Presonus Firestudio

This is why I was pleasantly surprised by the PreSonus FireStudio. Not only did it work as expected, but its audio quality and signal-routing flexibility added up to more than I expected, especially for the price.

OVERVIEW

There are a ton of FireWire interfaces on the market, each with its own twist. Here’s my take on the FireStudio’s strongest selling points:

• Mic preamps. These are the class A discrete type (see “Jargon Jockey” on page 77), and they sound clean and neutral. Those who like mic pres with “character” might find them too clean, but remember that while you can always add color to something clean, it’s almost impossible to clean up something you think has too much color to begin with.
• Studio and stage savvy. The two 8-channel ADAT lightpipe ins provide an easy way to record more mics — by adding either a digital mixer, or one or two 8-channel mic preamps with lightpipe out, such as the PreSonus DigiMax FS. In addition to the main outs you’d connect to your powered speakers, there are eight more outputs that you can individually assign in the Control Console. These are what you’d use to set up extra monitor mixes, or drive a surround listening system.
• Completeness. There’s a ton of software in the included “ProPak,” and while most of it is “lite” stuff, someone who’s starting with nothing other than a computer, some instruments, and some mics can make one heck of a lot of music with just what’s in the FireStudio box.
• Zero-latency mixing. The cool thing here is being able to set up nine individual mixes for when the vocalist wants to hear more vocals, the bassist wants to hear more drums, or you want to hear less of everyone. The included Control Console software is quite an overachiever (see “Mission Control” on page 77).

IN USE

I encountered no problems on my dual G5 Mac (I didn’t even need to turn off processor napping, even with 64 sample buffers). On an AMD X2-based PC running Cakewalk Sonar, the FireStudio had the known “speed-up” problem (where the tempo increases and the audio breaks up) associated with the DICE II chip used in the FireStudio. This is a known issue with other DICE II-based interfaces and AMD X2 processors, but when I raised the buffer to 192 samples, performance was flawless. Future driver updates may be able to improve on this further. A setting of 64 samples worked fine with my Intel Pentium-M laptop, although for complex projects, it’s safer to go with 96 or 128. While the WDM drivers worked well, ASIO is generally the better choice when working in Windows.

Once everything was running, I must say I was very impressed by the discrete, class A mic preamps — they’re “honest,” and subjectively pleasing without imparting any particular sonic character. They do make the FireStudio run hot (as in temperature), but not excessively so. As to mixing analog outs from keyboards, if you want a Rick Wakeman setup of multiple keyboards running into your DAW all at once, this baby will do it just fine. I’d like to see send-and-return jacks on all eight channels (they’re only on channels 1 and 2) but it’s a pretty crowded back panel, and this would have required a two-rackspace case.

Phantom power isn’t switchable for individual channels, only two groups (1–4 and 5–8). On the other hand, many FireWire interfaces have only one phantom power switch, and the FireStudio really gives you the 48 robust volts that better condenser mics want, something not all FireWire devices can claim.

CONCLUSIONS

What makes the competition so fierce among FireWire interfaces is that there are so many “form factor” choices: Maybe you want fewer inputs and more onboard effects, or a FireWire mixer if you’re always connecting and disconnecting different mics and instruments. In a field this crowded, few products can stand out, except in their particular niches . . . which the FireStudio certainly does. That niche is occupied by musicians who want a primary interface for their computer music rig at home, but who also regularly have other folks come over to sing and play on tracks. If you play in a band, and need something you can pull out of the rack and take to a live recording session, the FireStudio is ideal.

Why does it stand out? The sound quality of its mic preamps and analog-to-digital conversion is a huge factor, and its reliability makes me not worry about bouncing it around from one recording situation to the next. I didn’t have to spend any time hitting the ’net for fixes, and my efforts at searching for problem stories revealed balls that are clearly in the computers’ court: virus protection or indexing being on, unneeded network connections, internal sound chips not being disabled, and so on. My take is that this has a lot to do with PreSonus’ level of experience with FireWire: They have the wrinkles ironed out.

The bottom line is simple: If you want an expandable interface, with monitoring that really works for recording bands live or in small studios, not to mention detailed, accurate sound quality, the FireStudio is an excellent choice.

JARGON JOCKEY

• Class A: A circuit (such as a mic preamp) designed so that current runs all the time, as opposed to switching on and off as needed. The result is purer audio reproduction, at a cost of running hotter and drawing more current than other designs.

CLAIM CHECK

PreSonus tells us, “The FireStudio was designed as a project recording system for a single-room studio or a control room/live room situation. With eight XMAX preamps, 26 simultaneous inputs and outputs, Control Console software, and optional remote control unit, the FireStudio is a complete recording environment. The Control Console lets you route any input to any output and let each band member have a custom headphone mix during recording. Inspired by our Central Station, the MSR remote provides speaker  switching (surround and stereo), input switching, talkback, and main volume control. The MSR is completely integrated with the Control Console software, too: When switching between Mix, Stereo, and Surround Mode on the MSR, the FireStudio’s audio streams are automatically set for each mode, and are shown in the Control Console. This lets you switch quickly and easily between different studio setups.”