Anyone gone from Duet FW to iConnectaudio4+?

[Mattww]

Although my FW duet is still working in El Capitan I know that it's no longer getting software updates so have been on the look out for a possible upgrade, especially as I know ultimately FireWire is on the way out.

I recently came across the iConnectaudio4+ and it looks like it has several advantages I can see:

No drivers required - so little/no risk of being stuck for software support.
Extra inputs so I could record a guitar via DI and a Mic and mix them together, plus another Mic at once.
No break out cables - these are a bit of a mess on the desk with the duet.
Options for using iOS apps as well as my Mac if I wanted.
Midi support for adding a keyboard in the future, connecting to effects with midi.
Bonus feature can charge my Phone.

The negatives I can see are the company seems to be fairly new so not many reviews.
Unknown sound quality comparison - the Duet was always highly regarded and I'd probably go for the Duet 2 but it seems like an expensive upgrade for basically what I had before just on USB and the 4+ is significantly cheaper yet offers lots more.
I've read some complaints about issues with certain settings being unusable and they are waiting for Apple to patch (as it has no drivers to modify) and ongoing delays for iOS config app version.

Anyone made this change and if so how was it?

 

[BigRed1]

I had looked at the iConnectaudi2+ (I also have an Apogee FW device which is running fine in El Capitan), but the reviews seemed mixed at best. Have you looked at the reviews on Sweetwater and gearslutz? I think that's where I saw some of the negative reviews.

The fact that you don't need drivers means that, just like Apogee, they are relying on Apple's drivers. That means if Apple abandons their development like they did with FW audio that you'll be out of luck again. I've said it before and I'll say it again: I think this decision by Apple is really really piss-poor. A lot of us invested a lot of money in firewire devices expecting them to be worthwhile and useful for years to come. Now, while they still SELL a computer with firewire, they have abandoned it. That's just terrible.