Topic: Presonus FIREBOX

[nic]

doh, that should say $299!
got it at Guitar Center

[THE NIZ BIAAAAACH!]

Has anyone run this off of the bus for power and if so how fast did it drain batteries?

[mmmatt]

Has anyone run this off of the bus for power and if so how fast did it drain batteries?

FYI unless you have a 6 pin firewire on your lappie it won't run off bus power.

Matt

[THE NIZ BIAAAAACH!]

I think I only have 4pin, can you run DC power from a battery? You cant geta a 6pin to four pin?

[nic]

I think I only have 4pin, can you run DC power from a battery? You cant geta a 6pin to four pin?

bus power is strictly 6pin>6pin...and they have to be native 6pin ports, not add-ons like a pc-card

[bluegrass_brad]

If your computer only has a four pin than it is not capable of bus power.  Only 6 pin are capable of it.  So a 4 > 6 pin cable wouldn't help.

[mmmatt]

I think I only have 4pin, can you run DC power from a battery? You cant geta a 6pin to four pin?

bus power is strictly 6pin>6pin...and they have to be native 6pin ports, not add-ons like a pc-card

If your computer only has a four pin than it is not capable of bus power.  Only 6 pin are capable of it.  So a 4 > 6 pin cable wouldn't help.

good catch guys... I should have said that.  I can'tremember if this is dc powered or not... I think it is.  If not you may be able to find a powered hub.  I have one for usb that has a wall wort and it would be easy enough to hack a bat to that.

Matt

[THE NIZ BIAAAAACH!]

So I went ahead and bought one, it will run on 12vdc however I was told by presonus it would not, way to know your product guys.  I'll post updates when I get to run it.  So far just some tests infront of the home stereo.  Glichless 24\96 so far.

[Ryan Sims]

Anyone got any updated information on the Firebox?  More and more I'm liking the idea of building a laptop rig.

[tcf]

 Hey,

I've been using this box as my pre for my applications of 4 channel  with the laptop and then mics only analog out with my microtracker.  I am real pleased using this thing to record 4-6 independent channels through cubase.  With the laptop I power the thing with firewire as my Dell has a six pin firewire out.  I have never used it as firewire out using a valence or onboard laptop battery.  I will most likely have power if I patch out of a board, if not I'll use the r/c batteries for power. 

 I like the sound of the firebox as a pre only with my 184's,analog line out to the microtracker.  I use two 7.2 volt r/c batteries wired for 14 volt and with 48 volt activated I get 2 hours and 40 minutes. I use a total of 4 batteries if I need more time. , I carry everything in a Lowe nova 4 with the mics in a pelican and the 184's in a pelican, firebox sits vertical. Very portable to carry in the field.  To me on my budget it was the perfect solution, a front end that would allow me to matrix 6 independent channels and mix down after the fact and I could use it as a stand alone pre with the neumans with 12-24 volt power.  I know Dirk ran his for a show using the valance to power the firebox and at 18 volt it dropped on bar on the meter


Good Luck,
Tom

[Will_S]

  I use two 7.2 volt r/c batteries wired for 14 volt and with 48 volt activated I get 2 hours and 40 minutes.

I recently did a search of the archives to figure what kind of battery life I could get out of a Firebox and an external battery pack, and this was all I could find.  Now I have a couple data points to add for anyone else facing this same question.

Using my AT U873R mics with 48V phantom (spec'd at 3 mA) and running analog out into my recorder, I got 2 hours 45 minutes out of 12x2000mAhr NiMH AA batteries, then managed to record 3 hours 6 minutes of music off 12x2650 mAhr batteries at a live show followed by ~30 more minutes of recording my stereo at home the next day to finish off the batteries.

[poorlyconditioned]

Has anyone run this off of the bus for power and if so how fast did it drain batteries?

Powering with batteries is *very* difficult.  This thing burns power (ie., gets hot!).  It sounds great, but it gets hot.  The PSU is +/-15V inside, which is great for sound quality, but...

Before I knew better I just plugged a 5V battery into it.  The battery actually got too hot to hold.  Then I learnt that a firewire interface *can* suck up to 1.5A at 30V.  That is 45W.  This one says 10W on the back I believe.  That is 2A at 5V or almost 1A at 12V.  Too much power IMO.  OK, you could do it, but you're carrying a lot of battery.

If you need battery power I strongly recommend either a VXpocket 440 (in the YS for cheap!), or a standalone unit like an R4.  Too bad, because I love the sound of this thing!

  Richard

[Will_S]

Has anyone run this off of the bus for power and if so how fast did it drain batteries?

Powering with batteries is *very* difficult.  This thing burns power (ie., gets hot!).  It sounds great, but it gets hot.  The PSU is +/-15V inside, which is great for sound quality, but...

Hmm, it got a little warm off my 12xAA battery pack but nothing I'd describe as "hot!".

Running it off the firewire bus power of my laptop I don't notice any heat issues, it does knock down the laptop's battery life from about 3:30 if just recording to 2:30 if recording and running the Firebox.

Edit:  I should note that I have always run the Firebox out in the open air rather than inside a bag, which I'm sure helped it to dissipate heat.

[poorlyconditioned]

Has anyone run this off of the bus for power and if so how fast did it drain batteries?

Powering with batteries is *very* difficult.  This thing burns power (ie., gets hot!).  It sounds great, but it gets hot.  The PSU is +/-15V inside, which is great for sound quality, but...

Hmm, it got a little warm off my 12xAA battery pack but nothing I'd describe as "hot!".

Running it off the firewire bus power of my laptop I don't notice any heat issues, it does knock down the laptop's battery life from about 3:30 if just recording to 2:30 if recording and running the Firebox.

Edit:  I should note that I have always run the Firebox out in the open air rather than inside a bag, which I'm sure helped it to dissipate heat.

2h30 with a laptop is good.  I am just nervous using anything that drains power off an already taxed laptop.  I've done shows where I keep looking over at my 'battery' symbol on the laptop and it is not fun...

  Richard

[THE NIZ BIAAAAACH!]

It will run for more than 4 hrs on a 5amp hr 12 v battery, most people carry a 7.2 amp hour batter for units like the v2, v3, or other units this is the standard sive that eco charge makes them in.