Thinking of buying a Firebox, but I'm stupid

L

lasagne

I fancy Fancy
I'm very new to recording. I currently use a standalone Zoom MRS 1266 to record acoustic guitar and vox through an SP B1.

I'm looking at buying a Firebox because I think (although I can't be sure) that I'll get a clearer recording - my recordings are OK but I'm at the stage where I want a better sound, and I also want to spend a little money - I'm just edging towardrs the bottomless pit.

I reckon from what I've read here that the pre's on the Firebox are going to better quality than on the Zoom, hence my reasoning thatI'll get a clearer recording.

So here's the stupid part - does the Firebox take the place of my existing sound card ? In other words, do I hook up my monitors into the Firebox so that all pc sounds are routed through the Firebox - my pc won't be dedicated to recording, but will still be used for surfing etc when I'll need sound.

Just to confuse myself even more, if I use MIDI (which I probably will), do the sounds come from the Firebox ? In other words, does the Firebox contain soundfonts or GM sounds or something ?

OK - I'm ready for any abuse, and hopefully some advice.
 
lasagne said:
does the Firebox take the place of my existing sound card ?
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Yes.


do the sounds come from the Firebox ? In other words, does the Firebox contain soundfonts or GM sounds or something ?
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No. The Firebox has no sounds inside --- it's simply a vastly better way to get audio into and out of your computer. And as such, when you're on the web all the sounds you need to hear will be routed thru it just as if it were a stock PC soundcard.

If you do decide on the Firebox --- and I recommend that you do, having had mine for the better part of two years now with no trouble at all --- the next thing you'll need is recording software. For that I recommend Tracktion or if you're on a tighter budget there's Reaper which is still in development but has progressed to the point where it is stable and has much to recommend it.

These are both good starters because they both will allow you to build up and run a collection of freeware and shareware VSTfx and VSTi's for which you should look here.


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Thanks for that. The Firebox now comes bundled with Cubase LE which I think will probably do me for now.
 
Firebox is great, had mine for over a year. Get a nice mic to use with it.

ssscientist, what mic, mics do you use with your firebox?
 
Monkey Allen said:
ssscientist, what mic, mics do you use with your firebox?
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For electric guitar cabinets I've yet to find anything better than an SM57.

My vocals sound best thru a Samson CL7 with a pencil rubberbanded around the mic at a 90 degree angle to the floor to control my natural sibilance. I read about this trick in a Sound on Sound article at the beginning of the summer and that's the mic they used in the picture, so I set mine up the same way and liked the way it sounded.

I have many more mics here at home like my favorite Sennheiser 421s and some AKGs and some Octavas and when I'm working on something special I borrow a Neumann or Royer mic from the studio I usually work at --- I have yet to find a mic that doesn't sound good thru the Firebox.


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Hey, thanks for the reply.

I use a CAD177 and a set of Behringer C2's. These are pretty much my only mics.

I find that I have to set the gain to about 9 on the Firebox (even with the +12db boost) in order to get a decent signal.

Do you find this with any of your mics?
 
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