I am looking for an audio interface for my iMac for 5.1 surround sound monitoring, to be used with Final Cut Studio and Logic Pro. I don't have the monitors yet, but one thing at a time...

Searching in this forum has brought up many posts written over the last year or so that seem to indicate that the M-Audio Firewire 410 is a popular choice for this. Is this still the case today, or are there other solutions that I should take a look at?

Thanks in advance for your suggestions!

- Martin

The MAudio is still a great choice. PreSonus has some great options, Echo is still one of my faves. Their drivers are simply stable no matter what.

Echo is still one of my faves. Their drivers are simply stable no matter what.Thanks, Spot - I assume the AUDIOFIRE8 would be the unit to look at from Echo? Stable drivers are important, no doubt. I recall reading that the M-Audio FW 410 didn't exactly shine in this area, but that was in posts made over a year ago when companies may have still been struggling with Apple's move to Intel CPUs - so maybe this doesn't apply anymore today.

So far, we have:
- M-Audio Firewire 410 - street price around $250
- Echo AUDIOFIRE8 - street price around $500

- Martin

I have an AudioFire8 and will testify that it is an excellent unit.