PreSonus FP10 Reviews

[brandondrury]

PreSonus FP10 @ Musiciansfriend



PreSonus FP10 @ Zzounds




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PreSonus FP10 Description
The PreSonus FP10 FireWire recording interface (formerly known as FirePod) is a complete 24-bit/96k recording system combining eight high-quality PreSonus XMAX microphone preamplifiers with 24-bit/96k analog to digital conversion. It comes with the PreSonus Pro Pak Software Suite featuring Steinberg's Cubase LE 4 48-track recording software, more than 25 real-time plug-in effects, and more than 2 GB of drum loops and samples for music production. It also has SPDIF and MIDI inputs and outputs for convenient and compact, professional-quality, no-hassle recording.

[String7th]

Quality: 8
Tons of functions. I use 2 in a chain so I have 16 mic inputs, plus 2 more stereo inputs with pre-amps with SPDIF. Meaning I can use 12 mics on the drums, 2 for vocals, 1 for bass, 1 for rythym guitar, and my Pod Pro for leads, all on individual tracks, simultaneously.

I can also send the drumer his own mix through the bus outputs.

Not so happy with the preamps, though. Very clean and discreate, but the clip has zero headroom. Massive pop on even the slightest clips

Reliability: 7
My computer was considered a top of the line personal computer about 2 years ago but with only 1 gig of ram trying to handle 16 inputs, the firepods lose connection and crackle if the latency is not set at at least 12 ms. (not very good IMO)

And with the massive ram-eating plug ins I use, I set the FP at about 26 ms when mixing.

But if you got the ram, this Firepod will fly.

Overall Rating: 7
With the Firestudio as the alternative, this is cheaper and does the same things. If you are looking for 10+ inputs for an interface, consider stacking 2 to 3 Firepods for about the same price as a Firestudio and preamps with lightpipe connection.

My computer is the cause of the cut-outs, delay, and freezing, but the Firepods are awesome for whole band recording and multiple headphone mixes.

[SnowNCycle]

I have also used the Firepod's (excuse me, FP10's. sorry Apple, Inc., but my manuals do say Firepod) for a few years. I have 3 daisy chained together, not that I use all 24 simultaneously, but I do have them all connected to a snake which runs into my main room. If I am doing a session over a few days, especially with multiple guitars, vocals, keys, etc., I can leave everything connected and the levels set, saving me from swapping out connections all the time. Saves a huge amount of time with drums....after taking all the time to get things set, only to have to disconnect and adjust levels for a vocal or something else. You can also be very creative with monitor mixing and routing options, just have to really plan it out first. And yes, I feel the preamps are pretty transparent and provide me with a good sound input.

[SnowNCycle]

Follow up to String 7th.

Yes, I too have noticed huge pops when clipping, however, I set the unit's gain levels conservatively and then seek additional gain (loudness) with my software (Sonar), plug-in's, etc. and during mastering.

Seems as if you are just aware of the potential, it can be overcome fairly easily.

[Bandztudio]

Hi,
Thank you for taking me in. I come all the way from the Philippines, and im a new Presonus user. I find the fora (forums) here very interesting and educational. Thanks to the countless musicians and producers who share talent and experience.

[johnnydivot]

Any idea of the latency of the firepod when recording 6 - 8 simultaneous tracks? I'll be trying to record drums with an iBook G4 running at 1 Ghz using Cubase LE. Our band is very new to this, so be nice. We're starting work on our 2nd CD, and this time want to record and mix the whole thing ourselves. Any help would be appreciated.

[drix]

Quality: 0
good day! i just want to ask where you bought your presonus have no luck in finding one in our little country!tnx

Has it been reliable? Have you had any problems? Did you deal with support?

Reliability: 0


Overall Rating: 0

[dmaynard1]

Quality: 1
This pig looks good with the lipstick they put on it

Reliability: 1
Piece of junk!! Too many connectivity issues. Tech support doesn't have a clue

Overall Rating: 1
Would never recommend. There are others as well that I wouldn't recommend. There are too many electronics companies trying to cash in. Never buy anything mail order. Go to a store locally so if anything fails you can confront them face to face. It is easy to hide behind Email and phone excuses.

[TheAdvisors]

Quality: 8
Fairly solid knobs, connectors, and chassis. Nothing feels excessively cheap, but don't take a hammer to the faceplate.

While I don't have a lot to compare to since I've had just one other interface in the last 10 years (RME Hammerfall into Fostex lightpipe 8 channel unit), it sounds good, is quiet, and seems to have fairly transparent preamps.

The FP10 will not get in the way of good recording techniques...if you can't get satisfactory results with the FP10, it's probably something other than the interface.

A couple of extra feature from being a straight in/out device: when not connected to a PC, the 8 inputs act as a mixer to mono out...it might be useful, and there's a knob to adjust the direct input, for no-latency monitoring, which balances the playback from the PC to the input. Sometimes, I don't want to adjust the latency of the driver for monitoring through Cubase, so this adjustment allows for quick recording.

Reliability: 7
I've never had an issue with firewire connectivity, even using two FP10s daisy-chained.

I use the FP10 with my main recording computer which is an HP a1600n, AMD dual core, with a built-in FW chipset. No issues. I've also used it with a TI based PCI FW card. No issues. I've recently needed the FP10 with my laptop so I purchased a generic FW PCMCIA card with a Via chipset. No issues.

I know others have had issues with connectivity but I suspect more folks get along with no issues, and do not report non-issues.

I have had two issues: a physical input stopped working (then started working and has since had no issues), and a real PITA glitch with MOTU's Symphonic Instrument.

The input issue may have been simply a stuck connector which became unstuck. I haven't put much thought into it since...it's been more than a year.

The biggest, and most frustrating, issue I STILL HAVE with the FP10 is when using MOTU's Symphonic Instrument VSTi. And honestly, I believe the problem is with the Symphonic Instrument but it is only apparent when used with the FP10. Nutshell: when using MOTU SI Cubase or Reaper, AND being played from a MIDI track, there's a annoying glitch in the sample playback. It doesn't happen while playing it Live, or with a USB interface, but only with the FP10 when played via a MIDI track, on multiple computers, with multiple FW interfaces. I did discover that if I adjusted the LFO parameter to at least a value of 1, the problem went away.

I called Presonus, and they did their best to help, but couldn't figure it out. So, I called MOTU, and they claimed Presonus must have coded their drivers incorrectly. I asked the MOTU guy: "so if you're right and the driver is defective, how does adjusting one parameter on your software FIX their driver?" No answer. I suspect the software is at fault, not the FP10.

All in all, the FP10 just works, with little intrusion in workflow.



Overall Rating: 8
Good sounding, solid, fairly reliable, and flexible as I've used it on several computers with no complications.

If you're a pro, you'll probably have more exacting tastes in preamps and converter. But, for a project studio, or for someone like me that does not record others as a business, it's been a great tool.

[robbyshankar]

I use the Firestudio project, but have used the FP-10 as well. I like it, but the preamps aren't as nice as on the firestudio series. They are ok, but they don't have the clarity, presence, and headroom that the xmax preamps in the Firestudio series have.