PreSonus FirePod

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.

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.