Firepod - Quality of pre's? Upgrade question.

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errr314

New member
Hi!

I currently have a Firepod (recording drums mostly) and I was thinking about getting some better pre's. I was looking in particular at the RNP's but my question is this .... Is there going to be a large noticable difference by using/upgrading to those pre's? Or in that same price range on the RNP's? Or am I just thinking of stupid ways to spend money? :)

I think the Firepod pre's are ok I guess. But I really have had nothing to compare them to. BTW I have the usual mics on drums -- Kel overheads. Audix I-5 for the snare and a D6 on the kick. Thanks for any help in my spendings.
 
You're going to have to spend a fair amount on pres to beat them, they are OK preamps and will do the job. The Rane MS1B would likely give you a little cleaner gain anyhow. Mackie's Onyx preamps are clearer and airier than the Firepod pres also.

War
 
errr314 said:
Hi!

I currently have a Firepod (recording drums mostly) and I was thinking about getting some better pre's. I was looking in particular at the RNP's but my question is this .... Is there going to be a large noticable difference by using/upgrading to those pre's? Or in that same price range on the RNP's? Or am I just thinking of stupid ways to spend money? :)

I think the Firepod pre's are ok I guess. But I really have had nothing to compare them to. BTW I have the usual mics on drums -- Kel overheads. Audix I-5 for the snare and a D6 on the kick. Thanks for any help in my spendings.
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What's your budget? Are you in the $500 range?

The RNP's get some good feedback here and in other forums. If they are better than the Firepod pre's, not sure as I haven't use one. I would guess there would be more detail.
 
Thanks for your replys. I started researching the onyx stuff vs the firepod pres. They actually both get favorable opinions (for something in that price range). I am starting to realize that there may not be a huge difference unless I really spend a ton of cash. Crap. I have read good things about the RNP's here too. Hmmm. Unless anyone has a suggestion that I have overlooked? I was also looking at the Mackie 400F or the 1220 with the firewire card added. I guess I just may have to demo the pres between the firepod and the Mackie stuff. I think the local GC here has them.

I guess I am always looking for the cheap pre thats gonna blow me away .......but then, who isn't? :) Hey if anyone knows about one ... let me know. Word.
 
Warhead .... I do have a quick question that is non-related. On your Firepod test soundclip (the drums) do you have any muffling in your kick/bass drum? I really like the sound of it. I also like the sound of that EV on it.
 
Hey Err,
Think about it... a Firepod costs what, $500 for 8 preamps, plus digital interface all in one package. the RNP is made of excellent parts, and runs around $475 for 2 channels. Think about it! The RNP will likely make a big difference over the Firepod, especially when the tracks start adding up. Why not do this?:

You have a firepod already, so get and RNP and use that as your main preamp while you're overdubbing vocals, guitars, bass, and for initially tracking overheads (use the other Firepod channels on the rest of the drums). I assume you're like more project Studio guys and do your recording in parts. If so, with one RNP unit, you'll have most of an album recorded with decent pres.

What do you think?
 
cmaconsulting said:
Hey Err,
Think about it... a Firepod costs what, $500 for 8 preamps, plus digital interface all in one package. the RNP is made of excellent parts, and runs around $475 for 2 channels. Think about it! The RNP will likely make a big difference over the Firepod, especially when the tracks start adding up. Why not do this?:
Click to expand...

I doubt you'll hear the difference. Most of the cost of gear these days is channel cost. Figure that the gear is sold by the manufacturer for a third what you pay for it. Figure that 50% of that is profit, so the FirePod probably costs around $80 to manufacture, give or take. Ditto for the RNP.

Now figure that the power supply and related filtering circuitry is $10 of that, the case is another $20, with knobs costing another $5, and shipping from... I'm guessing China where they probably manufacture them... is $15 in quantity.

So you're comparing a $30 two-channel pre with a $30 8-channel pre. At those price differences, the difference in manufacturing cost can probably be explained away by quantity alone without even considering part quality. :)

The FirePod has very good pres for the price. I'd be surprised if anything under $1k/channel would be a noticeable improvement. You never know, but... I'd be surprised.
 
Hmmm ... wow both have very good points. I do recording in parts in the home studio so buying one nice pre/dual pre would serve a great purpose as overheads, vocals, etc. But dgatwood has a good point as well about the builds of the equipment in that price range. I think I might just see if Guitar Center of Samash has something that has "higher level" pres in it. Maybe I can demo something and do an a/b comparison.

The main thing I was concerned with was being afraid that I will blow cash and be only marginal ... if any difference in sonic quality. Thanks for your input!
 
I agree that there is validity to dgatwood's point. But at the same time, I would venture a guess that a solid mic pre, like the RNP, would provide enough transients and headroom to make a difference in an entire mix. More clarity per instrument could make a big difference.
 
Would a firepod be able to be used as just an interface for another preamp? Like could I hook up any preamp , into the firepod so i can have the firepod as an interface in which there would be no degradation in the sound quality? I've been thinking about the firepod as an addition but im a bit hesitant. sorry , im not trying to steal the thread.
 
that's alright... that's a very good question. Since the firepod accepts Line level signal, there should not need to be any preamplification. You'd basically run the outs of the external preamp into the Line inputs on the back of the firepod. As far as signal degredation, you should experience VERY LITTLE signal degredation. 2 reasons for this:

1. You've likely got a very short cable run, which will help preserve audio quality.
2. You won't be engaging the preamps in the Firepod, so the unit be simply acting as an A/D intrface, as opposed to a preamp/interface.

If I'm wrong on this, someone ought to speak up, though based on the info on their site, I'm correct.
 
Okay so if i understand correctly. the first two inputs are instruments inputs which you will have control of the gain and be using that channel for maybe direct-in bass perhaps. On the other hand you could run your vocal mic through a nicer preamp into the channels 3-8 in which you could run the output of the preamp straight in and use the 1/4'' inputs on the firepod as and A/D converter rather than a preamp before hand. Im curious how everything works still but I would really like to try working one in person to help grasp it better. Nothing better than hands on experience. Thanks alot for answering my question. If i can accumulate the money , the Firepod appears to be an excellent addition to my home studio. :)
 
yes, i have a firebox, and i run a different Pre into the back. it has 2 inputs for this. works just fine. Also has SPIDF in.
 
I tend not to think of different pres in terms of a straight quality scale from worst to best. Rather than thinking about what may be a better pre than the ones in your Firepod, you may want to think about what is a different flavour of pre than the ones in the Firepod. This is really true with looking at a pre for vocals vs acoustic guitar for instance, but may be true also for something like a snare drum or kick vs overheads . Frankly, drum recording is not my forte, but in general I like to have both transparent and colored pres to choose from.
 
I have a firepod, dmp3, brick, and tg2. dmp3 is a slight improvement over firepod preez, brick is an improvement, and tg2 is a large improvement. the firepod and the dmp3 preez both sound kind of weird to me. Transparent sort of, but a "cheap" sounding transparent if that makes any sense. You may want to think of getting a "name" pree if you're looking to bump up the quality significantly of your preez. If you don't have room acoustics in order than don't even give another thought to your preez.
 
If you decide to buy a pre to upgrade from the FirePod quality, try and get it from a place with a good return policy. Having 30 days or so to try it out and a/b allows you (the only person who really matters in this situation) to decide whether there is a noticable improvement.
 
errr314 said:
Warhead .... I do have a quick question that is non-related. On your Firepod test soundclip (the drums) do you have any muffling in your kick/bass drum? I really like the sound of it. I also like the sound of that EV on it.
Click to expand...

I'm sorry I didn't see this post before!

Normally I do not have any muffling in that kick (Arbiter maple 22") and play typically with felt Iron Cobra beaters on Evans EQ3 heads. I typically tune the kick low enough so that it doesn't really require muffling.

The E/V ND868 is a great kick mic...! More neutral than many.

War
 
Mackie's Onyx preamps are clearer and airier than the Firepod pres also.
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I have both the Firepod and an Onyx 400F. The Onyx 400F pre's are clearer and more articulate than the FP... but that is not the big difference. The 400F blows the Firepod out of the water when you compare the convertor/audio quality. IMHO... the 400F wins hands down.

For a reasonably good pre that won't break the bank, take a look at the Joe Meek Q or Twin Q. I've got one of the Twin Q's and I like it. I bought the Presonus ADL 600 stereo tube pre which lists at $2300 and streets around $2k and it is a distinct improvement over the 400F.
 
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