M-Audio FireWire 1814 User manual

FireWire 1814
Quick Start Guide
™

M-Audio FireWire 1814 Quick Start Guide
Thank you for choosing the M-Audio FireWire 1814, the professional, portable audio and
MIDI interface for your laptop or desktop computer. Using the convenience and
dependability of the IEEE 1394 (FireWire) bus, the FireWire 1814 provides your computer
with a high-performance, high-resolution 18x14 multi-channel audio interface, as well as
sixteen channels of MIDI in and out, in a rugged, lightweight, and highly portable design.
Its extremely high-capacity I/O and advanced front-panel monitoring capabilities make
it the ideal companion to your laptop-based mobile recording or performance setup.
This Quick Start Guide is designed to give you a basic overview of the FireWire 1814 in
order to get you up and running quickly. Even if you’re an experienced computer user
and sound recordist, we suggest you take the time to read the accompanying Users’
Manual. It will familiarize you with the unit’s more advanced features and help you to get
the most out of your FireWire 1814.
You will find the device manual on the included Driver CD. Open the “Manuals” folder,
locate the folder for your native language, and then open the FireWire 1814 manual. The
manual is in pdf format, and requires Adobe Acrobat Reader.
Installing the FireWire 1814
Note: Do NOT connect the FireWire 1814 to your computer until
you have run the installer program.
Begin by inserting the Driver CD-ROM into your computer. Browse to the FireWire 1814
folder, and double-click the installer file (on the Mac, there will be an installer file folder
for your particular operating system—OS X or OS 9).
Run the installer application and follow the onscreen instructions. Windows users don’t
need to worry about the “Windows Logo Testing” messages since our drivers are tested
to be of the highest quality (see manual for details). The necessary system files will be
copied to your computer’s hard drive. Once you’ve completed the installation, you will be
prompted to shut down your computer. After you have powered off your system, connect
the FireWire 1814 to your computer’s FireWire port and power it on. When you reboot your
system, it will recognize the new device and complete the driver installation. Your FireWire
1814 is then ready to use.
For more detailed information on installing the FireWire 1814 under your particular
operating system, please refer to your Users’ Manual.

Connnecting the FireWire 18|14
Audio
Connect the FireWire 1814’s Line Outputs 1 and 2 to your amplifier, powered monitors, or
mixer. For two-channel stereo operation, the default outputs are channels 1 and 2. (You
may change this in the FireWire 1814 Control Panel if you desire.) You can also connect
the FireWire 1814’s four line outputs to a stand-alone mixer.
Connect your headphones to the FireWire 1814’s headphone outputs.
Connect microphones or instruments (such as an electric guitar or bass guitar) to the
Mic/Inst preamp input channels 1 and 2. Make sure the Mic/Line switch is set to the “Mic”
(button out) position to use the front panel inputs. Connect your line level analog sources,
instruments, or preamp outputs, such as a CD deck or turntable preamp, to the FireWire
1814’s analog Line Inputs 3 & 4, 5 & 6, and 7 & 8.
Connect your ADAT (or ADAT Optical Capable) or optical S/PDIF device to the optical
digital I/O. Connect your coaxial S/PDIF digital devices to the FireWire 1814’s coaxial
digital I/O.
MIDI
Connect your MIDI device’s MIDI output to the FireWire 1814’s MIDI input. Connect your
MIDI device’s MIDI input to the FireWire 1814’s MIDI output.
A typical setup would be a MIDI controller keyboard plugged into the FireWire 1814’s MIDI
input. A MIDI sound module or other sound generating device (such as a drum machine)
may be connected to the FireWire 1814’s MIDI output.
Using The Control Paneling the Control Panel
The control panel gives you a powerful multi-channel software mixer with up to fourteen
virtual outputs (in stereo pairs) from your audio software. Each output pair may be routed
to any of the FireWire 1814’s analog or digital outputs. In addition, two mono software
auxiliary sends are available per stereo pair.
The control panel also gives you access to assigning functions to the physical level
controller knob and A/B switch, selecting the buffer size and master clock, and
numerous other important features.
For complete information on fully utilizing all of the FireWire 1814 Control Panel’s features,
please refer to the Users’ Manual.