PreSonus FireBox 6X8 Firewire Vs. Apogee one!

Well, they are completely different beasts, the firebox has something like 6 ins, 8 outs and midi where as the One only has one input and one stereo out.

For the One, usb shouldn't be a problem as it only has one in and stereo out, there shouldn't be a problem sending that through firewire.

If you just want to record some noodles with a guitar or just sing, the One would do the trick. While the firebox is a full scale interface, you could reasonably record a whole band or a drum kit quite well.

It really comes down to what you intend on doing, for my needs, out of the two possibilities I'd go with the presonus just because 1 input is way to restrictive. But I'm guessing the quality of the two products are far from being the same. The One would be the most audiophile option of the two

So what kind of music are you into, what instruments do you play, are you in a band, do you plan on recording other people ?

"So it seems that the apogee one would be the way to go unless i plan on recording more instruments?"

The problem with the Apogee is that it's severely limited as to the number of inputs you get (just two, is that correct?).

I think if you're going to start recording you're going to want more inputs.

The Firebox I had gave fully _six_ usable inputs (2 XLR, 2 line-in, 2 SPDIF) plus MIDI (which I never used). You could add a separate 2-channel mic preamp (running through the line ins) to have 4 mic inputs. I added an FMR "RNP" preamp.

I'm now using an Echo AudioFire8 and it's better than the Firebox. Installed without a hitch. Plenty of inputs, and great analog/digital conversion.

If you're leaning towards Presonus, give the Echo product line a look-over, too.

what about pre-amps? do you think apogee's preamp (i mean the one's) is good as firebox? cause i saw an entry like "you can not compare DUET's preamp with the one's preamp." so i wonder if apogee use ordinary preamps in ONE. and i ve another question; do you think 48khz is enough for dry records? you know, firebox can get 96khz? Make difference?

coolwine said:

Thanks for the input, i am mostly into rock. Old and new stuff, from Boston to Shinedown. I play guitar and not in a band or anything, just for fun...as of now haha. So it seems that the apogee one would be the way to go unless i plan on recording more instruments?

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No, Many times you'd place two mics on a guitar. one near the sound hole and one back about 18". Then in the mix you can control how much of the sound of the room is included. Having only one mic input would limit your options for recording technique.

All electric guitarists know that the sound from the neck is different from the sound near the bridge. With two or more mics you can learn how this works by recording with three mics and chooing which to use later. If nothing else this is educational.

24-bits is good, it means you can keep the levels down and still have headroom. it gives you bits to spare. CD sound is 44.1 if the end product is a CD then record 44.1 if you are recording for video then use 48K. But if you don't know and want to be able to re-sample later with no loss the use 96K

But really, audio quality is limited by other factors in a home studio. Likely the Mics are not the best and the room itself is not perfect and so on.

What makes a "good" interface is the A/D D/A converters. That is what preserves your analog sound as it converts it to digital so you can do your editing in the computer.

That being said, Apogee has some of, if not THE best in the industry. However, you do pay for it. Roughly $250 per input if you take the One in comparison to the duet up to the ensemble and so on. The quality of the converters are what make the price difference of the single input Apogee One vs a single channel M-Audio for $100 or so, or even a 4 input presonus for the same price as the Apogee One.

You have to decide whether you want one amazing sounding input verses multiple inputs that may not be as good, but will still give you a really good sound in the end. I have used Apogee as well as M-Audio and Presonus and have gotten really great sounding tracks from all three. My current interface is a MOTU 828MK3.

Also helps that Apple has a very close relationship with Apogee. Not sure if apple owns them, but all apple OS updates seem to instantaneously work with Apogee.

Hope my long rant helped. Good luck.

Thanks... It really helps to decide which card i m gonna buy. As you said so, we can trust apogee one for our home recordings. Just last question; you can buy apogee for 250$ but presonus firebox is 200$ as you said before bith card is first class cards, when we pay 50$ more to apogee, what do we get more? Just mobility? Or driver update speed? Do you think if we use firebox with our macbook, it sucks now or later? Cause i cant get the point if they are in same quality why we are still talking about this issue? What i understand is; #of inputs or outputs is not so much important, 24 bit qual. Is important and they both do it, 48k or 96k is not make difference cause we will convert them to 44,1k as cd qualty, lack of firewire is not a big deal for one cause it has only one input, preamps of both units are superb. Apogee is %100 compa. With macs but also presonus has drivers for macs and it works without problem... So do what makes different for apogee? Why am i gonna pay 50 box more to it? im very glaf, If somebody answer this question... Thanks to all...

You can't exactly go just by numbers like 44.1, 24 bit etc on the box alone. If that were true, then I would say forget Apogee and Presonus and buy a Behringer interface for $30 and be done with it because they both will technically have the same numbers on the box. It is the characteristics of the mic pre's(as well as physical construction and parts) that make behringer a crap product, M-Audio and Presonus a solid mid range product, and MOTU, Apogee, RME, and a few others a higher end product.

You will 100% get a great recording with the Firebox. Don't get me wrong. Its not like you NEED to have Apogee to get a good sound. I have done entire records using a Presonus Firestudio Project and you would never tell that it wasn't done in a "professional" studio.

You get more for your money with the Presonus. More inputs, outputs, phantom power,MIDI connections. You could probably get a really good deal on the Firebox too, because it is being phased out in favor of the Firestudio Mobile! The overall sound quality will be better though, with Apogee because with each A/D D/A conversion, there is a degree of quality loss and the Apogee is virtually lossless.

It is up to you whether having more I/O is more important or having a better overall sound quality.

Thanks all of you guys... Now its more clear... Maybe this dilemma occurs not only for the prices but also the structure of the unit. You know firebox has huge solid body and at first sight you think it has superb audio unit in it, but apogee seems more plastic, small, tiny... But you experienced guys say apogee rules in sound quality i ve no more words to say... Thanks for your support...