WARRANTY PreSonus Limited Warranty PreSonus Audio Electronics Inc. warrants this product to be free of defects in material and workmanship for a period of one year from the date of original retail purchase. This warranty is enforceable only by the original retail purchaser. To be protected by this warranty, the purchaser must complete and return the enclosed warranty card within 14 days of purchase. During the warranty period PreSonus shall, at its sole and absolute option, either repair or replace, free of charge, any product that proves to be defective on inspection by PreSonus or its authorized service representative. To obtain warranty service, the purchaser must first call or write PreSonus at the address and telephone number printed below to obtain a Return Authorization Number and instructions of where to return the unit for service. All inquiries must be accompanied by a description of the problem. All authorized returns must be sent to the PreSonus repair facility postage prepaid, insured and properly packaged. PreSonus reserves the right to update any unit returned for repair. PreSonus reserves the right to change or improve the design of the product at any time without prior notice. This warranty does not cover claims for damage due to abuse, neglect, alteration or attempted repair by unauthorized personnel, and is limited to failures arising during normal use that are due to defects in material or workmanship in the product. Any implied warranties, including implied warranties of merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose, are limited in duration to the length of this limited warranty. Some states do not allow limitations on how long an implied warranty lasts, so the above limitation may not apply to you. In no event will PreSonus be liable for incidental, consequential or other damages resulting from the breach of any express or implied warranty, including, among other things, damage to property, damage based on inconvenience or on loss of use of the product, and, to the extent permitted by law, damages for personal injury. Some states do not allow the exclusion of limitation of incidental or consequential damages, so the above limitation or exclusion may not apply to you. This warranty gives you specific legal rights, and you may also have other rights, which vary form state to state. This warranty only applies to products sold and used in the United States of America. For warranty information in all other countries please refer to your local distributor. PreSonus Audio Electronics, Inc. 7257 Florida Blvd. Baton Rouge, LA 70806 (225) 216-7887 (800) 750-0323 www.presonus.com ? 2004, PreSonus Audio Electronics, Incorporated. All rights reserved. TABLE OF CONTENTS 1 Overview 1.1 Introduction 4 2 Installation and Set up 2.1 Computer Requirements 2.2 Installation of FIREPOD Drivers 2.3 FIREPOD Control Panel (Windows XP only) 2.4 CUBASE LE ­ Quick Start Up 2.5 Testing your FIREPOD with Cubase LE 4 5 9 11 13 3 Controls & Connections 3.1 Front Panel Layout and Descriptions 3.2 Back Panel Layout and Descriptions 15 17 4 Application Notes 4.1 Microphones 4.2 Using the Preamp output and Line input as an Insert 4.3 Recording Rock Band Diagram 18 18 19 5 Technical 5.1 Trouble Shooting 5.2 Specifications 20 22 3 OVERVIEW 1. INTRODUCTION Thank you for purchasing the PreSonus FIREPOD. PreSonus Audio Electronics has designed the FIREPOD utilizing high-grade components to insure optimum performance that will last a lifetime. Loaded with 24-bit 96K converters, eight PreSonus microphone preamplifiers and Cubase LE 48track recording software, the FIREPOD is ready to go out of the box for professional quality computer recording. All you need is a computer with FireWire connection, a few microphones and cables along with your instruments and you are ready to record! We encourage you to contact us at 225-216-7887 with any questions or comments you may have regarding your PreSonus FIREPOD. PreSonus Audio Electronics is committed to constant product improvement, and we value your suggestions highly. We believe the best way to achieve our goal of constant product improvement is by listening to the real experts, our valued customers. We appreciate the support you have shown us through the purchase of this product. We suggest that you use this manual to familiarize yourself with the features, applications and correct connection procedure for your FIREPOD before trying to connect it to your computer. This will hopefully alleviate any unforeseen issues that you may encounter during installation and set up. Thank you, once again, for buying our product and we hope you enjoy your FIREPOD! INSTALLATION AND SET UP 2.1 COMPUTER REQUIREMENTS Below are the minimum computer system requirements for your FIREPOD. Macintosh - OS: MacOS X 10.3.5 or later - Computer: Apple Macintosh series with on-board Firewire port. - CPU/Clock: PowerPC G4/800Mhz or higher (G4/Dual 1 GHZ recommended) - Memory(RAM): 512 MB or more 4 INSTALL ATION AND SETUP Windows - OS: Microsoft Windows XP SP1 - Computer: Windows compatible computer with FireWire port. - CPU/Clock: Pentium, Celeron with 900Mhz or higher (Dual 1.2 GHz recommended) - Memory(RAM): 256 MB (512MB 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. 2.2 INSTALLATION OF FIREPOD DRIVERS YOU MUST INSTALL SOFTWARE DRIVERS BEFORE CONNECTING YOUR FIREPOD. Windows XP ­ The following is a detailed procedure for installation of your FIREPOD Drivers Installation Steps: - Quit all currently running applications - Insert CD-ROM Driver Installation included with your FIREPOD into your computer. (DO NOT CONNECT YOUR FIREPOD AT THIS TIME.) - CD should auto run. (If not, navigate to CD and double click on FirePod_Installer.exe) There are three Parts to the installation of your FIREPOD. The installer will take you through each step. Please read each message carefully as the time at which you connect and power on your FIREPOD for the first time is critical to a successful installation. Note: If at any point during installation a " Software Installation" message appears from Windows regarding Windows Logo testing click " Continue Anyway" to continue installation. 5 INSTALLATION AND SET UP WINDOWS XP INSTALLATION DETAILS Make sure FIREPOD is NOT connected to your system and click Next. Click Next to set up driver in selected Destination folder. Click Next to prepare your system for installation of Drivers 6 INSTALL ATION AND SETUP NOW CONNECT YOUR FIREPOD AND TURN IT ON. At this time the " Found New Hardware Wizard"will automatically appear. Click Next to install FIREPOD ASIO Driver. 7 INSTALLATION AND SET UP Click Next to Install FIREPOD MIDI Driver Check Box and click Continue. Wait a few seconds for the final " Found New Hardware Wizard"to appear. Click Next to Install WDM Driver 8 INSTALL ATION AND SETUP Click FINISH and you have successfully installed your FIREPOD DRIVERS. Note that you must install all three " Found New Hardware Wizard" Drivers for the FIREPOD to operate properly. Macintosh OSX The audio drivers for the FIREPOD are to be included in the CORE AUDIO of Macintosh OSX 10.3.5 and later. At the time of the printing of this sheet, the drivers had not yet been released by Apple Computers. Please visit www.apple.com to download an OSX update for your FIREPOD. (For questions call PreSonus at 225-216-7887). After you have installed the OSX update, connect your FIREPOD to a FireWire port on your computer and turn on your FIREPOD. Your FIREPOD sync light should flash red and then stay blue to signify that your FIREPOD is properly sync' to your computer. d 2.3 FIREPOD CONTROL PANEL (WINDOWS XP ONLY) Once you have successfully installed your Drivers the FIREPOD Control Panel will be available from your system tray (typically located at the bottom right hand corner of your screen near your clock). Double click on the FIREPOD Control Panel ICON to open the FIREPOD Hardware Control Panel. 9 INSTALLATION AND SET UP FIREPOD HARDWARE CONTROL PANEL Sample Rate: Drop down menu to select sample rate of FIREPOD ­ 44.1, 48, 88.2, 96k. This must be set to the same sample rate in your recording software. Clock Source: Drop down menu to select FIREPOD digital sync source. INTERNAL SPDIF ­ Must be selected to use the SPDIF input. (Note that Control Panel settings will be saved upon power down.) Latency ­ Sets the amount of delay time of your FIREPOD. (1.5ms ­ 24ms). Latency is the time it take for the computer to process audio. Lower latency settings demands more CPU resources. In the case of inconsistent audio (i.e. drop outs, pops and clicks, digital distortion, etc) we recommend that you increase this setting. FIREPOD CONTROL PANEL ADVANCED SETTINGS: You can " Right Click" on the FIREPOD control panel icon to select between three different computer optimization settings. These settings optimize the buffers and audio streaming settings based on the speed of your processor. If you are experiencing audio drop outs, it is recommended that you select a lower CPU setting. High: Computer Processor 2GHz and higher Medium (default): Computer Processor 1GHz to 2GHz Low: Computer Processor 800MHz to 1GHz 10 INSTALL ATION AND SETUP 2.4 CUBASE LE ­ QUICK START UP Once you have installed your FIREPOD drivers, if you plan on using CUBASE LE included with your FIREPOD, install the CUBASE LE installation CD and run the installer. Make sure to keep your CD envelope sleeve handy to reference the serial number during installation. To select the FIREPOD in Cubase LE, go to Device -> Device Setup Select VST multi-track. 11 INSTALLATION AND SET UP ASIO Driver (pull down menu) ­ select PreSonus ASIO Driver then OK. Click Switch to save PreSonus Driver Selection 12 INSTALL ATION AND SETUP 2.5 TESTING YOUR FIREPOD WITH CUBASE LE In order to test your FIREPOD, do the following: Launch Cubase LE and make sure that you have selected the PreSonus FIREPOD ASIO driver as described above in Section 2.4. Create a new project:: Create one new audio track within your new project by clicking on Project ->Add Track-> Audio (or you can right click (ctrl-click mac) in the track space within the project: 13 INSTALLATION AND SET UP Record enable the track by pressing the Record Enable button. Plug a microphone into channel one and turn on 48V phantom power if needed for the microphone. Turn up the channel 1 trim control on the front panel of the FIREPD while speaking into the microphone. You should see the input meter react to your speaking. Adjust trim so that input level at maximum without clipping. Connect a set of headphones to the FIREPOD headphone output. Click the monitor button in Cubase LE for Audio 01. Adjust the MIX control counter clockwise to monitor input only for zero latency. Turn MIX control clockwise to monitor through the computer and Cubase LE. Note that online help available for Cubase LE by pressing F1 or visiting www.steinberg.net 14 CONTROLS AND CONNECTIONS 3.1 FRONT PANEL LAYOUT AND DESCRIPTIONS Microphone Pre-Amplifier. Your FIREPOD is equipped with eight custom designed PreSonus microphone preamplifiers for use with all types of microphones including Dynamics, Condensers, and Ribbons as well as instruments and line level signals. The award winning PreSonus preamplifier design is a Class A input buffer followed by a dual servo gain stage. This arrangement results in ultra low noise and wide gain control allowing the FIREPOD user to boost desirable signal without increasing unwanted background noise. 48 Volt Phantom Power. The FIREPOD has 48V Phantom power available in groups via push button switches on the front panel. The top button turns on phantom power for microphone Inputs 1 to 4. The bottom button turns on phantom power for microphone inputs 5 to 8. XLR connector wiring for Phantom Power Pin 1= GND Pin 2= +48V Pin3= +48V +22dBu Headroom. The FIREPOD mic-pre has +22 dBu of headroom. This feature gives you wide dynamic range and excellent transient response characteristics. Neutrik Combo Connectors. Each channel of the FIREPOD has a Mic/Line connector using the Neutrik Combo connector. This revolutionary style connector lets you use either ¼" phone or XLR connectors in the same female input. The first two channels of the FIREPOD are ¼" instrument and microphone XLR inputs. The line level inputs for these two channels are on the back panel of the FirePod. INSTRUMENT INPUTS (Channels 1 and 2): The ¼" TS connector on channels 1 and 2 are for use with an instrument (guitar, bass, and etc.). When an instrument is plugged into the instrument input, the microphone preamplifier is bypassed and the FirePod becomes ...