PreSonus FireStudio Project 24/96 Professional Recording System

The PreSonus FireStudio Project 24/96 Professional Recording System is a complete 24-bit/96K professional recording system combining eight Class A XMAX microphone preamplifiers, 24-bit/96k sample rate conversion, zero-latency matrix router mixer, and the PreSonus ProPak Software Suite featuring Steinberg's Cubase LE 4 48-track recording and production software, over 25 real-time plug-in effects (EQ’s, compressors, reverbs), and more than 2 GB of drum loops and samples.
Great for professional studio recording, live sound recording, performance, podcasting and more, the PreSonus FireStudio Project 24/96 Professional Recording System is designed for flexibility and ultra-high sonic performance. Whether you need to record a live drum set, mic a guitar amp, or a complete band, the PreSonus FireStudio Project 24/96 Professional Recording System is ready and more than able. With the new FireControl Mixer/Router you can send up to five individual mixes to different musicians during recording so that every band member can have a custom headphone mix.

PreSonus FireStudio Project 24/96 Professional Recording System Features:
- High-Speed FireWire (IEEE 1394) Audio Interface
- Up to 96K Sampling Rate
- 8 XMAX Class A Microphone Preamplifiers (+60dB gain) w/ Trim Control
- 8 Analog Mic/Line Inputs, 2 Instrument Inputs
- 8 Analog Line Outputs
- S/PDIF Digital Input and Output, MIDI Input and Output
- Balanced Send / Return for Channels 1 and 2
- Zero Latency Monitoring with FireControl Mixer/Router
- Separate Balanced Main Outputs and 8 Balanced Analog Outputs
- FREE ProPak Software Suite including Cubase LE 4 Audio Production Software

 Left Front

 Right Front

Based on the award-winning FP10(FirePod) the PreSonus FireStudio Project 24/96 Professional Recording System starts with eight PreSonus Class A XMAX microphone preamplifiers found in the FP10(FirePod) and adds the folllowing improvements:
- Improved analog to digital converters (114dB dynamic range)
- Improved syncronization with JetPLL (jitter elimination technology)
- FireControl Mixer/Router to send up to five separate zero-latency stereo mixes to musicians during recording
- Three-segment LED input metering on all analog channels
- Internal IEC-based power supply
- ProPak v3 software suite with Cubase LE 4, BFD Lite, Wave Arts Plug-ins, Cubase LE 4 Demysitified Tutorial DVD video and more.

The PreSonus FireStudio Project 24/96 Professional Recording System starts with eight custom-designed high-voltage, discrete, XMAX Class A microphone preamplifiers.   Many other companies offering recording interfaces add the cheapest possible microphone preamplifier as an afterthought to the interface.

 Left Rear

 Right Rear

PreSonus knows that the preamplifier is a key component in the sonic quality of a recording. The job of a microphone preamplifier is to boost microphone level signals to line level so that the signal can be converted from analog to digital. This mic to line boost is generally a preamplification of over 400 times the voltage of the original mic level signal. This preamplification stage is one of the most important stages that the signal will go through before converted to digital, and is why a high performance preamplifier is important to achieving great results. A cheap "off the shelf op-amp" type mic preamp that is found in most interfaces translates into thin, noisy and harsh results.

The PreSonus FireStudio Project 24/96 Professional Recording System is loaded with the new ultra powerful DICE II FireWire chipset delivering 10 channels of simultaneous inputs and outputs at professional-quality 24-bit. The strength of the DICE II chip lies with its ability to easilly handle high channel count at high bit-rate while minimizing latency and load on your computer.

The synchronization of the PreSonus FireStudio Project 24/96 Professional Recording System is handled by patented JetPLLTM jitter reduction technology. JetPLLTM incorporates noise shaping to virtually remove all audio band jitter. JetPLLTM ensures the highest converter performance possible, resulting in better stereo separation and clearer more transparent audio. JetPLLTM delivers ultra-fast locking to any digital format, through a wide range of frequencies and is extremely robust, and tolerant of wide variations in clock frequencies. JetPLLTM ensures near perfect clock performance when networking audio devices thus creating the most stable and robust synchronization to the computer and all devices synchronization with the PreSonus FireStudio Project 24/96 Professional Recording System.

The PreSonus FireStudio Project 24/96 Professional Recording System also includes the FireControl mixer/router a 18x10 DSP mixer/router for flexible mixing and direct routing any input to any output including the headphone output, with zero latency. The FireControl software application lives between your PreSonus FireStudio Project 24/96 Professional Recording System interface and your DAW software enabling the mixing and routing of input streams coming into your FireStudio Studio Project interface and playback stream coming from your DAW software. The FireControl is capable of creating up to five stereo mixes and then routing to the outputs of your PreSonus FireStudio Project 24/96 Professional Recording System for headphone mixes and various aux sends. This way everyone in the band and the recording engineer can have a custom mix. Also, the PreSonus FireStudio Project 24/96 Professional Recording System is loaded with internal flash memory so that all FireControl settings are saved and recalled in the PreSonus FireStudio Project 24/96 Professional Recording System during power off/on. This allows you to configure your FireStudio as a stand-alone device, without being connected to a computer for uses such as a submixer, A/D and D/A-converter, headphone mixer, format converter, instrument or microphone pre-amplifier.

The PreSonus FireStudio Project 24/96 Professional Recording System also comes with the new ProPak Software Suite (v3), which includes more than 20 real time plug-ins, a number of virtual instruments and over 2 GB of drum loops and samples including: Steinberg - Cubase LE 4, BFD Lite; Wave Arts – TrackPlug LE, MasterVerb LE, Discrete Drums and more.

ProPak Software Suite (v3) Includes:
-Steinberg Cubase LE 4 - Complete audio recording, sequencing and production software
  -48 audio tracks
  -64 MIDI tracks
  -MIDI & sequencing
  -EQ on each track
  -VST plug-in support
  -Virtual instrument support
  -Time stretching and pitch shifting
  -HALionOne Sample Player included (w/ 60 Instruments, 400 MB sound library)
  -Included plug-ins – Compressor, DualFilter, Distortion, PingPong-Delay, Chorus, Flanger, Phaser, AutoPanner, Vibrato, Rotary,
    MonoToStereo and Roomworks SE, DaTube, MIDI Gate, StepFilter, Bitcrusher, Chopper, Metalizer, Ring Modulator, Tranceformer,
    Grungelizer
  -Drum Editor
-Cubase LE 4 Demystified - two-hour in-depth instructional video on how to use Cubase LE 4
-PreSonus - EyeQ (Stereo and Mono seven-band Equaliizer with spectral analysis)
-Wave Arts - Track Plug LE (compressor/EQ), MasterVerb LE (reverb) plug-ins
-Audio Damage - FuzzPlus2, Filterpod plug-ins
-Cycling'74 Pluggo Jr. - Average Injector, Chamberverb, Feedback Network, Filter Taps, Generic Effect, HF Ring Mod, Jet, Limi,
  Nebula, Resonation, Resosweep, Spectral Filter.
-Camel Audio Camel Crusher - Distortion Compressor plug-in
-BFD Lite - Virtual Studio Drummer
-Discrete Drums Sampler - over 2GB of drum loops and drum samples
-Keyfax Twiddly bits - 100 MIDI drum loops created by real drummers

PreSonus FireStudio Project 24/96 Professional Recording System Technical Specifications:
-Microphone Preamp
  -Type:  XLR Female Balanced
  -Frequency Response (±0.5 dB):  20 Hz to 50 kHz
  -Frequency Response (±3.0 dB):  20 Hz to 150 kHz
  -Input Impedance (Balanced):  1600 Ω
  -THD+N (unwtd, 1kHz @ +4 dBu Output, Unity Gain:  < 0.0003%
  -EIN (unwtd, 55dB Gain, 150 Ω Input, 20Hz to 22kHz:  -126 dBu
  -S/N Ratio (Unity Gain, unwtd, Ref. = +4 dBu, 20Hz to 22 kHz:  > 101dB
  -Common Mode Rejection Ratio (1 kHz, 55 dB Gain):  > 55dB
  -Gain Control Range (± 1dB):  -4 dB to 50dB
  -Maximum Input Level (Unity Gain, 1 kHz @ 0.5% THD+N):  +14 dBu
  -Signal Level LEDS
    -Red / Clip (±0.5 dB): +10 dBu (o dBFS)
    -Yellow (±0.5 dB): +4 dBu (-6 dBFS)
    -Green (±0.5 dB): -30 dBu (-40 dBFS)
  -Phantom Power (±2 VDC):  +48 VDC
-Instrument Input (channels 1 & 2 only)
  -Type:  XLR Female Balanced
  -Input Impedance:  1 MΩ
-Line Inputs
  -Type:  XLR Female Balanced
  -Frequency Response (±0.5 dB):  20 Hz to 50 kHz
  -Frequency Response (±3.0 dB):  20 Hz to 150 kHz
  -Input Impedance (Balanced):  10 KΩ
  -THD+N (unwtd, 1kHz @ +4 dBu Output, Unity Gain:  < 0.0003%
  -S/N Ratio (Unity Gain, unwtd, Ref. = +4 dBu, 20Hz to 22 kHz > 101dB: Gain Control Range (±1 dB) -16dB to +16dB
  -Maximum Input Level (Unity Gain, 1 kHz @ 0.5% THD+N) +10 dBu: Maximum Input Level (Minimum Gain, 1 kHz @ 0.5% THD+N) +22 dBu
-Line Ouputs (including Preamp Output, General Purpose Outputs and Main Outputs)
  -Type ¼" TRS Balanced
  -Output Impedance 51 Ω
-Headphone Output
  -Type ¼" TRS Active Stereo
  -Maximum Output 150 mW/CH @ 60 Ω Load
  -Frequency Response (±1.0 dB) 10 Hz - 70kHz
-Digital Audio
  -ADC Dynamic Range (Awtd, 48 kHz Sample Rate) 114 dB
  -DAC Dynamic Range (Awtd, 48 kHz Sample Rate) 114 dB
  -Bit Depth 24
  -Reference Level for 0dBFS +10 dBu
  -Internal Sample Frequency Selections (kHz) 44.1, 48, 88.2, 96
  -External Sample Frequency Input S/PDIF
-Power
  -Input Connector Type IEC
  -Input Voltage Range 90 to 230 VAC
  -Power Requirements (Continuous) 20W

PreSonus FireStudio Project 24/96 Professional Recording System Computer System Requirement:
Below are the minimum computer system requirements for your FireStudio Project.
-Windows:
  -OS: Microsoft Windows XP SP1
  -Computer: Windows compatible computer with FireWire port.
  -CPU/Clock: Pentium, Celeron with 1.6Ghz or higher
  -Memory(RAM): 512 MB (1 GB recommended)
-Macintosh:
  -OS: MacOS X 10.4.x or later
  -Computer: Apple Macintosh series with on-board FireWire port.
  -CPU/Clock: PowerPC G4/Dual 1 GHZ or faster, all Intel-based Mac models.
  -Memory(RAM): 512 MB (1 GB recommended)

Note that the speed of your processor, amount of RAM and size and speed of your hard drive will greatly affect the overall performance of your recording system. Also, a more powerful system (faster processor with more RAM) will allow for lower latency (signal delay) that you might experience while monitoring audio or MIDI signals.
Monitor resolution for both PC and Macintosh should be no lower than 1024x768 pixels.