Company Behringer is one of the leaders in sound studio equipment production, as in overall quality level, so in value/price level, among its audio interfaces there are very professional devices, designed for work in large studios, for example, Behringer FIREPOWER FCA1616. Device can work with 96 kHz and 24 bits per sample, supports connection with computer via USB and Firewire interfaces, it has 16 inputs and 16 outputs and to its microphone inputs MIDAS preamplifiers are connected. On frontal panel of audio interface following are placed : 4 combined XLR/TRS 1/4″ jack microphone/instrumental Hi-Z inputs; gain control knobs and instrumental mode, compressor, +48 V phantom power and PAD function switches with indicators for all of these inputs; 2 TRS 1/4″ jack monitor headphones outputs with volume control knobs, mono mode switch and source selector for second input with indicators; inputs and outputs work lights, digital and analogue inputs mixing balance knob, outputs volume controller with channels selector for it with LED activity light; and indicators of power, USB or Firewire connection, digital inputs and outputs, MIDI input and output and work of coaxial, optical, ADAT and S/MUX connections with digital interface selector. On its back panel there are : power adapter input; Kensington Lock slot; MIDI input and output; USB and Firewire ports; digital optical and coaxial inputs and outputs; 8 TRS 1/4″ jack linear balanced outputs ( 1st and 2nd are main ones ); 8 TRS 1/4″ jack Inserts ports; and 4 the same type balanced linear inputs.
Dynamic range of frontal inputs of Behringer FIREPOWER FCA1616 is 102 dB, impedance is 1 MOhm in instrumental mode and 3 kOhms in microphone mode, with +18 – +60 dB amplification and maximal input signal level 14 dB; inputs on back panel has following characteristics : 100 dB dynamic range, 47 kOhms impedance, 14 dB maximal input signal; Inserts : 47 kOhms impedance and 21 dB maximal input signal; analogue outputs : 200 Ohms impedance, 8 dB balanced maximal output signal; headphones outputs : 10 Ohms impedance and 22 dB maximal signal level. Device has 20 W max power consumption; its body is made from aluminum, its sizes are 50 ( height ) x 482.6 ( width ) x 161 ( depth ) mm and mass is 1.8 kg. For Windows XP, Vista, 7, 8, 8.1 and 10 for audio interface drivers are released with ASIO 2.0 interface support, in Mac OS X it works without additional drivers with Core Audio interface support, via which it interacts with modern DAWs : FL Studio, Cackewalk Sonar, REAPER, Avid Pro Tools, Ableton Live, Steinberg Cubase and others. After purchase there is ability to download from manufacturer’s site DAW Tracktion and large amount of VST instruments and effects and sounds samples.
Package contains : Behringer FIREPOWER FCA1616 audio interface itself, USB and Firewire cables, disks with drivers and software, warranty card and user’s guide. Audio interface is great and it is designed for work in large studios, for them it is one of the best devices. For small studios such large amount of connectors is not needed and there is ability to buy audio interfaces with smaller connectors amount and price and the same level of components quality of Steinberg, Behringer itself, Focusrite, Roland, ESI, M-Audio and other manufacturers production.
