Delta 1010 or Presonus Firestudio Project

[relaxandreflect]

Currently, I have a Delta and found that I can sell it and switch to a Firestudio for the same price and break even. Would it be worth it?

I do like the front inputs of the Presonus that I could use with my patchbay, and the effects loop off the back.


Would the SCSI cable to PCI be faster than Firewire?

It seems as though even M-Audio is going with Firewire for their new interfaces, but SCSI should give more bandwidth, right? Or would it even matter?
I will probably only be using this with a desktop, but the preamps are a nice feature. My biggest delimma is SCSI vs Firewire. I have a Delta 1010 with parallel SCSI to PCI. I would need a Firewire PCI card for this unit. I read more at the link below about SCSI vs Firewire, and it seems that SCSI may be less CPU intensive, and have more bandwidth.
Which is better - IDE, SCSI, USB or FireWire?

Any opinions about the speed difference?


Also, everyone states that you can use the Presonus for monitoring. Would you still need to use a headphone amp, or could you connect headphones directly?


One last question, could you connect the fiber optic outputs of the Presonus directly to a home theater receiver for hi-bit surround sound? I would like to eventually try 5.1 recording.

I looked at the manual on Presonus' website, but couldn't see direct answers.


I also looked at the Echo Audiofire 8, but wasn't sure if it was worth the extra $100 it would cost me.

[EricF]

I don't have the answer to all your questions, but Firewire has proven to be a capable means of connecting to a computer for multi-channel interfaces. I wouldn't consider it better or worse than a PCI-card based unit like the 1010. If the additional preamps and front panel connections of the FS are useful to you, it might be worth the switch.

Yes, you can attach headphones directly to the FS. There's a headphone jack on the front panel.

[relaxandreflect]

Could I only directly attach the one or two headphones? I know you can run customized mixes, but would that work directly plugged? I would be trying to get rid of my headphone amp and use this as a replacement.

[xmostynx]

stay with the delta...

i love mine, and if your going to sell yours let me know!

[EricF]

Originally Posted by relaxandreflect

Could I only directly attach the one or two headphones? I know you can run customized mixes, but would that work directly plugged? I would be trying to get rid of my headphone amp and use this as a replacement.

Per the Presonus website, it looks like the FS has only one headphone jack. If you need more headphone connections, an additional headphone amp will be required. There are the main outs on the back of the unit for connection to monitors (please tell me you have monitors, and aren't mixing with headphones only).

[relaxandreflect]

Originally Posted by EricF

Per the Presonus website, it looks like the FS has only one headphone jack. If you need more headphone connections, an additional headphone amp will be required. There are the main outs on the back of the unit for connection to monitors (please tell me you have monitors, and aren't mixing with headphones only).

oh yes, definitely monitors for mixing. just wanted an easier more direct way of monitoring when playing.

[djmadmanly]

i just got the firestudio project and god.. great unit but the drivers for windows glitch hella.... im switching to the focusrite pro 26 asap...

[JasonGtr]

Originally Posted by djmadmanly

i just got the firestudio project and god.. great unit but the drivers for windows glitch hella.... im switching to the focusrite pro 26 asap...

I know this is old but I've had an M-Audio Delta 1010 and 1010LT running together on a PC DAW for years now and recently have been borrowing a Rosetta 800 from a friend cause I needed a Firewire interface for my new Mac/Logic setup. In lue of him taking the Rosetta back at some point, I figured I'd buy a Presonus Firestudio Project. Well I've had the fortunate opportunity to connect all 4 interfaces together on the pc and do side by side comparisons. The Rosetta definitely sounds the best but I was totally amazed that the Delta 1010s sound nearly identical to the Apogee!! The Presonus...not even close! You lose so much low end with the Presonus and the upper mids and treble are overly accentuated. If I didn't have the other interfaces to compare I would probably think the Presonus sounded great but man...I am gonna return it. The M-Audio is sounds amazingly good. It has about 95% of the low end response of the Rosetta, nearly identical mid and treble response and is only lacking ever so slightly in the very highest frequency range. I can't believe its that good after all these years compared to a brand new well reviewed product like the Firestudio Project. I just wish I had a Firewire version of the 1010 to use with my Mac/Logic setup. I don't know what to get now that would sound as good.

[dkelley]

stick with the delta. superior drivers, superior compatibility and acceptance in the affordable pro audio industry. great sound - super reliable - mine keep working after god how many years now without any problems at all and I still use mine for most of my home-based projects (which is gradually becoming my primary studio despite having a fair amount of lower-end but well-chosen gear in it).

I've owned and used both products. the presonus is just fine and sounds great. but it's not as reliable or generally useful as the m-audio product (I think mostly due to the drivers). the m-audio drivers are actually quite exceptional compared to those from many other companies in that price range.

[dan le]

I concur with Jason.
For this whole year, I have been toying with the idea of replacing my 3 Delta 1010's with either 2 Motu HD 192 or an SSL Alpha Madi system.
I do not track with the Delta 1010, so basically I don't use the A to D section. I mix to a mixer so the only thing that I really care about is the D to A section. But making the switch is costly, especially I am not making that much money at all this year, due to the economy.
But many times, yes many times, I have listened thru my Apogee PSX100 and like Jason said, the difference is not that much. Sometimes I don't believe it myself. How could it be? I admit that it is only 2 channels that we are talking about, but Jason is right on.
The whole thing makes me think real hard.
Now I don't know with all 24 channels from another brand, like Motu 192 or SSL Alpha Link, what the stacking effect will be. But I would hate to buy something that expensive and then return it. I just don't like to return things.
Now if Avid can come out with a real driver for the Delta 1010 for 64 bit then I would stay put. The reason is a real driver for a 64 bit system will have very low latency, like what Motu just came out with, real driver for 64 bit Windows.
Anyone has any experience of moving from many channels of Delta 1010 to another brand is welcomed to chime in. I know that there are people that have done it. But I cannot search for anything concrete.
So in conclusion, I have this to say. If you are doing ITB mixes (I don't), then if you only use the Delta 1010 to monitor your mix thru 2 channels, then stay with the Delta 1010.
They are very cheap right now used, because so many people are having a hard time with the 64 bit driver. But once they resolve it, the price for used Delta 1010 will be up again.
For people who are on 32 bit Windows, by all means, get it.

sincerely,
dan le

[4damind]

Stay with the Delta if you have no problems.
I would only switch if you run into problems with the available PCI ports or the Delta has other serious problems.

[dan le]

Doesn't look like this thread got a lot of interest.

dan le

[Mr. Shore]

I had a Delta 1010. Nasty digital sound. Pre sucked as hell. It's a very low end interface. Move up if you can afford it. Can't comment on Presonus.