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[Chris Harrison]

I've narrowed it down to two options.  Understanding that initially I'm only going to be recording to PC 2 tracks, I want the ability to expand to more without buying more equipment.  I have narrowed it down to two interfaces, and for the life of me I can't choose one.  I'm looking at the Presonus Firestudio Project, and FocusRite Saffire Pro 40.  Initially I would be using the DAW that comes with the interface. 

The 2 things being recorded at first will be Pastor's sermon on one track.  Summed up music on the second track.  Initially both coming out of the matrices.  As I get past the initial learning curve I may break the music down into more tracks.

Any opinions?  I have to make my recommendation tonight.

[Mike Spitzer]

I've never used anything from Presonus, so I don't know which is better. I can say that the FocusRite is a nice piece of hardware, though. You won't go wrong with it.

-mS

[Jeff Foster]

I have narrowed it down to two interfaces, and for the life of me I can't choose one.  I'm looking at the Presonus Firestudio Project, and FocusRite Saffire Pro 40.  Initially I would be using the DAW that comes with the interface. 

This may be too late for your recommendation, but in case it's not, I'll offer my viewpoints...

First, I wouldn't really compare those two pieces.  Comparing features, they're really quite different.  For a more even feature comparison, you should look at the Presonus Firestudio 26x26 and the Focusrite Saffire Pro 40.

I have, and use both the Firestudio 26 and the Saffire 40.  They are both decent pieces of equipment and work very well for recording.  Neither will give you any sort of 'boutique' studio sound but both will give you good, clean recordings.  The main feature difference between these two is that the Firestudio has a second ADAT input, where the Saffire has only one.  Other than that, they are almost identical in features.

We use a Firestudio 26 in our main auditorium to record our services.  It has worked flawlessly, excepting the time that my assistant plugged his laptop in and unknowingly reset the routing, but that wasn't the Firestudio's fault.

When shopping for another interface for my personal use, I chose to go with the Saffire Pro 40.  I did that mainly because it was less expensive.  I have never had a problem with it.

If you are going to use the 'included' DAW, then go with the Presonus.  Their software has been getting good reviews.  When we bought our Firestudio, they still shipped with Cubase, and that's what I've stuck with ever since.  I even upgraded ours to Cubase 5 last year. I hear that the new Studio One software is very easy to use and functions very well.  I'm not too impressed with the DAW software that ships with the Focusrite stuff.  It seems geared towards a different market segment and not so much towards recording/mixing engineers.

As for the drivers, I like the driver software that Focusrite uses better than the Presonus drivers.  The routing setup and internal mixer setups just seem easier to figure out and fix when something isn't routed right.  It always takes me a while to decipher the Presonus routing.

Lastly, I never really looked at the Presonus FP10.  I think it's limited to only 8 or 10 inputs and can't be expanded.  I would assume that, functionally, it is probably a lot like the Firestudio. 

[Chris Harrison]

It's definitely not to late.  I was going to post here today that there had been a change, and I'm getting neither piece of equipment.  Another website I'm a member of, finally stopped arguing over DAW software and started answering my question, and another interface was suggested if we could afford it.  Several hours of research later, I have recommended and been approved for the Steinberg MR816 X.  Since it comes with the stripped down Cubase AI4, I will use Reaper anytime I need to do more than 2 tracks.  When it's in the budget to upgrade Cubase I will switch to that for good.

I haven't bought anything yet, but probably will in the next week or so.  So any other thoughts are more than welcome.

As a side note, I appreciate every response on this topic.  Thanks for you time and help.

[Matthias Heitzer]

I think Presonus' studio one is the professional successor of the free Kristal Audio Engine. KAE is easy to use but has very limited functionallity, so chances are good that Studio One (formerly K2) is both versatile and comfortable.

If you're just recording those 7 inputs for review (?relisten?) purposes, i'd split the direct outs (btw: are they set pre or post EQ?)
and combine them with a simple (stereo) linemixer. Just create a mix before the service and don't touch it afterwards. This way, the recording is as honest as possible, and the musicians notce if their dynamics diverge during the songs.
If you run the services in mono, there is no need for stereo recording.

[Chris Harrison]

In the Gl2400 the direct outs are pre-eq by default, if I'm not mistaken.  There is a jumper you can change if you open it up, but I'm not sure I'd ever be brave enough for that.

[Mike Spitzer]

In the Gl2400 the direct outs are pre-eq by default, if I'm not mistaken.  There is a jumper you can change if you open it up, but I'm not sure I'd ever be brave enough for that.

You are correct; they're pre-eq by default, which I prefer. The jumpers are very easy to change, though, and the manual walks you through it, so it's not a big deal. There are a couple of options on the GL that require soldering, but most people won't need to do any of that.

-mS

[Matthias Heitzer]

Yes, the direct outs follow the jumper settings for pre /post insert+eq. It's really easy, but once you've opened the console, you know why it's so cheap.

For "normal" multitrack-recording you'll want the direct output to be completely independent from any settings of the channel (except gain, of course), if your'e recording some kind of sum however, a bit of Eq can make a great difference, primarily the equalisation of the proximity effect.

Consider the effect on monitoring. Do you want the Eq to affect the signal the musicians hear?


I read your first post again and am wondering if you use all of your aux sends?

[g'bye, Dick Rees]

but once you've opened the console, you know why it's so cheap.

Bulls***, Mr Heitzer.  The GL consoles are fine consoles and well respected for their serviceability.  Just the fact that it has jumpers which can be easily configured to the users specs is a plus.  This is a gratuitous and erroneous statement.

[Mike Spitzer]

The GL consoles are fine consoles and well respected for their serviceability.

Agreed. I know many porta-churches who use the A&H GLs because of their reliability. On the rare occasions that they do have some kind of failure, they're often inexpensive to repair because of the way they're built. I've seen many cases where boards lose 6-8 channels at a time, even on a well-built Yamaha. I've never seen that on a GL.

-mS

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