Firepod Help!!!

  • Thread starter Thread starter leaversday
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leaversday

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Whats up all

I was hoping that someone could help me with a Firepod question. In the rack I have the Firepod and a Behringer 4 channel headphone AMP and I have a pair of Rokit 5 powered monitors for playback. I have the Cue Mix Line Out going to the headphone AMP and the main CR Output going to the monitors.

When I record a track, I have to turn the mix control knob all the way left. This allows me to hear the instrument plugged into input one. When I want to hear the playback, I have to turn the same knob completly to the right. The problem is that when I want to lay down another track there is a problem with hearing the first playback and instrument at a resonable level. I notice that if the mix control knob stays to the right, my guitar seem to have a slight delay. If I turn the mix control to the left, the guitar sounds great but I can barely hear the playback from the first recorded track.

I know that I have no latency issues because my system is more than enough (Power MAC 2.3GHz Dual Core w/ 2.5 GB Ram running Logic Express) to handle the recording. Do I have something hooked up incorrectly? Is there a problem with the way that I am trying to monitor the live recording? Any help is appreciated greatly.
 
put the mix control smack dab in the middle between the input and the playback.
 
little guy said:
put the mix control smack dab in the middle between the input and the playback.
Click to expand...

This really does seem like the logical thing to do but when I try this, I can still hear a slight delay between the time I strike the strings and the time I hear the guitar in my headphones. Once again, if I turn the mix knob over to the left, the delay goes away but I just can't hear the play back very loudly. Could it be my software not configured correctly?

Thanks for your feedback.
 
You have now discovered one of the shortcomings of the Firepod (Along with no ADAT), is that it doesn't have good input monitoring (i.e. - a DSP mixer to route the inputs to outputs). I own a Firepod and what I do is setup input monitoring in my software (Sonar) and turn the knob all the way to the right. For this to work well, you will have to have your latency set very low in the Firepod control panel, which takes up more resources, but it sounds like you've got more than enough computer to handle it. Anyways, that's what I do while tracking.

BTW - The new Firestudio coming out soon from presonus will have a DSP mixer and ADAT capability. HA, go figure.
 
well, sounds like your having a bit of latency issues. go to the firepod control panel and change your latency to something faster. sounds like you've got your latency pretty slow.
 
Control Panel

cawhite12 said:
You have now discovered one of the shortcomings of the Firepod (Along with no ADAT), is that it doesn't have good input monitoring (i.e. - a DSP mixer to route the inputs to outputs). I own a Firepod and what I do is setup input monitoring in my software (Sonar) and turn the knob all the way to the right. For this to work well, you will have to have your latency set very low in the Firepod control panel, which takes up more resources, but it sounds like you've got more than enough computer to handle it. Anyways, that's what I do while tracking.

BTW - The new Firestudio coming out soon from presonus will have a DSP mixer and ADAT capability. HA, go figure.
Click to expand...

I have been looking all over for this control panel. Is there not a version for the MAC OS? If not, how is this managed in the MAC environment?
 
Are you using asio drivers? Have a look at the Audio Options in your sequencing s/w. There should be a place to adjust the number of buffers. Reducing them will improve your latency
 
Bulls Hit said:
Are you using asio drivers? Have a look at the Audio Options in your sequencing s/w. There should be a place to adjust the number of buffers. Reducing them will improve your latency
Click to expand...

Looks like it is in the software, thanks! I will give this a try and see what happens.
 
No good

Ok first, thanks for all the posts. Second, I'm about to go completely insane. If someone would have told me that I would have latency issues after spending $2300 on the Dual Power Mac, $300 on Logic Express and $600 on the firepod, I may have gotten shit-faced drunck and pissed the money away on a stripper instead.

Seriously, I have tried to tweak the audio drivers and everything else but I just can't imagine that the Presonus Firepod was just designed to record the whole band and not allow me to go back and drop individual tracks while hearing the original playback with no delay in my guitar with the mix knob set to dead zero.

I only pray that I have something hooked up incorrectly. I would rather feel stupid instead of broke and unhappy. Any other suggestions???
 
leaversday said:
Ok first, thanks for all the posts. Second, I'm about to go completely insane. If someone would have told me that I would have latency issues after spending $2300 on the Dual Power Mac, $300 on Logic Express and $600 on the firepod, I may have gotten shit-faced drunck and pissed the money away on a stripper instead.

Seriously, I have tried to tweak the audio drivers and everything else but I just can't imagine that the Presonus Firepod was just designed to record the whole band and not allow me to go back and drop individual tracks while hearing the original playback with no delay in my guitar with the mix knob set to dead zero.

I only pray that I have something hooked up incorrectly. I would rather feel stupid instead of broke and unhappy. Any other suggestions???
Click to expand...

Don't know if this will help you at all, but when I have some latency recording vocals I take off one of the ears of the headphones slightly so I can hear myself in real time.
 
just turn off the monitoring in the software, so you only hear the recorded stuff not what you playing at the time, and walah no latency
 
Don't understand why you're having such problems.

Do you still get latency using the firepod's headphone jack?
 
I'm having the exact same problem with my Firepod. I've tried adjusting the sample rate and everything, but the latency is never remedied. Many satisfied owners seem to be able to deal with it, though, so I'm trying not to get too upset. I'm just sorry that you spent so much on your setup and still have that problem.
 
have you set your processor performance to high on your mac? Make sure you aren't running any other hungry programs, also if you have a second hard drive, try putting the music files on one and the App on the other. I'm not sure if these will work but they are worth the try.

How do you like Logic express in general, when you aren't getting latency issues? I'm using DP right now and I'm thinking about getting logic instead as DP isn't supported with the firepod and there are some unexplaind crackling issues.
 
Bulls Hit said:
Don't understand why you're having such problems.

Do you still get latency using the firepod's headphone jack?
Click to expand...


I did try this and it's still the same problem. Mix knob to the left, no latency issues. Mix knob to the middle or right, latency. :eek:

It just makes no sense!!!
 
vigormusic said:
have you set your processor performance to high on your mac? Make sure you aren't running any other hungry programs, also if you have a second hard drive, try putting the music files on one and the App on the other. I'm not sure if these will work but they are worth the try.

How do you like Logic express in general, when you aren't getting latency issues? I'm using DP right now and I'm thinking about getting logic instead as DP isn't supported with the firepod and there are some unexplaind crackling issues.
Click to expand...


I checked the performance settings and they were already set to high. As for any programs running in the background, this box is strictly for recording so nothing except logic is running on it (other than the preinstalled MAC programs).

As for the logic express application, I do like it. It seems much easier to use and does a great job recording our band. I was a Cubase user prior to Logic and seem to like it better. The vocal effects are killer for someone who does not have a great voice. It even makes me sound half-way good :D

If I could just get ride of the underlying issues with listening to the mix and overdubbing tracks, I would love it even more!
 
I Started off as a Cubase user, now DP, but am thinking about Logic Pro.
 
vigormusic said:
I Started off as a Cubase user, now DP, but am thinking about Logic Pro.
Click to expand...

I actually looked at Logic Pro but went with express because I thought it may be a bit over my head. I would like to build a better understanding of recording in general since I am new to this. Maybe in the future I will purchase the upgrade.

You most likely have more experience than I do since I am a newbee so Logic Pro may be suited for your level.
 
I've never had this problem with my Firepod, even at the highest latency setting. I will say, however, that I had crackles/pops initially - after 60 hours spent in one week (yeah, really - 60 hours in a week!) the problem ended up being on my computer's end. I had been running into the motherboard's firewire. I replaced it with a PCI slot firewire card with the Texas Instruments chipset - problem solved. You're problem, obviously appears to be different.

If you haven't, I highly recommend you call Presonus. Their technical support staff has been great. Also, give the FAQ page and similar pages on their website a close look - there are various patches for various problems.
 
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