FirePod Recording Rig

Over Summer 2005 I slowly purchased several items on eBay which became my finished recording rig. At the core are two Presonus FirePod's, each one recording eight digital channels at a raw 24-bit 96KHz. The D/A and preamps sound pristine and are perfect. When all 16 channels are humming, the whole rig writes about 1.34MB/second, which quickly eats up disk space.

The two units link together and connect to any desktop or laptop using a single Firewire connection. The whole rig is packed in a SKB 4U case along with a Furman power conditioner, and can be hauled around very easily. Total price on the whole rig (minus the laptop) including a 6-foot 16 channel 1/4" snake was about US$1092.

• Pictures from Recording (11pics)
• Mixdown using FirePods (6MB, 4min 34sec)

For mixing projects, I've used Cakewalk SONAR 4 for the past several years, and love its interface. It gives excellent in-depth control of the mixing process, and can record straight from the FirePod's using their ADIO interface. It has many built-in effects, supports busses, and even mixing in several speaker layouts (including 5.1).

For monitoring, I've used a pair of Sony MDR-V300's for about six years. They are lightweight and sound excellent; they also have low leakage so they don't bother people nearby, even at loud volumes. I wear them about six hours each day, and never get tired of them.