Installation:
Installation of the Link.Firewire was fast and easy; I had the interface installed in under a minute! I was very happy to see Tapco release a standalone driver for this interface instead of the driver we saw with the Link.USB that had to be installed with Tracktion. The Link.Firewire is fully compatible with ASIO2, WDM and Core Audio so it should work perfectly on PC or Mac.

For those without a preferred recording program, or who favour using Mackie's Tracktion software, a copy is included with this interface. This makes it especially a great deal for someone getting into recording for the first time, now you don't need to worry about spending extra money on recording software after buying the interface!

Testing:
Some of you reading this may be unfamiliar with the term "audio interface" so before I go right into talking about how I felt the Link.Firewire performed, I will give you a quick what's what about audio interfaces.

Essentially, an audio interface is the heart of any digital studio. It handles all your inputs and outputs for recording and playback monitoring. Interfaces come in all shapes and sizes, many professional ones used in huge studios can handle upwords of 32+ tracks streaming in simultaneously! For hobby studios it's usually common to see between 2-8 inputs depending on what the user is recording. When using the recording software itself, each individual input on the interface is routed into an individual track on the screen for later mixing and mastering. So with an interface like the Link.Firewire you can have up to 4 simultaneous input tracks recording into your software of choice, or the included Mackie Tracktion software. The interface also eliminates the need for a standard PC sound card in the recording system, although you can keep yours in if you wish to switch back and forth.

Testing System:
CPU: AMD Athlon 64 3200+ (Socket 939) @ stock speeds
Motherboard: Biostar NF4UL-A9
Memory: 512mb Dual Channel OCZ DDR400
HDD: Western Digital 160gb SATA II (WD1600JS), Segate 250gb SATA II
Video: Asus EN7600GS Silent
Sound: Tapco Link.Firewire
Power Supply: Thermaltake Toughpower 850W
OS: Microsoft Windows XP Professional SP2

For playback, I found the Link.Firewire to have great quality. For being an interface priced rather low, only slightly over $210 Canadian, the quality is very good. However, when I put it head to head with a MOTU 8PRE, I found the MOTU to have a slightly tighter and more responsive low end than the Tapco did, but the MOTU is also over four times the price.

Since the preamps are Mackie designed they obviously aren't bad, I found them to sound just great for being in the class they are. But since this is a very budget-minded interface, don't expect professional grade preamps on it because they certainly aren't.

One of my only complaints during testing was that even when the monitor volume was turned all the way down, there still was some sound leakage that could faintly be heard on my monitors.

Conclusion:
If you're looking for a better way to record yourself and possibly get into the recording hobby or just an inaffordable way to record up to four channels at once then the Tapco Link.Firewire is a perfect accessory. One of my only major complaints is the lack of hardware monitoring for the two inputs. With that aside, it performs just great and has an excellent pack of features for the price tag on it. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend it to anyone in need of something like this on a smaller sized budget.

Pros:
Price
Compact size with bus power
4 inputs and 6 outputs
Digital SPDIF ins and outs are handy for expansion
Included Mackie Tracktion recording software
Support for 24bit/96khz audio
Power adapter is included if you don't have the option to use bus power on your system

Cons:
Monitor output connectors felt very cheap
Even with the Monitor volume pot all the way down, some sound still leaked through and was heard
No hardware monitoring