There is a girl staring at
me. Though not usually a problem (it doesn't typically happen, and I generally
don't mind), in this case?it sort of is. She's eight years old, and she should
be reading the smudged and battered copy of Highlights for Children that her
increasingly harried mother has repeatedly encouraged her to read over the last
15 minutes. At least that's what I can gather from what microscopic amount of
Spanish I've picked up from living in a Mexican border town for the last
40-some odd years. Anyway, back to the girl. What is she thinking as she peers
over the four month-old issue of a kid's magazine that I can only remember for
its insightful behavioral advice column, 'Goofus and Gallant'? Does she know
and comprehend the results of my cholesterol test? Is it that bad? Will I ever
savor the wonder that is the three-egg omelet again? Before I can really delve
into these questions or the intricacies of being the reluctant center of this
willful child's attention, my own concentration is diverted to the stories of
dislocated L5 vertebrae and various other previous misdiagnoses of the other
patients in my doctor's office. While usually a very quiet situation, for some
reason everyone is very interactive today. I mean, I have never heard anyone
besides the receptionist and the occasional doctor ever utter a single word
here, ever. Today? Today I'm on the freakin' set of The View. Medically
speaking, I know everyone's entire medical history in this stained acoustic
ceilinged, Berber-carpeted, pharmaceutical advertisement-choked, mysteriously
stale-aired waiting room. As time wears on (and believe me, it's really wearing
on) I'm also in receipt of a great deal of information on military enlistment,
disciplinary techniques of previous generations, and lessons learned through
trial and vehicular error. I suppose this is what can sometimes happen when you
try new things, like writing this column in a crowded place, rather than the
cozy confines of my home, in ABSOLUTE SILENCE.
I
believe that trying new things and breaking patterns are crucial to both mental
and spiritual growth and well-being. If my doctor ever calls for me this
morning (it's been an hour now) I can ask him to verify this for you.
Meanwhile, this school of thought has fortuitously compelled me to bring my
laptop along (another thing I rarely do) and given me the capability to make
that wonderful proverbial lemonade from the sour fruit of my physician's
tardiness. Just imagining all the time I would have wasted waiting (and
suffering), rather than using it productively bears out my point nicely.
I've
been using an M-Audio Delta 1010 as my digital audio interface since I switched
over to PC-based recording a few years ago. I have had a mostly trouble-free
experience, but in recent months, I've have some wear and tear-related
difficulty with it. I thought perhaps it may be time to look into another unit.
Enter
the PreSonus FIREPOD ($799.99 retail, $599 street). Like the Delta 1010, the
FIREPOD is a 10-channel audio
interface with eight balanced line inputs and outputs, with two more ins and
outs via digital stereo SPDIF. Both units also include MIDI in and out jacks,
which is very helpful. Where the PreSonus unit raises the bar significantly is
including eight(!) class A phantom powered microphone preamps, with adjustable
gain control. Just based upon the fact that the 1010 can only switch between
-10 and +4 with a button push would be enough to sell me on the FIREPOD. That
14 dB difference has had me running around to the back of my Delta unit every
session, trying to dial in the best signal to noise ratio, whereas the FIREPOD
affords me the luxury of a knob for each channel right at my fingertips. This
balances out to the most efficient use of my gain structure, making my audio
quality that much better?and that's before I even got around to using the mic
pre's.
Having
given high marks to this company's Eureka recording strip, I knew to expect
excellence in its sound, appearance, and construction, and this baby delivers
in flying (blue and silver) colors. First things being first, I should point
out that as its name should imply, the FIREPOD doesn't use a breakout PCI card.
It plugs into any IEEE1394 Firewire interface, just like your consumer video
camera uses. If you don't have a firewire card (I didn't), you can pick up a
nice one for less than $75. My only caveat is that the included firewire cable
was a bit too short, so I had to get a longer one.
The
first thing I did after installing the card and interface was to take all of my
cables that were routed to the Delta unit and plug them into the corresponding
jacks on the FIREPOD. As I mentioned earlier, I was able to dial in the levels
even more precisely from there, and at that point I could start to appreciate
the increased fidelity immediately apparent in the PreSonus unit. Now the Delta
is no audio slouch, and I was going to be sad to see it go, so imagine my
surprise at finding that I could still use the Delta unit in tandem with the
FIREPOD. That's right, now I have 20 inputs available. Nothing on either
company's website mentions this, so I can't guarantee it, but it has definitely
been working for me!
But
what about the microphone preamps? Well, in a word: they are incredible! Unless
you have some $10,000+ mixer or preamp rack, these are probably better than
what you have now, no kidding. Using the same laptop I'm writing this column
on, I was able to get audiophile quality eight channel recordings using only
the FIREPOD and some decent mics. No EQ, no compression, just beautiful, open
Class A sound. Lovely.
Subsequent
sessions over the past few weeks have been a complete pleasure and have done
nothing but bolster my confidence in this very fine piece of equipment. I know
it may not seem as sexy as a microphone or a guitar or whatever, but damn if
this isn't one of the nicest pieces of gear I've picked up in quite some time.
I'm glad I stepped outside of my comfort zone and gave it a try, because I'm a
whole lot more at ease now.
Now
if you'll excuse me, my cholesterol is a lot lower and there's an omelet with
my name on it over at Brothers Restaurant.
Sven-Erik Seaholm is an
independent producer who owns and operates Kitsch & Sync Production
(www.kaspro.com) He is currently nominated for a San Diego Music Award for
'Best Acoustic,' as are his recordings for Manuok ('Best Local Recording'),
Carol Ames ('Best Americana Album') and The Coyote Problem ('Best Americana
Album'). He performs September 10th at Cosmo's in La Mesa.