Presonus question and opinion please reply soon

Posted: Sat Nov 03, 2007 3:22 am

I have been saving my nickels and dimes for a good time now, I am a music student and am approaching a time where I have enough money to invest in a recording interface, Presonus for the price has 8 input firewire interfaces here is the problem

It appears that they are discontinuing the presonus firepod, which is 400 dollars and replacing it with the exact same thing labeled differently, presonus FP10 for 500 dollars, at this same price they are selling this new product called the Firestudio Project for 500 dollars. I am trying to find all the pros and cons quickly as the firepod is obviously going to be discontinued any day.

Here are the Musician Friends links so you can look at specs, only the firepod actually comes with a manual link, also the firepod claims to have an A/D/A converter, which the others only claim to have a A/D but it might be mislabelled

Firepod
http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/PreSonus-Firepod-FireWire-Interface-with-Cubase-LE?sku=184131

FP10
http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/PreSonus-FP10-10x10-FireWire-Interface?sku=242036

FireStudio Project
http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/PreSonus-FireStudio-Project?sku=241723

I will note for a limited time the firestudio project also comes with a handy 150 dollar remote, this does not sway my opinion to much, but if it really came down to it, could change my opinion

Posted: Sat Nov 03, 2007 3:29 am

A huge thing that I just noticed, but am not 100% sure about is whether there is Phantom power on the Firestudio project

Posted: Sat Nov 03, 2007 5:37 am

Presonus didn't discontinue the Firepod - they simply relabelled it the FP10 (apparently because Apple complained about trademark infringement due the 'pod' part of the name.). The yreduced the price on the remaining Firepods to clear stock. The FP10 price is, according to Presonus, the same as the price of the Firepod before the name change sell-off.

You can find all of the manuals you need here: http://www.presonus.com/downloads.html#manuals

You might also look at the Presonus forums - they have several discussion about the difference between the Firepod and FP10 (none according to Presonus staff even though the advertising blurbs make it sound otherwise Smile

)

The Firestudio does have Phantom Power. It can be turned on separately for channels 1-4 and 5-8. Also, the Firestudio has an ADAT connection which the FP10 does not have.

Also, I'm not sure I understand your question about A/D/A converters. All three units can accept digital signals through Firewire and output an audio signal to speakers. That requires a D/A converter.

Posted: Sat Nov 03, 2007 7:38 am

If there are analog outputs, there is a DA converter which would make all of the units have an A/D/A. It's simply an oversight in the marketing.

Posted: Sat Nov 03, 2007 10:15 am

If your looking for a good sound card with interface i would recomend emus
http://www.emu.com/products/ they got great stuff and i think that u get a great deal for your cash
just my 2 pesos

Posted: Sat Nov 03, 2007 12:08 pm

Thanks for your help, the emu's are very nice, especially since I am using a laptop, but for the price it appears that I get much more with the presonus. Most noticeable the 8 preamped inputs and the midi on the back. Plus I have recorded with a friends Emu (one now discontinued) and it brought many problems.

Also Hummel, I could be wrong on the adat, but there are two different firestudios

there is the firestudio 24 input with adat on the back

http://presonus.com/firestudio_project.html

and there is the firestudio project which I think is new it has meters one the front and is much like the fp10 but claims to be an improved version for the same price

http://presonus.com/firestudio_project.html

just so you know I only bold the words to easily see a difference, links to the presonus sight is there too, to see the difference

Posted: Sat Nov 03, 2007 12:27 pm

Jazzpunk1020 wrote:

but there are two different firestudios

Yes, you are right. I hadn't realized they had two. And you are also right that the Firestudio Project doesn't have an on-line manual. Must be a fairly recent release.

Posted: Sat Nov 03, 2007 12:54 pm

Im saving up for the fireStudio project right now (sorry for the camelCasing, web design habits)...
I would also be happy to have the toneport ux8 or the m-audio projectmix but for $400 Im gonna get that fireStudio Project from presonus...

not sure why you guys would rather have 2 ins than 8 though, that still confuses me...

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