Edirol FA 66 Firewire sound card. Anybody using this baby?

[Guest WATERLOGIC]

I just transferred some Ben Webster vinyl using this baby .

 

I am amazed of the quality achieved. I suspect there is a plus factor the card is detached from the comp (no HDD or fan noise ?) . I used 5 m stock firewire cable.

 

Gear used :

 

Mac Pro > FA 66 > Bedini phono stage pre > Notthingham Audio Hyperspace Turntable with DECCA MM cartridge.

 

Software used: Soundtrack Pro 3 set to 32bit/96kHz.

 

Finally, I played with the analog outs (for this you will need " two RCA Female jack to 1/4" male Mono Audio Plug Adapter caa 3 US$) i.e. to see how the FA 66 DAC works.

 

I have heard many DACs so I can say this baby plays quite well. Given its compact size perfect for mac book pro on the go (or also with Windows notebooks with firewire port or express card) . There is also headphone out - which is average ( low impedance cans are fine with this) .

 

I have not checked how much it presently costs (the unit I used was borrowed from a friend) but it should be around US$ 400.

 

http://www.roland.com/products/en/FA-66/

 

As you can see Edirol is a ROLAND company and the LP rip quality shows this big-time.

 

Regards

 

 

WL

 

 

[shigzeo]

I've used many edirol products in the past merely for recording and for their cost/performance ratio. While they are not high-end, I love them. My FA66 is mainly used to test the impedance of earphones on amplifiers and output frequency waves compared to small digital audio players such as the iPod or Cowon D2.

 

I love it - 6 in 6 out is great for running speakers, external headphone amps and works great for digital IN/OUT sources too. What is better is the TRS/XLR balanced input and output for higher power output. Really, really impressed with it. It ain't the final word in HiFi portable recording, but for the size and price, rather impressive.

 

That's it under the MacBook Pro!