Mackie Satelitte vs Presonus Firebox

[Simplicity2202]

Before anyone shouts WTF!!!?
I'm really quite new to the equipment side of things. more of a songwriter in that field. but i'm practising to put my stuff down and mix it better. im earning money and buying pieces a bit at a time. so i have the firebox and to be honest its pretty cool. would the mackie just be a side step. some one told me that the pre amps were quality for the price 115 good old english pounds!!! or any ideas what i could get instead firewire pref and money not so much an issue but be reasonable as i only really need 4-8 tracks altogether at the moment. say £600 tops whats that like $800
im loving using the firewire its a nice simple connection.
also on a software side of things (wrong forum) anyone know a good synth vst. i like the idea of native instrumets reaktor 5 or something like that. interested in creating new sounds and stuff. any ideas appreciated. i feel like i'll be a noob forever. ha ha

 

[SonicAlbert]

The Mackie would just be a side step, yes. No point in spending more money unless you are going to upgrade in a substantial way.

Also, the Satellite doesn't have midi, which the Firebox does.

 

[sajs]

I never used the Mackie but I have the Firebox and love it. The preamps are great.

 

[ObiAudio.com]

I have owned both. I loved the firebox hated the mackie. It was a good unit but the QC on it was horrible. Just do a search for the reviews on it. They had a big problem with the outputs dropping signal and getting noisy over time. The firebox has been rock solid since day 1! I have had 4 ms of latency ran all 6 inputs, ran 6 outs and never had a problem.

 

[MOFO Pro]

hated the mackie. It was a good unit but the QC on it was horrible. Just do a search for the reviews on it. They had a big problem with the outputs dropping signal and getting noisy over time.

I can vouch for that... got one doing just that... any idea on what's crapping out... can't even use it anymore... (the base station) but don't want to spend half the price of a new one repairing it...

 

[ObiAudio.com]

Ya I sold mine quick! I am not sure what it is but it is everywhere on the web. Your VERY lucky to get one that doesn't from what I have heard. My firebox is going strong! I hardly use it anymore though since I got the Echo Layla 24/96

 

[MOFO Pro]

Your VERY lucky to get one that doesn't from what I have heard.

Nope, my base is junk, started distorting on one channel, moved to other, and got progressively worse until I just gave up on it... I was using it mostly for monitoring...