bitflipper
Yeh, and you just can't find RS-232 interfaces anymore, either!

 
Ha! Silly Bitflipper, RS-232 is still a major thing. No, really, in networking, RS-232 is included on basically every device. It is what is used for console access to the switches and routers. Why? Compatibility with existing architecture in part (Serial Console Managers are frequently deployed for out of band management) but also because it is simple and stateless. You don't have to worry about if anything is on the other end, you can just dump output to it and it'll be looked at or it won't. Also very simple to implement.
 
So high end network gear, storage equipment, and servers all do serial management. Dell's latest R730s still do management over serial.
 
Heck, I used RS-232 just last weekend. Had to reconfigure our switches and one of the changes required removing the management IP address from one VLAN and putting it on another. There's no good way to do that via IP, since you have to remove before you add, so serial it was :D.
 
It is funny the technologies that endure, and RS-232 is one of them. Granted it is only in some select markets, but it is still going strong where it is used.

I would not consider any firewire device to be obsolete as long as it is still working with you OS.  I say this because so many of the firewire devices/interfaces I know of and some I own, work via Thunderbolt.  I don't see TB going away for a very long time and it will only get better (can't wait until we have fiber optics as originally planned).   The only thing lacking in this respect is a fuller featured hub.  (TB can carry USB also.)
 
Just my 2¢.
 
Kind regards,
 
tecknot

I still use my Echo Audiofire 8. Works good, sounds great. Low latency and has all the input/output I need. I know someday it will have to be replaced but I will worry about that when it happens.   Dan

I'm still using my Focusrite Saffire Pro26IO from 2007 and do not intend to change it until it breaks.

I'm still using my PreSonus 2626 and don't intend changing unless it breaks.
My StudioLive 32ai uses FW800 as standard,  all the new PreSonus rack mixers use FW800 as standard.

I've been considering a Focusrite Saffire Pro 26 and a Thunderbolt 2 card for my new 4790k PC, as a budget entry to TB. I could get a Clarett later.....   Firewire seems "not quite dead yet", just sort of in "rehab" LOL
 
The only usb units that I'm waiting to read reviews on are the Tascam us16X08 and Arturia's AudioFuse, which could be quite the solution (it is almost twice the Saffire with a FW card).
 
For me, RME is/has been high class/price I/O, along with Antelope's Zen Pro Studio, but at that level the Black Lion stuff gets really interesting conversion-wise. When I read that Mutt Lange was using BLA stuff, I started checking into it. The Sparrow Mk II Red can be upgraded to White. Since I do mostly one track at a time, I am plotting an I/O improvement for now, with that top level quality conversion as soon as I can.
 
The BLA mods are also something to consider for "dated" or even current gear. It's really an exciting time, gear and software wise!
Michael

TC Konnekt just updated their FW drivers last year.  Finally low latency.  So I don't think they (or me) plan on doorstopping their products.
 
@

I purchased 2 Yamaha 01x digital desks a few years back. 1 year later they discontinued the product and never wrote another driver! I had to replace them as there were no functional 64bit drivers. They also relied on a Texas Instruments firewire chip, so when express card slots were dumped it was very near impossible to find a laptop to run them. I would never buy Yamaha again - or firewire for that matter

Hi kitekrazy1,
 
I have a TC Impact Twin, MOTU Traveler 1st gen, and MOTU Traveler Mk3. They all work fine in Windows 7, 8 and 8.1. I use whatever the usual non-legacy Firewire driver that is being used. I have also tried the legacy driver, it makes no difference whatsoever in compatibility. I think the legacy driver is a bit slower, but that could just be my imagination.
 
My Dell laptop has a Ricoh chipset using the Ricoh 1394 driver. Folks on the web swear up and down that Ricoh is crap and gives them endless grieves, mine just seems OK. My other Fujitsu laptop doesn't have Firewire built in, but it does have an ExpressCard slot. I put in a StarTech Firewire card (TI chipset) into the slot, and again I don't have any issues.
 
At one time I had lots of issues with getting the Firewire devices to work. Either Windows would not detect them, or BSOD quickly when I started using them. I eventually tracked it down to a bad cable. After the cable was replaced, it was all good.
 
So perhaps I'm just being lucky with Firewire, but then I have never tried any of the brands in your list. That said, if I were to continue using Firewire, it looks like the only option left is Thunderbolt (or ExpressCard slot, but that's rare and performance is not ideal). Someday I would probably switch over to USB, just not now though as my Firewire devices are still working.

kitekrazy1
M-Audio FW 410 - no W8 support.  I have yet to find a person who runs W8 with no problems.
[...]
I will not be buying any hardware from M-Audio, Tascam, Yamaha and Presonus. Part of it is quality and long lists of legacy products.

Struggling to understand how lack of W8 support could be an issue given the product. I have de-installed W8 more times than I have installed W7.
 
My FW-410 is quite an old device now as these things go and I had no hope that it would be useful beyond XP however M-Audio produced the goods with the Vista x64 drivers when I moved to it and to my surprise made W7 x64 drivers available which I am using as I type this. My FW-410 has been rock-steady for a long time now and if M-Audio decide not to produce W10 drivers I will not think badly of them - it seems unreasonable and not a little naive to expect manufacturers to produce drivers for legacy products for ever. I won't have any qualms about buying another product from them. I can't speak for the others you mentioned and am not associated with M-Audio other than as a user.