the firewire connection. But you have to use the same firewire port as when you installed the software. At the moment you (accidentally) use another firewire port, the Firefly 808 is not recognized. Microphone inputs could have been a bit more sensitive, especially when using dynamic microphones you have to turn up the record volume to the max.
In practice, the Firefly 808 runs pretty hot after a couple of hours, hotter then I think would be wise.
And another thing: I never managed to get the ADAT input working...
The result is that I sold both my Phonic Firefly 808's and found myself a better (and more reliable) multichannel interface. So: think twice...

(Originally written by mrpoulpy/translated from Audiofanzine FR)
I bought it as a replacement when I sent the MOTU 896HD I use in my portable setup in for repair (I heard that the MOTU service is not very fast).

I thought this card made approximately the same as the MOTU, and considering I was only looking for replacement gear I didn't want to spend too much money on it.

I planned to use it mainly with a notebook and an 8-channel ADAT preamp/converter in a 16-input portable system for concert recording.

I thought this unit would fulfill all my needs.

I used it with Cubase SX3.

UTILIZATION

First problems. It includes two installation CDs not labeled very clearly. Now that I think about it, I believe one of them included a Cubase light version with some old drivers and the other one only newer drivers (??). Or only USB drivers? Could be...! I don't know! After a while I decided to download the latest driver versions from the manufacturer's website. But nothing was clear or easy to understand! It was the first time I had to check all versions and wasn't sure of what would work. Since I had problems with this card right from the start, I went looking for a version that would make everything work... nice try!!

I can't recall anymore, but I believe the system doesn't work when both USB and Firewire drivers are installed. It wouldn't be a problem if it were written somewhere.

There isn't much to configure, so the setup is pretty easy.

GETTING STARTED

That's the main problem.

I had problems (noise and crackles) even with the largest buffer size. A digital problem I couldn't explain. I tried it out first with my main studio computer (a very powerful quad core!), then with my notebook, and then with another notebook. There's no way you can use it in real-time. It's impossible! I tried out a reverb thinking that I would be able to set a high latency with such effects. It worked fine for five minutes, but then it started to crackle until I reset the sound card (an unexplainable digital problem once again). I also noticed that the sound card made the system crash when the computer went into sleep mode. Not immediately. Actually, everything seemed to work fine after waking up, but there was no sound coming from the software. And when I tried to restart the system crashed. Then, when I started the computer up again the sound card wouldn't find the ADAT converter anymore. And I had to restart the system again. In short, a real nightmare for live applications.

And notice that this notebook was new (virtually no software installed).

As a summary:

- latency : system crashes even with the highest latency time

- Number of simultaneous channels: 16 recording channels (playback didn't work properly)

The sound seems to be ok: I could even mix a whole song. Nothing special to say about the sound. Anyways, I honestly believe that all these interfaces, from Behringer to MOTU, provide the same results. I haven't been able to compare with RME but I don't expect a real difference.

If it turns out that my unit was faulty and it actually works fine with all other users never mind my review.

OVERALL OPINION

I used it two days at home, I went on tour one week, I used it three times for live and studio recordings and then I packed it up again.

I took it back to the dealer very pissed. I ordered a MOTU 8PRE instead and I got it pretty fast. I only paid the price difference (the MOTU is more expensive).

For a slightly higher price I had a device without AES-EBU, Midi, Wordclock, or SPDIF but easy to install, stable and with a very low latency!

I usually say that cheap products also work well. My Behringer ADAT interface is the proof of that. I use it with my MOTU and it works perfectly as long as it is synchronized via ADAT or wordclock. We also bought Phonic mics for the rehearsal studio. They are cheaper than microphone cable (they are actually sold with a cable), are unbreakable and as good as a PG58. But in this particular case, buying a cheap product was a mistake! And the USB mode was even worse. I guess it has the USB option so they can write "universal sound card" on the box.

Specifications that motivated my choice:
A friend was selling his. What interested me Directmonitoring, number of inputs, ADAT, ..

Perfect for my use.

Usage: home studio only

Config: PC, Core i5-760, 8GB RAM, HDD: 3.5TB, Windows 7 x64

UTILIZATION

The drivers are stable. No problem setup, immediately recognized, no bugs encountered. I increase the latency of 10 ms for my project (crack), apart from that no problems.

Software used: Sonar X3

Latency of 10 ms on a project of thirty tracks with vsti gasworks (East-West Symphonic Choir / Orchestra, Damage, Evovle mutation ...)

GETTING STARTED

Trouble-free installation.
General configuration very easy.
Not encountered incompatibility.

Manual ==> I do not have (Used) so I do not comment, but no need for manual in my opinion.

OVERALL OPINION

I use it for a week so I can not yet be unpleasant surprises. But for now, I'm not disappointed, and I do not understand very critical opinion on this sound card. For me it does a very good taf.

There are just my point of view 2 things that are not top:
- Breath when pushing the preamp background (but I'll use an external preamp for vocals, for example)
- The absence of a true "PatchMix" for assigning as inputs / outputs you want

the 8 inputs, making firewire

I use this interface in my home studio of 60 m2. The interface takes place rack in my mac and I part my instruments depending on the recording. I have so far had no problems or lag or anything. The quality of the preamps is quite correct, but one for each preamp is especially welcome on the recording drum.

Imac 2ghz and 3g of ram

UTILIZATION

No worries. I plugged the interface, logic and is open game. Ultra simple efficiency and use ...

8 tracks in this recording.

GETTING STARTED

not require manual installation is almost the fingers in the nose ...

I have a little trouble understanding m'enfin good advice before, the important thing is that everyone finds the Shoe Fits. Now it is true that there are better, but to save regularly and have a quality (only) correct and well it was worth the money ....

OVERALL OPINION

I've had 3 months and I am fully satisfied. I'm looking for the price even better but it's hard to find, after ca is on everyone's tastes

with the experience I takes a direct 808 ...