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M-Audio seems to be constantly looking for what a consumer desires in low-cost consumer audio gear. As time and technology progresses, it seems that home audio interfaces are becoming faster, smaller, and more feature-packed than ever before. At first glance, the Fast Track Ultra seems to fit perfectly into this mold. The unit is an development on the previous Fast Track Pro, and finds a happy middle-ground between being a small and lightweight portable interface, and a studio tool with a wealth of I/O options and high-quality components.

As a longtime owner of the now aging M-audio OmniStudio interface, I was curious how this new M-audio interface would stack up against what I considered my small home-studio workhorse. So is M-audio able to continue to improve upon their product line, or are their promises becoming too good to be true?

 

The Unit

The body of the Fast Track Ultra is clearly a tight squeeze for a unit containing four XLR mic pre-amp inputs on the front face. While my M-audio OmniStudio would support rack ears, the Fast Track is only just over a half rack space wide, clearly showing it is intended mainly as a desktop interface. The unit’s body is plastic, as opposed to the OmniStudio unit which is cased in an aluminum shell. Combined with some questionably loose 1/4” inputs, I am reluctant to say whether the unit would be able to endure heavy use as a portable audio interface. Nevertheless, it is a very attractive unit with easily accessible connections and knobs, giving it a very use-friendly image from the start.

 

The I/O

Many low-cost and portable audio interfaces seem to fit into two categories: The small 2-channel interface for simple projects or stereo remote recordings (Presonus Firebox, M-Audio Fast Track Pro), or the expanded units, often with eight built-in pres (Presonus Firestudio, Alesis MultiMix). With four built-in mic pre-amps, the Fast Track Ultra fits nicely in the middle.

The M-Audio Fast Track Ultra provides a complete recording solution, with six channels of analog inputs and outputs plus 2-channel digital S/PDIF I/O. Unlike most USB audio interfaces, it features two dedicated inserts on the first two channels, giving you the ability to insert outboard processing before A/D conversion. Easy connection via a single USB 2.0 cable delivers both audio and MIDI communication with your computer.

 

 

Getting Connected

The Fast Track Ultra is the first interface released by M-audio to have USB 2.0 connectivity, a change that seems a bit late. After booting up your computer, you may be surprised to find out that the Fast Track Ultra will power up as well, even without a power adapter. The unit can run with a minimal 2-in 2-out connectivity while being powered through the USB bus alone. A 5V power adapter, which looks oddly like a cell phone power supply, allows for full usage of the I/O options.

I noticed a weird problem after tracking some MIDI keyboards using the unit's USB bus power. In order to hear playback, I put on my headphones and immediately noticed a hum. After unplugging the MIDI cable, the hum vanished. I decided to leave the MIDI cable inserted and plug in the power adapter. After restarting the unit, the hum again was gone.

The included drivers and software couldn’t have been easier to install on my Mac. The unit supports ASIO and WDM on PC, and core audio on Mac. The installation includes a Control Panel that exists both in the Applications folder and in System Preferences, bringing up the software mixer and monitor controls. Within less than ten minutes, you should be setup and ready to go.

 

The Control Panel

The Fast Track Ultra allows monitoring all eight direct inputs (six analog channels and two of S/PDIF digital) as well as software returns, all of which can be separately adjusted in the Control Panel. The monitor windows are clean and simple, and allow fast and easy adjustments with flexible routing. The window looks like a basic mixer and includes a fader, pan, solo, mute, stereo channel link, and an effect send, as well as master out faders with effects return.

Adding up to monitor control, there is a tab for settings, meters, and a status screen labeled “about”. There is also a unusual tab named “flow” that initially seems to be a visual means of re-routing I/O. The screen is, in fact, a diagram for reference, perhaps to give a better on-screen understanding of the unit's signal flow.

The settings tab has a sample rate selector, a toggle between internal and external clock sync, and settings for the hardware DSP processors, but before you get too excited, this is not intended to be a software plug-ins solution, but pretty a tool for routing monitor reverb or delay to a player without exhausting the cpu. This is a smart and useful, yet partial concept. Each channel is given an individual effect blend via the control panel, but the effects are restricted to several reverb, delay, and echo settings, all of which do not sound particularly great. Even so, this feature is not found on most units in this price range, and is a nice tool to have handy, regardless of its limitations.

 

 

The Sound

After completing a project, I am very pleased with the functionality of the unit. I connected it to an iMac with an external firewire hard drive, and we recorded up to six channels flawlessly, with very minimal latency and no clicks or other digital errors.

My only complaint is that the headphone outputs did not have enough gain to my liking, especially for drum tracking. A solution to this could be a better isolating pair of headphones.

Although the build quality of this audio interface seems decent enough, it is still a downgrade from my older OmniStudio, which has a heavier chassis and tighter knobs. Even so, I think the fast track would resist the test of time as long as it’s treated with care.

Whether you’re a musician, producer or DJ, the powerful combination of Apple and M-Audio Fast Track Ultra gives you everything you need to put together a high-powered personal studio.