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My Firepod FP10 has continued to work well over the past 6 years. I'm wondering if now is a good time to consider upgrading to something newer. How do the preamps in the FP10 compare to newer offerings from Presonus as well as Focusrite (18i20) and even Behringer(ADA8200)?

My budget is around 500 and I absolutely need 8 inputs if not more - I record drums and full band live sets sometimes. I'm also not a pro engineer and am not ready to jump into pro tier hardware.

Studio One 5.1 on Windows 10 x64 (i7 processor, 16gb RAM)
FP10 FireWire
Kurzweil SP76 digital piano / MIDI controller
Akai MPD24 pad control
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by cristofe on Fri Nov 27, 2020 1:08 pm
Firepod/FP10's are ok but yes, other models have better pres. I have several Firestudio 26x26's and a Firestudio Mobile. Both feature Presonus' XMAX pres which are superior to those in the Firepod.
Another thing to consider is firewire itself. Many newer laptops have neither firewire or a PCI expess slot to let you add a firewire card. Personally, I would not switch to Focusrite. I've seen too many reports of problems. And if your DAW is Studio One I would stick with Presonus. Their hardware and software integrate seamlessly.

https://soundcloud.com/cristofe-chabot/sets/main

PC'S: HP XW6000 Dual 3.2GHz Intel Xeon, 8GB RAM WinXP SP2 HP 6005 Pro AMD Athalon X2 B24 3.0Ghz, 4GB RAM Win8 Pro Dell Latitude E6410 Laptop Intel i5 2.67Ghz 8GB RAM Win7 Pro x64 Audio Interfaces: Terratec EWS88MT PCI (2), Audiobox 1818VSL USB & Firestudio 26x26 Firewire, Line 6 PodXT, Roland GS-10, NI Rig Kontrol 3

Monitors: Yamaha HS50M's DAW: S1 3.2.1 Pro

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by Adria S. on Fri Nov 27, 2020 1:17 pm
My system is a boxed PC, not mobile, so I have a Firewire card (TI) good to go there.

Other than firewire and Focusrite, what modern audio interfaces with 8 or more dual XLR/line inputs should I be looking at? Again kind of in a budget (500 or so)

Studio One 5.1 on Windows 10 x64 (i7 processor, 16gb RAM)
FP10 FireWire
Kurzweil SP76 digital piano / MIDI controller
Akai MPD24 pad control
User avatar
by cristofe on Sat Nov 28, 2020 1:35 pm
Well then, as long as you've got a card with a TI chipset, (the ONLY way to go IMHO, I've had problems with both Ricoh and Via chipsets), sticking with firewire is a totally viable option for you. I love my Firestudio 26x26's. They have better pre's and more routing options than the FP10.
I own three of them. They can be expanded by firewire daisy chaining OR ADAT. I've also got a MOTU 8PRE which I can add to the Firestudios for a total of 32 channels! Not that I've ever needed that many. I've also owned a Mackie 1640i which combines a 16 channel analog mixer with a 16 channel that worked flawlessly. it was a bit heavy to lug around but great in the studio. I only sold it as switched to mainly live recordings some years back.....of course, there's not much or that going on right now...LOL!!

I've had some bad experiences with Tascam products. Poor quality control and horrendous customer
support. I would also stay away from Steinberg hardware. They've always had a poor track record and now that they are part of Yamaha I trust them even less. Yamaha is notoriously bad when it comes to hardware support. M-Audio has also gone downhill, IMHO, since they were acquired by Avid.

Of course, nothing beats RME but that's some pricey kit.

https://soundcloud.com/cristofe-chabot/sets/main

PC'S: HP XW6000 Dual 3.2GHz Intel Xeon, 8GB RAM WinXP SP2 HP 6005 Pro AMD Athalon X2 B24 3.0Ghz, 4GB RAM Win8 Pro Dell Latitude E6410 Laptop Intel i5 2.67Ghz 8GB RAM Win7 Pro x64 Audio Interfaces: Terratec EWS88MT PCI (2), Audiobox 1818VSL USB & Firestudio 26x26 Firewire, Line 6 PodXT, Roland GS-10, NI Rig Kontrol 3

Monitors: Yamaha HS50M's DAW: S1 3.2.1 Pro

To add your software and hardware specs to your signature to make it easier for us to help you, click HERE.

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