PreSonus FirePod

Once you know how everything is supposed to work, the Firepod is simple to use. Getting to a point where Cakewalk's Sonar and my Firepods (2x) would work as I wanted took some doing.
The manual is no help at all, unless you're not sure what "recording" is, in which case there are diagrams.
The Firepod itself seems capable enough but the Windows drivers seem poorly written. They hold up the entire computer when you make changes to the firepod's internal settings. The ASIO drivers could have a lower latency too.

The preamps are clean enough but maybe a little too crisp ?
Outputs can really get loud, I dunno if that's worth bragging about though. I use 2 of them, 2 AKG 418's, a Shure Beta 52A, a few SM-57's, Beta 56's, an AT-4040, an AKG C-3000 and a Shure SM-81. All sound ok though the Beta52 on a kick could use some more headroom. Seems like the firepods dont handle low end well.

Reliable enough, more dependant on the computer you're using than the Firepod's themselves though.

Customer support is iffy. The first few emails i sent went unanswered. My most recent one was replied to after about 2 days, but with a short, blunt answer, with no real discussion about alternatives, etc. They answered my question, but they don't seem too happy to help out.

I hate that the direct outs arent really direct outs when you plug in the firewire. They become software routed outs, and are susceptible to computer latency. Thats annoying.
I would like to have a deticated firewire card that didnt rely on my computer for handling firewire. I have a PCI card that works fine, but like most cards in its range ($100 <) it uses CPU power to manage the firewire connection. Something like the MOTU setup would have been nice.
I dont like to daisy chain the firepods, I'd rather have each one on its own firewire port.
If you peak the preamps, SONAR stops the recording. Likely a result of the firepod's losing sync somehow. They frequently lose sync btw, even when nothing is happening. Its not always a problem, but 1 in 100 recordings comes out with a pop in it. Kindof annoying.

Pretty easy to fire up the Firepod. I was getting tracks in just under two hours (realistically, that's not bad and you know it!)

At first glance/listen it sounded pretty good, I started tracking a vintage (otherwise beautiful sounding) Slingerland kit, sm57 on snare, Audix D5 on bass drum, Audix D2 on rack tom, D3 for floor tom. I used a pair of NT1A's for overheads. I have to say it really sounded good at first.
Upon further experimentation with more drums, (a lot of bass drum tinkering), acoustic guitar, electric bass and guitar, the works, I finally concluded I was getting better sounding tracks with my M-Audio Omni studio, which I fed from a Yamaha Pro Mix1 mixer set at 48Khz. When I listen back to earlier mixes from the previous rig, I realize that I was getting warmer, more dynamic tracks. The FirePod is not for critical audio applications to a seasoned ear.
Drums sounded hollow after critical listening, great bass drum sounds seemed almost impossible to achieve. Cymbals require a lot of eqing and tinkering, as I found myself spending a lot of time trying to NOT make them sound so harsh. The full spectrum is not even close to perfect as someone else suggested earlier on this board. Midrange wasn't present, and frequencies around 40-120hz were impossible to separate, and sound totally bloated. These are your standard artifacts of bad digital recording. Trust me, pass on this item. Unless you are just recording demos and quality is really no big issue, and you want the multiple tracks at a time, I guess there is an exception.

I have occasional issues with the firewire cord, and my recording software sometimes doesn't recognize that the unit is on and plugged.

never needed it.

For this kind of money you are MUCH better off getting a higher quality 2-channel unit, or even 4. Just use a decent mixer for drums and work on a great pre-mix. Trust me, the sound os MUCH warmer and full of life.

very easy just make sure you have a firewire card installed

heres the deal breaker for me, my friend has a digi 002 and we compared the sound of the pres and ill say that i noticed a difference so much that i sold my fire pod 2 weeks later because it wasnt the quality i was going for. its more of a (that will do) kind of quality which may be okay for some but you just cant get that much in a small package(otherwise the digi 002 wouldnt cost 2x as much but with only 4 pre's) and presonus gives you more pres for less? something missing there, and its called quality,but this is my opinion

didnt own long enough to form opinion, i would say those preamp knobs will be the first to go though, flimsy and delicate! be very careful

offers alot if one little package but definetly not pro at least in my ears opinion and ill tell yea, im not nice, and i will call it like i see it. i will not try to justify my purchase by (trying) to like it. If i bought it and it sucks, ill admit i made a mistake and sell or return it and get somethimng that sounds really good! to me!
For the less demanding, this unit is awesome!!!

Excellent drivers. Easy install. Simple to set up and configure. I use this with a Toshiba P35-S611 laptop (3.33 P4, 1 GB Ram) with an external LaCie Firewire 250 GB hard drive daisy-chained through the Firepod. Runs real smooth and I typically get latency down to around 5-6ms when tracking. I use Mackie Tracktion2 software to track with. Great combination overall.

Dead quiet......even with the mic trims way up. Somehow the mic pres sound warm yet transparent. Hard to describe other than "they just sound right". I am really glad I bought this unit. I have a couple of nice rack unit outboard mic pre's that I always used on past projects/jobs and the Firepod eclipses them in every way. Great sound.

Runs smooth every time. Granted much of it's reliability hinges on the host software and the PC, but Presonus seems to have made sure the drivers were solid before releasing them.

These guys are great. Fast email responses to questions. Very informative emails and nice folks. I actually ran into these guys at the Summer '05 NAMM show and they were real gentlemen and very informed about their products. It's a smaller company and the people that I have contacted at various times seem to be real passionate about their line-up.

This is a great sounding unit. Hard to believe that it is only $600. The mic pre's are every bit as good as most reviewers will attest to. It's not overly hyped -- they really do sound awesome. Highly recommended. I think I need to add a Firebox to my rig for when I only need 2 mic pre's for location mic'ing (the backpack set-up). Can't gripe this unit in any way.

It's a good thing the pod is easy to use. The manual is almost worthless...well no, it is worthless.

The preamps sound pretty ok considering that you are getting 8 of them. I wish each channel had it's own phantom power switch instead of the V power being ganged to two sets of four.

There is new firmware available but I couldn't use it due to a problem I am having.

I got the pod so I can have several things hooked up without having to unplug them all of the time (such as if you had only two preamps).

The noise level can get high if you have to crank the volume up...if kept at a reasonable level, I know, what the hell is that?

The sound is nice compared to my ART Tube MP.

For some reason, I could never use the Presonus MIDI drivers. I may be doing something wrong, I don't think so, but I always used other drivers for my MIDI. With my Creative Audigy 2z, I could use my sequencer software to convert MIDI to wav files...I couldn't accomplish this with the pod.

Dependability? Mine has already failed after 7 months.

I sent an email to Presonus and they responded with two suggestions. One was to edit the registry and the other was to check my systems devices to see if there was a problem with them. I had already done this but I checked again and they were fine.

A third suggestion was to connect it up to another computer to see if it worked. I don't know anyone with firewire capability.

Along with their email, was a statement that if the suggestions did not help to write back to get an authorization number (I am registered for my warranty). So I wrote them back indicating that none of their ideas worked and the pod still was in a coma.

The reply I received was this, "The only suggestion they could give me was to connect it to a computer to see if it's the pod or not." Talk about a non-answer. I retorted back, "So if I can't find another computer to hook it up to, I am out of luck and my $600.00 investment is lost..is that what you are telling me?

To say the least, I am not happy with the product and the support service. If I get the pod fixed, I will sell it and buy a quality stereo or two channel preamp.

I cover a wide wide variety of styles. From post-bebop jazz to Beatle ballads. I have been playing the guitar for 44 years.
I own a Taylor 510 acoustic, Fender 1992 Start, Roland GR700 gtr synth, Washburn Montgomery archtop, Johnson J Station, Samson PA, Firepod :-( , Rode NT1 and Shure KSM32 mic, Roland MC50 sequencer, Roland SC-55 Soundcanvas.

If it were stolen I would not replace it. I don't believe it is worth 600.00. But it used or get a great preamp instead.

The sound of it is very good. I have to give it that. But it lacks many features for the price and has limitations as far as other soundcards go.

Well i must say, i've done alot of computer recording in the past,starting with a Layla back in 1998. It was a good interface for the time,but computer power was the issue. I've went through others also M-Audio Delta 10/10 which wasn't too bad either...But the problem with those is that they were all PCI hook up. Still to this day i believe there was interferance from the computer and gave some unwanted noise at times.
Now i moved to this FirePod, running of a highpower Laptop with Cubase SX. I can't say enough,it's so easy to use and flawless when downloading the driver.

Well the preamps is what sold me on this thing..My regular condensor mics sound so warm and rich...I was looking for a Tube somewhere. No kidding,I ran ART top rack gear for years,which i know is still poor mans equipment. I couldn't believe my ears..I now run tube mics directly into the Firepod...I have such a clean rich sound...you would think i'm running much a higher expencive preamp gear. I got rid of all my Art stuff...too much noise is what it comes down to.If i do purchase a Preamp,it would be an Avalon or something like that...But if you have a fast computer that can handle some good VST's like WAVES VST..I'm serious you'll be amazed

Well it seems well built, but i suggest putting it in a Rack or SKB travel case. The pots are kinda just floating off the mother board..,I can't believe they cheeped out in that area...So the unit is a little delicate in that area. But if your not a demanding,pounding heavy on the buttons type of person..No prob. I have mine in a SKB case,plus the laptop and i away i go. People freek when i record tracks at their house. Theres nothing to carry. I also added a 6 channel headphone preamp along with the FirePOD..That's it. I've used it for some time now and it has not let me down. VERY RELIABLE ..Don't bother buying tube preamps...save your money and buy this thing with a couple of good tube mics and away you go.For guitar...or bass...just buy a POD and plug straight in using SPDIF connection...less noise. You'll love this thing..

Never had to call them yet

I play a couple of styles of music....Rock in my kick ass mood,and classical guitar when i'm feeling lonely....LOL.Truthfully i do like classical alot...But i do record alot of musicians,so i'm very open minded to different styles of music. I know a good muscian when i hear one, no matter what style it is. I've been playing and recording music for 20yrs and i now have less stuff to carry than ever,and for sure the best sound i ever had.Don't be a gear nutt like i was for years and blow all your money. Just buy this thing,running off a fast computer ,3gig processor,1 gig of ram and a 7200rpm hardrive... and you'll have lots of fun. That's what i have in my laptop. I'm running a AMD64 bit ML-30 processor. It's alot more stable than INTEL.And it's quick and snappy.Isearch through Ebay for that 7200rpm drive though. Most laptops today are from 4200 to 5400rpm. They work very well, but you will have limitations on how many tracks you'll play back. A gig of ram,gives you pretty good real time VST,...so i recommend this setup or higher of course and you'll be amazed what you can do..I run Cubase SX 2.0 right now.

The Firepod is relatively easy to initially set up but it's important to turn the Firepod on before opening the recording software in order to not change the sampling rates to the ones on your computer soundcard ather than the Firepod. If you mess this up resetting the Firepod settng is a minor hassle. Other than this minor gripe the actual use is easy, I'm using it with HomeStudio 2004, and it works well. The manual is very basic.

I'm using the Firepod to record a 4 piece electric/acoustic band, with one mic on mandolin, one on acoustic or electric guitar (depending on track) and the bass direct-in. We use two condensor overheads with dynamic kick mic on the drums. Of the remaining two inputs we use one omni mic as a room mic, and one is the line-out from the PA for the guide vocals. It's relatively easy to get good settings and good quality recordings with the Firepod.

It has been very reliable so far. It gets a little warm but not overly hot.

Haven't had to bother Presonus because it's such a good easy-to-use product, but i read good things about their customer support.

I bought the Firepod from Musicians Friend when they first came out and got the great promo deal of the Firepod, an AT 20/20 mic, and a 80 gig firewire hard drive for the $600. They sell the Firepod alone for $600 now. Very happy with the recordings our band is making.

As others have noted, it uses the native OS X drivers, so you just plug it in.

Knobs have a good, solid feel and are easy to adjust -- although the gradations markings are small and very hard to read, so it's difficult to write down level settings for future use. On top of that, the position indicator on the knobs is printed only on the front, not down the side, which causes some parallax problems when reading levels. This is a minor quibble, though.

Inputs and outputs are plentiful and clearly labeled.

Software integration is flawless.

The manual is quite clear, though largely unnecessary.

The sound quality of the converters is superb: noise floor is astonishingly low, response is rich across the whole spectrum, and I cannot detect any colorings or conversion artifacts even with very careful listening.

I've heard other say that more expensive preamps sound better. I've never had the chance to work with a $2000 preamp, but the Firepod's sound darned fine to me.

It's been wonderfully reliable for me, with two caveats:

(1) It sometimes gets confused if you flip it on at the same time the computer is waking from sleep. The solution to this is to unplug it, wait five seconds, and plug it back in.

If I remember to let the computer wake first, then flip it on, it works quite reliably.

(2) There is a problem on Macs where, if the clock source is set to "Mac" instead of "Device" in 10.4, sometimes no sound comes out. This caused me a bit of a headache one afternoon, though support sorted it out quickly (see below). It looks like it may be an OS X problem, and not a Firepod problem, but I'm counting it as a point against them all the same.

Knowing about these two issues and how to work around them, the Firepod comes through for me consistently.

I contacted support by email about problem (2) I mentioned under "Reliability." They:

-- read my message carefully, paying attention to everything I said,
-- didn't suggest any stupid catch-all solutions (e.g. "reinstall the drivers"),
-- asked specific, to-the-point questions about my setup,
-- immediately diagnosed the problem correctly, and
-- did this all swiftly, clearly, and politely.

I only get support like this once in a blue moon. Other companies should hire these folks to give them support lessons.

I'm primarily recording classical piano music in a home studio, running a Groove Tubes and an AMT into a Powerbook running Logic and Peak. I've also taken to using the Firepod as my home stereo system, because it sounds so much better than my CD player! The Firepod works great, sounds great, does exactly what I need, and would have been worth the money at $1000. I'd get another one in a heartbeat.

The firepod is extremely easy to use. You do not need to be a rocket scientist to plug this thing in and be recording in multiple channels within minutes.
As previously mentioned, the Manuel is useful to kindle a fire on a cold day, and that?s about it. In saying that though, you don?t really need a manual to operate this thing if you originally have any idea why you purchased it in the first place!
Analog gain controls allows you to move a home studio around the place and keep settings constant minimising setup time!

These units preamps and converters are excellent for their money. They are clean and excellent for the home engineer!
I have used two firepods (to make up 16 channels of anaolg in's) on a couple of projects now and have had fantastic results. I have been tracking onto laptop without any loss of connection, with the system beeing totally stable! I have also used the firepod in conjunction with an Avolon and Trident Pre which tests out the converters!

With any firewire gear, make sure you do not bump or accendently rip out the firewire cord . .

I have only given this a 7 out of 10 for sound quality because there are pre-amp animals such as Avolon, Neve, Trident etc and many a/d converters which are better that I would give 10 for sound quality! The thing about this unit that is REALLY good is it's value for money - not that you are getting the best preamp and converter on the face of the planet!

Always works well and is dependable! Have had no hassels

Put it in a rack unit if you plan on dropping it!
Looks and feels solid enough.

Presonus are excellent. They have given great support both before I purchased the unit and with supplying beta updates!

This is an excellent unit. Easy to use and puts recording in the hands of musicians. The benefits are that it is so easy to use yet unlike some other companies with similar 'simple products' this has been built well and creats a good clean and clear recording!

The Firepod challenges much more costly interfaces and has defently reated waves in the world of DIY recording

It's been said time and time again, but you just plug this baby in and play. No need to install drivers on newer Macs, btw. Manual explains things real well, real cut and dry.

Recorded sound quality is clear as glass. My slight issue is I wish the headphone signal could be cranked higher. No matter; a full band poject will need a seperate headphone monitor anyway.

I've had mine for 3 weeks only, so take my high rating for what it's worth.

Due to the fact that this thing juiced up so fast and clean, I thought I did something wrong, I swear to God. When I emailed Presonus they got back to me within 24hrs; I had figured it out anyway. They were also helpful before I bought it when I was uncertain if my computer rig was compatible. They answered the phone and gave me my answers immediately. That meant a lot to me.

I play vintage rock and roll in a 3pc band, nothing flashy but we need something clean and reliable. I have this thing going into an Imac, G5, 1.8 with I Gig of RAM. Basic mic set up. Fender guitars and basses, Fender and Behringer guitar and bass amps and Ludwig drums. The Firepod has been a dream--so far. It comes with Cubase LE which is an excellent starter recording software. It would seem to be the ideal "band" interface with the 8 pres and I can't imagine a value like this with anyother converter.