FIREPOD......... (Q)

[ChristopherJames99]

Okay so i have noticed whenever im recording with my firepod i just do not get near as rich of a sound as some other get out of there audio interfaces.

i'm wondering if there is a preamp that i could get for it, or if i should just replace the firepod and get something new.


I just don't get a near as professional sound as i would like, i just want to know something i can get to make this a lot better.

im just new to learning about this kinda stuff.

any help would be much appreciated.
thanks.

 

[C-Martin]

What's your budget? What are you planning on recording? What is your current setup, do you have other outboard gear? What kind of monitors are you using?

Allot of things might be happening here, getting different gear won't necessarily get you a more professional sound. Although i would say that upgrading the Firepod to something like a Focusrite Pro 40 will definitely be an improvement, there might be other factors involved that are making you unhappy with your productions.

For example, if you are mainly looking to improve your mixing sound then room treatment, better monitors would be better than a new interface. If your tracking drums and your current mic locker isn't that good then you should get better mics, or have a look at some samples. You say your still new at this, maybe all you need is help with micing techniques. 95% of the time what your doing has a much greater impact on the end results than the gear your using.

If your doing things right and your still not satisfied, then that's when you should start looking at weak links in your gear. Nothing sucks more than spending lots of money a piece of gear thinking it would fix your problem, but it doesn't, and then down the road when you learn and get experience you regret your purchase.

 

[ChristopherJames99]

What's your budget? What are you planning on recording? What is your current setup, do you have other outboard gear? What kind of monitors are you using?

Allot of things might be happening here, getting different gear won't necessarily get you a more professional sound. Although i would say that upgrading the Firepod to something like a Focusrite Pro 40 will definitely be an improvement, there might be other factors involved that are making you unhappy with your productions.

For example, if you are mainly looking to improve your mixing sound then room treatment, better monitors would be better than a new interface. If your tracking drums and your current mic locker isn't that good then you should get better mics, or have a look at some samples. You say your still new at this, maybe all you need is help with micing techniques. 95% of the time what your doing has a much greater impact on the end results than the gear your using.

If your doing things right and your still not satisfied, then that's when you should start looking at weak links in your gear. Nothing sucks more than spending lots of money a piece of gear thinking it would fix your problem, but it doesn't, and then down the road when you learn and get experience you regret your purchase.

naw man its not like that at all.
I mean i would say i have a pretty professional sound, im just really picky, i feel that my mics could pick up a nicer warmer ton.

I just mic my samples with a 57 on my mesa oversize cab,
i use a 5150 also for my guitars.


Its just i feel the pre's just could sound better, so im just wondering if getting a nice preamp would help out any.


also idk much about this but, would the furman power conditioner or a BBE sonic maximizer be useful at all?


Idk how much the furman would help the sound or if it would at all.

 

[ChristopherJames99]

basically im just wanting to make my sound better, im just looking for some stuff to improve my setup, its not that im unhappy with the sound i get.

 

[C-Martin]

ahh, well in that case sell that firepod and get a Focusrite Saffire Pro 40. Better converters, better mic pres, overall just a better interface. Its really affordable, lots of people use it on this forum to great success. I have the Liquid Saffire 56 and i don't see myself needing anything else for a long while. The 56 is essentially a pro 40 but with a few more features and 2 liquid pres. If you only need to track guitars you could check the smaller ones like the pro 24. I wouldn't go any lower because then you loose the ADAT connectivity which you may need/want one day for added inputs.

Profire 2626 is another good one but its more expensive and i personally don't like anything with a wall wart so its not my first choice. There's nothing wrong with it, i just have my own reasons to dislike them. They're just a pain for my mobile setups.

 

[ChristopherJames99]

ahh, well in that case sell that firepod and get a Focusrite Saffire Pro 40. Better converters, better mic pres, overall just a better interface. Its really affordable, lots of people use it on this forum to great success. I have the Liquid Saffire 56 and i don't see myself needing anything else for a long while. The 56 is essentially a pro 40 but with a few more features and 2 liquid pres. If you only need to track guitars you could check the smaller ones like the pro 24. I wouldn't go any lower because then you loose the ADAT connectivity which you may need/want one day for added inputs.

Profire 2626 is another good one but its more expensive and i personally don't like anything with a wall wart so its not my first choice. There's nothing wrong with it, i just have my own reasons to dislike them. They're just a pain for my mobile setups.

will that work with my cubase 5 rig?

because thats what im using right now, im in love with cubase i sold my pro tools rig awhile back.

 

[C-Martin]

also idk much about this but, would the furman power conditioner or a BBE sonic maximizer be useful at all?


Idk how much the furman would help the sound or if it would at all.

I have both. I use the BBE at rehearsals with my band and for live shows. It is used VERY sparingly otherwise they will make your sound really muddy or shrill. I just use it like a presence knob to fine tune my amp depending on how the other guitarist configures his amp (I swear he changes his settings every freaking day). If it we're to break or get stolen i probably wouldn't bother getting another one.

Power conditioner is good to have. It won't really make your recordings sound better tho. At least not for the kind of results your after.

 

[C-Martin]

will that work with my cubase 5 rig?

because thats what im using right now, im in love with cubase i sold my pro tools rig awhile back.

They will work with any DAW, including Pro Tools if you ever decide to go back to it, though only with PT9.

 

[ChristopherJames99]

yeah man honestly im probably never going back to PTs

Btw you know much about the Steinberg interfaces?
i was reading them and they sounded really good, but i never really used one or seen one being used.

 

[C-Martin]

I have no experience with them but before i bought my L56 this past fall, the MR816 was recommended to me a few times by an engineer i know. He has way more experience with audio engineering than i do and I respect his opinion so they must be good. Seems like a good choice for Cubase users, i'm a Pro Tools user so it didn't seem like the right interface for me. I don't like paying for features i can't use.

 

[ChristopherJames99]

I have no experience with them but before i bought my L56 this past fall, the MR816 was recommended to me a few times by an engineer i know. He has way more experience with audio engineering than i do and I respect his opinion so they must be good. Seems like a good choice for Cubase users, i'm a Pro Tools user so it didn't seem like the right interface for me. I don't like paying for features i can't use.

i fully agree with you man, I guess i got some thinking to do, i might just wait and get the Steinberg interface, i read about some of the thing they could do and it seemed pretty badass in cubase, which i know im never making a switch for a different DAW

 

[RichMinerva]

Your interface WILL NOT make your mixes sound better

 

[TheWinterSnow]

Your interface WILL NOT make your mixes sound better

This!

Al noobs tend to do it, blame their gear for their lackluster mixes. Its almost never the case though, its the lack of experience from the AE (or AE to be) that causes the mixes to be less than perfect. There have been many guys here on this very forum that have used worse recording gear and less than the best amps/cabs and still have gotten godly tones.

Its all about experience. Oh and having decent reference monitors.

 

[Jarkko Mattheiszen]

Your interface WILL NOT make your mixes sound better

How many interfaces/converters have you compared? If your answer is one or two, please don't make such statements so hastily. There are noticeable differences between the preamps and conversion between even cheaper interfaces. Switching between the Firepod and Profire had a clear change in even playback quality, which was noticed even by my fiancé who had no idea I had changed anything in the playback chain. Whether it makes a difference in the user's mixes is up to the user, but a better set of preamps and AD/DA converters does make the engineer's job easier. Otherwise we would all use a cheap lightpipe interface and a bunch of ADA8000's.

 

[DanLights]

Your interface WILL NOT make your mixes sound better

This. Going to the Rate my Mix section and posting a mix you're working on or even raw tracks (if you want to check how good the Pres in your firepod are) could help to give you insight on what's REALLY going wrong with your mixes. As the other guy said, there are many factors besides the pres/converters that could be the weak link you're looking for, and that includes you, not just your gear.

So maybe if you explain your room treatment, your monitors, and post a mix or two everybody could be much more helpful

 

[ChristopherJames99]

This!

Al noobs tend to do it, blame their gear for their lackluster mixes. Its almost never the case though, its the lack of experience from the AE (or AE to be) that causes the mixes to be less than perfect. There have been many guys here on this very forum that have used worse recording gear and less than the best amps/cabs and still have gotten godly tones.

Its all about experience. Oh and having decent reference monitors.

Never was i a blaming my gear what so ever?
the main reason im trying to pin point what it is.

I have mixed and mastered some tracks that bands have sent me and sometimes i feel there DI tracks turn out and sound smooth and much cleaner, like i said im not unhappy with my mix's im just picky.

I feel gear has some what to do with the sound.
because i have noticed differences in my mix's when using different stuff.

there was no need to call me a noob what so ever for a Q like this.
i never said i was unhappy with my sound.


Its just whenever i record DI's with my interface, i can tell a difference in DI's on another interface, so there for gear has something to do with it.

I use to have a digi003 and the Di's through that always came out more crisp then what they are on the firepod.

 

[ChristopherJames99]

Your interface WILL NOT make your mixes sound better

and i never said it would.

 

[ChristopherJames99]

This. Going to the Rate my Mix section and posting a mix you're working on or even raw tracks (if you want to check how good the Pres in your firepod are) could help to give you insight on what's REALLY going wrong with your mixes. As the other guy said, there are many factors besides the pres/converters that could be the weak link you're looking for, and that includes you, not just your gear.

So maybe if you explain your room treatment, your monitors, and post a mix or two everybody could be much more helpful

honestly the only thing i have noticed this really with is guitar tracking, which when i had m pro tools rig i never noticed this problem.
i just feel the DIs do not sound near as crisp as they use to.

also im basing this off of my own gear same stuff i used with pt

ec1000 new strings.
81/85's
just direct.


and it never sounds as good as it did with the digi interface.

 

[DanLights]

if the problem is only with recording DI´s, get a good DI Box and use the mic pre of the Firepod instead of the Hi-z input. If you narrow it down to that, yeah getting better Pre/DI input will definitely improve the sound of your DIs. You could look at a Saffire, the instrument input on those things is really damn good

 

[ChristopherJames99]

if the problem is only with recording DI´s, get a good DI Box and use the mic pre of the Firepod instead of the Hi-z input. If you narrow it down to that, yeah getting better Pre/DI input will definitely improve the sound of your DIs. You could look at a Saffire, the instrument input on those things is really damn good

yeah man do you know how much those normally run?
im just tired of the way my DI's sound going right into the firepod, really effects my guitar tone a ton, deff when reamping i can just tell the difference's then when im playing on my amp live.



would you possibly recommend anything for reamping?
i used a radial and im not to sure what i thought about it last time i reamped with it.