Firepod owners discussion thread!

leaversday said:
I have a pretty good condensor mic but would like to have a rack mount processor under the firepod for reverb, delay, etc. Is this possible and if so how do I hook this up? Stupid question but would the effects from the vocal processor mix into the gutitar tracks?
Click to expand...

I think I got this figured out. This should work by using the "Line Input and Pre Amp Out" jacks on the back.

Can anyone tell me what the 8 jacks labled "Line Outputs - TRS Balanced" are used for. any examples of equipments?

I would also still like input on acoustic guitar recording if anyone has advice.

Thanks :confused:
 
outs are used for your monitors..balanced cables are what connect your monitors to your firepod. I reccomend using the main 1 and 2 outs.
 
jeff0633 said:
Damn, still mixed up. Your first post suggest that the manual says that you can route to the external effects BEFORE THE SIGNAL GOES TO THE COMPUTER!!! Then, you quote me and answer saying that IT DOES HAVE TO GO THROUGH THE COMPUTER FIRST TO BE ROUTED BY THE SOFTWARE, WHICH MEANS LATENCY AND EXTRA DIGITAL CONVERSIONS.

Your first post about the manual seems to hint that the signal is taken from the preamp out BEFORE IT GOES TO THE SOFTWARE, which would mean no latency and no extra digital conversions, then you next post says it must go through the software (meaning extra digital conversions) Which is it?

Jeff
Click to expand...

Shit, I'm sorry man. There is no need for routing in the software. At least the way I see it. You have 2 "preamp outputs" and 2 "line inputs" and you can connect the outboard gear in between. I'm not able to test it since i still havent got any outboard equipment.

About the software routing: You have 8 line outputs which you can rout audio to.

Again i'm not 100% percent sure, but it seems you can attach outboard gear without the need of software routing. To be absolutely sure you should contact PreSonus.
 
firepod exp

i've had great experiences with my firepod on my laptop with 6 to 4 pin firewire cable. system is 512 ram and athlon 64 bit 3200 on windows XP pro s p2, 80 gig 5400 rpm drive. I've done 10 simult. tracks w/ a behringer v-amp pro on the spdif ins. Always 24 bit / 96k. The midi works too with a cheap casio keyboard as a controller. i have also sent 8 individual tracks to an analog mixer for live sound. Follow the link to hear some recordings i did as i learned how to use the unit. Most recordings are live too. now im working on getting the drums to sound good. if you want to hear some more let me know, i have newer recordings that get better as i learn how to use this thing, i dont have any web hosting though.

http://www.myspace.com/otisandthesoftbatch
 
firewire

i've heard some people having latency problems with the firepod. i'm thinking of getting one and was wondering if anyone has heard of any problems using the firewire in on the SB audigy 2 card with the firepod.
thanks
 
What sound cards/interfaces were those people having troubles with? I haven't heard of too many issues yet. I'm running a Firepod on a Keyspan Firewire card (with the TI chip) and have had zero issues in Windows XP Pro SP2. If you use the port on the SB card you have, can you disable the actual audio portion of the card and use just the firewire port?
 
the latency issues may have been due to lack of resources--

but i'm really not quite sure i can bypass the soundcard. i am thinking i'll have to get separate firewire card. the one you mentioned had a descent price on it.
 
As far as latency, the Firepod control panel allows you to adjust the ms of latency, and you can also select an appropriate CPU setting (low, medium, high). Right now I'm at 4-6 ms of latency, CPU setting at high running an AMD Athlon XP 3000+ (at 2.2 Ghz) with 1 gig ram. I haven't tried to get the latency lower because it's not an issue for me - even using softsynths. I monitor direct from the Firepod, so that is zero latency.

There may be other cards with the Texas Instruments chip, but the first one I found and heard of was the Keyspan one. Think one of the best prices I found was at the Tiger Direct Website. Probably would be best to invest in a separate firewire card for your Firepod.
 
hey there. the other day i was recording some vocals through my Firepod with a AKG C2000B mic, and during some of the louder singing parts, i could hear a pretty nasty sounding distortion on the recording. the pre wasn't clipping, and the levels really weren't too hot. i had the pre on the firepod at about 1 or 2 oclock. the singer wasn't too close to the mic and there was a pop filter. i was wondring if this could be the microphone or the preamp possibly causing this distortion? or am i doing something else wrong?
 
Did you try a different input? What about the meters in your recording software - what were they peaking at (should be roughly -6 db or so)?
 
i tried using different inputs, and the meters in Cubase LE looked to be pretty far the top, but i didnt notice what they were peaking at. visually, it looks like there's still a lot of headroom in the wave. the recorded wave didn't have any signs of clipping at all, it just sounded kind of distorted and "dirty". i should have tried a different mic though but i didnt...
listening to it again it doesn't sound as bad as i thought, and i think part of it might have just been the singer's voice combined with the crappiness of my mic. methinks its time for an upgrade soon. :)
 
Haven't heard much about that mic, but I would think it wouldn't be terribly crappy. Sometimes variables of the performance can introduce bad elements to the recording (a singer that is inexperienced, etc.). How close was the singer to the pop filter, and how far from the mic is the pop filter?

If you tried the other inputs with similar results, we can prob. rule out a bad input. If you can, experiment with another mic and see what you get.
 
Need Help Firepod

i need a little more info on the SP2 firewire update that was posted
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/885222
1. how would i know if i need it
2. would this update come with updating windows after sp2 when keeping up to date on all winxp updates? or is this a seprate patch that inst included in there normal securty and so on updates

p4 3.0
2 gig ram
Firepod

thanks Otto :)
 
I don't know if this update was included in Windows Update post SP2 - I'm guessing no. The issue according to the Microsoft site, is an issue with Firewire speed/performance and Presonus directed users there for a possible issue with the sync (light would stay red after driver install and not turn blue). SO, if you're not having performance issues and the Firepod is syncing fine, you're golden. From the "if it aint broke, don't fix it" standpoint, just leave your system alone if the Firepod is performing fine.

For the record though, I applied the patch even though I wasn't experiencing the issue(s) - figured why not, and I had XP restore "just in case" something went haywire.
 
Warble thanzk for the help, someone said there sync light was fine, though this patch increased perfomance, what do u think?
 
No problem. It seems you may get varying results from different people - there are numerous possibilities for how any one person could have their system configured. Like I said, you can always apply the Microsoft patch, and if needed, resort to system restore if something arises. I can't say I noticed a performance increase on my XP machine, but I upgraded the CPU not too long after I applied the patch too. I too didn't have any issues, but went for it anyway.

Disclaimer: The advice given offers no guarantee of improved performance, and any action followed related to the given advice, well, could possibly hose your current PC configuration.

OK, that was kind of a joke, but you get the idea...do this at your own risk and be smart about it - especially if the PC your doing it on is an important part of your musical career or what could be a great musical career. :cool:
 
VST compresion Firepod

when recording drums and vocals im woundering the best way to have the preamps turned up so they give a warmer sound without cliping in cubase, im using the Waves L1 vst during recording then taking the L1
away for playback so it doesnt use up cpu and leaves room for other vst, it seems to be working does this sound like its right to do? are there other vst u recomend? any info on this would be helpfull
i only use VST no other rack gear

thankz Otto
:)
 
You only need to have the gain adjusted high enough to get a decent signal that doesn't clip on the Firepod (red clipping light). When I'm tracking in Sonar, I do not use compression or limiting and usually track whatever I'm recording from the Firepod inputs with meter reading at about -15db up to -9db peak. Then when I'm mixing, I *may* add compression/limiting and get the mix up to about -6db average. I don't know that increasing the gain on the Firepod will give you a "warmer" sound - they don't sound warm to me in my experience. They sound pretty much transparent, have low noise, and nice headroom. I don't think they were designed for any particular sound character.

As far as VST plugins, the Waves are really nice ones. There are some other good ones out there - and even free ones - but I don't have a list together right now. I found out about most of them here, so maybe do some searching for VST plugins.
 
from what iv been reading compression is very importain as u are recording the waves before mixdown, like on a drum set i have got much warmer and louder recordings without cliping in cubase then i ever have before now that im using compression, i was told to use compresion by a Berkly recording Arts Grad and from what iv been reading i belive its a good way to do it, i guess u can realy recording anything how ever ya want, though i was Red lining alot in my drum tracks in cubase withough being able to turn up the pre amps up very much and even when the pres were turned up very low some drum hits would still clip in Cubase "sm57mics"toms" , now i can have the Firepod pres to about 50% with using th L1 compressor and it wount clip and i get a nice recording
"Anyone have some input on this, every little bit helps"
Thankz Otto
AlwaysLearning :D
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top