PRESONUS 26x26 FireWire Recording System manual

FIRESTUDIO 26x26 FireWire Recording System w/ Optical I/O User’s Manual v.1.0 PreSonus Aud io Electronics, © 2006 All Rights Reserved.[...]

2 PreSonus Lim ited W arranty PreSonus Audio Electronics Inc. warrants this product to be free of defects in materia l and workmanship for a period of one year from the date of original retail purchase. This warranty is enforceable only by the original ret ail purchaser. To be protected by this warranty, the purchaser must complete and return the e[...]

3 Table of Contents 1.) Genera l Over view 1.1 Introdu ction ........................................................................................................4 1.2 Package Contents................................................................................................4 1.3 System Re quirements ........................................[...]

1 Overview 4 1.1 Introducti on Thank you for purchasing the PreSonus FI RESTUDIO. PreSonus Audio Electronics has designed the FIRESTUDIO utilizing high-grade components to insure optimum performance that will last a lifetime. Loaded with 24- bit 96K converters, eight PreSonus microphone preamplifiers, SPDIF, Dual SMUX 96k ADAT, BNC wordclock, and M[...]

1 Overview 5 1.3 System Requirements Below are the minimum computer system requirements for your FIRESTUDIO. 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 - Compute[...]

2 Instal l ation and Hardware Overview 6 2.1 Install ation PC: The following is a detailed procedure for installation o f your FIRESTUDIO Drivers: *YOU MUST INSTALL DRIVERS BEFO RE C ONNECTING YOUR FIRESTUDIO* 1.) Quit all currently running applications. 2.) Insert the Driver CD included with your FIRESTUDIO into your computer. (Do not connect your[...]

2 Instal l ation and Hardware Overview 7 Mac: *YOU MUST INSTALL DRIVERS BEFO RE C ONNECTING YOUR FIRESTUDIO* 1.) Quit all currently running applications. 2.) Insert the Driver CD included with your FIRESTUDIO into your computer. (Do not connect your FIRESTUDIO to the computer at this time). 3.) CD should auto run.* (If not, nav igate to CD and doub[...]

2 Instal l ation and Hardware Overview 8 2.2 Hardware Controls and Analog/D igital Connections Your FIRESTUDIO can simultaneously re cord/playback a total of 26 inputs and outputs. The following will outline each connec tion type in detail from left to right on the front and back panels: Front Panel: a.) 48 Volt Phantom Power: These two switches wi[...]

2 Instal l ation and Hardware Overview 9 c.) MIDI I/O: The standard MIDI input and output allow connectivity of any MIDI device to your FIRESTUDIO to be used in your DAW software. d.) BNC Wordclock I/O: These standard BNC connectors allow you to connect any device with BNC input or output to your FIRESTUDIO. This is to allow the FIRESTUDIO to funct[...]

2 Instal l ation and Hardware Overview 10 2.3 Standal one Operation Your FIRESTUDIO is capable of operating in Stand Alone mode without a computer. The settings you make in the FIRESTUDIO C ontrol Console application will be sto red in flash memory on the FIRESTUDIO itself, allowing yo u to disconnect the FireWire connection from your computer and [...]

2 Instal l ation and Hardware Overview 11 2. Select VST Multitrack in the left column and then on the right s ide choose “ASIO PreSonus” for the ASIO Driver. 3. Click Switch. 4. Now click the File menu and New Project. Choose “empty” template and a “Destination Location” where your project will be saved to your computer.[...]

2 Instal l ation and Hardware Overview 12 5. Now click the Devices Menu and VST Inputs. Activate your additional input channels clicking the graphic power buttons. o Notice that the input channels are activated in pairs. Adding one audio track is MONO. Meaning it will record from 1 input channel. It can be switched to a STEREO track. Meaning it wil[...]

2 Instal l ation and Hardware Overview 13 7. Now click the Project menu, Add Track and Multiple. 8. This will add multiple tracks. Choose A udio for Track and set your Count to the number of audio tracks you w ant to add to your project. 9. Click Record Enable for each of your tracks. You will now notice a green level bar indicating the audio track[...]

2 Instal l ation and Hardware Overview 14 10. Expand an audio track to reveal additional buttons. One is a Stereo/Mono switch. Do this if you are recording a stereo source like the left and right outputs of a keyboard or other stereo sound device. 11. Finally, click the record button on the Transport Bar to begin recording. 12. Click the Help menu [...]

3 Contr ol Conso le 15 3.1 Control Console -Overview Please install the FIRESTUDIO drivers and open the FIRESTUDIO Control Console before continuing through this section of the manual. A hands-on approach is very helpful in learning all of the fea ture s the Control Console has to offer. The Control Console has two main tabs, found at the top left [...]

3 Contr ol Conso le 16 3.2 Control Consol e - Mixer The Control Console’s Mixer is a flexible and easy-to-use so lution for creating multiple mixes from your inputs and DAW playback stre ams, all with zero-latency. It is capable of creating 9 independent stereo mixes of all of your input s and playback streams, and routing each mix to any stereo [...]

3 Contr ol Conso le 17 • The bottom row of tracks is colored in grey and includes all playback streams from your DAW software. • There are tabs at the very bot tom of the window to a ccess each mix 1-9. These tabs can be renamed to anything y ou like by double-clicking on the name, typing a new name, and hitting ‘enter’ on your keyboard. ?[...]

3 Contr ol Conso le 18 Note: All settings for the Mixer are stored in flash memory on the FIRESTUDIO, and will be recalled each time the FIRESTUDIO is connected to the computer and the Control Console is opened. Track Elements 1. Pan Bar: This allows you to pan the track left or right, and shows numeric readout of the current setting. 2. Fader, Lev[...]

3 Contr ol Conso le 19 3.3 Matrix Rou ter The Matrix Router allows you to create custom routing of inputs and playback streams to any output for complete control of your studio. From simply routing a mix to a stereo output, to AD/DA conversion on the fly, to every input and playback stream having its own output, the Matrix Router can do it all quic[...]

3 Contr ol Conso le 20 • Below the two tabs is the Router Preset section. You will see a Defau lt button, which sets the Router to a default state with all DAW returns routed to their respective outputs (ie; DAW 1/2 out of analog 1/2, etc). The user can save any routing scheme to any of the six presets by clicking on Save and then on the number t[...]

3 Contr ol Conso le 21 MUTE. You will make these settings man ually for the hardware output channels. • The matrix is arranged in columns (vertical) and rows (horizon tal). The columns correspond to each hardware output on the FIRESTUDIO, and the rows correspond to individual input or playback sources. You can select one cell per column, and up t[...]

3 Contr ol Conso le 22 • When the mouse is moved over any cell, you will see that cell highlight and name what you are routing, with a sm all popup window that lists what output you are routing to. Click on the cell to assign the routing for that source. • If you have routed a Mix to any output, that routing will be reflected in the Output Rout[...]

3 Contr ol Conso le 23 CONTROL CONSOLE EXAMPLE SETTINGS Example 1: All inputs routed to same channel outputs with optional Mix to SPDIF L/R output. Example 2: All analog inputs to same channe l analog and digital outputs with optional Mix to SPDIF L/R output. Example 3: Analog input to digital outputs and digital inputs to analog outputs (AD/DA).[...]

3 Contr ol Conso le 24 Example 4: All software (DAW) playback ch annels to all same channel Hardware outputs. Example 5: 8 channels of software (DAW) playback channels to 8 channels of analog and ADAT outputs. Example 6: 9 separate Mixes assigned to all FireStudio Hardware Outputs.[...]

3 Contr ol Conso le 25 3.4 Hardware Setti ngs Click on the Hardware Settings tab to access the following: 1.) Sample Rate (PC Only*): You can set the sample rate to 44.1, 48, 88.2, and 96k. When set at higher than 48k, th e ADAT channel I/O is limited to 8 channels utilizing both ADAT ports and the Dual SMUX standard. A higher sample rate will incr[...]

4 A pp lica t io ns an d E x a m p le S etting s 26 4.1 Expandin g Your I/O You can easily connect add itional microphone prea mplifiers to expan d your inputs and outputs on your FireStudio via ADAT/SMUX optical light pipe connectors. • The DigiMax FS can connect to the Fi reStudio using 88.2k and 96k sample rates via dual SMUX optical ADAT usin[...]

4 A pp lica t io ns an d E x a m p le S etting s 27 4.2 Li ve Recording Live Recording Scenario 1: This setup scenario makes computer recording primary to the P.A. system or House Mix. This setup scenario allows the FireStudio to preamplify the signals that will be recorded by your computer and then mixed by the Main Mixing Console or P.A. system. [...]

4 A pp lica t io ns an d E x a m p le S etting s 28 Live Recording Scenario 1 Diagram[...]

4 A pp lica t io ns an d E x a m p le S etting s 29 Live Recording Scenario 2: This setup scenario makes computer recording secondary to the P.A. system or the House Mix. This setup will allow the Main Mixing Console to preamplify the signals th at will be mixed to the P.A . system and then recorded by the computer. 1. Connect all audio input sourc[...]

4 A pp lica t io ns an d E x a m p le S etting s 30 Live Recording Scenario 2 Diagram[...]

4 A pp lica t io ns an d E x a m p le S etting s 31 4.4 Studi o Recording In the project or professional studio, the Fi reStudio is extremely powerful and flexible. Here are a few typical set up examples. Create separate headphone mixes for each musician • Setup your recording software (DAW) respectively to record your input channels to individua[...]

5 T echnical 32 5.1 Troubleshooti ng Please note that many technical issues can arise when converting a standard computer into a DAW (Digital Audio Workstation) . PreSonus will only provide support for issues that directly relate to your FIRESTU DIO. It may be necessa ry to contact the manufacturer of the computer, operating system and/or so ftware[...]

5 T echnical 33 5.2 T ec h n ic al S p e cif ic at ion s Microphone Preamp (XLR Balan ced) All measurements Micro phone Input to Direct Outp ut Frequency Response (+0,- 0.5dB) 20Hz to 50KHz Frequency Response (+0/-3.0 dB) 20Hz to 150KHz Input Impedance 1600 Ohm THD+N (unwt d, 1KHz @ +4 dBu Ou tput, Unity Gain) < 0.003% EIN (unwtd, 55dB G ain, 15[...]