Presonus FireBox literally blows up. Thanks to normen, I now own a Behringer product

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stratatonic
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10 Feb 2018

So, I brought my Firebox into another room to transfer a friend's 4 trk cassette from a PortaStudio I bought recently at a pawnshop to the computer, and when I plugged in the firewire cable into the Firebox, they was a huge bang and smoke started pouring out of every opening of the interface. o_O!! I wish I had taken a vid of it - I couldn't believe it. Wtf!

The Firebox was my main interface, so I needed a replacement. A little bit of research and remembering normen going on about Behringer quality these days , I ordered the Behringer UMC404H .

$99 USD ! How can they cram so much into an interface for such a low price point? It's crappy Behringer quality, right?

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behringer-uphoria-umc404hd-audio-interface.jpg
behringer-uphoria-umc404hd-audio-interface.jpg (268.88 KiB) Viewed 3925 times

Well, so far so good. Better latency than the Firebox. Output could be a touch louder, but then again, the Firebox got really loud - maybe too loud.

The Firebox lasted seven good years, and I had bought it used. So, we'll see what kind of reliability I can get out of this. Looks like there is a three year warranty on it. I'll let you know if it blows up anytime soon.

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tobypearce
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10 Feb 2018

Love the sign-off!
https://onetrackperweek.com
One year - 52 tracks - Electronic Dance Music

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normen
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10 Feb 2018

Tehehe, already picked the guy to blame if it breaks down? ;) But yeah, its incredible bang for buck and as I like to emphasize so often: Its objectively better sound quality than a Neve 1073 preamp ;)

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aeox
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10 Feb 2018

I've got one of these as well. It's been great so far after a year or so of ownership

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syncanonymous
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12 Feb 2018

is not Behringer the flagship brand of the largest music equipment conglomerate on our planet? They goin round buyin up all the little guys, too, innit? A disposable price point is a wondeful thing :-)
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normen
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13 Feb 2018

syncanonymous wrote:
12 Feb 2018
is not Behringer the flagship brand of the largest music equipment conglomerate on our planet? They goin round buyin up all the little guys, too, innit? A disposable price point is a wondeful thing :-)
Yeah. And not even „little“ guys - things like MIDAS etc.

They started out as a german company with reasonable (i.e. not crappy) audio designs produced cheaply in asia. Now they literally have their own city in china where they build stuffs and acquired a LOT of audio know-how during the years.

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selig
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13 Feb 2018

normen wrote:
syncanonymous wrote:
12 Feb 2018
is not Behringer the flagship brand of the largest music equipment conglomerate on our planet? They goin round buyin up all the little guys, too, innit? A disposable price point is a wondeful thing :-)
Yeah. And not even „little“ guys - things like MIDAS etc.

They started out as a german company with reasonable (i.e. not crappy) audio designs produced cheaply in asia. Now they literally have their own city in china where they build stuffs and acquired a LOT of audio know-how during the years.
I used to ‘hate’ on them based on some “originality” questions with some of their early products. But these days I have to eat my words, starting with the X32 mixer and on to their recent synth clone (and original) releases. I will always support those companies who release original products, especially at decent prices!


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normen
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13 Feb 2018

selig wrote:
13 Feb 2018
I used to ‘hate’ on them based on some “originality” questions with some of their early products. But these days I have to eat my words, starting with the X32 mixer and on to their recent synth clone (and original) releases. I will always support those companies who release original products, especially at decent prices!
Yeah, when I see a "NO BEHRINGER!" in a tech rider I usually call them to ask if they sent the old rider ;)

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16BitBear
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Location: Arizona

13 Feb 2018

I have the exact same box. It is fantastic for Linux as well. Plug and play with JACK. I have it a Chromebook converted to Linux, and Pianoteq 6 connected to an nice old Korg digital piano (love the keys, hate the older piano sounds), and it runs like a dream.

kitekrazy
Posts: 1036
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13 Feb 2018

It was probably a blessing since firewire is phased out. I still have a Presonus 1394. They stopped supporting it so no more Presonus interfaces for me.

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syncanonymous
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14 Feb 2018

kitekrazy wrote:
13 Feb 2018
It was probably a blessing since firewire is phased out. I still have a Presonus 1394. They stopped supporting it so no more Presonus interfaces for me.
I put a Startech 1394 B2 A1 PCIe card in my new build for my FireStudio Mobile. The inputs are now silent when idle :-D Previously, I used an official PreSonus tested ExpressCard34 adaptor on my trusty VIAO laptop and the unused inputs had low level buzz (sounds like a faint car alarm); I needed to mute inputs not in use. The more unused/ unmuted inputs, the louder the car alarm. Now, that buzz has gone away with the PCIe card and operation is silent.

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syncanonymous
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15 Feb 2018

I got a second FireStudio Mobile delivered today. I bought on Reverb for £70 =-)

It took about an hour to get it installed. I is such a knucklehead that I didn't recognize that buss power would be plentiful over PCIe, so it is nice to be able to decommissioned a couple of wall warts. The PreSonus instructions are partially incorrect, I needed to unplug/replug the master FW cable at the PCIe card port to get the initial reboot to finish POST as the reboot hung. I followed the PreSonus reinstall drivers for windows FAQ
https://forums.presonus.com/viewtopic.p ... 76#p162876
But, when first booting with the daisy chain plugged in, the FSMs weren't recognized...I rebooted (FW still connected) and the POST hanged with "Restarting" screen...

Users essentially have to consider the daisy chain as a single device. The drivers, though, have a method to recognize and identify multiple interfaces in a daisy chain, but the mixer applet is the same UI as a single FSM, with the same labels...so users are presented with duplicate mixer applets and mnemonics with a highlight on the driver UI to identify the which mixer applet is which...

I have hardly put it through any paces other than ensuring one of the line ins on the slave is functioning. Reason does see all the I/O as long as you enable in prefs :-)
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stratatonic
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10 May 2018

.

Well, so far so good for the UMC404H. The Behringer has also survived a 4 foot drop to carpet covered concrete with no ill effects.
stratatonic wrote:
10 Feb 2018
...when I plugged in the firewire cable into the Firebox, they was a huge bang and smoke started pouring out of every opening of the interface. o_O!! I wish I had taken a vid of it - I couldn't believe it. Wtf!
Btw, this is what the inside of the Firebox looked like after the BANG! :puf_bigsmile:
a firebox fire.JPG
a firebox fire.JPG (296.42 KiB) Viewed 1620 times

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