FirePod vs. FireStudio?

[Jazzp]

Hey up everyone!
I'm a real novice when it comes to recording. So you have to excuse me if this question is silly.

I have been looking to buy a recording system to start recording a band I'm in. We're looking for at least 8 inputs but preferably 16. We're a guitar based band so all we need realy is analog inputs.

After having had a look at Presonus webpage, I (with my limited knowledge) have come up with these 2 alternatives:
1. Get a FirePod, and then another and daisy chain them.
2. Get a FireStudio, which they say have 26 analog inputs. However, I can only spot 8 (just like the FirePod)

Would I need to buy extra equipment to be able to use 16 microphones with the FireStudio? And, if I do, what would be the advantage with a FireStudio over 2 daisy chained FirePods.

Thank you.

Johan

[bigjoe10p]

Hi Johan,
I've owned a Firepod(now FP10) for about a year now, and I would say that I'm satisfied with it. If there was one thing I would change about the firepod, it would be the mic preamps. They're there, but they're not great. What you need to do is figure how many mic inputs and how many instrument inputs you need. How many guitars will you be recording simultaneously, and will you be micing the amp for these, or will you be plugging directly into your interface?

I've read a little bit about the firestudio, and I still don't understand how you can get 26 inputs. As far as I know, in order to run 16 mic inputs you'll just need 2 firestudios. Or if you have a mixer, you can sacrifice being able to tweak channels after recording and send your mixer outputs to channels on the firepod/studio.

I would recommend going to presonus.com/forums and read what people have posted about the two. It's pretty informative and can help you figure out what you need.

[brandondrury]

If there was one thing I would change about the firepod, it would be the mic preamps. They're there, but they're not great.

Could you describe what you don't like about them?

I still don't understand how you can get 26 inputs.

8 analog inputs. 16 ADAT lightpipe inputs and 2 S/PDIF inputs.

I just wrote a big post on how to max out the inputs on a Digi 002 here: Mic Pre Amp or Mixer?

Or if you have a mixer, you can sacrifice being able to tweak channels after recording and send your mixer outputs to channels on the firepod/studio.

This is known as "submixing" which means you combine all your drum tracks to stereo or whatever to reduce the amount of tracks. Of course, there are 8 channel analog to digital converters that are pretty cheap.

http://www.dpbolvw.net/click-2170928...ter?sku=182483

Buy M-Audio Octane 8-Channel Mic Preamp with ADAT Lightpipe at Musician's Friend

what would be the advantage with a FireStudio over 2 daisy chained FirePods.

Read up on the monitoring matrix used in the Firestudios. They've set it up so that you can give more individual mixes with the Firestudio.


Brandon

[SnowNCycle]

I have three Firepods daisy-chained together (did this about one month before FireStudio was released, oh, well) but it really works well. I have a 24 channel snake running from them into my live room. Although you can record that many consecutively ( I usually limit myself to 9 or 10 mics on the drum kit, one guitar and a scratch vocal...but) it gives you a ton of flexibility, especially if you have things set and are doing multiple projects at once. You don't have to unhook everything or change your settings. You just have to really pay attention to where everything is going, organize and label everything so you don't lose track of it all.

Brandon, (or anyone else) if you read this post...and it is kind of off the subject, but....what is your take on my basic approach to building a song using this set-up. As I said, I really love to nail the drums first (with a click track). The drummer gets his feel for the song in this way... in another room, I have a scratch guitar track go through a Line 6 pod or some other processor direct with a scratch vocal and pipe that to everyone through headphones. Once the drums are nailed, I start layering on other guitars, bass, etc. I do this for my live room is great,but you get absolutely no bleed into the drum mics with amped guitars, etc. ( No need for an "amp fort" which I read about on one of your other posts.

Do you see any pitfalls in this approach?

Thanks,
Mike

[brandondrury]

The approach you speak of is pretty standard this day and age.

I've been listening back to some of my recordings I've done with the entire band live. Many of them do have something extra to them. The fidelity is essentially the same, but I find myself liking the live recordings better. It could just be that the bands that want to record live tend to be more skilled musicians and therefore play better as a band.

Some bands must overdub seperately, however. The way you are working is similar to way I do it.

I do this for my live room is great,but you get absolutely no bleed into the drum mics with amped guitars, etc.

Bleed into drum mics can be a great thing! There is no reason to assume that bleed is a disadvantage (as long as the band can play) and the bleed isn't excessive. This excessively "clean" mentality has it's pitfalls sometimes. Other times, it's totally necessary.

I find that best way to excite a mix is to add the "wrong" stuff to it. Sending an entire mix through a distorted guitar amp and delay pedal and keeping it down 20dB can be the best thing that ever happened to the "fidelity" of a mix.

No need for an "amp fort" which I read about on one of your other posts.

The guitar fort isn't for keeping guitars out of drums. (I haven't tracked drums in my house for some time). It's for keeping a) the guitar out of my ears while I listen to the studio monitors and b) out of the neighbors living room.

Yesterday I tried a 1x12 cabinet and a THD hotplate instead of my Marshall 4x12. It worked just as well, so it looks like I won't be needing the fort nearly as much as I did.

Brandon

[Jazzp]

Cheers for the info guys. You've been really helpful!

Since we're pretty much going to record every thing live and don't need that many different monitor mixes, we've decided to go for a couple of FirePods.

Thanks again!

[brandondrury]

That sounds like a good choice.

Buy PreSonus FIREPOD 24-bit/96k FireWire Recording System at Musician's Friend

[sebastian]

hey guys!

my name is sebastian.. im from costa rica.. and well this is actually my first post.. feel free to correct me if i write something wrong..

congratulations for the website.. seems to be pretty useful for everyone interested in home recording..

now lets go to the point

the method my band uses for creating music is jamming.. we play a couple of hours while recording the rehearsal.. this is very useful to us because we use to forget the songs very quickly hehe

now.. the method we have used to do this is with a xenyx mixer and audacity.. the quality is not that good because the interface sends only a stereo channel to the computer.. it is useful to remind what we played.. but the quality is poor.. so i've been looking new ways to do higher quality mixes.. the firepod seems to have what we need.. not just for recording the rehearsals but for demos as well

i have a couple of questions though..

I was looking at the back panel of the unit and there is a trs output per channel.. lets say every guy is in a different room in order to keep the channel as clean as possible.. how can i send a different mix to everyone.. I was thinking about sending all the trs outputs to a mixer and then send the signal to the other guys via headphones.. is that the way you do it? or is it a simpler way i dont know yet?

and what do you think of the method we want to use in general? any recomendations?

regards

[brandondrury]

i've been looking new ways to do higher quality mixes..

The multitrack method is definitely one way to do this.

lets say every guy is in a different room in order to keep the channel as clean as possible

Keeping different guys in a different room doesn't make anything "cleaner". Isolation can minimize bleed between instruments (which is sometimes AMAZING and sometimes TERRIBLE) but it also changes the way a band plays together. I couldn't imagine recording a band that jams without all the guys together in the same room even if amps and such need to be isolated.

I was thinking about sending all the trs outputs to a mixer and then send the signal to the other guys via headphones.. is that the way you do it? or is it a simpler way i dont know yet?

That is one way of constructing headphone mixes. Some of the Presonus audio interfaces (like the Firepod which I own) have a DSP routing matrix which makes setting up individual stereo headphone mixes a breeze. I prefer that to the old mono aux sends on mixers.

You'll need a multi-channel headphone amp too.

Brandon

[sebastian]

oh perfect! so all I have to do is to do the desired mix in the computer and send it to a multichannel headphone amp, no mixer involved.. thanks!

one last question.. how does the interface send all the different mixes from my daw to the headphones? is it via firewire or what?

sebastian