I need some input...Presonus Firebox.

[PMJ]

I've read up on the Firebox, its over my budget of what I've spent already, but.. I need to upgrade my souncard.. Currently I am looking for an interface with low noise.., easy and understandable set up as far as wiring the sound to Adobe Audition, and will work fine with Windows.. (plus I need the SPDIF, mind in/outs..) Right now I have a lot of noise coming threw my monitors that I never had an issue with when using my hardware.. But now that Im using a pc seems like there is noise everywhere. I have jus upgrade to a brand new pc and monitoring system.. I have a SB audigy sound card and from what I've read thats probably the main issue as far as noise goes.

With the Firebox.. I see it mentions it can be powered with a 6 pin card.. Why would they jus not include this and have it powered like other sound cards through a pci card?? So I am assuming it comes with the power suppley, right? It says its firewire.. so does it come with some kind of PCI card to install as well for the sound n things.. Like I've said, Ive read the discription, but am a lil cautious of how exactly it will or is suppose to connect to my pc.. any help would be appreciated thanks...

If it helps.. this is my set up..

PC-Dell Dimension E510
P4 3.2Ghz processor
160GB hard drive
2GB SDRamm
256MB graphics card
Windows Media 2005 Software
Adobe Audtion recording software
Alesis 6 channel mixer,amp, and monitors

Thanks.

PM

 

[dgatwood]

With the Firebox.. I see it mentions it can be powered with a 6 pin card.. Why would they jus not include this and have it powered like other sound cards through a pci card??

Because...

A. A lot of computers come with FireWire to begin with.

B. A PCI card isn't useful if you're using it with a laptop.

C. A CardBus card isn't useful if you're using it with a desktop.

D. FireWire can be used for more than just audio devices, and not all computers have enough extra electrical power to provide a reasonable 6-pin FireWire card that can power up... say a FireWire hard drive. If they provided such a card, they would end up getting calls from owners of such machines complaining that their bus-powered hard drive wouldn't spin up when attached to the card (even though they never said it would).

E. There are significant advantages to NOT bus powering an interface even if your machine supports it. For one thing, you aren't as likely to get power supply noise in your audio if you use an outboard power supply.

A better question is why Dell would cut corners and put a 4-pin FireWire port on a Desktop computer. 4-pin ports are intended for devices where there isn't enough power to provide a powered port, e.g. Camcorders. At least Sony has an excuse with the Vaio laptops, since laptops do tend to have a limited power budget... but on a DESKTOP!?! Sheesh.

So I am assuming it comes with the power suppley, right? It says its firewire.. so does it come with some kind of PCI card to install as well for the sound n things.. Like I've said, Ive read the discription, but am a lil cautious of how exactly it will or is suppose to connect to my pc.. any help would be appreciated thanks...

It comes with an external power supply and probably a FireWire cable. You don't need a PCI card for your sound. The FireBox effectively replaces that. You do, however, need a FireWire port. If you don't have one, you'll need to buy a (decent) FireWire card.

You mentioned a Dell Dimension E510. That does have a FireWire port---apparently 4-pin. You may have to get a 4-pin to 6-pin cable if you don't have one. Not sure what FireWire chipset it uses, so I can't tell you if it will work well with that FireWire port.

 

[Projbalance]

I would be careful with using an external power supply with a 6-pin device that is bus powered. My FireWire Audiophile specifically stated NOT to use the external power supply if you are using a bus powered port. Didn't say why, but I have a feeling it has something to do with the possibility of sending an extra charge over the firewire bus.

As for the original question; if you have a FireWire port on your computer, going with an external device like the fireport is a good option. I got the fireWire Audiophile simply because I didn't want to max out my third PCI port if I didn't need to; you just never know when one will come in handy.

What you're mentioning about other PCI cards with external interfaces isn't the same as the Fireport. Those devices are pci cards that use break out boxes to make it easier to access the I/O section. The Fireport uses a IEEE- 1394 interface, or FireWire, which is powered from the PCI bus but allows you to chain multiple devices through one connection; kind of like USB only more robust. If you don't already have a FireWire port on your computer you'll have to get a PCI card that is equipped with one. IN that case, it may just be eaiser to get an internal PCI based card. The downside is that FireWire isn't quite as fast as the PCI bus, not that you'd notice in this application, but it's the truth. The upside is that you can connect up to 18 different devices using one FireWire port. I have my Audiophile, and external HD, and my iPod dock all connected to one with the Audiophile and the iPod dock using the power provided by the FireWire bus to operate. In all it makes for a nice setup as I can continue to add HD's if I need them, and the whole shebang can be carted over and connected to another computer whenever I upgrade. Plus it leaves me that last PCI slot, just in case. With the Firepod you can connect multiple Firepods together as your needs increase. Convinient.

I say if you can go Firewire then do it. If you need some thing more elaborate than that right off the bat then you may want to look into a PCI card, but I'm not sure you're going to find a big price shift for what you get in a tradeoff for it.

 

[PMJ]

Coo.. I see. They only Firewire access I have currently is through my SB audigy pci card.. which I assume I probably wouldn't want to use, correct?? Since the SB card may be part of the of the problem causing the poor quality that is creating the inteferring noise issues in the first place??

How much do I spend or need to spend on a decent firewire card? What features or specs do I look at when determining the purchase of the fire wire card for the application I want to use it for..

Thanks,.PM

 

[Projbalance]

Well the sound card shouldn't be a problem with a firewire device. When you install the Firepod you'll be choosing to use that instead of the soundcard currently on the system, so it won't be putting out any sound and you'll just be using it as a firewire port. IN the long run though, for sake of argument, it might not be a bad idea to replace the whole thing just for the practical purpose of speed and the resolution of possible conflicts. Thogh I have to say if your current setup leads you to dump a card with firewire on it just to get a new firewire card, you may as well just go ahead and get a PCI interface. You'll be ditching the current sound card either way, but I would have really endorsed getting the Firepod if you had any other firewire access, such as a port built onto your mother board. If your just going to dump your soundcard outright, might as well get a PCI card.