Presonus 1 M-Audio 0

[bitsandvolts]

Alright, well...I figured you guys would be interested in this.

I've been trying to weigh the various differences between the firebox and the m-audio firewire 410. The 410 already has strikes against it for being a non-balanced unit.....however, I decided to call both companies on the phone to get some pre-sales support regarding both units.

First I call m-audio. I got bounced through three phone menus and diverted to an answering machine message that told me that m-audio would be closed for the christmas holiday from dec 22 to dec 27, and please call back after then. I guess they forgot to take the phone off the machine when they got back in today....

Then I call Presonus to ask about the firebox. I immediately get a very helpful guy on the line who spent a good 20 minutes on the phone answering every stupid question I had...and when I apologized for taking up his time, he said "call as many times as you need to, we're here"

So far, presonus has my vote.....

regardless, I still need to weigh whether or not the firebox would be the unit for me....but I'm no longer worried that the company would be supportive with any issues I would have...

-F

 

[JazzMang]

I have also dealt with presonus on a few occaisions about specification questions and I got helpful and quick replies always. I also contacted them about a problem I had with one unit in particular and they offered to take care of it personally, research the cause of the problem, and ship me a new one if needed. It all worked out quite nicely in the end.

 

[bitsandvolts]

Yeah, it's a tough call for me...

I've been using m-audio gear for years now...and the stuff is rock solid...never an issue with anything I've purchased.

This is not an easy decission, because I know just how fragile a solid audio setup can be....Me, I have a solid setup with my audiophile. The easy and safe decission would be to get another delta card with the features I want to upgrade to...and I can feel fairly safe that stability wont be an issue. I could very well upgrade to one of the presonus units (firebox, etc) and find that the thing just doesn't play nice with my computer.

The problem I have with m-audio these days, is that I've tried to call them 2 or 3 times this past week, since my original attempt....and I've never been able to get a human being on the phone. I get thrown in a hold situation and I end up having to wait on a toll call for long periods before giving up and hanging up. On the other hand, Presonus has been very quick to pick up the phone and let me talk their ears off with stupid questions till I'm satisfied and hang up.


then again, if the m-audio gear is solid and I shouldn't have any problems, maybe the fact that their support staff isn't accessible isn't that big a deal...

who knows.....