« Reply #6 on: August 07, 2005, 10:15:29 PM »
I have a 410 and ua-5. The ua-5 definitely "made friends" with my laptop(s) much more quickly and easily. In fact I've never had one single problem with ua-5 > usb > laptop, even at 24/96. However there are others that report problems at 24/96 and exclusively run 24/48. Keep that in mind.
The 410 took some work and many hours but I was able to get it stable.
I use these two preamps in conjunction with one another. I most often run the board feed into the UA-5 (usually rca in). Coax out of UA-5 into coax in of FW-410. Then I'll run aud mics into the pre's of the 410; you can then feed the board and aud feed SEPERATELY into a laptop so you can mix the two later in post-production. I was able to run this at 24/96 many many times. SO MUCH FUN.
As for as the firebox, I know nothing, but I'd love to see some new fresh gear out there.
Why don't you run board into line in on the 410? It takes more than two analog channels, right?
By the way, I have the Presonus Firepod, the big brother of the Firebox. The firebox has 2 mic pres, two analog, and one digital input. The Firebox has 8 mic/line inputs and one digital I/O (coax only). I *think* the firebox is powered from the cable. The Firepod needs a separate PSU (12 to 24VDC, but a lot of current I think).
OK, how does the Presonus sound? My opinion is that it is better than the Unmodded UA5. More detail/clarity. It has a discrete transistor pair in front of a MC33079 preamp(s). I think the opamp is low end, but that discrete stage makes it better. Probably not as good as an Oade mod, but I like it just fine.
Richard
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Mics: Sennheiser MKE2002 (dummy head), Studio Projects C4, AT825 (unmodded), AT822 franken mic (x2), AT853(hc,c,sc,o), Senn. MKE2, Senn MKE40, Shure MX183/5, CA Cards, homebrew Panasonic and Transsound capsules.
Pre/ADC: Presonus Firepod & Firebox, DMIC20(x2), UA5(poorly-modded, AD8620+AD8512opamps), VX440
Recorders: Edirol R4, R09, IBM X24 laptop, NJB3(x2), HiMD(x2), MD(1).
** This individual has moved to user "illconditioned" **