Presonus Firestudio or Focusrite Saffire Pro 40

[moneycat12]

Hey everyone

I'm buying my interface by the end of the week. I was settled on the Firestudio and everything was all good; however today the i starting again thinking about the Focusrite Saffire Pro 40. I have some questions and concerns about both, hopefully I can clear this up and start tracking!!!

Questions:

1. Are the preamps in both units virtually the same? Each product advertises "great preamps." Is the quality of the preamps something I should look at? Or will they both be indistinguishable at this price range?

2. Should I be concered about Ableton Live Lite? It comes with the Pro 40 and I'm a bit worried about it. I want Cubase, but haven't really used either DAW. I think I'm just interested in Cubase because I'm familiar with the name. I realize that the Pro 40 is compatible with Cubase, but I don't want to have to buy it. Thoughts?

3. I'm using a Mac, are the drivers with the Firestudio stable? I've read that the drivers can be a bit buggy. Any opinions on this?

I'm so indecisive. What should I do?!?!?

[String7th]

1. The preamps will both be equal in these 2 units. I've not heard of any Firewire or USB Interfaces with "superior" preamps. Better A/D/A conversion, on the other hand, can be found in RME and MOTU from what I have heard. But that's a bigger step up in price from these.

2. The Abbleton situation would have to be a throw of the dice. You may try it and love it. But it won't be too late to switch to Cubase LE. I mentioned in another post to buy a Tascam US122 or something, install and register Cubase LE and return the product for a full refund.

3. I've had glitchy situations with a PC and my Firestudio, so I'm not a big fan of thier drivers right now. Maybe it's better on the Mac side.

[moneycat12]

Originally Posted by String7th

2. The Abbleton situation would have to be a throw of the dice. You may try it and love it. But it won't be too late to switch to Cubase LE. I mentioned in another post to buy a Tascam US122 or something, install and register Cubase LE and return the product for a full refund

When it comes to LE versions of these software options, are there generally huge differences between them? I mean, since I'm a beginner, does it really matter which I choose?

I'm starting to think that either would be sufficient to learn with, then when I'm ready to upgrade I can then get the full product.

What do you think?

[String7th]

I've used the free Cubase for about 5 years now and I see no reason for myself to step up to Cubase Full. Mine's got over 48 tracks for mixing, I can record all 16 of my channels, 8 inserts and 8 sends for each channel, the list goes on what the free stuff already has in it.

I guess you will have to do the research on what Abbleton offers. I know Cubase LE4 covers all what I need. Make sure Abbleton has enough inputs, export options, mix options, and things that allow you to use all functions fo the interface.

[moneycat12]

Originally Posted by String7th

Make sure Abbleton has enough inputs, export options, mix options, and things that allow you to use all functions fo the interface.

Makes sense. The problem lies in my lack of experience. I'm not entirely sure what I need or may need in the immediate future.

More research I guess.

[String7th]

Oh, that's a whole different topic.
If you record drums, 8 and up inputs is prefered. And if you plan to grow, those ADATs will be very nice when you get into multiple output routing and whole band recordings.

If you only need 2- mic tracking, you can save money by looking into smaller 2-mic preamp interfaces. There's also some that have 2 preamps plus 2-4 line inputs for keyboards or other gear. These are perfect for solo artists or only do sampled drums.

[moneycat12]

Originally Posted by String7th

Oh, that's a whole different topic.
If you record drums, 8 and up inputs is prefered. And if you plan to grow, those ADATs will be very nice when you get into multiple output routing and whole band recordings.

If you only need 2- mic tracking, you can save money by looking into smaller 2-mic preamp interfaces. There's also some that have 2 preamps plus 2-4 line inputs for keyboards or other gear. These are perfect for solo artists or only do sampled drums.

Let me rephrase my last post. I know I need an 8 input interface, and I know I will most likely use the ADAT in the future.

What I meant was that I'm not that educated on the features of the various software packages. What does Cubase LE have that Abbleton LE doesn't? Things like that.

I'm for sure either going Pro 40 or Firestudio.

[bozmillar]

I haven't used abelton before, but I have used cubase. On the most basic level, they will both do the same thing, although, from my experience, looking at the user interface of ableton, it looks more confusing to me.

Cubase follows the standard protools/sonar/reaper etc interface setup, where I think ableton wanted to be more different. If you go with cubase, even if you don't like it, it will train you up and make the transition to other software easier.