Edirol FA-101 Reviews

[brandondrury]

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Is The Edirol FA-101 The Right Audio Interface For You?
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Edirol FA-101 Description
The Edirol FA-101 FireWire Audio Capture Interface gives phenomenal power to the studio musician. It's capable of 24-bit/96kHz digital audio resolution on all 10 channels for pristine multichannel recordings with full duplex monitoring and recording. In addition to 10x10 24-bit/96kHz performance, the FA-101 also offers stereo recording and playback at 24-bit/192kHz for performance at DVD-A and SuperCD quality.

The portable musician will love that the FA-101 draws its power completely from the FireWire bus - there is no need for an electrical hookup.ÿAt an event, all of the band's hardware can be routed through the FA-101 to output to monitors, and at the same time the show can be recorded and, during the break, CDs burned to sell on the spot. The Performance DJ will rely on the FA-101's rugged metal chassis to allow him to pound the clubs without worrying about the state of his audio interface. Back at home, the FA-101 will return as the centerpiece to the home studio.

Because of the FA-101's ability to supply so many simultaneous inputs, it's perfect for any portable audio application. Portability with no limitations means you'll be able to take the FA-101 to any kind of performance to record multitrack audio.

The 2 phantom-powered XLR/TRS combo jacks offer premium mic preamps for incredibly clean recording with studio condenser mics or dynamic stage mics. The back of the FA-101 hosts a number of 1/4" TRS balances inputs and outputs: six inputs and eight outputs in all. The front-mounted S/PDIF optical I/Os transfer audio to and from other digital devices, and the built-in MIDI interface allows a synthesizer or controller keyboard to be connected to the FA-101 for sequencing directly into a software program.

[skilleto]

Quality: 8
I think this unit is well put together. It has an aluminum casing over much of the unit, and plastic in other parts, but all the inputs, and knobs are solid. It's a great looking unit, with a very detailed diagram of the signal routing on the top.

The two built in preamps are a little on the light side as far as the amount of gain that is available, but they do a good job, and at 24 bit you don't have to always have to push your gain right up to 0dB. I've never had a situation arise yet where they weren't able to get me enough signal to be able to get a solid recording.

The phantom power has worked well for me. I have never hooked it up to a volt meter, but it has done well with all the phantom powered mics I have used. Just remember not to have it on if you are recording using the instrument input, and if you are recording in mono make sure to use the 1st channel. If you record using just channel two you will only get a monitoring signal in your right channel.

The additional inputs on the back of the unit work great with external preamps, and give consistent quality. If you are going to record multiple channels at the same time make sure you have adequate system resources, or you may end up with some pops in the recording. I use this unit with a Macbook Pro, with 2Gb of ram, and I have recorded up to 8 tracks at 48 khz with no problems.

On a mac core audio takes care of everything, and there are no drivers to worry about. It shows up in the system preferences, and can selected easily inside of Logic, and Garage Band. Using this unit off of battery power has reasonable power consumption. I have recorded a two hour live show using phantom powered condenser microphones and had enough power left to save my file from Garage band.

Make sure you keep track of the bit rates you sampling frequency, it is controlled by a knob, and not by the software, so if you have it set incorrectly, you could end up with Alvin and the Chipmunks coming out of your monitors.

There is some latency with software monitoring, but it has direct monitoring built in, so you can send a signal to the headphones, and shift the amount of live signal and recorded signal goes to the artist.

Reliability: 10
I have never had a problem with this unit since I purchased it used about 2 years ago. I use it at home, and on the road, and outside of a few scratches it has had no problems at all.

Overall Rating: 9
I've found this unit to be Solid, Flexible, and Portable. It's good for recording anything from a acoustic guitar and vocals, to tracking a whole band if you have enough preamps, and microphones for the job.

This is the perfect unit for someone who wants an audio interface that they can grow with, and make a good quality recording.

[Audio~Geek]

There is no F**KING master volume control. But there IS a sample rate knob. That, in my very humble opinion is F**KING RETARDED!!!

Right now I hate these more than the POS Tascam junk.

[Metaltyme]

Quality: 9
The build quality on this is superb from what I can tell. All knobs and buttons feel very sturdy and are manipulated with a nice smooth resistant glide. The inputs and outputs feel very secure when inserting their respective cords and cables. Such is consistently expected with anything that Roland manufactures. The statement "built like a tank" is a given here as well. I've had mine for about 2 years now, and the hardware is unscathed and works flawlessly just as well as it did when I first bought it. I've unplugged the thing many times to take it to my band's rehearsal space to record our practices. It's survived thus far, so I can't knock it. This isn't one of the more complex interfaces. It captures what I send to it flawlessly. It does what it's supposed to do, with no quips. Personally, I don't think the lack of a master volume is anything to get passionate about, as it really doesn't add any extra steps to my workflow. The sample rate knob that's there is fine. However, my only complaint is that you have to cycle the FA-101's power each time the sample rate's value is changed. So, I give it a 9 for that.

Reliability: 10
Again, reliability is a non issue. I haven't had any problems whatsoever with this unit. I haven't had to contact Roland about the FA-101, or anything else of theirs for that matter. That speaks volumes in reliability to me.

Overall Rating: 10
I would absolutely recommend this to anyone who wants to record their work at home. It's got a nice amount of inputs and outputs. It supports ASIO and WDM drivers. It's device drivers that come with the unit are the original ones released for the unit, and I think that that shows how well conceived the unit was to start with. You can record your material at 24 bits and at a sample rate of 192 kHz. The onboard preamps are very nice and offer plenty of gain for my purposes of rock and metal. It's firewire, so you don't even need a power supply or wal-wart. It looks cool. Red's my favorite color. The signal flow chart laser-engraved on the top of the unit is nice and clearly laid out. It performs well. Latency is insignicant. Blah, Blah, Blah...

Bottom Line: The Edirol FA-101 is a well-built, high-quality audio interface with a simple layout, and it does everything it's designed to do. If I felt that it lacked a feature or benefit that would make a positive difference in my workflow, I would certainly be in the market for something else. But, that hasn't happened yet.