# Need advice/have questions about an entry level firewire mixer



## breakfast (Jun 16, 2009)

i've got a macbook pro with a firewire and i've been led to believe i'll want firewire over usb (convince me i'm wrong i guess...)

i was looking at the presonus firebox/firestudio mobile.

my only concern is that i have no clue what i should be looking for so i'll tell you what i need!!

-record at least an acoustic and vocals
-probably record some demos of a mic amped
-possibly record a full drumset and track a full band, etc.

will either of those things be able to do it??

the thing i'm not sure about is the inputs because the two inputs on the front are xlr with preamplifiers and there are 6 quarter inch balanced line-levels on the back. is this suitable for drums??



HELP MEEEEE!


----------



## Jeff Flowerday (Jan 23, 2006)

First 2 are easily achievable with a firestudio mobile.

3rd not so much. Line level inputs will do nothing for you unless the drum kit is electric with line level outputs. You'll need a proper drum mic setup along with mic preamps. Even then you'll easily run out of inputs for a whole band. To be safe you'll need approximately 16 inputs and preamps to do a typical electric band with a full drum mic setup.


----------



## jaymeister (Feb 2, 2006)

Make sure that you can test and/or return it. Presonus has lots of issues with their firewire products in terms of drivers and OS updates. I have a firebox. Works great on my desktop, but can't get it running on the notebook.


----------



## Duane (May 11, 2010)

*Focusrite*

I was using a Focusrite unit until a few months ago upgraded to a M Audio 2626. I had a Prosonus and it crapped out.

Look into Focusrite is my suggestion


----------



## ronmac (Sep 22, 2006)

A MOTU 8 Pre will give you 8 mic channels in and has ADAT input so you can expand further, if required. The drivers are rock solid.


----------



## hollowbody (Jan 15, 2008)

It really depends on your budget. A simple 2 or 4 input firewire interface is pretty cheap, but 8 or 16 will cost you a heck of a lot more. I was looking into them a while ago and yeah, as soon as you start thinking about drum mics and vocal mics and realize you need a whole whack of inputs, you're looking at $1k+ units, which was waaaay out of my budget. 

But that MOTU ronmac mentioned is actually not that expensive, given what it can do. I'd look into that and possibly see if you can live with 8 inputs for now and pony up for a second later.

Another good idea is to get a cheap Behringer (or similar) mixer to have the drum mics go into and send a stereo line-level out of that into your interface, saving you tons of inputs.


----------



## Brennan (Apr 9, 2008)

It's not firewire, but have you checked out the Tascam 1641? It's USB 2.0, has 16 inputs and at $340.00 it is by far the best bang for the buck unit available.

I do prefer firewire, but usb 2.0 is no slouch and should be fine for most non-pro applications.


----------

