You Tell Me...Was The Firebox Worth The Money?

Trell Blaze

Trell Blaze

Killing generic R&B...
Ok I just posted a snippet of the first tune I recorded/mixed completely using the Presonus Firebox. I want you guyz to compare it ("Wanna Be Your Man - Snippet") to the 3rd song ("Now It's Too Late") and tell me if the upgrade in preamps/converters is audible.

For the record, it's very audible to me but I've been told I hear a lotta shit that most people won't even care about so I'm asking for outside opinion.

Useful info: The 3rd track was mastered at Sterling Sound while the new track was masterd by me - translation: I pulled out a big fat L2 Limiter and stuffed the signal.

For what it's worth I think the mp3 conversion is terrible but I've yet to hear an mp3 file I liked. iTune's ACC conversion is ok, I guess...

http://www.soundclick.com/bands/pagemusic.cfm?bandID=749086
 
I can def hear a difference. The vocals are much cleaner and crisper, and stand out/rest on the music better.
 
Yea I felt the vocals benifited more from the change than anything.

I think the biggest change of them all was what I was hearing. Not that the Firebox's D/A converters are golden or anything, but they're a huge upgrade from the stock soundcard. Now I can actually hear that .5db change in EQ or that 20ms change in compressor attack.

I think that mix is far less muddy and more punchy than the other one and it hasn't even been mastered yet (at least not professionally)...
 
By the way, for what it's worth, I'm very well aware that this little box of mine isn't state of the art or revolutionary as I have logged time in quite a few studios with millions of dollars worth of gear.

Thing is, though, that I got tired of paying engineers who cared absolutely nothing for my work and constantly tried to convince me to take routes that made things more convenient for them ("I don't wanna use the SSL cuz...um...it sounds like crap. Let's do it in the box!").

That said, by the time I decided to do it myself my budget was well past spent so right now, this Firebox might as well be an Apogee Ensemble...:D
 
Trell Blaze said:
Ok I just posted a snippet of the first tune I recorded/mixed completely using the Presonus Firebox. I want you guyz to compare it ("Wanna Be Your Man - Snippet") to the 3rd song ("Now It's Too Late") and tell me if the upgrade in preamps/converters is audible.

For the record, it's very audible to me but I've been told I hear a lotta shit that most people won't even care about so I'm asking for outside opinion.

Useful info: The 3rd track was mastered at Sterling Sound while the new track was masterd by me - translation: I pulled out a big fat L2 Limiter and stuffed the signal.

For what it's worth I think the mp3 conversion is terrible but I've yet to hear an mp3 file I liked. iTune's ACC conversion is ok, I guess...

http://www.soundclick.com/bands/pagemusic.cfm?bandID=749086
Click to expand...

I was immediately impressed with everything on Wanna Be Your Man - clarity, beats, keys, vocals. My daughter (15yrs) came into the room and said:
- who's that ?
- he's cool..
- does he have an album?
- he could be on the top of the charts
- he could be the next Akon (sp?)

I can definitely hear the difference in the vocals on the two mixes. The top one is cleaner, the bottom is "grainy".

BTW the second song is just as good, just not quite as hot production wise...still good production overall though.

:):D:):D
 
Wow, thanks alot. I'm surprised your 15yr old daughter liked it as my stuff is usually aimed at the 25 and up R&B crowd.

So appearently my assessment was correct that the A/D conversion in my previous recordings was absolutely disgusting - not really a surprise though. I recorded that stuff on a Roland VS-2400 (mixed on Cubase), which is a very good unit, but is still an all-in-one-box. Shortcomings are to be expected.

Thank you for your response and thanks for the compliments. :D

Oh yea...and tell your daughter we do have an album but I'm remixing like half the songs so I'd rather wait till we get that version done before I do any more promo...
 
Yeah, the Firebox sounds nice...I have one myself. What kind of mics do you use? You're a talented singer.
 
Thanks for the compliments. I really like the box and I'm still learning it's goods and bads.

As for my singing, it's funny you say that cause I always felt I was a little above average. You should hear my brother...:D

Anyway I used a Sterling Audio ST-55 for the lead Vocals on "Wanna Be Your Man" and an AKG-Perception 400 on the background vocals...
 
Guitarer said:
Except Akon molests girls of your daughter's age.

I don't think you want him to be the next Akon. :p
Click to expand...

If I remember the report correctly, Akon was unaware of the girls age as she WASN'T supposed to be in the club in the first place. The blame rests on whoever let her in.

When you're performing on stage, you really don't have much of an opportunity to card your fans...
 
Wow, you've got a great voice.

I can hear a difference like Ido said, kind of grainy on the second song. I might sound a little crazy here, but I think the grain adds a little raspiness to your voice that adds a nice mellow component.

I don't listen to that style too much, but I really like what you put out. I would look forward to hearing more.

Cheers,
 
Thanks alot, man. I liked that tune u put up too. Great lyrical content. It's nice to hear a song that's about something every now and then.

It's funny that u mention the grainy thing being an asset to that song. After all was said and done and I listened to the songs after distancing myself from them, I felt that the changes that I wanted to make could have cleaned up the song but it wouldn't have been the same.

Sometimes a song's flaws make the song what it is (thousands of hit records out there fit this category). Learn something with every project, don't we? :D
 
I don't listen to stuff like this at all, but everything i've heard that's tried to be like this on this board, has sounded not so good.

Your stuff however, sounds very clean! I love the bass in the "Snippet." And everything else is awesome too, good job!

Peace.
 
Trell's takin' Cholo back to his Sophmore year...

Aight Trell...that was an awesome sounding song. The talk box sounds very very close to Roger...and the line from the song fit very well!

Can't really comment about the firebox though, i thought your other stuff sounded clean as well...This definitely sounds top notch.

again, love your voice, love your harmonies, love the feel of this one. Takes me back to 87 baby!

sweet mother of pete don't try to be the next 'akon' or whatever, he's not an artist...you keep singing/recording like this and you'll shine.

cholo
 
it was worth it

very nice, i don't listen to this style, but this was very listenable!! Very polished sounding. well mixed, Great job!! Keep em coming

JasonBird
 
Thanks, guys, for listening and for the compliments. Takes a lot of hard work to get the sound I get and sometimes I wonder if I'm actually getting it. It means a lot more coming from guys who know how to do this thing the right way.

Elcholo: I'm still waitin' on you to post some soundclick versions of your stuff cause that's the only way I'll be able to listen on this connection...lol
 
Trell - i'm waayyy to lazy to figure that out...I mean, I'd probably have to sign up and all. Who has time for that? I have a major big time date tonight, and i'm sure i'll be too tired after that. I'll see if I can muster the whatever it takes to type my name and password to sign up tomorrow!

cholo
 
Thanks, antichef

There is a release of the album already available at CDBaby.com, BUT the two songs in question are not on that version and the sound quality is piss poor....which is why I'm mixing this stuff in the first place.

The next version will have 2 tracks added and much better mixes for the ones we were able to remix (we were stuck with a few songs). The budget won't allow for us to master them all professionally but at least half of them will be taken care of...
 
Ya know, when I listened to the snippet, I thought, "how much difference could pre's and converters make in this kind of music (mostly sampled)". Then I listened to the third song, and I gotta say, it is a HUGE difference. It seems like the production has increased as well. That snippet sounded pretty damn good - both the performance and the mixing. Nice work! :D

edit - the only thing bugging me is that bass sound. Is it played or a sample? It's just kinda flat sounding.
 
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