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PreSonus Firepod FireWire Interface with Preamps

The Firepod is a complete 24-bit/96kHz recording studio combining eight high-quality PreSonus microphone preamplifiers, 24-bit/96kHz sample rate conversion and Steinberg's Cubase LE 48-track recording software. The perfect hardware and software combination to deliver professional quality at an amazing price. Learn More...

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Overall User Ratings

Overall:
* * * * * * * . . . 7 out of 10
Features:
* * * * * * * * . . 8 out of 10
Quality:
* * * * * * * * . . 8 out of 10
Value:
* * * * * * * * . . 8 out of 10
I Want It:
* * * * * * * * * . 9 out of 10
Sound:
* * * * * * * * * . 9 out of 10
Ease of Use:
* * * * * * * * . . 8 out of 10
Support:
* * * * * * * * . . 8 out of 10

Individual User Ratings

Overall:
* * * * * * * * * * 10 out of 10
Features:
* * * * * * * * * * 10 out of 10
Quality:
* * * * * * * * * * 10 out of 10
Value:
* * * * * * * * * * 10 out of 10
I Want It:
* * * * * * * * * * 10 out of 10
Sound:
* * * * * * * * * * 10 out of 10
Ease of Use:
* * * * * * * * * * 10 out of 10
Support:
* * * * * * * * * * 10 out of 10

Feature:
8 excellent pre-amps and midi, all the inputs I need.

Quality:
I've seen people who think the pod's brilliant, and people who think it just doesn't work. The people who have problems are all using it with windows pc computers. Those who think it's the best thing since sliced bread are using macs. PCs do not work for audio, you NEED to use this with a mac! Connect the Firepod to a mac and you'll see just how good this thing really is!

Value:
I cannot believe just how inexpensive this unit is! I couldn't find anything else in its price range that compares.

Desirability:
Looks good, but the main thing is that it just works.

Sound:
Fantastic sound. Just recorded an acoustic album, on playback I had someone walk into the room and apologise for walking in during recording, though the sound was the guitarist playing in the room.

Ease of Use:
Took all of five minutes from the Firepod getting delivered to recording my first track with it.

Support:
Can't really give a mark here, never had any problems so never needed to use the support.

Overall:
Cornerstone of my studio.

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Overall:
* * * . . . . . . . 3 out of 10
Features:
* * * * * * * * . . 8 out of 10
Quality:
* * . . . . . . . . 2 out of 10
Value:
* * * * . . . . . . 4 out of 10
I Want It:
* . . . . . . . . . 1 out of 10
Sound:
* * * * * * * * . . 8 out of 10
Ease of Use:
* * * * * * * . . . 7 out of 10
Support:
* * * * * * . . . . 6 out of 10

Quality:
I owned mine for two years but am going to have to trash it because the firewire jacks keep losing their connection. They get worn out very easily and as a result are very touchy. I had it sent in for repairs twice and this keeps happening.

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Overall:
* * * * * * * * . . 8 out of 10
Features:
* * * * * * * * * . 9 out of 10
Quality:
* * * * * * * * . . 8 out of 10
Value:
* * * * * * * * * * 10 out of 10
Sound:
* * * * * * * * . . 8 out of 10
Ease of Use:
* * * * * * * * * * 10 out of 10

Feature:
Its not got a tonne of features but when all you want are 8 preamps that record simultaneously into your DAW its perfect, especially at the price.

Quality:
Would be nice if preamps 3 to 8 were the quality of 1 and 2 but tbh I only use the rest of the channels when recording drums or a live band so its not like I don't have the head room, just a little less flexibility.

Value:
Have you seen the price?? Its one of the cheapest 8 track Firewire interfaces out there!

Sound:
Preamps are good for the price, they wipe those on the similarly priced Behringer mixers/USB interfaces (which I would not advise purchasing for recording - Presonus all the way) I recorded a drum piece in the studio using a mackie 8buss and pro tools HD system and then recorded the same song at home using the firepod and Logic 8. The result, although obviously different, was very impressive when taking into consideration that my firepod set up cost about 10 times less than the mackie/pro tools HD.

Ease of Use:
Works perfectly with my mac. you just plug in and play. no drivers have to be installed.

Overall:
The Firepod was the perfect solution for my project studio; Its cheap, it's compact, (only 1 unit of rack space) works great with my mac and Logic Studio. I didn't have a great big wad of cash and I already had a good control surface so didnt want to spend out extra on mixing features on the interface. It sounds great and means I don't have to go into the studio every time I want to record my self or my band professionally. Im spent a long time searching and testing products in the price range and to my ears, and to my wallet, this comes out on top.

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Overall:
* * * * * * * * * . 9 out of 10
Features:
* * * * * * * * . . 8 out of 10
Quality:
* * * * * * * * * . 9 out of 10
Value:
* * * * * * * * * * 10 out of 10
I Want It:
* * * * * * * . . . 7 out of 10
Sound:
* * * * * * * * * . 9 out of 10
Ease of Use:
* * * * * * * * * * 10 out of 10
Support:
* * * * * * * * * * 10 out of 10

Feature:
Not a ton of features, but it does evrything I need to do with ease.

Quality:
I find myself being very gentle when using it. Defentaley wouldnt want to drop it.

Value:
If it covers what you need, and for that price, Oh yeah, VERY WELL WORTH IT!

Desirability:
I was going to get an onyx mixer but this one was more cost effective and covered all my needs... ANd hey, I bought it diddnt I...

Sound:
This thing sounds GREAT! CLEAN and TONS of headroom...

Ease of Use:
A child could use this thing.

Support:
I had a question about whether or not it would work on a 64 bit system, called the number on the website, had my question answered in less than 1 minute. You cant beat that.

Overall:
Great product, great sound, easy to use, and cheap... You cant beat it.

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Overall:
* * * * * * * . . . 7 out of 10
Features:
* * * * * * . . . . 6 out of 10
Quality:
* * * * * * * . . . 7 out of 10
Value:
* * * * * * * * . . 8 out of 10
I Want It:
* * * * * * * . . . 7 out of 10
Sound:
* * * * * * . . . . 6 out of 10
Ease of Use:
* * * * * * * * * . 9 out of 10
Support:
* * * * * * * . . . 7 out of 10

Feature:
Yeah, it's got 8 preamps (see above). But there's no mixing utility (like the Mackie has). So for that reason I can't rate it highly.

Quality:
The preamps aren't the best in the world (I'm not really trying to bash the preamps because I know for $500 you're not going to get Avalon-quality pres). But since bypassing the mic input and using an external preamp, I'm good with the results.

Value:
It's a great buy for $500.

Sound:
I bought a Mackie Onyx 400 first. I really wanted the Mackie but after about a half an hour of use, it broke down. I'd read some grim stories on the Mackie forum but opted to try it anyway. For the half hour it worked I really liked it. I especially liked the way the DAW sounded on playback- lots of clarity. But alas, I called Zzounds to return it and the salesguy was great. I decided to get the Presonus. Comparing the two (I was cutting a female vocal when the Mackie died but had gotten through half a song), the Mackie has a better mic preamp. I'm a bit concerned about the Presonus mic preamps. I connected a DBX compressor to the preamp in/out on the back of the Presonus. I had a group of singers in for a session and noticed the peak indicator on the DBX was lighting way more than it ever had. However, the peak indicator on the Presonus never lit. Also, the compressor wasn't showing a lot of compressing of the signal. After listening to the session I noted one of the voices had some distortion on peaks of the loudest phrases but the distortion was not clipped waveforms (it wasn't digital distortion). This lead me to believe the DBX was being overloaded or maybe the mic preamps were overloading but no clip indicator was lighting. My workaround was to go back to the Presonus MP20 preamp I'd been using for four years, insert the DBX compressor, then go from the send of the compressor to the LINE input on the Presonus (not the front mic input). The last session went much better. So, I'm skeptical about the mic preamps.

Ease of Use:
Very easy to use. The drivers work like well-built drivers should work.

Support:
I sent one email which never got a response.

Overall:
It seems to be solid. No complaints about the way the DAW (Sonar) sounds on playback although I really think the Mackie ONYX sounds better. Not extremely flexible relative to the Mackie or MOTU (multiple mixes for example).

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Overall:
* * * . . . . . . . 3 out of 10
Features:
* * * * * * * * . . 8 out of 10
Quality:
* * * . . . . . . . 3 out of 10
Value:
* * * * . . . . . . 4 out of 10
Sound:
* * * * * * * * . . 8 out of 10
Ease of Use:
* * * * * . . . . . 5 out of 10
Support:
* . . . . . . . . . 1 out of 10

Quality:
This unit's S/PDIF ports failed after just a few months (and I'm starting to wonder if they ever worked). The Presonus tech I talked to said that this was NORMAL behavior with the current firmware version!!!! They sent me a program to downgrade the firmware, but the ports were still dead. I sent it back for repair. See my comments below for an idea of how well that process went....

Value:
I would gladly pay more to buy a product made by someone else. ANYONE else.

Ease of Use:
I wasted many, many Saturdays trying to track down bizarre problems with my audio setup only to realize (after getting a third S/PDIF source) that my FIREPOD was not really syncing to S/PDIF and wasn't producing any S/PDIF output, either....

Support:
I've never seen such poor support in all my life. I had to ship the unit in for a repair. Six weeks later, I still don't have it back. They've had it for five of those weeks. They have not answered my email or returned my phone calls on the matter. My first email inquiry was about three weeks ago. Never again. Never.

Overall:
I'm probably selling it as soon as I get it back from repair. I can't trust this piece of hardware anymore, and I can't trust the manufacturer to stand behind it in a reasonable manner.

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Overall:
* * * * * * * * * . 9 out of 10
Features:
* * * * * * * * . . 8 out of 10
Quality:
* * * * * * * * . . 8 out of 10
Value:
* * * * * * * * * . 9 out of 10
I Want It:
* * * * * * * * . . 8 out of 10
Sound:
* * * * * * * * . . 8 out of 10
Ease of Use:
* * * * * * * * * . 9 out of 10
Support:
* * * * * * * * . . 8 out of 10

Feature:
This device does what I want it to do: allow me to run 8 low-level (mic) inputs into my computer for recording at 96Ksps. It also allows me to insert effects boxes between the channel 1 & 2 pre's and the channel 1 & 2 inputs to the ADC. This allows me to do processing at analog before it hits the ADCs. It is a nice choice. What can I say, it does what I want it to do in a basic and sensible fashion. BTW, I was surprised to find that there was no obvious word-clock input on the back panel but the manual set me straight as to how the S/PDIF input is also the word-clock input for synchronizing with the clocks in other devices. While I dislike doubling up the functions of connectors and knobs, this does not seem like a compromise to me since if I am going to the trouble to use word-clock I am probably not going to be using S/PDIF input. So reading the manual (short, sweet, and to the point) was a useful activity. BTW, the manual fails to document the line outputs in case you were wondering. This may not be an issue as the Mac audio setup makes the function of the line outputs pretty obvious. Still, complete documentation is nice. The only negative I can comment on is that it is dependent on its external power in. It does not get power from the firewire as I had hoped. I want to use this for recording in the field and may or may not have mains power conveniently available. This means I am going to have to cook up a separate supply for DC input. The supplied transformer is 15VAC @ 2A. It may be that the Firepod will run from 12VDC but I have to verify this with Presonus. This it not likely to be an issue if you are using it in a studio or a setting where mains power is readily available.

Quality:
The box apears to be solid. It works as advertised. Knobs, case, and extrusions are all of metal and pretty heavy guage at that. It is a lot more robust than other low-end devices so I have some confidence it will withstand the rigors of working in the field. I am giving it a slightly above "average" grade of 8. There are a lot of people giving a '10' to boxes that just do what they are supposed to do.

Value:
The Firepod gives me everything that I wanted in a reasonably small package (1U rack mount about 6" deep). The price was quite good compared to others in the same boat. I needed the eight mic pre's and Presonus is about the only game in town for that.

Desirability:
Sorry, it is a piece of hardware. How it looks is of very little consequence to me as long as it does the job and holds up. It does the job I want done and there are few others that offer this many pre's in such a small package.

Sound:
The sound is neutral with no obvious aberations or anomalies. The pre's seem to have a 'dry' characteristic reminiscent of most middle-of-the-road solid state pre-amp designs so to me there are no surprises. If I drive it into clipping I can hear the ADCs flattopping but up until then I don't hear anything that sounds like distress in the analog pre's.

Ease of Use:
I think that setup is about as simple as it comes. I plugged it into my Mac, plugged in the mics, and started recording. I spent all of 30 seconds reading the manual just to make sure that things worked the way I thought they should and they did. No surprises. (I really *LIKE* "no surprises.")

Support:
I had a question and they replied to my email in a timely fashion. This seems reasonable. I haven't needed anything that required above-average service so I can't comment beyond that.

Overall:
It is hard to beat a device that does exactly what it is supposed to do. BTW, a comment about some of the other reviews. Complaining about the software that comes with it is not useful. I don't know of anyone who is seriously into music who is dependent on the limited function software that comes with the box. If that was your criterion for buying the box then you probably shouldn't be writing a review. And complaining about ports 3-8 not having enough gain, well read the manual. The 1/4" TSR plugs for channels 3-8 are *LINE* inputs, not mic inputs. Of *course* they don't have enough gain for your mics. Connect your mics using proper balanced XLR connectors and don't pan the product because of your lack of understanding.

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Overall:
* . . . . . . . . . 1 out of 10
Features:
* . . . . . . . . . 1 out of 10
Quality:
* * * * * * * * * * 10 out of 10
Value:
* . . . . . . . . . 1 out of 10
I Want It:
* * * * * * * * . . 8 out of 10
Sound:
* * * * * * * * * * 10 out of 10
Ease of Use:
* . . . . . . . . . 1 out of 10
Support:
* * * * * * * * . . 8 out of 10

Feature:
Be aware that the LE program only records two channels at a time. And the PDF manual is extremely vague. When I contacted Steinburg, they informed me that there is no tech support on LE because it is just an introduction into computer recording. Call them before you buy this setup.

Quality:
The Presonus unit is very nice and well made, as usual for Presonus. It is super quiet

Value:
The Firepod should be sold by itself...without the LE software. I don't think the firepod should cost anywhere near what it does because that's all you are buying. I think the firepod should cost around $250-$300. The Cubase LE is totally useless. I've read the other reviews about how great it is........I think they work for Steinburg. Call Steinburg tech support for yourself and ask them about LE. don't get rippped off like I did. Once you use that software, you can't return it.

Sound:
sound is very impressive. It's great if you only want two tracks. You'd better plan on getting the SX3 upgrade because the LE is totally useless. I think the only reason they include it is to get the presonus unit hooked into your computer.

Ease of Use:
If something is red, the manual will tell you it's blue and you'll have to spend hours searching for secret information before you realize that the manual is not even for the LE. The Mute button activates the solo button and when you activate more than two record buttons, one of the previously activated buttons de-activates. Call Steinburg before you buy.....see for yourself.

Support:
Steinburg operates under the Yamaha name and finding their number is fairly difficult. They are friendly. But they will tell you that there is no tech support for Cubase LE. They won't even talk to you until you upgrade and register. Call them before you buy.....see for yourself

Overall:
I expect that I had to buy the software upgrade for $500.00 before crappy setup even worked as a multi-trac interface.

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Overall:
* * * * * * * * * * 10 out of 10
Features:
* * * * * * * * . . 8 out of 10
Quality:
* * * * * * * * * * 10 out of 10
Value:
* * * * * * * * * * 10 out of 10
I Want It:
* * * * * * * * * * 10 out of 10
Sound:
* * * * * * * * * * 10 out of 10
Ease of Use:
* * * * * * * * * * 10 out of 10
Support:
* * * * * * * * * * 10 out of 10

Feature:
About what you would expect.

Quality:
No problems for over a year of nightly usage.

Value:
I haven't found a better value for $600. I am still amazed that this product is still $600 a year latter.

Desirability:
Oh yes, I would definitely go get another Presonus firepod if this one got lost or stolen.

Sound:
I can't hear any distortions or coloring caused by the preamps.

Ease of Use:
Nearly plug-n-play. I have used my firepod with Sonar and I am currently using it with MOTU's DP.

Support:
The responded within a day to my emails. I had questions about compatibility with OSX and MOTU's DP software. No problems so far using this with my iMac and DP.

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Overall:
* * * * * * * * * * 10 out of 10
Features:
* * * * * * * * * . 9 out of 10
Quality:
* * * * * * * * * . 9 out of 10
Value:
* * * * * * * * * * 10 out of 10
I Want It:
* * * * * * * * * . 9 out of 10
Sound:
* * * * * * * * * * 10 out of 10
Ease of Use:
* * * * * * * * * * 10 out of 10
Support:
* * * * * * * * * * 10 out of 10

Feature:
Which it had lightpipe, but hey, I'm only recording eight inputs at a time anyway most of the time.

Quality:
In general, it feels solid and is built well.

Value:
There's nothing I've tried that costs even twice as much money that compares. This is a hit.

Desirability:
Great looking box. I don't have any complaints here.

Sound:
Preamps are quiet and have plenty of gain. Even for my ribbon mics. I've gotten great drum sounds and vocals sound clear. I'm really suprised by this thing.

Ease of Use:
This was SILLY, STUPID easy to get installed and running. I was up and recording within about fifteen minutes.

Support:
Great. No problems. I emailed them and got a prompt response.

Overall:
I know that this interface doesn't have every feature on it but I found it to be stupidly easy to use and sounds great on everything I have recorded so far. It's definitely something that you could 'make a record' with.

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Overall:
* * * * * * * . . . 7 out of 10
Features:
* * * * * * * * . . 8 out of 10
Quality:
* * * * * * * * * * 10 out of 10
Value:
* * * * * . . . . . 5 out of 10
I Want It:
* * * * * * * * * * 10 out of 10
Sound:
* * * * * . . . . . 5 out of 10
Ease of Use:
* * * * * * . . . . 6 out of 10
Support:
* * * * * . . . . . 5 out of 10

Feature:
My Tascam has no Aux send returns and Channel Inserts. This is the bad thing about todays interfaces, they mostly don't come with these, expecting users to use plugins for FX. One thing i got to say, Audio plugins are for users who never ever tried out real hardware, when they really try out hardware compressors and reverb, they will find out how dumb and crap their software plugins are, how lost they have been. Aux and Channel Inserts are the reason i bought the Presonus, don't expect me to record direct in vocals with my compressors and reverbs all set in tune correctly, that is too difficult to achieve. Advice to serious musicians/producers: Never budget down to interfaces without aux and channel inserts, you will fully REGRET IT later!!!

Quality:
Yep, no problems with both presonus products i have, my ACP22 have lasted me for 6 years without any problems at all. These are built sturdy and strong..

Value:
For now, this seems to be still of a pretty good value. But technology is seriously scaring me, i believe soon there will be full-on mixers with firewire and aux send/returns + channel inserts, and their cost would not be high. MAudio and Yamaha already have USB mixers like that, except just stereo outputs. It wouldn't be to difficult to modify these to pure channel seperation and firewire.. Imagine a Mackie mixer like that, it would be a killer!!!!

Desirability:
I love Presonus designs, very sleek, very techno!!! Nice blue/red led...

Sound:
OK!! I also own a Tascam US423 DAW controller too. Both interfaces are connected to my PC for total of 12 inputs i can get. When talking about sound, the main important things is the preamp!!! And the Presonus preamp outbeats the Tascam a little in that it has less noise. But the bad point is that the output is just too weak!!! I'm using Firepod for recording drums (which is LOUD!!), and only the 1st 2 mic inputs have volume that lets meet close up on the yellow meters, all the rest of the 6 line inputs have preamps, yet my signal is so low in volume even when i max them out. Every of those signals i have to normalise after i record, which kills my headroom.. This really SUX!!! The advertising is such a con, showing 8 preamps, but only 2 is REALLY USABLE!! The good thing however is that after i normalise, i found very negligible noise, so it shows the preamp is rather clean, giving less self-noise. However, one big advise to everyone who uses this, every digital audio interface in the world has bad preamp quality, expect to spend more by buying seperate preamps, when you try out those, you would be shocked by the difference. I have an Art Tubeamp that even outbeats easily the preamps from my Mackie analog mixer, the Presonus preamps are nothing compared to these, it is even no match to the Mackie preamps...

Ease of Use:
No problem, no learning curve, i've played with these interfaces and used to have serious problems with my Tascam. But ain't any problems with this one!! However, only one little problem.. with my Sonar, the ports are not reading in proper numerical numbers, they should number it properly so it's more user friendly. Another thing i hate, i also have another Presonus ACP22 compressor rack, Presonus always like to do this, i got to tell them this thing "Please don't design the ON/OFF switch at the back!!!! I got to stick my hands behind just to turn it off, which is very tiring!!!""

Support:
Never contacted them

Overall:
No point searching for another now for me, i have enough that serve my purpose.. People crap a lot about getting superior interfaces and all that, but remember, it's only the purpose that accounts for interface needs, don't expect too much soundwise. Spend more money on source instruments, interface is below in the recording chain, not on top. Preamps on interfaces like these are weak, i am planning on getting some good mics and seperate preamps, and mostly importantly, great instruments...

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Overall:
* * * * * * * * * . 9 out of 10
Features:
* * * * * * * . . . 7 out of 10
Quality:
* * * * *