Just picked up a M-Audio ProFire2626

[DrewPeterson7]

My trusty Presonus Firepod woke up dead, so to speak, on Wednesday. I'd had some issues in the past with the Firewire jack and it not connecting consistently through one of the ports, but this was something new - basically, it wouldn't power up.

So, since I was in the early days of a project and since I had always been fairly impressed with my old M-Audio Firewire410 I used before I decided I needed more inputs, I grabbed the Profire, on sale at GC for $599. I haven't really done much with it aside from a few direct bass tracks from a Sansamp pre (which if you're running 1/4" inputs it evidently bypasses the pres, so I can't really speak to the quality of the Octane preamps yet), but so far it seems pretty cool - installation was a cinch, it feels and looks pretty solid, and it could very well be placebo effect or sheer relief about hearing sound coming out of my speakers again, but playback seems a little clearer too.

It was this or the Presonus Firestudio Project, and while this was a little more expensive I was kind of worried about Presonus reliability, after two issues with the firepod and a Bluetube pre getting a bit scratchy on one channel.

Anyway, as I continue to work with the thing I'll post up more thoughts, but for now it seems pretty cool.

 

[Jim Lad]

Thanks Drew:
Wow! This thing is loaded. Just having a look at some of the reviews too.
Nice rig. I have a friend who gave up on his Presonus fairly quickly. Not sure why but other than yourself, I don't hear too many bad things.
Nice purchase.http://www.zzounds.com/a--2676837/item--MDOPF2626

 

[DrewPeterson7]

Yeah, again I can't claim to have had more than a couple hours' experience with it and I haven't even put the preamps through their paces yet, but it seems to be a pretty solid unit - something like 75db of preamp gain with a switchable -20db pad on each preamp, preamps that, well, reviews seem to range from "perfectly servicable" to "these things rule," probably due to user taste, and a hell of a lot of additional in options if you outgrow the 8 channels. Reviewers seem to say it's quite stable, too. It took a google search to figure out how to set the headphone volume knobs to be independent of the master output, but even that was pretty straightforward, and I'm glad to have a second headphone out at my disposal now for when I'm not working alone.

And again, it's a full $100 cheaper ay GC than at Zzounds. Not that I'd normally advise going to GC, mind you, but...

I'm cautiously optimistic - it's money I really didn't want to have to spend, but I think my recording rig should be a lot stronger for it.

As for other issues, I don't know how widespread this is, but when I posted at the guitar forum I run, one of the mods there immediately replied, "yeah, the same thing happened to mine. Come to think of it, I need to give Presonus a call, they've had it for a while." It's evidently a $75 fix, but I figure if I can get it repaired I can either give it to my dad or trade/sell it (with full disclosure, of course) to someone looking for more inputs.

 

[austinm08]

It's evidently a $75 fix, but I figure if I can get it repaired I can either give it to my dad or trade/sell it (with full disclosure, of course) to someone looking for more inputs.

If I were you, I'd try finding someone local who knows something about electronics and see if they'll take a look at it. With some troubleshooting it may turn out it's a blown capacitor or something and be $0.50 to fix that thing.

I studied electronics for a bit, and it was definitely worth the while.

 

[dintymoore]

I'll repeat my BlueTube story:

Bought one while John Hardy was fixing my good one. Was amazed it was as good as it was. Plugged the wrong ac adapter in it and blew it up. Sent it back to Presonus, many years out of warranty, with no receipt, they fixed it for free, gave me a new ac adapter free, plus shipped it back to Hawaii - all free!

Just thought I'd mention that... it might be worth contacting Presonus!

p.s. John Hardy did the same thing - fixed my Twin Servo 990 for free over 10 years after I bought it and shipped it to me free... plus I didn't even buy it from him. One nice guy and a guy who stands behind his gear like nobody else. Meanwhile I've gone through 4 M-Audio keyboards and those guys treat me like dog shit. They have no, nada, replacement parts for their gear 3 years after they make it. Speaks for itself don't it?