PreSonus produce a number of competitively priced third-rack-width processors, including the Tube Pre tube-equipped preamp, Comp 16 compressor, EQ3B parametric EQ and HP4 headphone distribution amp. Also in the Firebox packaging is a full paper manual - it's small, but it tells you pretty much everything you need to know. PreSonus have also ensured that you can get recording as soon as the interface is out of its box: Steinberg's Cubase LE, offering 48 tracks of audio recording alongside MIDI sequencing, is included in the overall bundle. Such a specification doesn't really push the Firewire protocol all that much, but any USB 1.1 interface would have difficulty matching this performance. But smaller doesn't necessarily mean lacking in features: the interface still manages a total of six audio inputs (with 24-bit 96kHz converters on the four analogue ins) and eight audio outs, alongside a single MIDI In/Out pair. Carve a chunk out of that spec and bung it into a little package a third of a rack unit wide, and you have the Firebox. The Firepod is quite a well-equipped device, with 10 ins and 10 outs altogether, eight top-notch mic preamps, insert points, digital I/O and MIDI I/O. The latter interface, reviewed in February 2003, was an early adopter of Yamaha's Firewire-based mLAN standard, but the company's latest interfaces use a proprietary driver instead. PreSonus have already shown what they can do with Firewire, not only with the rackmounting Firepod, reviewed in February of this year, but with the now-discontinued FireStation. But there's something about the much greater bandwidth of a Firewire connection that's both attractive and reassuring for audio applications. I'll quickly jump in and say that there's not anything wrong with well-designed USB audio interfaces - there are any number of options that perform really well, and I regularly use one myself. Potential users have a decent choice, and finding the words 'affordable' and 'Firewire' in close proximity is now unremarkable in terms of desktop music. Is it?įirewire audio interfaces are now becoming available at prices that might tempt the more aspirational desktop audio enthusiast away from USB-based devices. Providing six audio inputs and eight outputs for £350, with the bonus of high-quality mic preamps, PreSonus's Firebox sounds almost too good to be true.

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