Newbie Needs Advice with Firepod and Firewire

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Member Since: Oct 03, 2004

Hello...I'm new to all this recording on the computer. I recently purchased the PreSonus Firepod thinking it would be the solution to multitracking needs (recording my band, etc.). I have a laptop with a Firewire port. After setting up everything and recording some drum tracks, I noticed all the tracks are skipping/glitching just a little. My processor is an Athlon 1.8 Ghz, and I have 512 MB DDR RAM. My 40 GB hard drive is 75% free and recently defragmented. The software I am using is Vegas 5 (even though Cubase LE came with the Firepod).

Can anyone out there give me any suggestions on what I can do to get glitch-free tracks? I've tried this twice now and getting rapidly frustrated!! Thanks!!

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Administrator
Since: Apr 03, 2002


Oct 03, 2004 07:49 pm

Hey there, welcome to HRC.

Could you tell us which driver type your are using? WDM, ASIO, MME? Or, what the latency is in Vegas' audio device properties? Not usre if Vegas shows it or not?

Member
Since: Oct 03, 2004


Oct 03, 2004 10:23 pm

Hello and thanks for the welcome...

In Vegas preferences, the driver shows as ASIO when the FirePod is connected through Firewire. Latency amount is not shown; instead, a clickable box is shown for "automatically detecting and offsetting for hardware recording latency." The box is checked.

Administrator
Since: Apr 03, 2002


Oct 03, 2004 10:47 pm

Does it have any other controls such as buffers or anything? Cuz it sounds like it's not optimially set up...or, can you choose to try WDM drivers and see how they work?

Member
Since: Oct 03, 2004


Oct 04, 2004 12:19 am

There are buffer settings...an Audio Buffers (at "4") Buffer Size (at "MME") and Priority (at "Highest").

I'll get a chance to try this again tomorrow evening; I'll play around with the settings some and see if it helps.

I am planning on getting an external HD for this as well....just haven't yet--just getting started. I only have the one 4-pin Firewire connector on my laptop....could I chain together an external HD and the Firepod into my laptop?

Thanks again....

Member
Since: Oct 03, 2004


Oct 04, 2004 07:11 pm

Okay...I gave it another try, this time with Cubase LE, which came with it. I can't get anything to work now. The whole driver issue just confuses me. By default, my laptop uses a Conexant AMC driver I believe, while the Firepod has an ASIO driver. When I start up Cubase (fresh from an install), everything is okay until I plug in the Firepod (in Firewire). Then I get an alert box saying the Conexant driver has been disconnected or some such. Does this mean I need to get an ASIO driver for my laptop before any of this will work properly?

Or maybe I should ask, does any of this make sense?

Still confused.....and lost........

Administrator
Since: Apr 03, 2002


Oct 04, 2004 07:57 pm

In that case I would suggest contacting support, but only after making sure, from the manufacturers web site, that you have the newest driver installed for that device.

Member
Since: Mar 31, 2005


Mar 31, 2005 07:10 am

Hello Farlance,
Hope you are still there. Welcome to the world of the Firepod. I am also a newbie. Glad to find another Firepod user. Listen, I got LE to work fine with Firepod but can't get Cakewalk Home STudio to work with it(having trouble with the VST plug-in downloads.) Need to call Cakewalk. But getting back to your problem. Don't know if you've solved it yet but I usually have plugged in my Firepod and turned it on prior to opening LE. This way my laptop(Dell Inspiron 5150)can communicate with Firepod and recognize drivers. Could be wrong but hope you fixed the problem. Let me know how you're doing as I am also using a laptop with my FIrepod. (Portability,a thing of beauty) Thanks alot,
Debraaa

crazy canuck
Member
Since: Nov 25, 2004


Mar 31, 2005 08:57 am

Check again in Cubase/Vegas to see exactly what drivers you are using. I run Cubase with a FirePod and when I first set it up I had the same problems.

In Cubase when you check the driver, it might say ASIO but there will be another option for "Presonus ASIO"...make sure that's the one selected. I am sure the same thing applies to Vegas.

jimmie neutron
Member
Since: Feb 14, 2005


Apr 01, 2005 05:52 am

From a MS Windows point of view, most of the firewire equipment should be turned on prior to the computer boot-up, even. Don't want to confuse the OS! It has a tendency to become dazed and confused if you continually add and remove equipment on an interface initially designed for the Mac! AND, it's a resource HOG and wants more system memory, ram & hd.

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