Firewire Interface For Windows & Mac OS X
Contents
1. 04_03 Audio 04 3 v gt eZ Cubase LE here running on a PC showing how the Firebox appears in the VST Multitrack window of the Device Setup box the drum and score editors are present as are Steinberg s excellent audio manipulation tools You can record stereo tracks but one stereo track removes two tracks of audio from your total of 48 Mixing is well specified with great automation and bussing options too Even if you have experience of other sequencing platforms LE won t feel like cut down software But should you get an urge to upgrade to Cubase SX with which the Firebox works splendidly you ll be in completely familiar territory There will also be an option to upgrade on preferential terms Firebox Control is a strange tool in that it s not simply integrated into the mixer application Basically it provides a clock source switch internal or S PDIF and 12dB boost switches for each of the analogue inputs This makes up for the difference in level when you re connecting unbalanced devices with 10dBV outputs and allows you to up the level while recording any quiet sources The PC control panel also offers a Sample rate switch and a comprehensive latency pop up The Mac panel lacks these two latter options though the manual does mention right clicking the control panel icon to choose between three computer Optimisation settings My main mouse doesn t have a right click and all the button co2. Firebox is good value for money and some street prices lve noticed make that great value can t think of much l d fault here the sound would be great on a much more expensive unit and it operates at the high bit depths and sample rates many of us are working with It offers plenty of input and output channels for home and portable applications will note that the interface does run hot even when powered from the Firewire buss This needn t be a problem though it might have an effect on where the unit is placed in a stack of gear as might be the case with Presonus s Max Rac system mentioned earlier The package received also lacked rubber feet Not a big issue perhaps but the Firebox s sturdy case does have some sharp edges that would play havoc with a varnished desktop Still a retailer such as Maplin should be able to sell you something useful for not much money You can see the lengths you need to go to in order to find fault with this unit It s even an all in one recording system with the inclusion of Cubase LE just add your computer Without even entering the USB vs Firewire debate this is as fine a compact portable audio interface as it s possible to find Give the Firebox a listen you won t be disappointed july 2005 SOUND ON SOUND 171
3. mixer shows a lot more sophistication than you d expect the six input channels and the stereo return from july 2005 SOUND ON SOUND 169 computer on test recording sys PRESONUS FIREBOX tem Touching Cubase As noted in the main body of this review the Firebox comes supplied with a copy of Steinberg s Cubase LE for Fie oy oe Desorption both Mac and PC This is a superb freebie it might lag a version or two behind the flagship Cubase SX but still offers everything you ll need Start End 0001 01 01 000 00260204106 25 1 3106 Pein I OET Lear C Devices Ableton Live Jagi to work with MIDI audio and plug ins The software is capable of handling up to 48 mono tracks of audio at the Firebox s top sampling and bit rates if desired plus virtually unlimited MIDI tracks The S EAE Test SPDIF eal All MIDI Inputs Default MIDI Ports DirectMusic Kinetic ReBirth Audio Reason Storm 3 Lees Audio 0103 YST System Link Video Player Windows MIDI aero number that you can use will depend on the sophistication of your MIDI interface not very in the case of the single 1 0 of the Firebox or how many virtual instruments you d like to run A small but useful collection of plug ins is provided including the Universal Sound Module LM7 drum module and VB1 bass guitar synth instruments bass sound module and a basic complement of effects plug i
4. the MIDI options including The master section offers a level fader plus global solo and mute clear switches allowing you to unmute several muted channels with one switch Finally a bank of switches lets you route various audio Streams to the mix or headphone output Configurations can even be saved Incidentally though it can t be directly addressed from within the host software the headphone socket is revealed as 4 Presonus FIREOG A seal an independent audio stream from E Hardware Settings e inside the mixer making Firebox more of a six in 10 out interface In Sample Rate Latency practice being able to choose which fhaie z soms xj stream can be monitored on phones i Clock Source will be very handy for on stage spor 7 musicians or DJs allowing you to audition one track whilst another one i Input Level Boost is playing out as well as for setting ma en aden Fee up an independent monitor mix 12 dB M 120B 1208 12 dB during a recording session m m The Firebox Control utility in its PC guise note latency and sample rate pop ups 170 SOUND ON SOUND july 2005 Setup Add Remove BE Nester of Disk Butters EI Disk Butfer Size v ASIO Dover Clock Source Control Panel Release ASIO Driver in Background r Expert Help z Reset All Sy __ Audio Of 02 PreSonus ASIO Driver Fireg Reset A ee Audio 04 07 a Cancel Audio
5. computer on test recording system Presonus Firebox Firewire Interface For Windows amp Mac OS X eC ERtBauidio PreSonus 7 Ze Lic s INSTRUMENT 24BIT 96K FIREWIRE RECORDING INTERFACE FIREBOX AIN MAIN LEVEL becoming available at prices that might tempt the more aspirational desktop audio enthusiast away from USB based devices Potential users have a decent choice and finding the words affordable and Firewire in close proximity is now unremarkable in terms of desktop music PII quickly jump in and say that there s not anything wrong with well designed USB audio interfaces there are any number of options that perform really well and regularly use one myself But there s something about the much greater F irewire audio interfaces are now KJOUND ON KJOUND Presonus Firebox e Very compact e Excellent feature set for the price e Brilliant zero latency monitoring via included software e You can start recording instantly with bundled Cubase LE e High headphone output level e Breakout cable is a little inconvenient e No rubber feet supplied Great sound surprising mixing power under the hood and excellent build quality The list price is more than fair yet shop around and the Firebox becomes a bargain So shop around 168 SOUND ON SOUND july 2005 Providing six audio inputs and eight outputs for 350 with the bonus of high quality m
6. ectors and MIDI I O This is not the most elegant solution to the problem of providing this extra connectivity the cable flops around offering a target for potential accidental damage and becomes inconvenient to access when the Firebox is stacked with other units as might be the case with the Max Rac described in the box opposite But it was perhaps the only way Presonus could provide the extra facilities considering this unit s size I d certainly rather have them than not All in The Firebox s digital and MIDI 1 0 are available on a separate breakout cable the type usually found on PC laptops which doesn t carry power you ll need to deploy the supplied 16V wall wart Interestingly if you were to lose this PSU finding a replacement won t be as much of a problem as it might be in similar situations with other products the power socket can accommodate supplies providing 12 24V DC or 15V AC all that s pretty good going for a piece of hardware this compact There s More In common with many such computer audio interfaces the Firebox is equipped with an internal DSP based mixer This can be accessed only via the supplied Firebox Mixer application but doing so provides the user PreSonus FireBox Mixer MIXER OUTPUT The Firebox Mixer application as it appears on the Mac the PC version is graphically identical Looks great and easy to understand With input monitoring disabled on you
7. from your ears and whatever your host audio application has to offer all you really need are the built in clip LEDs i i 1 a m r Aativmlananiicndunvvlanainnelenvainnal ita A further two stepped knobs at s the front independently control headphone and monitor output levels And be warned that the gain range of these two controls is rather wide can t remember when heard a headphone mix go this loud All that s left on the front is the headphone socket and a Firewire lock LED it s blue when all s well red when it s not and flashes between the two when there might some uncertainty The rest of the action is or starts around the back Two more balanced line inputs can be found here alongside the main stereo output and four further line outputs all of which are also balanced Though arranged as stereo pairs these outs are freely configurable as individual mono feeds and software allowing could be configured as part of a 5 1 surround monitoring setup The two Firewire sockets are also rear mounted and under most circumstances the Firebox can be powered via this connection If however your computer has a four pin Firewire socket 12 to 24 VDC or 15 VAC 10 WATTS Li Li Li Wom ot oOo oo oo 4 Last of all there s a nine pin connector back here Plug the supplied breakout cable into this socket and the Firebox gains access to digital I O as two coaxial S PDIF conn
8. ic preamps Presonus s Firebox sounds almost too good to be true Is it bandwidth of a Firewire connection that s both attractive and reassuring for audio applications What Have We Here Presonus have already shown what they can do with Firewire not only with the rackmounting Firepod reviewed in February of this year but with the now discontinued Fire Station The latter interface reviewed in February 2003 was an early adopter of Yamaha s Firewire based mLAN standard but the company s latest interfaces use a proprietary driver instead The Firepod is quite a well equipped device with 10 ins and 10 outs altogether eight top notch mic preamps insert points digital I O and MIDI I O Carve a chunk out of that spec and bung it into a little package a third of a rack unit wide and you have the Firebox But smaller doesn t necessarily mean lacking in features the interface still manages a total of six audio inputs with 24 bit 96kHz converters on the four analogue ins and eight audio outs alongside a single MIDI In Out pair Such a specification doesn t really push the Firewire protocol all that much but any USB 1 1 interface would have difficulty matching this performance Presonus have also ensured that you can get recording as soon as the interface is out of its box Steinberg s Cubase LE offering 48 tracks of audio recording alongside MIDI sequencing is included in the overall bundle Also in the Firebo
9. mbinations tried produced no result In Test Spec Presonus Firebox driver v1 2 e Pentium 4 PC with 3 06GHz CPU and 1 25GB RAM running Windows XP e Apple G4 450MHz Power Mac with 896MB RAM running Mac OS 10 3 9 YA Cc FIREBOX Control Hardware Settings Clock Source 5 PDIF be input Level Boost Mic 1 Mic Line 3 Line 4 M 12 0B M 124B 12 4B any case latency processor load and Sample rate settings were adequately dealt with from inside Cubase SX or the supplied Cubase LE In The Real World As well as using the supplied Cubase LE software check out the Touching Cubase box for a little more on this excellent freebie had a go using the Firebox with my usual collection of familiar software the full version of Cubase SX on both platforms Cakewalk s Sonar 4 on the PC i3 s DSP Quattro my favourite audio editor on the Mac and Propellerhead Reason 3 0 and Ableton Live again on both platforms The results were great across the board Those applications that could record integrated well and appreciated the zero latency monitoring options offered by the Mixer application In all cases was able to record healthy numbers of audio tracks without clicks or dropouts The latency that becomes audible when playing virtual instruments from an external MIDI controller was more of an problem on my older Mac where found had to adjust playback settings that resulted in
10. ns The good news is that any other VST effect or instrument plug ins that you might want to use and don t forget that the Internet is host to dozens of freebies for both Mac and PC can be hosted in this package You really can buy the Firebox and not have to spend any more money at least in terms of software But if you do get an itchy wallet LE will of course host commercial plug ins as well If there s a down side here it s that you re limited p gt the host each have a fader and a pan pot mute and solo buttons Each input pair also has a stereo link switch enable this and the faders are instantly ganged and the pan pots jump hard left and right Oddly the mute and solo buttons still operate individually It was Strange to not see any metering in the on screen mixer too Perhaps an update will fix this pea 75 Toa Audio 04_05 i Audio 0407 ai to eight virtual instruments two insert effects per audio channel four send return effects and two mastering effects But given the price of the software that s a pretty fair complement You can always make the most of what s available by printing effected audio or virtual instrument parts to their own audio tracks Likewise think about bouncing tracks down if you find 48 is too restricting for you The facilities on offer are familiarly Cubase with all most of the editing and organisational options you might expect All
11. r host audio application this is how the Mixer would look for zero latency monitoring with quite detailed control over the signal path The software is loaded onto your PC automatically as part of the standard driver installation routine along with the Firebox Control panel Mac OS X doesn t require drivers since the Firebox integrates immediately with Core Audio for both MIDI and audio the interface is truly plug and play Mac users have to go to the effort of manually dragging the Mixer and Control apps off the installer CD Incidentally the Firebox is only compatible with Mac OS 10 3 7 or over and it s Windows XP only for PC users However although Presonus quote an Apple G4 running at 800MHz as the minimum supported spec obtained satisfactory results on my older 450MHz machine The Firebox Mixer is quite a comprehensive level control and routing tool allowing you to configure the inputs before they re routed to your host audio software and decide how the audio coming back from the software will be handled by the interface If you use this handy application for one thing only it will be to remove all latency issues from recording and overdubbing There is no zero latency monitoring switch on the box itself but by setting up the internal mixer correctly and disabling input monitoring in your audio software such latency as you might experience when recording and overdubbing audio is removed Graphically the
12. unacceptable key on to note sounding delays but as I ve already noted this machine is well below Presonus s minimum recommended spec The same problem also arose on my PC but to a much lesser extent and found was able to achieve a good result simply by playing with settings while recording MIDI driven virtual instrument performances Moving past the issue of getting audio into and out of the computer we come to the audio performance of the EJ 325 inc VAT Hand in Hand Distribution 44 0 1579 326155 E 44 0 1579 326157 EA www presonus com W www handinhand uk net The Mac version of the Firebox Control utility Firebox and this is impeccable In fact Reason had more depth _ 12 dB and oomph than I ve heard with my current B audio hardware The g front panel preamps are very forgiving with great noise performance It didn t matter whether it was my passive bass a stereo out from a hardware synth or a mic in each case the inputs extracted excellent noise free results The sound coming back from software is also commendable and was impressed by the level that the monitor and headphone outputs are capable of The 24 bit 96kHz converters also have a clarity that s worth hearing and as just noted the analogue circuitry really makes the most of the converters Such excellent audio quality is a real bonus for a device that s so affordable Final Thoughts All in all the
13. x packaging is a full paper manual it s small but it tells you pretty much everything you need to know The Box Itself A lot has been packed into the solidly built little brick that is the Firebox it weighs a lot for its size yet some clever design means it doesn t feel cramped There are no compromises with components either For example the first two inputs are on the front panel in the shape of a pair of Neutrik combo jacks offering balanced XLR and instrument or line level jack inputs in one handy connector Some choice Presonus Rack It Up Presonus produce a number of competitively priced third rack width processors including the Tube Pre tube equipped preamp Comp 16 compressor EQ3B parametric EQ and HP4 headphone distribution amp All these devices and the Firebox are designed to fit in Presonus s Max Rac compact vertical racking system Up to six units can be mounted in the Max Rac allowing them to all be easily patched into your digital recording system low noise high headroom preamp circuitry lurks behind the sockets and phantom power for mics that need it is switched in via a front panel button Input level gain which is wide enough to accommodate line instrument and mic signals is controlled by a pair of chromed blue knobs you ll spot them on other Presonus products and they re finely stepped in their travel to allow accurate setting of levels Metering is minimal but apart
Download Pdf Manuals
Related Search