Im leaning tword the Presonus FP10 because it on sale for 399 and I have read nothing but good things about it here.

Any one else use any of this gear?

If you saved $100 you could just get the Firestudio. I'm happy with it cause I can add more pres if I ever get them.

I've had good luck with my Presonus FirePod -- I haven't used any others from your list.

Thanks guys. I ended up buying the presonus FP10 (formaly the firpod). The firestudio didnt have 64bit drivers yet and I havnt read anything bad about presonus so I picked it up. If I get any decent recordings Ill post 'em up.

I havnt read anything bad about presonus

OK, the Presonus Bluetube "mic pre" is junk.

There, now you have read something bad about Presonus.

Other than that, they're a respectable company - I can't complain, I've got quite a few pieces of Presonus gear.

Enjoy the FP10!

MOTU 8PRE! Cause i love them :P

So how many mics can you record simultaneously with the FP10 you bought? I was researching stuff yesterday, and I wasn't sure how many were actual mic lines or instrument lines? Could you say do bass drum, snare, two overheads, a couple of guitars, bass and vocals simultaneously?

And does it come with any recording programs or anything?

its 8 on each unit, both FP10 and MOTU 8pre. 8 MICs and 2 optical.

You can daisy chain up to 4 units i think. for a total of 32 inputs at once.

The pre sonus have pres too built in from what I've read.

I was looking at the Maudio Delta 10 and read on a site I'd have to buy pres to use it. Do you have to buy a preamp for each mic you use or is it some kind of multi preamp you plug into the system once?

Just wondering how much extra money I'd have to spend if I decided to go the M audio way since that's compatible with protools?

How about the motu stuff, either 8 pre or 24I/O? Do they have pres built in or not?

rainsong23 wrote: So how many mics can you record simultaneously with the FP10 you bought? I was researching stuff yesterday, and I wasn't sure how many were actual mic lines or instrument lines? Could you say do bass drum, snare, two overheads, a couple of guitars, bass and vocals simultaneously?

And does it come with any recording programs or anything?

YES

8 mic lines in w/ 2 spdif in and 8 line out 2 spdif out. 2 of the 8 mic lines in have instrument level inputs also but all 8 mic lines have pre's. It comes with cubase LE which I'm new to but seems to be pretty easy to figure out so far.

bent wrote: OK, the Presonus Bluetube "mic pre" is junk.

Thanks, I saw one of those on craigslist and was pondering it. I decided to fix my room first. I'm thinking that was a good decision.

Anybody got opinions on Line 6 gear? There is a Line 6 Tone Port UX8 for about $650 at one of the music stores I visited in seoul the other day. Is it good stuff, junk? It does have pres in it I believe. How does it compare to the PreSonus FP10 which I think I was gravitating towards? Should I stick with the PreSonus or consider giving the Line 6 a try. I'll be buying a 17inch MacbookPro by the way, trying to get the 7200rpm harddrive and eventually upgrading the Ram to the maximum possible of 4 gig.

What are the advantages of using a seperate mic-pre over a built-in one?

AnomalyAlecB wrote: What are the advantages of using a seperate mic-pre over a built-in one?

Depends upon your intentions and how much you spend... The separate pres are "USUALLY," but not always, better quality than built-ins. The newest Mackie boards and Presonus pres, for example, are definitely good enough for all but the most demanding - at least for rock n roll. You'd prolly need better pres for quiet acoustic, or classical music though.

BTW, I liked my 2 Firepods... sold 'em to move up to the Firestudio (needed the digital I/O) so I could also use a Focusrite 428 and Ampex 354 for different flavors.

I've been hearing good things about the Firepods... and someone just recommended for me to get the Mackie Onyx in another thread.

You said you needed the Firestudio for the digital I/O...
soo...
explain to me why that's so important. I think I know. But I don't trust myself in the presence of people that know x32453465 what I know.

And I'm probably going to be buying the OO3R and running PT, if that adds any weight to this question.

AnomalyAlecB wrote: And I'm probably going to be buying the OO3R and running PT, if that adds any weight to this question.

Not really - it would just reset to zero all the advice you have received so far, that's all.

With PT and the 003R, all you can use to expand the number of channels are pre-amps with ADAT outputs.

Work out what you actually want in terms of number of channels and other capability, and come back here for further advice once you have decided.

re: "...You said you needed the Firestudio for the digital I/O...
I bet he said/meant FIREWIRE for digital I/O. It has faster transfer speed than more available USB2.
Determine how many channels you want to record simultaneously. Most interfaces with>4 channels allow daisy-chaining units (8+8+ etc)
Most units also come "bundled" with software - try it you may like it.
There's life AFTER PT...

I'm quite aware that there are more things on this Earth than PT. I didn't really want to delve down its path, but my friend went and bought the software, so I don't really want to argue over something I can't really debunk totally. As it is the "industry standard" I'm not going to be too mad to have to learn it, and it must be somewhat good. I don't really want to shell out the money for another program.

I think I really won't be needing more than 6 channels at a time, that being for drumset. And that's when I actually get some decent overheads.

And so for preamps, will I really need a preamp for each channel if I use the 003R? I'm really kinda fuzzy on the topic of preamps... If it is necessary, then by all means, tell me.

003R Directly from the Digidesign website

* High-speed FireWire connectivity
* 18 simultaneous channels of audio I/O
* 24-bit/96 kHz resolution
* 8 analog inputs, 8 analog outputs
* 4 professional mic preamps; 48V phantom power enabled on channel pairs
* 8 channels of ADAT optical I/O or two channels of S/PDIF optical I/O
* 2 channels of S/PDIF digital I/O
* 1 MIDI input, 2 MIDI outputs (16 channels in/32 channels out)
* BNC Word Clock I/O
* Dedicated studio monitor output, plus alternate control room output
* Alternate Source input for external device monitoring
* Dual headphone outputs

Correct me if I'm wrong but it has 4 built in MIC pre amps. That means that if you need more then 4 MICs at one time then you will need separate pre amp/s

Sorry for misusing certain words. It's sure to happen again; I'm learning.

So... since I will likely be using 3 instrument mics, a bass mic, and two overheads on the kit, I will need a seperate mic pre.

Ok.

Suggestions as to which one?

Or should I resort to a different interface?

AnomalyAlecB wrote: I've been hearing good things about the Firepods... and someone just recommended for me to get the Mackie Onyx in another thread.

You said you needed the Firestudio for the digital I/O...
soo...
explain to me why that's so important. I think I know. But I don't trust myself in the presence of people that know x32453465 what I know.

And I'm probably going to be buying the OO3R and running PT, if that adds any weight to this question.

I needed the S/MUX to connect the digital outs from my Focusrite 428 directly to the Firestudio's Firewire since the 428's probably got better digital converters (and I like the softlimit feature which can't be used with analog connections).

As for Pro Tools, you'll be spending more money than necessary to use a proprietary system which is only ubiquitous in the States, and only for music. For Film, I believe there are more Steinberg Nuendo and Cubase SX users (just a guess).

It pays to be familiar with PT if you are an engineer/producer for hire. Otherwise, I'd recommend nearly ANYTHING else, and avoid the expense of the proprietary system (notice Pro Tools is a proprietary system and you can only use specific hardware/software, which limits choices, and increases expenses without increasing usefulness or benefits).

rainsong23 wrote: Anybody got opinions on Line 6 gear? There is a Line 6 Tone Port UX8 for about $650 at one of the music stores I visited in seoul the other day. Is it good stuff, junk?

Hi,

I'v seen this [[url=http://[/URL]="http://external-aud…"]review about the Toneport UX8[/]="http://external-aud…"]review about the Toneport UX8[/] and it seems to be great !