Presonus FireBox Review, Article Options

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Comments about:

Presonus FireBox Review

[arvidtp]

Ummm... digimusic i have to disagree with you on that one. I own a firebox.

Here's the deal with the mixer: it sends commands to the firebox to control its internal digital mixer for monitoring - no audio travels to and from the computer besides that which is normal and must come in for recording/go out to hear things. I also note that CPU usage by the interface when plugged in, though it is more than it should be, is not generally affected by quitting the mixer. There is not actually any audio going through it, despite Presonus's failure to describe this as the case in the manual. Also, the unit still monitors audio using the last config you set it for when the mixer is not running (implying that the mixer software does not actually handle any audio). The firebox only forgets those settings once powered down.

And, if you get a non-defective unit, as i did first time, it works very well. Despite a small CPU drain, which is understandable since # of channels and audio quality is higher than that of the mac's built-in audio and the firebox has no special hardware like the RME cards, i can use my firebox quite adequately on my powerbook G4 1.25GHz, and I do realtime performance using my trumpet and MaxMSP with lots of effects and on the fly sequencing/craziness as well as some pretty CPU intense Logic sessions. The firebox really does not deserve such criticism.

best,