Presonus firebox, mbox2, maudio 1814 firewire or emu 1616? - Page 2

PRESONUS FIREBOX...I have it and it has really nice pre amps (although I run through a Joe Meek before it)
Its bullet proof and PROFESSIONAL. I run Sonar and have for years previously having the AArdvark and Event Gina.

I run it on a notebook and a desktop. Its really a nice piece , especially sine they dropped the price to $299.

Ok you're running a desktop. That changes play a bit. Go and get yourself a good PCI firewire card with a TI chipset. Make sure you get a quality card.

Some more questions-

have you defragged?
How many filters, effects are you running simultaneously in your tracks
What is your latency set at?

I ran pretty much the exact same setup as you but in laptop form (XPSGen1) and My main issues came from the USB hard drive speed locking up the recordings. If you do have too many problems, you can always go Presonus... They are a guaranteed nice ride! I have never had so few problems with a computerized sound device before. It is nice. Just do not use the included Cubase software. What crap! I use Sonar Producer 5 as I know the people that run the company (free unlocked software please!!!!). And they even agree with the firewire chipset issue and recommend presonus.

Oh plus the presonus has a full plethora of controls on the front and the sound is flawless. We used my buddies to do some acoustic guitar tracks and I got chills on the quality.

I dont know if you are refering to me, but to answer your question in case you are. I am a professional sound engineer, and Im getting into recording in a digital system. So I got me a nice little interface, and a few other stuff. Will be working my way up to a Motu 896HD, Avalon VT747, Neve 1272, and a Digimax FS with other little stuff. Anyways, thats besides the point; I would like to inform everybody reading this thread, THE EDIROL IS A GOOD SOUNDCARD, and today I ran by Pro Sound and I pick up a Monster Power Pro 800 surge protector/power cleaner.....AND IT DOES MAGIC, not the kind where ferries come out of nowhere, but I mean it fixed my interface problem. I cam home at 6PM and its 1:40 AM, and no problems still. The greater test was that I set my buffer size to 256 WHICH IS UN-FRIKEN-BELIEVABLE. That was impossible for me before, even when the thing wasnt throwing a fit. I figured it prolly was some programs trying to fight for priority, but since i plugged this Monster in, no problems at all...actually I noticed my DS-7's sounded allot fuller and cleaner, and my sub had WAYYY nicer low end. My PC is a bit more stable, although I never really had any problems with it since I built it, and so im happy with it. If ur interested in what Im running, I posted an earlier thread with my system specs on the first page. So, in conclusion, I want to save anybody having the same problem as I did, to go out a buy a good Monster surge protector, dont go cheap, invest to take full advantage of your gear.
BTW, defragging helps, I knew that a while ago. Im not running immense amounts of VST's I monitor my CPU performance. What I noticed is that my CPU was spiking from 50% to 100% and then back again in about 200 Ms time, then my interface would crackle and pop and reset. AND!!! DO NOT, UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES PUT YOUR PROJECT FILES ON 2 DIFF HDDS, GAVE ME BIG PROBLEMS WITH CUBASE SX3. Run all ur studio stuff on a secondary HDD. Anyays, just some basics you should stick to, and i had to learn the hard way. Its maily a bad Firewire chipset that will give you problems, un-maintained PC (or too low of a performance) and definately or, the absence of a good surge protector and power cleaner or conditioner.

Heh the Monster stuff is overpriced Go with a different decent name and save yourself a few hundred. At any rate, if your interface is RESETing then absolutely I would be looking at the power going into it, I take it you haven't had a UPS and power conditioner going on your system before? Sorry I thought you were saying it was just crackling and poping.

Seablade

Well yeah, its kind of overpriced, I agree....BUT I trust it 100% because of the quality and dependability. The only cable I use in my studio is MONSTER, and anything I can get monster, I get beacuse I know it will make a difference in quality for sure..So thats why I get it, even tho its pricey.

Dont be so quick to applaud Monster. I work In a music store and i have seen those cables come back, Overpriced rubber and metal. The mark up is HUGE though.

Heh Monster as a brand is not one I would pick for reliability.

To be honest, the only difference between "monster" cables and other cables are they tend to be a slightly larger gauge.

Furman, ETA, etc, all make nice power conditioners that I would pick over Monster myself, both in terms of price and quality. Note this does not mean I would get their cheap stuff(Though I have primarily when I was to lazy to build myself a switch on multiple outlets for a rack, not for a power conditioner though), but that there good stuff I trust more than I would monster.

In as far as cables, I tend to make my own, though I have no problem using others instead. As I said the primary difference, if not the only, between Monster and other cables is that the monster tend to be a slightly larger gauge. Well and 3x the price as well. As long as the cable I am buying when I do buy it has not crappy cable, and decent connectors, the difference in audio quality between that and the monster cable on the peg is negligble. If the cable has absolutely crap cable(And I have to look to find that nowadays) then there may be a difference in audio quality. If the connectors are crap I tend to avoid it because I may as well make my own instead of rebuild that one in two weeks as I generally have to do as I do a lot more live sound than anything.

Seablade

Guys, Guys, please as professionals keep in mind.... MONSTER CABLE IS NOT MADE FOR TOUR, PA OR INSTALLED SOUND!! They are stickly made for studio use where plugging and unplugging is not needed fairly often, which is my situation (im talking about dedicated units). The second reason I use Monster Cable or Monster products overall is that they have a great reputation, and its highly recommended as the standard in studio wires; in other words, no less than monster. And responding to Seablade, I think making your own cable is a great idea, if you have the tools, the experience and you invest in more than resonable wires, heads, ect.. Because I consider Monster professional, I go with their expertice and tools to make my cables better than i could make them myself. And the last and final reason is that they offer great warrenties that cover their products very well in case of a trip-over-wire situation. So, concluding; Monster Cable is a great product, well made, and has better components than your average Sam Ash / Guitar Center "Horizon" cable for more money yes, but I trust the name.

Well to each their own, though I gotta say I don't use them in my studio setup either

Seablade