Gear question: ProSonus Firepod

  • Thread starter Thread starter drewz0r
  • Start date Start date
drewz0r said:
This may be a stupid question, but I came close to making a huge gear mistake last night until I caught myself at the last minute. (due to making assumptions from not finding a straight answer)

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/prod...-FireWire-Interface-with-Cubase-LE?sku=184131
Can this piece of gear record 8 simultaneous tracks at one time? (For example, many mics on a drumset)

Thank you.
Click to expand...

Yup. Right on bro. I've got one of those for my drum kit but i'm waiting for the mics to get here to test it out.
 
THREAD TOPIC UPDATE
--

Alright, it sounds like this is what I'm looking for. However, I can't find any hands-on-reviews on the 'net, so to those of you who have used it: How is it? Is it worth the money?

Thanks, I really appreciate replies.
 
drewz0r said:
THREAD TOPIC UPDATE
--

Alright, it sounds like this is what I'm looking for. However, I can't find any hands-on-reviews on the 'net, so to those of you who have used it: How is it? Is it worth the money?

Thanks, I really appreciate replies.
Click to expand...

Start by searching the forums here. There have been many posts by people here using the Firepod. I used to own one - tracked a demo project for my Dad's band using all eight inputs at one time - without issues into Sonar.

I typed in 'Presonus Firepod review' in Google and came up with a few sites as well.
 
From what I've seen so far, I'd steer you towards the MOTU 8Pre, personally. It's about the same price, but it gives you a lot more expandability.

Specifically, the ADAT lightpipe gives rock solid sync and the ability to add 8 channels of expansion easily. It also can be used as a stand-alone analog-to-ADAT converter for use with other MOTU devices. With Presonus, they don't make many other devices that play well with the FIREPOD other than another FIREPOD.

If you go with Presonus, I'd spend the extra money and go with the FireStudio so you get ADAT support.
 
I'd actually steer you towards the Firestudio. Plenty of upgrade options and lots of in/out.

Find it here:

http://www.presonus.com/firestudio.html

You can find them for $699.

Edit:
OOps, sorry dgatwood. Didn't see where you also said the Firestudio.
 
Well I have been using 2 Firepods for a while now and I have to say... I am very happy with it. Very easy to work with. But if you are looking for the ADAT support... I agree with the Firestudio. Not sure if it is really worth the extra money though... IMO
 
dturcotte, how do you link your firepods together, can you daisychain them with firewire? and if so, what's the benefit of having the ADAT?
 
Having started with one, and then two diasy-chained firepods, I've got a couple comments (I got rid of them, for what it's worth).

My advice for you is this: if you're never planning on recording a band together, or needing more than 8 inputs for JUST one person recording, then the firepod is an excellent value.

However, if you want to expand at any point to more than 8 inputs, or record more than one or two people simultaneously, then get something else that's expandable and has hardware mixing built in. Using two Firepods is NOT worth the money. For the $1000 you'd spend on two firepods, and get 16 channels in with two zero-latency monitors out (which are only groups of each Firepod's 8 channels), I could get you a Firestudio, an ADA8000, and a HA8000 - which also gives you 16 ins, but 9 zero-latency stereo mixes out of ALL the channels. There are other great options, too, not just the Firestudio.

Just think about what you want to be able to use your interface for about 2 years down the road, and if the Firepod satisfies that need, then go for it. They're often cheap on this board and on eBay. Otherwise, keep looking.

My 3 cents. :)
 
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