Presonus Firestudio Mobile interface

[Solar]

Originally Posted by drummin4christ

Presonus just released a new version of the Firebox.

PreSonus

I have been a beta tester for this product and it is sick. Rock solid drivers and the sound quality may be the best I heard from a presonus interface. I was completely blow away by this little box. 118db converters!!!

Check it out.

Hey Drummin!! Thanx for sharing this news, as i'm part of S1 beta Team, i wish i could beta this baby as well. I heard a lot of good things about it and I can not wait and looking forward to put my hands on it and give it a try in my studio. As i'm going to move towards S1 all the way, i'm thinking of it will best with the full integration with both! also i'm about to purchase a Macbook Pro this week for my traveling work, this looks like it will be the best companion for me.

Thanx for sharing,

Cheeeeeeeeers

[drummin4christ]

Originally Posted by Solar

Hey Drummin!! Thanx for sharing this news, as i'm part of S1 beta Team, i wish i could beta this baby as well. I heard a lot of good things about it and I can not wait and looking forward to put my hands on it and give it a try in my studio. As i'm going to move towards S1 all the way, i'm thinking of it will best with the full integration with both! also i'm about to purchase a Macbook Pro this week for my traveling work, this looks like it will be the best companion for me.

Thanx for sharing,

Cheeeeeeeeers

It's very solid and worked really well with S1. You will be very happy with that combo.

[BlackBackDrop]

Cool! I love the previous firebox to death, so handy.. and now this one can run on buss power, that's nice...

Any idea on pricing?

[drummin4christ]

Originally Posted by Blackback Drop

Cool! I love the previous firebox to death, so handy.. and now this one can run on buss power, that's nice...

Any idea on pricing?

not sure, but I'm sure that will be anounced today or tomorrow.

[58lespaul]

"Yup. Same price as the Firebox was: $299 MAP in the US.

Except, it has the StudioLive A/D converters in it: 118dB dynamic range.

-Rick"

Thats pretty amazing that they put the StudioLive's AD/DA converter's in there. Supposedly those are top notch high end converters and better than the converters in the rest of the Firestudio line. This is looking like an amazing bang for the buck.

[Alndln]

When does it hit the street?

[dino321]

Everyone keeps warning about the DICEII chips. That scares me a little.

[Lawrence]

I have one also. Great unit. I haven't had any issues with it.

[clonewar]

Is anyone running it with a Mac? Are the CoreAudio drivers stable?

[JGuitar02]

Is there anyone who has compared the FIRESTUDIO MOBILE with the Apogee Duet?
How does the FIRESTUDIO MOBILE compare with the Apogee Duet in terms of AD/DA conversion and preamp quality?

I'll be interested to hear opinions! Thank you!

[drummin4christ]

Originally Posted by clonewar

Is anyone running it with a Mac? Are the CoreAudio drivers stable?

I am on a mac and beta tested the unit. It's solid. I never had any issues. The only issue I had during beta testing was with it's integration with Studio One, but that was resolved very quickly.

[drummin4christ]

Originally Posted by JGuitar02

Is there anyone who has compared the FIRESTUDIO MOBILE with the Apogee Duet?
How does the FIRESTUDIO MOBILE compare with the Apogee Duet in terms of AD/DA conversion and preamp quality?

I'll be interested to hear opinions! Thank you!

I have not. Sorry.

[planetmars]

I just wanna know when are they goin to release it in the market? Im excited!!

[ricknaqvi]

The first units will be shipping to stores in the use in September.

StudioOne Artist will be bundled with it in the box.

You can also daisy chain up to four of these together for 40 simultaneous inputs. They also chain to any other of our Firestudio Family Interfaces.

You can even chain it to a StudioLive Mixer since it uses the same chipset.

$299 MAP in the US

[audiothings]

it says that the "XMAX" pres have a "Gain Control Range (± 1 dB) –10 dB to 70 dB"

thats a lot of gain for a pre in sound card but does the knob have 80 indents?? in any case, its going to be tough, accurately setting such a wide gain range with just one knob!

and why does the "XMAX" pre on my FS Project have only 55 dB ?

[planetmars]

Originally Posted by ricknaqvi

The first units will be shipping to stores in the use in September.

StudioOne Artist will be bundled with it in the box.

You can also daisy chain up to four of these together for 40 simultaneous inputs. They also chain to any other of our Firestudio Family Interfaces.

You can even chain it to a StudioLive Mixer since it uses the same chipset.

$299 MAP in the US

Rick check your private message! i pm'd u

[drummin4christ]

Originally Posted by JGuitar02

Is there anyone who has compared the FIRESTUDIO MOBILE with the Apogee Duet?
How does the FIRESTUDIO MOBILE compare with the Apogee Duet in terms of AD/DA conversion and preamp quality?

I'll be interested to hear opinions! Thank you!

I have a friend that owns an Audio Precision System2722 Digital Audio Tester and he measured the Firestudio Mobile against the Duet.

Here are the results!!!

[JGuitar02]

Hey drummin4christ,

Thank you very much for that info - interesting stuff from that 2772 Audio Analyzer.

Also, it seems that Presonus is very open and forthcoming about publishing their tech specs for their unit, here:
PreSonus (click on tech specs)

However, Apogee doesn't seem to publish much of their tech specs on the Duet. All I could find was limited info on page 35 (PDF page 20) of the Duet Users Guide, here:
http://support.apogeedigital.com/ass...usersguide.pdf

That being said, I know that tech specs don't always tell the whole story in the real world. I wonder if anyone has actually directly compared the sound, AD/DA, and the input/output of both units in a casual, first impression kind of way?

[audiothings]

Presonus is very open and forthcoming about publishing their tech specs for their unit, here:

(the following is from the page you pointed to...)

A cheap, off-the-shelf, op-amp-type mic preamp delivers thin, noisy, harsh results.

this is exactly the type of generic, deliberately misleading BS that I am opposed to. I am not sure you can score op-amps 'off the shelf' (which supermarket do the presonus writers shop at?), and there are several op-amps, which when surrounded by appropriate circutry, do not produce particularly "thin, noisy, harsh" results. If I am not mistaken, Presonus themselves have other preamps based around op-amps!

BTW, i am a satisfied presonus FS Project user... despite a couple of faulty channels and very dubious build quality, i know that i have no business expecting any more from $500. I also have a yamaha mr816x for my location rig, and i strongly believe it is a better built and better sounding unit (albeit at twice the price).

.02,

[JGuitar02]

Hey audiothings,

I am in no way defending Presonus, but you are referring to generic marketing-speak, which in no way details the actual technical specifications. I understand that you have a personal issue with the FS Project, but we are not talking about that unit in this thread, we are talking about the new Firestudio Mobile.

I never pay any attention to generic marketing-speak which is generated by a company's PR department for selling purposes, and is probably not written by their engineers.

I want to compare tech specs and sound quality between the new Presonus Firestudio Mobile interface (the topic of this thread!) and the Apogee Duet. Can we please leave your FS Project out of the equation in this thread? Maybe start a new thread if you want to for the FS Project...thanks

In case you didn't click on TECH SPECS, the published tech specs I am referring to are these:

Firestudio Mobile

Microphone Preamp (XLR Balanced)
*
Frequency Response (+0, -0.5 dB)
20 Hz to 50 kHz
*
Frequency Response (+0/-3.0 dB)
20 Hz to 150 kHz
*
Input Impedance
1.6 kΩ
*
THD + N (unwtd, 1 kHz @ +4 dBu Output, Unity Gain)
< 0.008 %
*
EIN (unwtd, 55 dB Gain, 150Ω Input, 20 Hz to 22 kHz)
–130 dBu
*
S/N Ratio
(Unity Gain, unwtd, Ref = +4 dBu, 20 Hz to 22 kHz)
>101 dB
*
Common Mode Rejection Ratio (1 kHz, 55 dB Gain)
>55 dB
*
Gain Control Range (± 1 dB)
–10 dB to 70 dB
*
Maximum Input level (Unity Gain, 1 kHz@0.5% THD+N)
+14 dBu
*
Phantom Power (± 2 VDC)
+48 VDC

Instrument Input (¼" TRS, Channels 1 & 2)
*
Type
TS Female Unbalanced
*
Input Impedance
1 MΩ

Main Outputs
*
Type
¼" TRS Impedance Balanced
*
Output Impedance
51Ω
*
Headphone Output
*
*
Type
¼" TRS Active Stereo
*
Maximum Output
150 mW/CH @ 60Ω Load
*
Frequency Response
10 Hz - 70 kHz

Digital Audio
*
FireWire (IEEE 1394) Speed
400 Mbps
*
ADC Dynamic Range (A-wtd, 48 kHz)
118 dB
*
DAC Dynamic Range (A-wtd, 48 kHz)
118 dB
*
Bit Depth
24 bits
*
Reference Level for 0 dBFS
+10 dBu
*
Internal Sample Frequency Selections
44.1, 48, 88.2, 96 kHz

Clock
*
Jitter
<20 ps RMS (20 Hz – 20 kHz)
*
Jitter Attenuation
>60 dB (1 ns in => 1 ps out)

Power
*
Bus Power
6-pin FireWire 400 or FireWire 800
*
Power Supply
External Switching Supply (12 VDC/1A)

Physical
*
Dimensions (WxHxD)
5.5" x 1.75" x 5.5"/139.7 mm x 44.5 mm x 139.7 mm
*
Weight
4.5 lbs/2 kg

[P.J]

Can you compare FireStudio Mobile with MOTU UltraLite?
FireBox has very bright and weak low-end output. I think FireStudio Mobile has the same DAC like FireBox :(

[drummin4christ]

Originally Posted by P.J

Can you compare FireStudio Mobile with MOTU UltraLite?
FireBox has very bright and weak low-end output. I think FireStudio Mobile has the same DAC like FireBox :(

I can't compare as I don't have the Ultralight, but I can assure you that the DAC and ADC are different and much better than the firebox. I had a firebox and this unit is a serious upgrade from it. This unit sounds great to me and just as good as any interface and converters I've used.

I'm pretty sure the firbox ADC/DAC were 107db converters
the FS Mobile's are 118db converters

[P.J]

Originally Posted by drummin4christ

I can't compare as I don't have the Ultralight, but I can assure you that the DAC and ADC are different and much better than the firebox. I had a firebox and this unit is a serious upgrade from it. This unit sounds great to me and just as good as any interface and converters I've used.

I'm pretty sure the firbox ADC/DAC were 107db converters
the FS Mobile's are 118db converters

Does FS Mobile have bright (much treble) and weak low-frequency (low bass) sound like Firebox? :(

[Intergroove]

Originally Posted by P.J

Does FS Mobile have bright (much treble) and weak low-frequency (low bass) sound like Firebox? :(

Dude you really need to read up on the specs on the FS Mobile. You have 118 db converters , also JetPPL Clock which will make a hugh difference in sound and frequency of highend, mid and lows.

[P.J]

Originally Posted by Intergroove

Dude you really need to read up on the specs on the FS Mobile. You have 118 db converters , also JetPPL Clock which will make a hugh difference in sound and frequency of highend, mid and lows.

But you've heard the sound quality of FireBox. So you can compare them, can't you? :(
I really wanna buy another good sounding audio interface to replace my FireBox.

FS Mobile, Edirol FA-66/101, MOTU UltraLite

[Intergroove]

Yes i have use the Firebox and have own the Firepod and have the Firestudio 2626 also and i know that the Firestudio Mobile will be a whole lot better. It's really no comparison. FS Mobile JetPPL clock gets 20ps jitter. So it will be a hugh differences

[sventvkg]

Originally Posted by Intergroove

Yes i have use the Firebox and have own the Firepod and have the Firestudio 2626 also and i know that the Firestudio Mobile will be a whole lot better. It's really no comparison. FS Mobile JetPPL clock gets 20ps jitter. So it will be a hugh differences

Specs look better then the Duet and even though some like the Apogee converter sound This thing looks like a real nice alternative if the pre's are on par with the Duet. Either way, i'm going to pick one up for mobile recording this fall.

[drummin4christ]

Originally Posted by P.J

But you've heard the sound quality of FireBox. So you can compare them, can't you? :(
I really wanna buy another good sounding audio interface to replace my FireBox.

FS Mobile, Edirol FA-66/101, MOTU UltraLite

I have used both and the Mobile is much better. There is really no comparison between the two sound wise. I was completely blown away by the unit and will not be letting this on out of my site.

[DivineMusic]

wonder if they'll upgrade the firestudio...
the new mobile has better converters than it