presonus firebox vs. lexicon omega

V

vbibber

New member
Hello there,

I want to force myself to make a decision regarding a DAW for my Dell laptop. I posted a topic a while ago on possible firewire problems which I could enter with firewire DAW's, but I got mail from someone with the same laptop model as I have and a perfectly working Firebox. Before this information I was on the verge of buying the Lexicon Omega. But now I am in doubt again. I especially like to know how the pre-amps of the firebox compare to the lexicon omega, since I'm definitely going to use the preamps. The Lexicon has DBX pre-amps which look nice, this combined with some negative information concerning the pre-amps on the firebox I am still tended to buy the Lexicon (with the extra security that it will work on my laptop since it is a USB device). But what do you guys think? The Firebox is much more popular than the Lexicon Omega...there must be a reason for it? (it's similarly priced in my country, so that cant be it). Already many thanks for your advice!

greetings,
vbibber
 
How loud and what mics are you using?

The only thing I've heard in the negative about the Presonus mic preamp, is that they don't do well for dynamic mics like a shure sm57 which need alot of gain, the levels are low, but if your jamming loud, that "might" not be a bad thing. Conversely I hear the Presonus mic pres are supposed to work well with large diaphragm condenser mics.

Firewire Power Tip :cool:
One guy defeated the whimpy power supply via the firewire, by going from his PC's 6pin (includes PC power) jack, into to a 4pin firewire adapter, then back into a 4 to 6pin adapter to plug into the Presonus unit! That way you eliminate the firewire provided power and you have to plug in the Presonus power cord without having both power supplies conflict with each other. He liked doing it that way better on behalf of improving the mic preamps. Pretty simple work around that they will NOT tell you about in the manual.

So, how loud are you going to be (close mic'ing a loud guitar amp?), or are you using condenser mics? If your not going to mic very loud or if your not using condenser mics, you may need to add an external mic preamp for the Presonus to get higher levels. Then again, you might get good enough levels with the sans Firewire power mod to walwart power tip... Hard to say.

I'm looking at getting the EMU 1616 or 1616M for a laptop which I assume has the same firewire power issue. However, I'm prepaired to buy into an external mic preamp if necessary. :o But I also may end up with a Presonus Firebox/Firepod, not sure which is best for me applications. But the EMU comes with onboard hardware DSP and VERY good quality D/A and A/D converters, 24bit/192, and 120dB SNR! The M version for mastering is USA$500 and the non-M version, slightly lower quality converters and such, for $400! Worth a look...
 
I got the opposite problem. A customer bought a presonus firepod and I recorded his whole album on just that as an experiment. Dynamic mics were fine for drums, bass and guitar. Condensers were fine for vocals. Only problem was some far away accoustic guitar mics, 414's in MS. I needed more gain than I would have liked and theres a bit of noise. Still its turning out OK...Ill be finishing the mixing today on reaper radio I think so you can hear them there somewhat
 
Cool deal! Perhaps the type of condensor mic makes a difference too. Mic'in especially loud stuff like drums and gutiars should work fine on the Presonus preamps. I heard one guy mention that one of the mic jacks had a sort of noise to it, but the other mic jack with preamp sounded just fine. He suspected it was an insufficient ground problem, possible cold solder joint, etc. You might want to do noise floor analysis on each jack with the mic isolated from sound and gains up. Might find better jack for level sensative audio.

Caveot, I hope I didn't mix up the presonus mic pre issue with the Emu. I have been scoping out a dozen different models lately.
:( :o What? Me, space it out? :rolleyes: Still, the firewire to walwart tip may help some... :D

Reaper radio? Really? Do tell, is this an internet web thing?
 
I use the firebox and cant really complain much about it. It worked straight out of the box and has been stable ever since. No need for driver updates in my case. The preamps are pretty good, but i have noticed they are a bit weak when recording acoustic guitar. I used a dynamic mic, so maybe that was the problem. I would definitely go for one to start out :cool:
 
rockabilly1955 said:
I use the firebox and cant really complain much about it. It worked straight out of the box and has been stable ever since. No need for driver updates in my case. The preamps are pretty good, but i have noticed they are a bit weak when recording acoustic guitar. I used a dynamic mic, so maybe that was the problem. I would definitely go for one to start out :cool:
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Vbibber is seeking recommendations for that laptop, and laptops typically have somewhat slower I/O subsystem than desktops, so it may prove somewhat more helpful if you would specify if your firebox is connected to a desktop or a laptop.
:)
I Know I'd like to hear more from laptop users about what works best for them.
 
Presonus puts out a warning because of incompatibility with the following.


We have seen many issues unique to systems running Windows XP Media Edition, and strongly recommend using Windows XP Home or Professional instead.

Hardware Incompatibility
Laptop's with ATI Radeon 9000/9001 IGP video chipsets

USB/firewire and s400/s800 combo cards are not compatible

Firewire cards with NEC chipsets are not compatible​
Seems like only the laptop ATI Radeon 9000 or 9001 chipset issue is the main problem as the other two can usually be resolved by purchasing a supported firewire card.
 
Just wanted to let you guys know I ordered the Firebox..on arrival I'll give you a report if it works properly with my laptop (i do hope so :)). Thanks for your advice!
 
vbibber said:
Just wanted to let you guys know I ordered the Firebox..on arrival I'll give you a report if it works properly with my laptop (i do hope so :)). Thanks for your advice!
Click to expand...

rockabilly1955 said:
i think you made a good choice Vbibber. Peace :cool:
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Congrats vbibber! :D I just did the same thing! Bought it last night, also got a nice lrg diaphragm Mic, Presonus FaderPort, boom mic stand, headphones, cable. And a laptop too! That stuff can get expensive quickly, been saving for a long time, and no more spending for an eon. I'm about ready to leave to go get that pesky little 4to6pin firewire adapter so I can use my recording rig for the first time today. I'm going to be trying Sonar and Cubase SX, never used any of this stuff before, should be fun. :cool:
 
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