Topic: Hercules 16/12 Firewire interface

[plucks]

Hey all-
Here is a cool new product for those of you who are looking for more of a studio Firewire interface that does multichannel recordings.  

It's also the first MAC and PC Firewire interface that does up to 24/96 sample rates

http://www.sonicsense.com/hercules1612.htm

Once i get more info, i will post it!

Phil

[Nick in Edinboro]

Is this the same Hercules who is owned by Guillemot Corp.?

Didn't know they did "pro" hardware!  I own the GameTheater XP and have been really happy with it..  

[RRobar]

It sure is. Do you have pictures Phil? I love my GT-XP I know it's believed to not be bit perfect but it works like a dream. I'm all about looking into more stuff they make. Is this going to be DC powered? Or is it really big and only for studio stuff.

[John Kelly]

I'm weary of this...  I've owned Hercules stuff before, and for the most part they've been great, but this will be their first pro-audio hardware.  How often does a company produce a great product on the first try?  Especially having no experience in that field...

But I'll wait and see after it's released.  Maybe I'll pick one up over the Firewire 410 if it's portable.

[plucks]

It sure is. Do you have pictures Phil? I love my GT-XP I know it's believed to not be bit perfect but it works like a dream. I'm all about looking into more stuff they make. Is this going to be DC powered? Or is it really big and only for studio stuff.

A picture is finally up!
http://www.sonicsense.com/hercules1612.htm

Enjoy
Phil

[DaryanLenz]

It lookds cool...now I wonder how it would sound?  I would bet a 2 chanel version is on the way!

daryan

[Nick in Edinboro]

It even looks like a Game Theater XP.... just a longer version in silver



I know the headphone out on my GTXP is NOISY like no other.. hopefully they put a not so "pro" price on this unit...as it's my guess it's not Apogee/Grace build quality... of course this is with never even seeing the unit though, just a guess!

[Lee]

what's the expected price range?

[RRobar]

I'm interested in checking it out. And it does look like  a GT-XP (except silver) Also When buying my GT-XP I looke quite a bit into the company and had read that they were development partners with Yamaha. Seemed that they did have a clue on making better than avegrage equipment.  I'd say it's probably not to far off from a  stock UA5. Buit we will see I guess.

[plucks]

what's the expected price range?

I believe it will be around the $800-$900 range, but am not 100% sure quite yet

Phil

[nic]

$800-900...very good deal if made from quality componets.
the MOTU 828mkii is $750 for only 8 inputs, 16bit, 44.1/48KHz and w/out wordclock I/O.

of course, it would be ideal if both of these units could be used in stand-alone mode, but alas...

[Craig T]

I think I read $799 MSRP, not sure what that translates into street, but I would think in the low 700's.  Went to look for that price again and I can't find it.

[marsnic]

Hey all-
Here is a cool new product for those of you who are looking for more of a studio Firewire interface that does multichannel recordings.  

It's also the first MAC and PC Firewire interface that does up to 24/96 sample rates

http://www.sonicsense.com/hercules1612.htm

Once i get more info, i will post it!

Phil

How about the MOTU 828MKII??

[nic]

marsnic...the 828mkii does support 24/96, so that would be the first 1396 interface that supports it.
my post above was for the old 828, not the 828mkii. its still only 8 analog inputs, but at least you get wordclock I/O and an additional 8 ADAT I/O.
unless you need the 16 analog inputs of the Hercules, I would think the 828mkii is the better deal. at leats its a proven piece of equipment!

[marsnic]

I use the 828MKII. I've only had it a couple of months but it's proving itself to be a great piece of kit. My 02R mixer has been pretty much redundant since I bought it.

The mic-pres are very clean and transparent and the converters, I really can't fault. I can't get any technical performance spec on it, MOTU don't seem to want to produce any. It does however to my ears sound very nice and at $7-800 is a bargain in my opinion.

The only reason I'd think about upgrading is to get a few more mic pre-amps and AES/EBU would be nice. Extra mic-pres however can plug in through the standard analogue and digi connectors. Heck - I might even get another 828.

All up, I can't really fault it. I've now used it on 3 different PCs all with different processors and chipsets, including a VIA133 chipset which has proven unusable with any other audio interface I've tried to use on it. Each install has been faultless and the unit is up and running in minutes on a fresh machine.

Daz