Perfect for a beginner to home recording (M-Audio Fast Track USB)

Member Name: mousedadrummer

Product:	M-Audio Fast Track USB
Date:	01/08/09 (57 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Small and light

Disadvantages: Only one channel

This was one of the first pieces of equipment I bought for my home studio about 2 years ago, I have since upgraded from it, but found that the M audio Fast Track is a great piece of equipment to get somebody started in home recording. The box is quite small but has most features you would need for single track recording as is easy to operate. On the back, it has an XLR mic input, TRS jack instrument input, switch to select between mic and jack inputs, phone stereo outputs and USB port. The front has a mic gain, signal and clip indicators, mix balance control, stereo/mono select switch, headphone output and output volume. It is reletivly easy to install as long as you download the correct drivers and has a good sound quality. It does record at 24 bit which is the bit rate most pro recordings are done at, so the quality is pretty good for a small unit. The "mix" control is very useful and allows you to select between how much play back (output signal) and how much input signal you hear in the headphones. This provides latency free monitoring which really does help when recording. For example, if you recording vocals to a backing track, and cant hear yourself singing, turing the control to the left will making the backing track quieter and the sound from the input (mic) louder in the headphones, with no delay. I would probably not recommend this unit for someone that is serious about home recording, but it is perfect for a musician or singer that just wants to record themselves playing or someone who wants to record podcasts etc. Coupled with a decent mic like a Shure SM57, this is a pretty good piece of kit.

Summary: I would recommend

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