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presonus firepod users out there?

D

discoboo

Dec 25, 2002
212
1
charleston, sc
#1
i purchased one this morning. i'm pretty stoked about it. my band has been using a tascam 4 track and i'm getting tired with its limits so i finally socked away enough gig money and decided to take the plunge into the 21st century.
so what are your opinions of this product? did i choose wisely?
my girl is gonna dig it the first time i say, "honey, i'm takin' the laptop to band pratice!"
thanks for any and all thoughts...
 
#2
No, I don't have one, but I have been eyeing it very heartily. I'm trying to rationalize whether or not I will actually use the FirePOD to the fullest extent of its abilities at all, or if I'd be better off saving $200 and getting the FireBOX.

On the one hand, I'd wager 80% of the time I would only need the fireBOX, but on the other hand, if I had the capability to record a jam session with 4 friends onto my laptop with high quality and with ease... well, then perhaps that'd be motivation enough to actually go out and do that more often.

Additionally, the firePOD is more future-proof, just in case I *do* happen to need more inputs later down the line... but... ugh, stupid purchasing decisions.

Sorry for littering your thread, do you have any input on whether I should get a firePOD or a fireBOX?
 
#3
i thought about getting the firebox but the ability to record eight tracks at once is what sold me. for years i've used 4 track and 8 track recorders, which was fine, but the 8 tracks at once is what got me. i play in a 4 piece rock band, so it will be great to record practice and a demo, as well as a 5-7 piece ukelele swing jazz band so i can use all the inputs i can get. i look at this as a long term investment...i've been doing this music thing for 15+ years, so it's about time i have a decent home recording setup.
 
#4
I've been using the Firebox to record my projects. The input limitations are only a problem if you record as a band. I play just enough drums to get the point across so it's easy for me to record a scratch guitar or bass to a click or drum machine and go back and record drums later. I have found that 4 inputs work fine for drums. I usually do kick, snare, tom mix, and single overhead and it comes out pretty good. I've also gone with the kick, snare, and stereo overhead method.
It would be easier with the Firepod though. I wish I would have gone with that instead but at the time of purchase I needed a mixer too.
 
#10
Cubase LE or SE are fine for most uses. If you want to record more than 48 tracks, do surround sound, or get into some really deep midi editing, well then you'll need SX3 which is a $600 program. Cubase SL falls somewhere in between and is another good option.
I've been using Cubase SE for a year now and find it very flexible, intuitive and reliable. It does more than I ask it to.
 
#12
relayer66 said:
Cubase LE or SE are fine for most uses. If you want to record more than 48 tracks, do surround sound, or get into some really deep midi editing, well then you'll need SX3 which is a $600 program. Cubase SL falls somewhere in between and is another good option.
I've been using Cubase SE for a year now and find it very flexible, intuitive and reliable. It does more than I ask it to.
Click to expand...

The new version of Cubase LE (the one shipped with the Firepod right now) will only let you use 4 simultaneous inputs at a time (2 stereo busses). This has been confirmed by the folks at Presonus. There is another version of LE in the works that will expand this to 4 stereo busses, but Steinberg will not budge beyond this as they want to "distinguish" between LE and their "fully" featured software packages.

So to the original poster - if you want more than 4 simultaneous inputs...be prepared to spend a couple of hundred bucks in addition to your original purchase.

I love Presonus' customer support, and I own several pieces of gear. However, this is bad advertising and a dirty play on Cubase's part. They've lost a customer in me in that what I will buy from now on will be Cakewalk's Sonar products.

Jay
 
#13
I was told today by a salesman at GC (take it for what you will) that LE will only let you export 20 songs before it shuts down. You can record and mix all you want, but once you export those 20 songs, that's it.
SE has no such limitations. Still, it's dirty, this nasty little fact isn't mentioned anywhere in the advertising for the Presonus or Focusrite hardware.
When Sonar 5 hits the shelves I think I'll be done with Steinberg anyway (or at least until SX4!!??)...
 
#15
Kid A said:
I believe Cubase LE only lets you export 20 MP3s, any other kind of format (aiff, wav) you can make unlimited of.
Click to expand...


This is true. It mentions something about paying for an uprade so you can export more MP3's. The upgrade might be purchasing SX3 or something. :D
It won't shut down and stop working and you can always export to wav. and convert it externally if you must have it in MP3 format.
The free Cubase LE is actually pretty good and it gets you up and recording quickly with no added expense. Presonus could have just sold the Firepod/Firebox without software so I won't complain about LE.
 
#18
I own a Firepod, and i had Cubase SX2 before I got it. So I gave LE to a friend in need. 2 weeks later he went and bought SE from GC for $99. He is much happier now.

If you don't have a Firepod you need to get one, the included software is not great, but it's free and will help you develop the skills you need before you drop 600 beans. How's that for a product endorsement? Seriously, it works flawlessly with SX, and since I monitor back out through the 'pod to the monitor amp: the first time I played a mix through it I instantly heard ALL of my eq mistakes, the kick had a nasty 3k ring, the guitars had way too much around 5k, I couldn't hear all of this before when I monitored the sound card.

Presonus just released new drivers that will allow you to run 3 Firepods at once into the comp. And you can now send out of your DAW through all 8 outs of the 'pod. Hold on.....



I had to turn my LCD so my Mackie 32x8 couldn't see what i'm typing- she may be on the 'bay soon, because 2 more 'pods may be in the future.

One last ringing endorsement:
Customer support is the highest I've seen, and one of the employees that does the email news (Rick Naqvi) is a member of alot of audio forums, he always posts replies to negative and positives when his company is mentioned, usually with something like "sorry about that, call me at this number and I will take care of it" so, there ya go....
and no, I don't work for them...
 

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