Just Get It!

I know how $400, $500 but honestly, it's really worth it. I had a bunch of gear, panning mixers, several cables to try and get a solid recording but this made it so much easier. Simply power it up, plug in the firewire cable, and open your software. I use yourself

Get yourself a decent compressor ($150), Behringer's MicroAMP ($20), and some decent headphones/monitors and you'll have a perfect recording setup for WHATEVER all for UNDER $800!!!

So good, I had to pick up a second.

This unit works. It's simple to use. Plug it in, hook up your mics, Record. It sounds great, haven't had any problems with drivers or hardware. PreSonus has a bad rap for their driver updates, but they released the beta for Lion with in a week of the Lions release, and everything works. I'm really happy with this purchase and would recommend it to anyone who is trying to start up a project studio.

awesome interface

this is an awesome interface. presonus has some of the best D/A converters in this price range. the quality of my recordings skyrocketed after i got this unit. perfect for your rack, because everything is on the front! never understood why some companies put the INPUT connections on the back of a rackmounted unit... and the levels on the front are nice too :)

Great Item!!!

I was looking for an Audio Interface upgrade for my home studio and I came across this one. Overall its was Amazing!! The first time I have used it I was amazed by the sound quality. Before this I had M-Audio and you can tell the difference right away. The Preamps sound great on the FireStudio; they have warm, full sound to it.

One problem I had was to get it to work... It took me to hours to get it to work with mac and windows.

VERY COOL

VERY IMPRESSIVE INTERFACE. I USE IT WITH SONAR 8.5. I LOVE THE IDEA THAT IT CAN FIT IN THE RACK NO LITTLE BOX SLIDING ALL OVER THE PLACE (lol). THE OTHER GREAT FEATURE IS THAT YOU HAVE REAL KNOBS THAT ARE SLOTTED NO PUSH HERE MOVE THERE NAVIGATION. THE OVERALL QUALITY EXCEEDS OTHERS LOWER AND HIGHER IN COST IN MY OPINION. I HAD A FEW ISSUES WITH STATIC BUT SWEETWATER TECH SUPPORT IS ALWAYS ON TOP OF THEIR GAME. I ALWAYS ENCOURAGE ALL MUSICIANS TO BUY SWEETWATER BECAUSE IF YOU HAVE A PROBLEM WITH GEAR THEY "MAKE" IT HAPPEN!

Presonus delivers with the FireStudio Project

I have been using the FireStudio Project for a year now and I can say with confidence that the thought of upgrading to another so-called "professional" converter hasn't even crossed my mind! I recorded my first demo song with the built in preamps and was pleasantly surprised with how quiet they were. I have since put the Presonus Eureka in front for the added presence and warmth, but for jumping right into recording out of the box, the preamps on this thing are more than sufficient. The converters are super clean and maintain the sonic quality of the recording without any noticeable loss in character. In short, they produce a very professional sound...something that you can be proud to let your friends or professionals listen to. I did a lot of research before I bought this thing, and I have done a lot of research since...I haven't found anything anywhere near this price range that offers not only high quality A/D conversion but also a bundled software package that will get you up and running and keep you there for a long time. I produced my entire CD using the included Cubase LE4, plug-ins, and drum loops that came with the FireStudio Project. If you are serious about recording a great sounding album and don't want to be eating Ramen noodles for the next year because you busted the bank on some other overpriced piece of equipment, then look no further. Presonus has delivered an awesome piece of gear with the FireStudio Project.

Field and Studio, this rocks!

I do broadcast and video production, as well a music composition in the studio. I wanted a flexible I/O solution for my Mac tower and MacBook Pro. It had to work with Final Cut Pro, SoundTrack Pro, Logic (that it also works with GarageBand is a plus, too). This unit does it all! The sound quality is outstanding, pre amps are super awesome. Flexible, powerful, and at a reasonable price. I very highly recommend this unit!

Pleasantly surprised

I was able to track the entire band and send each musician a separate headphone mix using the built in mixer and several hp4's. Everybody was happy with the Firestudio Project. The drum sounds we got were really shockingly good. The drummer kept asking me what preamp and eq we were using. I tracked all the drums flat with no eq or compression - just the preamps from the Firestudio Project. Cubase LE4 is a HUGE step up from LE as well. Although I'm probably going to upgrade to Cubase4 soon.

good one presonus

I was looking at this and the motu8 pre. The meters look and function great and I love the sound of the preamps on the firestudio project. I'll be adding the central station soon.

great price, service

so far I love the equipment

Great Interface for the Money

Just wanted to pop in and give this interface a review due to the extensive use it has had in my studio. Prior to this I was using a.....mmmmmm.....box of some sort. When I received the Firstudio Project, I could not believe the difference in sound quality. Sure, the average listener might not be blown away, but anybody who has had any amount of time in the studio (behind proper monitoring) should have no issue in hearing that this has wonderful Preamps and converters....both the AD and the DA are great quality for the price.

AND.....I love Studio One. As a previous protooler, I understand the DAW world, and Studio One definitely adds up to be the quickest creation station I have worked with (along with Logic).

Kudos Presonus!!

great firewire interface for project studios and mobile use

The Presonus Firestudio Project has excellent quality XMAX mic pres. these pres have neutrik combo jacks which accept traditional 3 pin XLR or 1/4" phono plugs. Although i put a preamp in front of the firestudio, these mic pres are certainly good enough to use without any outboard gear.
Presonus includes Cubase LE4 recording software and a decent tutorial dvd to get you started. The 48 track software is more than adequate for recording your entire band at once or doing track by track recording for solo musicians who play all the parts themselves. There are plenty of plug ins included to help add spice and spatiality to your recordings as well as produce broadcast quality masters.
Presonus includes all necessary hookup wires so there is nothing else needed to get started as long as you have a pair of headphones or some other means of monitoring (which by the way presonus made making great monitor mixes a breeze).
All in all, the Presonus Firestudio Project is a great, easy to use firewire interface that can be used as a mobile recording setup, a front end for your home studio or as a mixer for your live performances. When quality counts (as it always does), this is a very inexpensive (and expandable) solution to your digital I/O needs. Purchase with confidance!

Good price/performance

I was looking at upgrading my aging Fostex digital recorder with a firewire interface. For the quality and price point, the FireStudio Project can't be beat. Very quiet pre-amps, and an overall nice-sounding package. Works well with the included Cubase software, there is a little bit of a learning curve to it. I had problems getting everything to work properly until I upgraded with the most recent patches from the website.

A great addition to my small studio.

It makes managing all my input/output seemless. I love the flexability not to mention it sounds great!

Awsome sounding but has bugs

This Interface workes great and sounds great. If you expirance popping and hissing you need to restart your computer. I believe the drivers are not the best. Mine always works when I turn on the firestudio and then restart my computer befour opening up cubase.

Very Nice

I have Sonar 6 and this was reccomended by my sales rep , After I installed the software , driver etc plugged it in ...it did not work , I walked through the install one more time and went online to sweet care and reviewed q/a section on Sonar ... checked my settings on/in Sonar ... perfect it all works !!

good value

A freind of mine asked me to help him set up his own home studio. When we were shopping for a mixer, we ran across the thing and the salesman really recommended it. Although I thought the thing looked mickey-mouse, we bought it. We got it home, hooked it up and 45 minutes later we were getting very clean tracks with the thing. It comes with good software, but we used it with Sonar 6 and it worked like a champ. Because of the ease of set up (just plug it in and run the installation disk) and the high quality signal we got I would recommend this product to anyone wanting to set up a home studio where space is premium. If you really like all the sliders and stuff, they are still there, only they are virtual, saving a ton of space.

Poor Quality, Strongly Recommend a Different Interface

The bassist in my band recently bought this as he was beggining to create a recording setup. We set it up the way the manual said with a brand new macbook (2.4 gHz processor and 2 GB of RAM). The interface constantly made popping and hissing through the monitors and distorted the sound quality. We recieved 3 of these interfaces, and they all contained the exact same problem. I strongly recommend an Alesis interface or M-audio. Presonus has shown a strong lack of quality in this product.