Presonus Firepod vs MOTU 828mkII?

JeffTD

JeffTD

Senhor Testiculo
Sep 29, 2004
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Hey guys, did a search, but there's no real direct comparison besides one guy saying that he felt the Firepod had better converters and pre's than the 828.

I'll be getting a new interface in 2 weeks, and it's between these two. I don't need any more than 10 inputs really, and they both support 12+, so it's between the two.

Do any of you have experience with both, and can share thoughts on them?

Basically, I'll be recording and reamping guitars, and I believe both can handle reamping no problem. I also might be record drums occaisionally, in which case the Firepod, if it's pres are, in fact, better than the MOTU's, would be the better deal, as it's cheaper than the MOTU straight off the bat, with built-in pre's.

So, given that my assumption on the Firepod handling reamping is correct, which one would you guys go for?
 
I have the Firepod at home and I like it a lot. I think it's built-in pre's are definately a plus and they sound pretty good, a really good deal for the price I think. Also, on the front the Firepod has 8 inputs that accept xlr or 1/4'' which is nice. I've never had any issues with the unit and I've been doing projects on it for about 10 months. As far as re-amping, I don't know because I've never done it. One thing I would like to see on the unit is switchable impedance, but overall I'd say it's a good unit. I think you might be able to do more with the MOTU, but for the purposes you listed, I'd say save your money and get the Firepod. Just my thoughts...
 
Well Jeff, you know which one I'd vote for. But the thing is, if you weigh the features of the two, the MOTU has ADAT in. FirePod doesn't....so say one day you have a decently sized kit, 12 mics being used (kick, snare, hats, ride, ohl, ohr, ohc, tom1-5...) or more (mini timbales, roto toms, etc. for certain styles of metal and whatnot) then what are you going to do? If you would've had the MOTU and an OctoPreLE w/ ADAT output (or whatever)..you'd be fine.

Also, you mentioned in previous conversations that you'd need only like 10 inputs for the drums...that's all great and everything...but the FirePod only has 8 ins. Plus it doesn't have additional input options (ADAT), so how are you going to record drums and scratch guitars at the same time?

FirePod only makes sense if you have 2 or more of them. To me anyway. For $149 more (SweetWater) you get more options right off the bat. Although I guess you could look at it in a different way...as in you could get two FirePods for the price of an 828mkII+OctoPreLE w/ ADAT option. But then again, you're using two FireWire ports with the FirePods, with the 828 it's one FW port with 16 tracks of audio input.

~006

P.S. - Will have your software out shortly Jeff.
 
And it has 10 inputs (8 analog+2 digital).
I'd say this:
If you already have enough (decent) preamps to feed the motu, then go for it. If not, then go for the firepod. As simple as that. Motu's preamps are crap btw...
 
Sorry but i havent used any MOTU products but i do own 2 Firepods and have them linked together and just to let you know, I Fucking love em!!! the pre's sound good and you have the combo jacks right on the front along with all the level controls. Just saying man for the price its hard to beat o yeah and re-amping works with no problem, and im about to buy a control station for my settup as well.
 
musickey said:
Sorry but i havent used any MOTU products but i do own 2 Firepods and have them linked together and just to let you know, I Fucking love em!!! the pre's sound good and you have the combo jacks right on the front along with all the level controls. Just saying man for the price its hard to beat o yeah and re-amping works with no problem, and im about to buy a control station for my settup as well.
Click to expand...

Could you or someone explain how to reamp with the Firepod? I've never tried with mine.
 
006 said:
Well Jeff, you know which one I'd vote for. But the thing is, if you weigh the features of the two, the MOTU has ADAT in. FirePod doesn't....so say one day you have a decently sized kit, 12 mics being used (kick, snare, hats, ride, ohl, ohr, ohc, tom1-5...) or more (mini timbales, roto toms, etc. for certain styles of metal and whatnot) then what are you going to do? If you would've had the MOTU and an OctoPreLE w/ ADAT output (or whatever)..you'd be fine.

Also, you mentioned in previous conversations that you'd need only like 10 inputs for the drums...that's all great and everything...but the FirePod only has 8 ins. Plus it doesn't have additional input options (ADAT), so how are you going to record drums and scratch guitars at the same time?

FirePod only makes sense if you have 2 or more of them. To me anyway. For $149 more (SweetWater) you get more options right off the bat. Although I guess you could look at it in a different way...as in you could get two FirePods for the price of an 828mkII+OctoPreLE w/ ADAT option. But then again, you're using two FireWire ports with the FirePods, with the 828 it's one FW port with 16 tracks of audio input.

~006

P.S. - Will have your software out shortly Jeff.
Click to expand...

It's actually got SPDIF inputs, which make the 10 channels, but I'd probably end up daisy chaining another one into it if I ever started really recording drums.

When I say 10 mic's for drums, basically I'm thinking a kick trigger, Snare, OHL, OHR, and up to 4 toms, which would cover basically as much as I'd need to do for demo work - but I also don't really forsee myself recording drums that often or seriously, given that DFHS sounds so damned good, and drummers around here are slim, let alone good. For the scratch tracks, I think I'd just run the POD straight into the headphone feed for the drummer, and not record the scratch track at all.

Kudos on the software, should be good, if any of it'll run on an Intel LOL.

The general consensus is that the MOTU preamps are shit, and I only have one VTB-1 as it is. Given that the Presonus is 250 cheaper (demo model FTW!), I could spend that on a mic and do some vocals, or a couple more 57's, an i5, an E609, etc, etc.


I bleeb I've decided on the Presonus! Thanks, guys!
 
The Firestudio is about to be released. The price is more than the 828mkII, but it should drop after a bit. Same concept as the Firepod, now with ADAT (and you can link up to 3 together). 16x3 = 48 :)
 
DSS3 said:
Ibut I also don't really forsee myself recording drums that often or seriously, given that DFHS sounds so damned good, and drummers around here are slim, let alone good.
Click to expand...
are there many bands in your area who play (or record demos) with programmed drums?
 
Hey Jeff fyi. THe firestation is about to come out so the price on the firepod will drop..but if your getting a demo model you should be good then.
 
prowlergrig said:
are there many bands in your area who play (or record demos) with programmed drums?
Click to expand...

I wouldn't be recording other bands, for now - just a solo project. I'll probably record 2 of my friends bands once I get this, for demo's, but the Firepod will handle that.


Jason - isn't the Firestudio out? Music123 has it on their page. It looks awesome, but it's a bit more robust and expensive than I need.
 
Razorjack said:
Is the RME Fireface out of the option? I've heard nothing but good things about them.
Click to expand...


Yes, unfortunately... new, it runs 1500, over 3x the price of the Firepod, and 2x the price of the MOTU. Even used, it goes for 1200. Otherwise, that's what I'd get.


The ADAT may very well come in handy someday... but I'd have to add another set of pre's - and for the price of these pre's, I could just get another Firepod and daisy chain it.
 
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