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Firepod to laptop

mrcbass

mrcbass

Jan 14, 2016
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Sacramento, CA
#1
I just picked up a Firepod recording interface and found that it connects to a PC via a firewire which I'd never even heard of (would have been nice if the seller had pointed this difficulty out when I noticed the odd connector port!). My laptop (Dell, win10) doesn't have a firewire connection available. Using Presonus Studio One DAW.

Researching here and other online sources, all the articles seem to be fairly old (5 or more years). 5 years is an eternity in technology years.

Does anyone know if the "Firewire to USB adaptors don't work" mantra is still true?

Can't begin to express how annoying these kinds of discoveries are.

Thanks
 
#2
mrcbass said:
firewire which I'd never even heard of (would have been nice if the seller had pointed this difficulty out when I noticed the odd connector port!)
Click to expand...

It's not a "difficulty"; it's an alternative connector/protocol. Firewire always had significantly more bandwidth than contemporary USB implementations, and the daisy-chaining is an added bonus. Firewire ports are (were) widespread on Macs. I still have two older MacBooks with Firewire ports, which still work fine with my PreSonus Inspire units. These days Firewire and USB are both eclipsed by Thunderbolt.

Sounds like you should have done your research.

Does anyone know if the "Firewire to USB adaptors don't work" mantra is still true?
Click to expand...

No idea, but it sounds like a kludge at best. I certainly wouldn't rely on it for anything remotely critical.
 
#3
Firewire was the preferred interface for recording interface vs. USB back in the day. If your laptop has a PC card slot, you can get an adapter that goes there, probably preferable to a USB-FireWire adapter.

39-158-040-06.jpg
 
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#6
I still sometimes use a Firepod on a MacBook Pro, using a firewire-to-Thunderbolt adapter. Works fine; but of course the drivers and ports you're working with aren't the same.

Check on the Dell community sites for advice. (For example, Invalid Link Removed being helped in connecting a firewire device to his Dell Studio 15 laptop.)
 
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#7
mrcbass said:
Does anyone know if the "Firewire to USB adaptors don't work" mantra is still true?
Click to expand...

Yeah, pretty much true.

Firewire and USB are very, very different methods of transferring data. They just don't work the same, they use completely different microprocessors. It's kinda like trying to force video over an audio system. So yeah, no simple just-plug-it-in "adapters".

There have been devices on the market that have a bunch of different ports, usually called a port expander or a dock. Like this - OWC Thunderbolt Dock. But they're expensive (usually $200-300) because they have on-board processors that make the necessary format conversions before sending data on to the computer. It's basically like hooking up a small computer in between your device and your computer. And I'm guessing (hoping) that $200-300 is a fair bit more than you paid for the Firepod. Aside from the cost, whether or not one of these is even technically viable depends on exactly what ports you have on your laptop - USB 2.0? USB 3.0? USB type C? Thunderbolt? If you've got thousands of dollars in firewire video and/or audio gear a conversion dock makes financial sense, otherwise not so much.

Alternately, if you've got a desktop machine you can pop a firewire card in easy as pie. I'm still using an RME Fireface 800 this way.
 
#9
EastCoastThump said:
I still sometimes use a Firepod on a MacBook Pro, using a firewire-to-Thunderbolt adapter. Works fine; but of course the drivers and ports you're working with aren't the same.

Check on the Dell community sites for advice. (For example, Invalid Link Removed being helped in connecting a firewire device to his Dell Studio 15 laptop.)
Click to expand...
Thanks. Article is 6 years old and my Dell looks nothing like that one. Also a different use.
 
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#10
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#11
filmtex said:
Sell it. You're likely never going to have a good time mating that Firepod up to a Windows PC. There's somebody out there with a Mac that'll be glad to get it. And yrp, too bad the seller didn't tell you about that, but...
https://www.amazon.com/PreSonus-FIREPOD-Firewire-Interface/dp/B00061ZLWA
10 seconds on google.com.
Click to expand...
Yeah, that's where I'm at. I did spend quite a bit of time researching this device - was more concerned about Win 10 compatibility. Didn't even think to be concerned with how it connects and after being told I "should have done my research", it took me 15 minutes on the presonus site to even find the word "firewire" in relationship to this device and that was actively trying to find a reference on this. For those of us who don't know about "firewire", even that doesn't explicitly indicate I need a special port on my computer. I hope your right that I can find a buyer - glad it was cheap...
 
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#12
mrcbass said:
Yeah, that's where I'm at. I did spend quite a bit of time researching this device - was more concerned about Win 10 compatibility. Didn't even think to be concerned with how it connects and after being told I "should have done my research", it took me 15 minutes on the presonus site to even find the word "firewire" in relationship to this device and that was actively trying to find a reference on this. For those of us who don't know about "firewire", even that doesn't explicitly indicate I need a special port on my computer. I hope your right that I can find a buyer - glad it was cheap...
Click to expand...
I'm glad you got it figured. I'm sorry if I came across as snarky, that really wasn't my intent. Firewire has been part of my workflow for so many years now that I just assumed it was common knowledge. My mistake.I borrowed one of those from one of my guitar players last year, it works really good. PM me with a price, I might be interested.
 
#13
mrcbass said:
Thanks. Article is 6 years old and my Dell looks nothing like that one. Also a different use.
Click to expand...
Nope, since you made me guess: I'm guessing that your Dell is 6 years old, and it's very similar—no, wait—*exactly like* the one owed by the user who posted in the Dell forums. :)

Thank you for playing "Guess My Laptop!"

BTW, my advice is still check the Dell forums about success connecting to particular audio interfaces. Just ask about whatever your laptop model is.
 
#14
mrcbass said:
Yeah, that's where I'm at. I did spend quite a bit of time researching this device - was more concerned about Win 10 compatibility. Didn't even think to be concerned with how it connects and after being told I "should have done my research", it took me 15 minutes on the presonus site to even find the word "firewire" in relationship to this device and that was actively trying to find a reference on this. For those of us who don't know about "firewire", even that doesn't explicitly indicate I need a special port on my computer. I hope your right that I can find a buyer - glad it was cheap...
Click to expand...
Welcome to the world of computers, I guess? Outboard devices connect to computers in various ways, it's kinda always on you to ascertain whether items are compatible with your system.

As far as finding "firewire" in relationship to the device - hopefully you get it now, but there's a reason they called it a Firepod. And it has nothing to do with operating temperature.

And before you proceed with buying any other audio interface, make sure exactly what type of USB port you have. There are different types. If you purchase an audio interface that requires USB 3.1 and all your laptop does is USB 2.0, you're going to be right back in the same boat. The type of port you need will practically always be listed in the "system requirements" of any audio interface, along with minimum processor, memory, and operating system specifications.
 
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