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In-depth Feature:  Presonus Firebox
Presonus Firebox Revisited
Albert Potts writes: .

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Plug and Play
In some ways, reviewing a product that has been on the market for a couple years is a different experience than reviewing a brand new product. With new products, part of the review is usually a wish list for features or bug fixes, and comments on manufacturing fit and finish issues.

However, the Firebox has been out for two years now and as such is a mature product. This is very much in evidence when opening the packaging and putting the unit to use. The fit and finish of the Firebox is solid, the software package is complete and well thought out, the printed manual is well written, and all the accessories necessary to use the unit right out of the box are present. Those accessories include a firewire cable, external power supply, Midi/SPDIF breakout cable, and even rubber feet!

Some online messageboard comments have incorrectly stated that a power supply and rubber feet are not provided, however they certainly are. I’ve also read comments that the firewire connectors are flimsy, and while those comments may have been in regard to an earlier production run or a used unit, I find the firewire connectors on my Firebox to be solid and firmly seated into the hardware.

I decided to test the plug and play-ability of the Firebox. To do so, I first installed the Firebox Mixer and Firebox Control Panel applications, checking the Presonus site to make sure I had the most recent versions. Then I connected the Firebox via the firewire cable, to see if indeed it powered up from the six pin firewire port on my Mac iBook G4 without needing the power adapter. The Firebox powered up, I selected it as the audio device in “AudioMIDISetup�, and it worked. Perfectly, the first time. That’s plug and play.

Since the Firebox supports CoreAudio on the Mac there are no drivers to install, and the Mac sees all the available I/O of the Firebox. I was not able to test Windows installation, but it is important to follow very closely the recommended guidelines of the manufacturer when using a firewire interface with any computer. Presonus has those recommendations posted on their site.

More Resources              Articles - full listing
  • Presonus Firebox pages
  • Firebox @ SameDayMusic.com

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