Comparing the Presonus Firebox to the M-Audio Firewire 410

[Isaac Kim]

Hi all,

I'm looking to do a major upgrade to my desktop PC soundcard. I've never done any recording, but plan on dabbling a bit. Plus I would like the option to record audio in the field with my laptop. After doing alot of research here, I've narrowed it down to the Presonus Firebox and the M-Audio Firewire 410. Both are external cards that connect via firewire. Both have 2 mike preamp inputs and 2 line inputs, multiple outputs, and both are about $400. The 4 Presonus input are balanced, while I'm still not sure about the inputs to the M-Audio (from another thread). So set-up wise, they seems very similar.

My decision now comes down to pre-amp quality and output sound quality. So, does any of you out there have experiences with either box (or preferably both boxes), and can comment on the pre-amp quality and the output sound quality.

Thanks for your time,
Isaac

[Matthew Wilson]

Hi Isaac,
I recently purchased an Firewire-410. It works very nicely on the desktop. Preamps are very good. I've got an older M-audio Omni setup that has similar preamps and I've used them to record CD's. Don't know much about the Presonus; however, I too got the 410 in order to do field recording with a laptop. The problem is, my laptop won't power the 410 through firewire. No problem doing that on the desktop though. In fact, most laptops don't provide bus power through the firewire ports. If yours doesn't have it, you can get a card that will provide it. You might also look into somethinng like the MOTU traveler. It can run on bus power or external battery power or walwart.

[Isaac Kim]

Hi Matt,

Thanks for the info. It's interesting that you can't power the M-Audio 410 through your laptop's FW port. That's one extra power cord I don't want to carry around/find a place to plug it in.

Anybody have experience with the Presonus Firebox??

Thanks,
Isaac