opinions on hardware interfaces

[BeeMan]

I had (well, have, but it's a paperweight now) an old digi 001 that sounded awesome on my old computer. I got a new computer thinking I'd get less latency, better quality etc out of it. However the digi and the new processor seem to not like each other enough that it crashes all the time.

So, I opted not to fight the stupid thing and update my equipment. I bought a PreSonus Firebox and love the firewire capability. But I'm not sure I'm getting quite the quality of sound I'm used to from my old Digi unit...or my ears suck and I just expected more out of the firebox.

Does anyone have experience with this unit, or something at this price point ($300 - which I realize is quite low) such as the Alesis multimix 8 or Mackie Onyx Satellite, that has better quality sound? Just trying to make sure I got the best unit for the price before my 30 day trial is up on it.

Computer:
WinXP Pro, Pentium D 3.2GHz, 2GB RAM

Thanks in advance and sorry for so much to read.

[TyphoidHippo]

If you're not happy with it, and you can afford the downtime - send it back and try out the other devices you are wondering about....that's what I'd do if I were you. Although....there's a ton of people on this board who swear by those presonus interfaces.

Do you still have the digi-001?

Edit: I had never heard of that Onyx Satellite thing before....and I gotta say that it looks pretty cool. The part that impresses me is the inserts - I think this is definitely the smallest thing there is that has actual pre-converter inserts. That's pretty snazzy.... I'm thinking about ordering one of these now - it would be a handy addition to my mobile rig.

[TyphoidHippo]

Ok....it took me a minute to find the specs, but the Mackie preamps can provide quite a bit more gain (60db vs the firebox's 45db) - which may or may not matter to you. Do you record with dynamic mics a lot?

[BeeMan]

Yeah, I do have the 001 still. It's up there (points) collecting dust. lol...

I was really interested in the Mackie as well. But the guy at Guitar Center talked me out of it saying every one of them he had sold came back, that Mackie is great at boards and monitors, but way behind on the computer technology. Though looking back, I'm wondering why he didn't have them in stock and had 2 of these PreSonus.

I do a bit of dynamic mic recording with drums. I know, the limited inputs aren't really helping me out much, but usually I'm just doing one drum at a time and sequencing most of the others.

[JTC111]

Something else to keep in mind is that you might be able to pick up something that can be upgrade later. Black Lion Audio does upgrade modifications to a bunch of different interfaces. I've done some reading up on them on the various boards and the overall consensus is that the upgrades are pretty good and worth the money. I'm sending my 001 to them in a couple of weeks.

http://blacklionaudio.com/

[TyphoidHippo]

Originally Posted by BeeMan

Yeah, I do have the 001 still. It's up there (points) collecting dust. lol...

If you're really sure you don't wanna use that thing anymore - sell it on ebay. They are going for about $200 or so....see: http://cgi.ebay.com/digi-001-complet...QQcmdZViewItem
Then you can take the $300 you are willing to spend now, and add the $200 you get from the digi-001, and you will have quite a few more possibilities open for you, ya know?

Originally Posted by BeeMan

I was really interested in the Mackie as well. But the guy at Guitar Center talked me out of it saying every one of them he had sold came back, that Mackie is great at boards and monitors, but way behind on the computer technology. Though looking back, I'm wondering why he didn't have them in stock and had 2 of these PreSonus.

LMAO!! You gotta love people who work on commission. He wanted you to buy something - *ANYTHING* - right then, so he could get the money for it - rather than you waiting for the Mackie to get back in stock, and returning to buy it and somebody else getting the commission. Not a very customer-satisfaction-oriented system, is it?

Anyway, about the reliability - go read the customer reviews on musiciansfriend.com for each device - about half of the reviews for the firebox are complaining about some pretty serious issues, but pretty much all of the onyx satellite reviews say it's great....interesting, indeed...

Originally Posted by BeeMan

I do a bit of dynamic mic recording with drums. I know, the limited inputs aren't really helping me out much, but usually I'm just doing one drum at a time and sequencing most of the others.

I wasn't actually hinting at the lack of inputs. I was only suggesting that the Mackie would be better as far as the preamps go because it offers 15db more gain - which would matter more if you do a lot of recording with dynamic mics (which generally require a lot more gain than modern condenser mics).

[BeeMan]

Originally Posted by TyphoidHippo

That's because he works on commission. He wanted you to buy something - *ANYTHING* - right then, so he could get the money for it - rather than you waiting for the Mackie to get back in stock, and returning to buy it and somebody else getting the commission.

Yeah...I'm a sucker apparently. I get taken every time. But I do have this gut feeling I need to give the Mackie a try. And you're right, the reviews DO seem more consistent than the Firepod reviews.

Hey, noticed you're in "East Texas," I'm in the Dallas area. Are you nearby or further out?

[Slotheroo]

I've been doing some research on the Mackie Onyx Satellite over the past couple days and I found out that a lot of the problems that show up on older threads (volume not going to zero, input monitoring excluding the DAW output) have been resolved with and update that came out last November. Also, Mackie has stated in their own forums that they're actively developing drivers to make it compatible with Vista.

[MOFO Pro]

Originally Posted by Slotheroo

I've been doing some research on the Mackie Onyx Satellite over the past couple days and I found out that a lot of the problems that show up on older threads (volume not going to zero, input monitoring excluding the DAW output) have been resolved with and update that came out last January. Also, Mackie has stated in their own forums that they're actively developing drivers to make it compatible with Vista.

Thanks for that... My only real complaint... I've just been living with it

[dgatwood]

Originally Posted by BeeMan

Yeah...I'm a sucker apparently. I get taken every time. But I do have this gut feeling I need to give the Mackie a try. And you're right, the reviews DO seem more consistent than the Firepod reviews.

Careful there. The FIREPOD has fairly decent pres. The Firebox, however, IIRC, uses totally different preamp hardware.

No idea how the Mackie will perform.

[dgatwood]

Originally Posted by Slotheroo

I've been doing some research on the Mackie Onyx Satellite over the past couple days and I found out that a lot of the problems that show up on older threads (volume not going to zero, input monitoring excluding the DAW output) have been resolved with and update that came out last January. Also, Mackie has stated in their own forums that they're actively developing drivers to make it compatible with Vista.

MOTU had working Vista drivers in November of 2006, IIRC. And yet they have a reputation for not having good Windows drivers....

Mackie is about a year and a half behind the curve here. I wouldn't buy hardware from a company that is so far behind. When the next service pack comes out, will it take a year and a half before that works? These are the sorts of questions you should be asking yourself when purchasing gear. Don't go for "cheap". That tends to result in selling the thing on eBay and buying something else over and over.... I've learned that lesson well.

[bilco]

I just gave a Digi001 to the steel player in our band, but if I were you, I would hang onto it. Even though the software can not go any higher than PT LE 6.4, it is a rock solid stable combination. Firewire is much better than USB for latency, but nothing is better than PCI. The Black Lion upgrade might be worth looking at.

I rented a PreSonus Firepod for a week and returned it after one day. I never could get it to work at all and I have lots of experience with setting up audio interfaces. YMMV though.

bilco

[MOFO Pro]

Originally Posted by MOFO Pro

Thanks for that... My only real complaint... I've just been living with it

Well... it was my only complaint... since updating both the driver and firmware... I've got a bigger problem... one much more performance impacting then the original... I think I've got it resolved, but then again, I've thought that a couple of times over the course of the weekend... Left channel through the base only was lower gain and clipped and distorted...

[MOFO Pro]

Originally Posted by MOFO Pro

Thanks for that... My only real complaint... I've just been living with it

Well... it was my only complaint... since updating both the driver and firmware... I've got a bigger problem... one much more performance impacting then the original... I think I've got it resolved, but then again, I've thought that a couple of times over the course of the weekend... Left channel through the base only was lower gain and clipped and distorted...