PreSonus FirePod

Very straightforward. You plug it in, follw the installation instructions, load the cubase software, and after 5 minutes you're recording. I've had a project studio for several years and was already familiar with Cubase, but I think a person just getting started would be pleasantly suprised by the ease of use of this unit.

The manual is OK - pretty much tells you all you need to know on setting it up and using it.

I've recorded vocals, acoustic guitar, bass (direct), and electric guitar (direct via POD). The pre-amps on the unit are nice, especially for the price. I upgraded to the firepod from an M-Audio Delta 44 with an M-Audio DMP-3 for pre's. The difference is noticeably better with the firepod. I'm not sure if the improvement is due to the pre's or the A/D conversion - I sold the DMP-3 before I acquired the Firepod, so I didn't get to compare the mic pre's. I would assume they would be pretty equivalent. It's a great sounding unit - good quality recordings are easily attainable, even with budget gear.

If you'd like to hear it in action, visit www.feelslikefridaymusic.com and go to the "music" page. Anything under the "Feels Like Friday" name is recorded with the Firepod.

Just to give you an idea what I've got to record with:

Mic's: Studio Projects C1 (vocals), stereo pair of MXL 603s's (mostly acoustic guitar), and an sm-57 (electric guitar amp - when I get one).

Guitars: Takamine FD-360sc (acoustic), SRV Custom Strat (electric), Yamaha bass

Amplification: POD (original)

I'm giving the Firepod a 9 because of the quality vs. price factor. Obviously you can do much better, but you have to spend much more. I'm very happy with the unit for what I invested in it.

I've never taken it out of my bedroom studio, but I wouldn't hesitate to. It feels very sturdy and well-built. Everything is solid. I'd love to get a laptop for recording and be able to have a portable studio. I give it a 10.

I called them once with a question about the firewire connection - seemed very friendly and I got the info I needed within a minute of picking up the phone. I've only heard good things about them.

With so many audio interfaces out there form so many manufacturers, it is hard to narrow down to just a couple to choose from. I think PreSonus has done a great job and offered something that nobody else seems to offer at this price point. You get 8 phantom powered mic pre's, 2 digital inputs, good software, good drivers, and good converters all for $600 or less. Nobody else touches it, in my opinion.

The only drawback compared to other units is the lack of a lightpipe or other digital inputs to get 8 more channels in. Currently, you can daisy-chain 2 of them for 20 inputs (16 analogue and 4 digital via spdif). Rumor is that PreSonus is working on a driver update that will allow you to use more than 2 simultaneously.

The sound is great, its easy to use, and it makes a very decent recording set-up affordable even to poor students (like me). I recommend it.

Very easy to install and use. 8 great preamps. Great to have MIDI too.

My complaint is about direct monitoring: The 8 inputs cannot be routed directly to the 8 outputs, they just can be routed to the stereo mix output. So it's very difficult to adjust the volume to monitor the inputs.

A guy from PRESONUS tell me that the team id aware of this problem and that they are working to fix it in a future drivers update...

Poor manual... they didn't tell you that direct monitoring is unavailable. Otherwise it's ok. But it's so easy to use the FIREPOD that you don't need a big manual to operate it.

I'm using a PC laptop (PIV) with 512mb RAM to record 8 mics and it's working well.

The sound is great.

Phone amp is a little weak... not too bad but just a little weak.

I can gig with the FIREPOD but not if I need to monitor the inputs. The update of the drivers to allowed direct monitoring should be taken very seriously by the PRESONUS team.

Very great support, easy and fast.

Great machine to record with 8 mics

The day I bought the product I made a recording gig (with a backup...) and record over 2 hours of music without crash.

I it were stolen I'll check for a machine that include direct monitoring... but I want to assure you that if direct monitoring would be available I would buy the FIREPOD again without hesitation.

Very easy to use. drivers are straightforward. Everything nicely laid out.

This thing is crystal clear. I have tried ART and Focusrite pre's in the same price range and the Firepod is by far a better sounding product to my ears. I'm using ribbon mics alot, and I wasn't sure if the F.P. would have the gain and clarity I needed, but I was very happy to discover that it handled the job wonderfully.

Very dependable. The F.P. gives me no cause to worry.......my computer on the other hand. Well, that's probably my next purchase!

Hey, 8 discrete mic pre's, firewire, etc etc for about 75 bucks per. Awesome value. For me, this thing has worked great. I'm glad I took a chance and got the Firepod because I actually didn't realise how much of it's features I would eventually be thankful it had. Also, having Cubase LE is cool too. I don't use it, but it would be a better choice than Sonar imho.
All I can say is, get the Firepod. You will not be dissapointed!

Couldnt be easier to use..Install drivers and go.

The sound quality of this unit is great. I upgraded from an old gadget labs unit. What can i say ...this thing does professional quality recordings.

Wouldnt know...havn't had any problems yet

Don't know

Its a keeper ..I was gonna go with an echo layla, but this thing is just a better sounding unit. Firewire is the way to go. when i use my laptop its a portable recording studio.

The FirePod is one of the growing number of firewire computer sound interfaces. I'm putting it in the effects sections since there is no section for recording and I've seen Moto interfaces here.

The FirePod is a 10-channel line mixer that uses Firewire to get audio and midi in and out of your computer. Two channel is digital, while the other 8 have mic/instrument pres. 2 of these channels include inserts for compressors or such. Phantom power is switched in groups of 4.

It is very easy to use and almost everything is placed right. The inputs are on the front, along with all physical controls and the headphone out. The inserts are on the rear along with the outputs. All that is how it should be. A nice touch is the main and sub outs (on channels 1 & 2), as well as the normal line outs.

The sound quality is really good. The preamps are better than you'll find on many mixers (the affordable ones, anyway). The ADDA convertors are nice - it is really amazing how the sound quality of all convertors have advanced the last couple of years. The FirePod is good enough for Pro use. You can spend more and get more, but it is a matter of degree, not kind.

The FirePod has just come out (tho it has been advertised for a while). It is small and light, but seems well put together despite the like of weight. My previous FireStation was reliable. I don't know why the Pod wouldn't be, tho it is not nearly heavy.

Like I said above, I had a FireStation, which used Firewire, but the Yamaha mLAN protocal. When Yamaha "upgraded" mLAN to mLAN 2 (which required a non-reversable firmware upgrade), my Firestation stopped working with the computer. The support from Presonus was great - they walked me through all the possible solutions, staying with me multiple times for hours on the phone. mLAN 2 requires massive CPU which I didn't have at home. So Presonus offered to upgrade my Firestation for a Pod (which they will do for Firestation owner who can't get it to work anymore).

So, I can't say enough about PreSonus their people and culture. Mega Yamaha screws up their product and they make good.

The Pod is a great "all in oner." As it is, its replaced my computer and midi interface as well as my mixer (the preamps were better anyway). It is also small enough to throw into a gig back to take over to a friend's house etc to do some recording. In the Firewire interface race it is a home run. It has all you need at a great price and with good quality. The Yamaha i88x (which I also checked out) has better mic pres, but only 2 of them (and mLAN to boot). But for difference in price between the you could get a nice pair of preamps, or one better than the Yamaha.