Firestudio v.s. Firestudio Project v.s. FP10

[guitargod09]

I'm looking into purchasing 2 recording interfaces by PreSonus so I have 16 channels to work with. What do you like better based on anything, sound quality of the preamps, ease of use, # of ins outs headphones, etc. between the Firestudio, Firestudio Project, and the FP10. i was thinking of getting a firestudio project and an FP10 and daisy chaing them together.

[String7th]

If you wait a bit longer, Presonus will be releasing another one. Firestudio TUBE!!! I may have to invest with this one.
-2 preamps using a 12ax7 tube and analog limiter.
-8 more Xmax preamps
-6 line level inputs

16 chanel recording with 1 interface, no more daisychaining, ADAT preamps, or shennanigans. If you are impatient, shop around on Craigslist or used gear sections at Guitar Center for 2 FP10's (Firepod). They don't sell them anymore in stores, expect clearance sales, and they do the same thing as a Firestudio and 8 chanelADAT preamp, just with less bus mixes.

btw, the greatest song in the world, I Wanna Rock Ya' Body (Until the Break of Dawn)

[guitargod09]

Does anybody think the tubes make it better quality on a recording interface? I love the tube sound of a guitar amp better, but does it affect it a lot compared to a solid state?

[String7th]

I asked the same question here a while back. I learned that tubes do not always mean better. It's the quality of the preamp.

A Behringer ultragain pro has 2 12ax7 preamp tubes in it and costs $199
An SSL single chanel strip pre does not have tubes and costs $1200.
You can probably guess which one sounds better. Not that price has anything to do with it, but the quality and what you're looking for in a preamp makes the difference. Guitar tube gain and recording preamp gain are not the same thing.

They suggest on the Presonus website that the tube chanels should be used for vocals and as a bass DI for a little overdrive. The non-tube pre's should be used for drum mics and guitar mics. But there's no wrong way to do it. I personally would use the tube pre for a snare mic because it's got that limiter on it.

[thesilentdrummer]

The firetube looks really cool. I don't know if the tube really adds all that much: maybe its just a ploy to get newbs to buy it because *sarcasm* it is a tube preamp, and everyone knows that you can't make a good recording without a tube preamp*endsarcasm*. In the end though, check out the video and see if it is for you. I wouldn't buy it just for the tube, you can get an art tube preamp for $20-30 these days:
PreSonus

As for your original question, the firestudio's main advantage is the ability to use the lightpipe inputs and outputs. If you can use, then you have no need for a second unit because it can, with the lightpipe extensions, record 24 simultaneous tracks. However, the lightpipe units are more difficult to find and more expensive than adding a second unit.

The Firestudio project is a standard, sufficient setup for most homerecording people. The FP10 is basically the same thing. The Biggest difference is that the Firestudio Project (and the FS) has a firecontrol stereo mixer computer side. This allows you to create 4 separate stereo mixes to send to whatever you need. The FP10 sends out 1 stereo mix (maybe two). The Firestudio Project has LEDs for -40,-6, and Clip, as well as activation of Phantom power on every two channels. The FP10 activates Phantom Power on every 4 channels and has a single clip light. Other than that, they are generally the same. You need to judge if having the the Firestudio Project is worth the Extra $200. Also, sound quality of the preamps are negligible: they are the same preamps in all the presonus units. They are up to modern professional sound quality standards. They both have a single included headphone (1/4") port

What I would (which is what you wanted to do) do is get on the presonus forums and see if you can actually Daisy chain an FP10 and a Firestudio Project together.

[brandondrury]

Firestudio TUBE!!!

This sounds like bullshit marketing to me! I wouldn't bother. Tube in name or not, it still has to hit a certain price point.

Everything has basically been said already. However, I would HIGHLY recommend you getting 2 indentical models. You can run into a number of problems by running two different audio interfaces. There is no reason for variety in this case. They all do the exact same thing.

Brandon

[String7th]

Originally Posted by brandondrury

This sounds like bullshit marketing to me! I wouldn't bother. Tube in name or not, it still has to hit a certain price point.

I'm mainly excited about the 16 inputs with 1 unit, I know the tube is nothing special.

[brandondrury]

The 16 inputs is cool. That'll save money on buying an ADAT unit like I had to do.

Brandon

[thesilentdrummer]

Yah, 10 mic pre's are pretty cool... but for the same money you can get 2 FP10's (16 pres). In the end, you need to judge what is right for you.