Presonus Firepod

Can't speak to the Firepod, no experience with it.

However, one day I was at GC, and just for fun, I wanted to try the Presonus box that was designed to serve as the main control center for a DAW, because for a fleeting moment, I was thinking of doing everything in the computer.

They couldn't get it to work; half the switches wouldn't engage; the thing felt as cheesy and flimsy as anything I've fiddled with.

Yeah, it's cheap, and yeah, there's a reason why.

Incidentally, I stuck with my 64 input, 16 buss, analog board, and you know what, I am really glad I did.

 

PreSonus ships out untested crap that if it works at all, you're lucky. Sometimes when it DOES work it sounds pretty good.

"Bang for the buck" is meaningless when the stupid thing becomes as useless as a doorstop one month out of warranty.

 

There were some insightful posts about the Firepod and other interfaces Presonus offers on the Cakewalk Sonar Forum. I don't have an exact link for you but if you search the first 4 pages over there, you will likely find the thread(s) in less than 5 minutes.

Evidently, the unit is good and sounds good but there are issues with the hardware and software working together.Kind of vague I know but the details are on the recent thread I am thinking of

 

Hey silly rabbit, GAS is for parents.

 

I have one of those flimsy boxes. (Central Station) It's average at best. Same ADA as the Masterlink and a bunch of other prosumer gear. I have some Presonus pre's and comp's and had a Firestation for a few hours before I discovered the ADAT and analog ins won't work simultaneously. But all had much better build quality compared to the current line.

But if you need a box like the Central Station, it's going to be either $500 for the CS or $2800 for the Grace m904, or $7500 for the Manley preamp. Apples to oranges, for sure, but I'm talking features, not quality. For what it's worth, I think Benchmark is primed to bridge the gap. They already have a killer 1/2 rack DAC, just add a few analog ins, a few monitor sends.

So, the firepod up and running on the second try, with no issues. 1 out of 2 isn't so good, Presonus.

 

Spoke with Benchmark last week. The new 2 channel A/D will sell for around $1,700 with a release date in April. Half rack space.

 

Benchmark has a great rep. I have yet to hear their stuff (knowingly, anyway), but a mastering engineer buddy of mine says it's just like tape.

 

I called them based on a previous comment you made on a post. I'd like to hear it first, but am not clear yet whether I can arrange that with the Co. Gonna follow up later, the customer service rep was vague.