PreSonus FirePod User Reviews at zZounds

"The Best Buy Available: A Hall of Fame Winner for Audiophiles" submitted February 1, 2006

By a customer from mail.gatech.edu

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Musical Background: Recording Engineer and Active Musician

Music Style: Piano Rock

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Sound: The sound is phenomenal. Crystal clear pre-amps. Anyone who says otherwise obviously has an external error in their recording chain - like bad cables or bad mics. I have done side by side comparisons of the Firepod and other recording interfaces (all the way to the $1200 range) and the Firepod crushes them all across the board. Feature: Simple Design. Frontside inputs can be a hinderence or they can help - it's really preference. Aside from that everything works like you thik it should. The assignable phantom power is great. The mix knob is great too (playback vs. mic feed). Quality: Once again the Firepod has striking clarity. My mixes are continually appraised for their clarity, "depth" and stero seperation. Value: If you spent upwards of 10 grand on a nice Pro Tools HD system then the quality would be better but under 1,500 THERE IS NO COMPARISON. The Firepod is just astounding for the price. Manufacturer Support: I have only had to use it once and they were very straight foreward and helpful. The Wow Factor: I am going to purchase a second and possibly a third as soon as possible. Overall: This is the uncontested best recording interface available under $1,500. It's great portablility also set it apart as an incredible interface in ANY price range.

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"Sounds great, inputs eight, don't wait!" submitted November 25, 2004

By a customer from excite.com

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Musical Background: Active musician, sound man

Music Style: Rock, alternative rock, rockabilly, jazz, folk and 2 country songs :)

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SPOTLIGHT REVIEW

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Sound: Clear transparent sound. Using AT 4033, AKG 1000s and Marshall MXL V69 mics these preamps show their stuff - extremely low noise, wide dynamic range. I can hear a spider farting in the corner, yet no hum or buzz. Pure ear candy! Shure SM57 works fine in high SPL when gain set right, although high end condenser mics benefit the most. Feature: Comes with a firewire cable (nice) but relatively short; immediately upgraged to longer cable so I could get computer into separate room and decrease noise. Includes Cubase LE, a scaled-down version of Cubase, very intuitive and this version is quite usable. I'm running all gear into a Mackie 1604VLZ Pro using direct outs on channels 1-8 into Firepod. EIGHT analog inputs become ONE thin digital line out. Setup: 2 keyboards (stereo), 1 guitar (stereo thru Digitech RP200), 1 bass guitar and 1 mic and now that I've tweaked everything all I got do is flip ONE switch and play. SWEET!!! Inputs on front and firewire output on rear is backwards for this setup in a rolling rig, would be nice to have "reversible" rack mount ears, you know, screwed in with option to flip and move to rear....just a sugestion. Quality: Looks very professional and the blue lights are sexy. Case looks sturdy, but has a "some-plastic" feel. This is a profeesional tool and deserves to be protected in a rack--I value it too much to haul around naked, it just seems vunerable. Value: Eight inputs, phantom power, line or mic option, firewire speed, Cubase and great preamps. Go ahead find a better deal at this price - I dare you!! Manufacturer Support: No experience, everything works fine The Wow Factor: Ok, I said the blue lights were sexy, the aluminum finish is professional and that rack mounting is needed. At least I said it now! Overall: I am so pleased with this that I might get another, just so the drummer can have his dream of many separate tweakable channels. Personally, I think the egotistical SOB outta spring for it himself!(Sorry, no place for band talk) Actually I'd have a back up and I'd be expanding to 16 channels. Overall, I figure this will satisfy me for a long time, until a 16 to 24 channel analog input mixing board comes out with these features built in--it could happen!

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"Presonus All The Way" submitted December 1, 2007

By a customer from hotmail.co.uk

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Musical Background: Music Technology Studant

Music Style: All types

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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. 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. Ease of Use: Works perfectly with my mac. you just plug in and play. no drivers have to be installed. 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! 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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"Good quality, easy to use, firewire interface" submitted May 22, 2006

By a customer from comcast.net

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The Wow Factor

Musical Background: singer song writer

Music Style: folk, alternative, christian

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SPOTLIGHT REVIEW

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Sound: I can't hear any distortions or coloring caused by the preamps. Feature: About what you would expect. Ease of Use: Nearly plug-n-play. I have used my firepod with Sonar and I am currently using it with MOTU's DP. 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. Manufacturer 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. The Wow Factor: Oh yes, I would definitely go get another Presonus firepod if this one got lost or stolen.

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"You cant Beat it." submitted September 11, 2007

By a customer from hotmail.com

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Musical Background: Musician/Audio Engineer

Music Style: Metal/Rock

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Sound: This thing sounds GREAT! CLEAN and TONS of headroom... Feature: Not a ton of features, but it does evrything I need to do with ease. Ease of Use: A child could use this thing. 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! Manufacturer 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. The Wow Factor: 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... Overall: Great product, great sound, easy to use, and cheap... You cant beat it.

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"Perfect buy, worth every penny!" submitted August 24, 2004

By a customer from preventdrugabuse.org

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Musical Background: producer

Music Style: rock/funk/rap/trance

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SPOTLIGHT REVIEW

Sound: I purchased this product, and was absolutely amazed by the audio quality. No noise, beautiful preamps. awesome sound! Feature: No ADAT, but still has midi, and s/pdif. Plus it comes with cubase software, and great monitoring options, and inserts, etc. Quality: the Firepod is definitely made very well. not as bulky and weighty as others, and has way more features, and still is rugged and could probably handle a good beat-down (I'm hoping I don't find out) Value: features, and audio quality are enough to make this a 10, but also, just look at the motu 828mkII! a lot more with a lot less features, and 6 less mic preamps! come on now! Manufacturer Support: perfect. I havent needed any support on the firePOD, bu the guys there are all top-notch, great guys, very supportive. The Wow Factor: not all flashy with tons of blinking lights, and the front panel is well designed and conservative, but attractive. Overall: I would buy this again and again, and would recommend this product to anyone who is looking!

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"Highly Recommended" submitted January 3, 2005

By a customer from yahoo.com

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Musical Background: Musician, Engineer, Producer

Music Style: All styles

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Sound: Sounds beautiful. I instantly noticed a difference from my previous Mbox. The preamps are just amazing! Feature: I couldn't ask for anything more in something so small in it's price range. Quality: The only thing.... yep I said it... The knobs feel a tad vulnerable. But if you take care of your gear in a rack... u shouldn't have any problems. Besides that.... it's real sturdy. Value: I bought this as a return. A customer returned it cause he tried to use it with a Pentuim 3... silly u....lol. Your sillyness my gain. I got it for 5 bills out the door. Manufacturer Support: Didn't need any. The Wow Factor: Looks nice. Like the blue-connected/red-not connected light. Overall: With all the about stated I give it a 10 overall. Highly recommended.

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"Firepod rocks, clean and simple" submitted September 15, 2004

By a customer from sbcglobal.net

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Musical Background: recording engineer

Music Style: all style, anything with talent

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Sound: quiet as a mouse, silent mic pres make this a wonderful interface Feature: 10 inputs and 10 outputs, 2 inserts, all at 24bit/96k, sweet as pie, Quality: aluminim brushed front, heavy duty, but small and light, the depth of the unit is nice and short, great for small shallow rack case Manufacturer Support: excellent, they answer the phone quick, very knowledgable The Wow Factor: nice and simple, clean looking front Overall: id buy again, if it went down or got stolen, the 002 rack is similar but its $ 1200 and you only get 4 mic pres which arent as good as the firepods, and no inserts on 1 and 2 like the firepod, these are nice features to have but if you have to have the PT software then blow the 1200$ on the 002 or get a usb (slow and latent) mbox, peace

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"Look at what's out there, this is the best deal on all levels." submitted July 27, 2005

By a customer from kdcdesign.com

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Musical Background: Composer, Gutarist, Basssist, Drummer

Music Style: Rock, Blues, Jazz

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Sound: A very awsome rich full sound. If your running clean or an effect, it is impressive. Feature: As far as the features go it's straight forward, gain for each channel and outs for each channel. The dual inputs are great too. Haven't used the phantm power but it is a good feature to have. One of the Firewire ports broke within a week, but I was sent another one before I even shipped the old one back. All in all the features are good. Quality: Well, when I first go the product the Cubase LE was shipped in the box on the unit damaging the disk. I was immediatly shipped a new disk. everything was great for a week and then a Firewire port broke. I called presonus directly and they shipp me a new one before i could even ship the broken one back. So they had a pagaging issue and then the machine broke, but Presonus was ONIT! I think I had an isolated issue though. I would have given a 9 or 10 Value: Considering what was out ther for the around the same price, this take the cake. Manufacturer Support: Talk direcly to Presonus. THE SUPPORT IS AWSOME. The Wow Factor: Love it. Overall: Other than the initial issuses I had, no problems since.

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PreSonus FirePod Customer Review submitted January 18, 2008

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Musical Background: Musician and recording engineer

Music Style: indie synth-pop

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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. Feature: 8 excellent pre-amps and midi, all the inputs I need. Ease of Use: Took all of five minutes from the Firepod getting delivered to recording my first track with it. 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. Manufacturer Support: Can't really give a mark here, never had any problems so never needed to use the support. The Wow Factor: Looks good, but the main thing is that it just works. Overall: Cornerstone of my studio.

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"Great quality, easy to use, audio interface." submitted September 23, 2005

By a customer from comcast.net

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Musical Background: Amature singer/song writer

Music Style: Folk

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Sound: I can't detect any distortion. You pretty much get what you put into it. Quality: No problems what so ever after 6 months of nightly use. Value: I don't think you can find this many i/o ports, preamp quality, for $600 in any other audio interface. The Wow Factor: Oh yeah, baby. Overall: The rack mounted firepod feels solid and is the best firewire audio interface you can get for the price. If mine was lost or stolen, I would definitely go get another one.

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"Never been happier" submitted October 14, 2005

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Musical Background: I'm not much of a musician, but I can sure fake it well.

Music Style: Rock, indie rock, hardcore, electro-pop, pretty music.

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Sound: I am getting a much better sound out of the Firepod than any sound card I've ever had, and much better than my older USB based audio interface. I have one word for the D/A's - "Clarity". I'm hearing stuff in my music that I've never heard before (mp3's, CD's, Sonar recording projects). I haven't tracked enough yet to comment on the A/D's. I just can't give it a 10, you know, I'm sure something sounds better than this. Feature: In this price range, I think the features are unbeatable. Quality: Most of the unit is built with solid construction, however, there is one soft spot. The firewire jacks are mounted directly to the circuit board and feel a bit flimsy. I'm actually kind of worried that they might break right off. Value: I would give it an 11 but thats not an option. Manufacturer Support: I had a lot of trouble getting it to work initially. It just didn't seem to want to work with Sonar. So I sent them an email detailing my problems and then continued trying to get it to work. I guess I'm kind of OCD - I worked on it for about 5 hours total (3 before I emailed them, and 2 after). Finally it just started to work correctly and I never heard back from them. It kind of reminds me of a fickle girlfriend. Hopefully there won't be anymore problems now. The Wow Factor: I can't believe this survey asks "How would you rate the "sex appeal" of this product?"... but since they asked. I guess sexually, I'm really attracted to this thing. Overall: I can't imagine ever replacing this piece of equipment. In fact, whenever I get around to upgrading my computer again, I'll probably buy another Firepod and daisy chain it to the first one! (16 ins and 16 outs)?!?! This thing is really amazing for a project studio.

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"Read this..." submitted April 12, 2006

By a customer from yahoo.com.sg

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Musical Background: Music Producer

Music Style: Almost everything

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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... 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!!! 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!!!"" 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!!!! Manufacturer Support: Never contacted them The Wow Factor: I love Presonus designs, very sleek, very techno!!! Nice blue/red led... 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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"Clean mic pres, exellent value no-nosense firewire interface." submitted March 26, 2006

By a customer from hotmail.com

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Musical Background: Active classical musician

Music Style: Classical

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Sound: Neutral sounding mic pres, I've recorded several classical sessions with it ranging from string quartet to symphony orchestra with a pair of R Feature: It's really a simple no-nonsense 8-preamp interface. Inserts on ch 1+2, Midi 1x1 and Spdif i/o and of course combo instrument/line on ch. 1+2 is all you get. Presonus is releasing a new interface (called "Firestudio") similiar to the firepod nowdays with 8 ch. ADAT I/O added for those who might need that, but it will certainly be at a slightly higher price (or...??. Quality: No malfunctions here, and it seems to be quite solidly built and has a nice "feel" to the pots and buttons. However the pots in the front are slightly offset, so I've had som hassle with matching levels when making stereo recordings. Also the firewire-ports seems a little fragile. Value: It's a bit cheaper than the competition, but you don't very often find 8-preamp-interfaces below 1000$, the Mackie Onyx 400x and RME Fireface 800, that are both priced higher, only have 4 preamps, but does perhaps offer slightly better digital (A/D-D/A) performance. The Wow Factor: I already have it, but since I mostly use only 2 channels, I would perhaps settled for something a bit smaller, perhaps the firebox.

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"Finally an easy solution for recording my band without the use for an external mixer!" submitted August 4, 2005

By a customer from softhome.net

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Musical Background: Active Musician

Music Style: Britrock

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SPOTLIGHT REVIEW

Sound: Excellent sound, the preamps are great, 2 instrument inputs also do their job. Feature: No mixer required! I really like the fact that you are able to change the all the 8 input signals with physical knobs instead of sliders on the computer. Quality: The knobs are a bit small and fiddly, but one in all it looks ok. Value: I don't think you are able to get a better 8(10 inc. digital in) track, 8 pream firewire/usb product for this price Overall: I want another one in the future!

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"This thing rocks!" submitted July 29, 2005

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Sound: best sounding preamps of any interface period Feature: eight pres and cubase LE! Quality: solid and robust Value: no other interface compares to the combo of price and features Manufacturer Support: nice guys! The Wow Factor: beautiful looking knobs and sides Overall: i want another one!

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"If it breaks, good luck getting it fixed." submitted July 17, 2006

By a customer from mac.com

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Musical Background: Hobbyist/active musician/engineer

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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.... 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. Manufacturer 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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"A reasonably price tool." submitted September 28, 2006

By a customer from sw.rr.com

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Musical Background: Producer

Music Style: Whatever is the clients' Jones

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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. 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. Ease of Use: Very easy to use. The drivers work like well-built drivers should work. 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. Manufacturer 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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"Excellent interface" submitted December 21, 2004

By a customer from snet.net

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Musical Background: live recording

Music Style: classical

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Sound: Very clean and accurate. I love the preamps. Quality: The XLR, 1/4", RCA, and MIDI connectors are all mounted to the chassis, but the potentiometers and power and firewire connectors are not. It'll be fine in a rack; just don't toss it around like a Mackie. Value: It's a very good price for a high quality 8x8 firewire interface, and a fantastic price for one that also includes 8 excellent mic preamps! The Wow Factor: Looks Presonus-ish, which is good.

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"BEST BUY, and great sound! presonus is the best!" submitted October 12, 2005

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Sound: transparent and very acurate Feature: ADAT IO is missing Quality: potentiometer is to small and make some noise Value: spectacular value, beautifull sound, best buy

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"It's an 10 I/O mixer. It's got 8 preamps. It's a DA/AD convertor. If that's not enough it runs on Firewire. But that's not all" submitted October 1, 2004

By a customer from Juno.com

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Musical Background: Active Musician and Engineer

Music Style: Pyschopop and heroin dance music

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SPOTLIGHT REVIEW

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Sound: The FirePod sounds great. The preamps are sweet - they add no color to the sound. Basically, what goes in comes out. There are better convertors and preamps out there, but nothing for the price. It is perfect for the home studio, av etc. Another great plus is the size - it is the smallest 8i/o with preamps units, or close enough in size. It is standard rack width, but the depth is very shallow. You can pack it in a bag and take it with you, rather than having to lug a rack on site. Feature: Presonus ships everything you'll need to get started, including a Firewire cable. There is also Cubase, in case you need a DAW, but it worked fine with Cakewalk HS and Vegas. Quality: Everything feels solid, although this is a very light unit. Finish is good, everything works and it looks good, too. Like I said, I wouldn't be afraid to put it into a gig bag and take it with me for location recording - a place with power outlets, of course, this isn't a battery powered unit and would be a bit much anyway unless you were recording outdoor ambient souround sound. Value: As I said above, it is worth the money. You can, of course, spend more, but you'd be spending as much on single componets as you would the hole kit. Manufacturer Support: PreSonus is an excellent company. I originally had the FireStation but a firmware update from Yamaha for their mLAN B crippled it. I spent 40-50 hours trying to get it to work with my system and many hours with PreSonus technicians as we walked through processes. After months of going around with PreSonus and Yamaha, PreSonus made me a deal on the Firewire but mLANless FirePod when it became available. This from a small company whose product was ruined by big Yamaha. Enough said - they are best. The Wow Factor: It looks cool and still stays practical. 2 holes in one. Firewire is still the way to go for audio (and midi with the FirePod) and the PreSonus sofware installed in a few minutes with no muss or fuss (unlike the 2nd incarnation of Yamaha's firewire protocal mLAN. It runs at a 10 ms latency as default didn't break a sweat on my 1.7 MGz system without any other tweaks. Overall: The Firepod should last a long while - and this from an original minimoog owner. While the next round of AD/DA convertors will be better, this latest generation is great. Today, there limitations for getting a good sound in a home studio are factors outside the convertors - they capture your sound with all the warts in the rest of your system. Wrap those around an effecient package and 8 very good preamps and you've got a product that will last. In a few years you might upgrade the convertors, but the Firepod will still make a nice 8 line mixers with preamps. In fact, I'm getting rid of my mixer since it bascially replaces what I need do with it.

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"BUYYY, TRUST ME, its worth Every PEnnyy.............." submitted February 8, 2006

By a customer from sbcglobal.net

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Musical Background: 2 years

Music Style: RAP/ HIp HOp

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Sound: THIS IS SO GOOOOOOOOOOODDDD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! IS so Quiet, I GOt a Cheap MICROPHONE that is not even a 3 pin mic....nd it sounds so great....and then i connected my condense mic nd it sounds even bettterrrrrr!!!!! Feature: IT HAsss everuthing You need for a HOme studio, THIS IS a REALLY GOOD deal, Quality: The Fire wire plug in is really not strong at all it can break off, but if u take care of your equipment everything is great... is light but yet if it falls it can take a hit... BUT DONT TRY IT!! haha Value: YESSSS....worth every penny....every penny, TRUST ME... Manufacturer Support: NOPE I haven't so im just givin it an eight... I dont think i would either... The Wow Factor: YEs is so FINE lol haha, Overall: YES, i expect it to last me sum years.... IF u lookin at this and ur not sure whether or not to buy it... BUY IT Is worth it...

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"Save money, buy a decent stereo preamp instead!" submitted November 16, 2005

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Musical Background: Active muscian

Music Style: Blues, jazz, ballads, country, bluegrass, New age, folk, rock,

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Sound: I use it in a home studio context. Although I could not get the MIDI drivers to work, I have a Dell 4600 PC, overall the product gave a decent sound. I wouldn't use it live...mine died sitting in my home rack. Feature: There isn't any direct monitoring. Some features of my audio sequencer could not be used. Specifically, I use N-Track recording software. With my Audigy 2z I could use the N-Tracks convert MIDI to wav feature...I could not do that with the Firepod. Although you could route a patch cord from the back to one of the pres. The firewire cable that came with it is only 6 feet long, not long enough in my book. And it isn't very flexible, which may have been the culprit in the failure of my pod. Quality: My pod was setup in a rack in my home studio. I turned it on and it's dreaded red light came on and never left. I emailed the support dept but their last note to me was that I needed to find another computer to try it on. I DON'T EVEN KNOW ANYONE ESLE WITH FIREWIRE ABILITY. When they sent me the suggestions to try, they also stated that if none of these worked, to let them know and they would provide a return authorization number to get it checked by them. There was no mention of that when they offered that I try on another pc. Very rude!!! Value: I saw a suggestion to me where someone has told me to get a good quality stereo preamp instead of the pod. I wish I would have listened to that advice. I would be able to use all of the features of my software, have a higher quality sound and probably better dealings with the support people. OVer all, this product is way too expensive. Manufacturer Support: My firepod is currently not working. I have tried their suggestions such as editing the registry, checking my device manager, and connecting it to another pc. Currently I am waiting for an answer to my note to them which was, "If I cannot hook it up to another PC, then I am out of luck? So my $600.00 investment is totally lost? I am still under warranty so I will have to fight with them I find. The Wow Factor: It looks good. Overall: Once this thing is fixed, I am selling it. It takes a bit more hoops to hop over to use this thing.

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"A good box that does exactly what it is supposed to do without any fuss or surprises." submitted July 6, 2006

By a customer from lloyd.com

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Musical Background: active musician and recording engineer

Music Style: jazz, vocal jazz

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SPOTLIGHT REVIEW

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. 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. 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.") 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. Manufacturer 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. The Wow Factor: 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. 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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"Excellent-quality product that fits my needs and my budget." submitted April 26, 2005

By a customer from ninjacomputer.com

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Musical Background: Vocalist, composer, engineer.

Music Style: Whatever needs doing.

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SPOTLIGHT REVIEW

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Sound: The FirePod's sound can best be described as "transparent" to my ears. What you put into it is exactly what you get out of it. I haven't worked with pro audio for long, so I can't compare it to much; I just know from considerable experience in consumer audio hardware (both in using and designing it) that it has one of the cleanest sounds I've heard with everything I've thrown at it so far. Feature: It has all the routing options I need, and though the drivers are minimalist, by conforming to standards they allow the *applications* to provide everything that I need. Also, I'm currently running 6-channel IO with effects and monitoring enabled at 2msec latency without pegging above 50% CPU effortlessly. The only lacking feature is the once-promised ability to daisy-chain two or more to gain dozens of inputs. Quality: Looks nice. Feels solid. Sounds great. I'm confident that if I throw it in a rack it'll do its job until it is obsoleted. Value: Haven't bought any other Firewire breakouts to compare it to, but judging from the build, driver, and sound quality, and comparing it to similar products' prices, I am pleased with the price I paid for it. Manufacturer Support: Haven't needed support. The Wow Factor: Looks classy; I hope cobalt and black on silver never goes out of style. It's not a tech marvel or a design revolution, but it's well-built and attractive enough to make me look good when using it. Overall: I am thoroughly pleased with this product. It does exactly what I need it to, with exceptional quality, at a very reasonable price. I look forward to the next chance I have to use it!

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"Starting a home studio? This is what you need." submitted January 13, 2006

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Value: Best value on the market given its quality and ease of use. The Wow Factor: Small and inconspicuous. Can sit on your computer desk and hardly be noticed. One Cable runs to your computer! Overall: Just recorde an entire album with it. Mostly live with drums, bass, vocals, guitars, mandolin, banjo, accordion, and harmonica. Go to www.chasemissy.com to hear samples from the album Folks Throwing Rocks in the Country. Unbelievable what it is capable of for $700.

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"The firewire jacks are garbage." submitted December 1, 2007

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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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"FirePOS not Firepod" submitted March 21, 2006

By a customer from pk-research.com

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Musical Background: Recording Engineer

Music Style: Rock

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Sound: It sounds nice...if you can get it to work....or harder, keep it working Feature: Nice feature selection, shame it's a POS Ease of Use: Very dubious, finicky, and sensitive interface. Quality: Oh man don't get me started, 3 months after getting one of these and having mixed results with its performance and sound quality. It died. Seriously, massively bigtime died. In the middle of a session, a live webcast. Result: unhappy clients, really unhappy owner. Value: Sure it's cheap if it works but its a REALLY expensive paper-weight when it stops....and it will. Manufacturer Support: Ahhhhh....the support. Its worse than the product! When the machine was returned it took 1 month with no replacement sent/offered/suggested or even confirmed that it might be possible when directly questioned. Emails where sometimes replied to, not quickly and rarely with helpful or polite information. Don't buy their product and don't even think about sending it back! The Wow Factor: It looks functional, it doesn't perform that way Overall: I can tell you how long, 3 months!

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"YOU MUST!!!... dont even think of another one... get it..." submitted August 3, 2005

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Sound: I give 7 which is above the average. I suposse 10 is for a Focusrite or Avalon Tube Pre... the top, that's why I dont rate 10 on this, but eventhough, I believe its sound is very clear, acurate and transparent, so you dont have to worry about buying another pre unless you want to spend a couple of thousands. I conected my tube condenser, and inmediatelly understood that I was in front of a mayor piece of equipment. I did not even needed to EQ the voice track 'couse it had its natural sound...pretty impresive It takes a bit to understand it once it is working with the software, but is versatile as hell. I have used Digidesign and it cannot be compared with this unit. The Digidesign is overrated and overpriced... I'm using right now nothing else but this interface. I'll be getting a heavy tube compressor. Feature: It comes with everything you'll ever need for recording purposes. It is grat the two of its 10 channels (to chose between line input of mic input) are instrument inputs (you name it) so you can have two instruments plugged without even needing an amp... and it sounds cool... I still think the headphone output should've been more powerfull (I have to twink it over its half way up to listen well... and I'm not deaf. I rate 9 because it is over any of the units out there... Quality: I'm pretty concerned about people touching my stuff... I dont like anyone messing aroun it. It is well built but still one got to be carefull with the knobs. Value: The price is OK comparing to items int its range. I still say that Digidesign is overpriced for what it offers...This unit is the one investment that will last for some years to come... Overall: Able to record a whole band without the need of a mixer... where else??.... All I/O you could ever need...and wish for.

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"GET IT... YOU WON'T REGRET THE QUALITY PREAMPS AND CLEAR SOUND YOU GET OUT OF THIS UNIT... EXELLENT." submitted July 13, 2005

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Musical Background: Recording Engineer, Musician.

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Sound: Cristal noiseless preamps. It makes your music sound as it is played live. You may not need EQ if you know how to, but this unit is very straight-foward. You wont regret its quality. Feature: It should've come with.... (very complete) Quality: I suposse it is well built, I have had no `problems at all. Value: You wont get a deal as good as this one out there from any other brand. Presonus rules. Manufacturer Support: The manual has a lack of information on some chapters, but you actually wont need any manual in order to understand it. Overall: I will not replace it as long as it works as mentioned. If I had to change this unit, it would be for upgrading issues, but so far, some years to come I will be using presonus gear.

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"presonus is great.....cubase LE is useless" submitted June 13, 2006

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Musical Background: active musician, recording engineer

Music Style: any style

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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. 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. 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. 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. Manufacturer 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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"Buy this, you won't be sorry you did!" submitted April 19, 2006

By a customer from hotmail.com

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Musical Background: active musician

Music Style: rock

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SPOTLIGHT REVIEW

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. Feature: Which it had lightpipe, but hey, I'm only recording eight inputs at a time anyway most of the time. Ease of Use: This was SILLY, STUPID easy to get installed and running. I was up and recording within about fifteen minutes. 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. Manufacturer Support: Great. No problems. I emailed them and got a prompt response. The Wow Factor: Great looking box. I don't have any complaints here. 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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"DO NOT BUY THIS PIECE OF CRAP!!!!!!YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED." submitted December 13, 2005

By a customer from hotmail.com

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Musical Background: Producer/Artist/Engineer

Music Style: Jazz, Hip Hop

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Sound: 44.1 limitation. CANNOT do any higher Feature: Rackmountable is cool but what good is that if it only lasts two months. Quality: Lasted six weeks. There are three others that have broken in the store now and some pro audio people have stopped selling it. Value: Dont do it. Go for Tascam, Mackie or Echo if you want dependability Manufacturer Support: They returned my email and suggested that I try plugging it into a different computer. They give you 30 days only. Don't do it. Overall: Looks pretty and solid, it's all bullcrap. The guts are weak and it falls apart. Waaaaaaaaayyyyyyyy too much money to spend on a piece of gear that lasts until the warranty is up then needs to be replaced.

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PreSonus FirePod Customer Review submitted April 8, 2005

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Sound: motu 869, 2408, event layla, m audio 410, all mean nothing in front of this sound quality. Sound is good. this is more than anything for the audio equipment.

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PreSonus FirePod Customer Review submitted April 29, 2005

By a customer from yahoo.com

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Musical Background: hobbyist

Music Style: techno

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Sound: Much better than M-audio front end Feature: 8 Mic Pres, just what I need

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PreSonus Firepod FireWire Interface with Preamps

User Ratings

"The Best Buy Available: A Hall of Fame Winner for Audiophiles" submitted February 1, 2006

"Sounds great, inputs eight, don't wait!" submitted November 25, 2004

"Presonus All The Way" submitted December 1, 2007

"Good quality, easy to use, firewire interface" submitted May 22, 2006

"You cant Beat it." submitted September 11, 2007

"Perfect buy, worth every penny!" submitted August 24, 2004

"Highly Recommended" submitted January 3, 2005

"Firepod rocks, clean and simple" submitted September 15, 2004

"Look at what's out there, this is the best deal on all levels." submitted July 27, 2005

PreSonus FirePod Customer Review submitted January 18, 2008

"Great quality, easy to use, audio interface." submitted September 23, 2005

"Never been happier" submitted October 14, 2005

"Read this..." submitted April 12, 2006

"Clean mic pres, exellent value no-nosense firewire interface." submitted March 26, 2006

"Finally an easy solution for recording my band without the use for an external mixer!" submitted August 4, 2005

"This thing rocks!" submitted July 29, 2005

"If it breaks, good luck getting it fixed." submitted July 17, 2006

"A reasonably price tool." submitted September 28, 2006

"Excellent interface" submitted December 21, 2004

"BEST BUY, and great sound! presonus is the best!" submitted October 12, 2005

"It's an 10 I/O mixer. It's got 8 preamps. It's a DA/AD convertor. If that's not enough it runs on Firewire. But that's not all" submitted October 1, 2004

"BUYYY, TRUST ME, its worth Every PEnnyy.............." submitted February 8, 2006

"Save money, buy a decent stereo preamp instead!" submitted November 16, 2005

"A good box that does exactly what it is supposed to do without any fuss or surprises." submitted July 6, 2006

"Excellent-quality product that fits my needs and my budget." submitted April 26, 2005

"Starting a home studio? This is what you need." submitted January 13, 2006

"The firewire jacks are garbage." submitted December 1, 2007

"FirePOS not Firepod" submitted March 21, 2006

"YOU MUST!!!... dont even think of another one... get it..." submitted August 3, 2005

"GET IT... YOU WON'T REGRET THE QUALITY PREAMPS AND CLEAR SOUND YOU GET OUT OF THIS UNIT... EXELLENT." submitted July 13, 2005

"presonus is great.....cubase LE is useless" submitted June 13, 2006

"Buy this, you won't be sorry you did!" submitted April 19, 2006

"DO NOT BUY THIS PIECE OF CRAP!!!!!!YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED." submitted December 13, 2005

PreSonus FirePod Customer Review submitted April 8, 2005

PreSonus FirePod Customer Review submitted April 29, 2005