View other reviews for this product:
netikkanides « There has to be something for all budgets »
Published on 05/07/12 at 05:59At the time I was just starting with recording and the sales assistant at Woodbrass recommended me this sound card.
I currently use it with a $600 Studio Projects T3 mic, which isn't the best match. The higher quality of the mic's diaphragm and tube are completely ruined by the poor quality integrated preamp of the Audiobox.
I use it primarily to record vocals with a 3.7GHz processor and 8GB RAM.
Monitoring system: Alesis M1MKII
UTILIZATION
The drivers are not very stable. I have to reinstall them every two months on average.
Presonus' technical support isn't the best in my opinion, no driver updates for years (since it came out in fact). Moreover, the ones included on the CD that comes inside the box don't work, you have to download them form the manufacturer's website according to your system.
The latency is high, but that's something inherent to USB audio peripherals, around 6ms at the input and 30ms at the output. It's alright to record demos but not for a studio.
With a good PC you can play back about 30 channels simultaneously but the card makes some noise.
The (detented) potentiometers aren't very precise and the internal phantom power generates quite some noise, which we can nevertheless get rid off by cutting the low-mids.
No XLR for the outputs — a big disadvantage of the card.
GETTING STARTED
Installation is very easy, since it's connected via USB.
However, as I mentioned before, you must go to Presonus' website to get them.
OVERALL OPINION
I've used it for two years and it was my first sound card. I now have an Avid Digi 003 Rack and the difference is huge.
Nevertheless, for the price (less than $150) and despite its flaws, this card is a good product to start out with in a home studio.
What I like the most about it is its minimalism, and what I like least is its lack of a sound character.
In my experience, this card is definitely better than an M-Audio (which sound metallic) or an entry-level Apogee with only two buttons, so I would definitely recommend it in this price range.
I currently use it with a $600 Studio Projects T3 mic, which isn't the best match. The higher quality of the mic's diaphragm and tube are completely ruined by the poor quality integrated preamp of the Audiobox.
I use it primarily to record vocals with a 3.7GHz processor and 8GB RAM.
Monitoring system: Alesis M1MKII
UTILIZATION
The drivers are not very stable. I have to reinstall them every two months on average.
Presonus' technical support isn't the best in my opinion, no driver updates for years (since it came out in fact). Moreover, the ones included on the CD that comes inside the box don't work, you have to download them form the manufacturer's website according to your system.
The latency is high, but that's something inherent to USB audio peripherals, around 6ms at the input and 30ms at the output. It's alright to record demos but not for a studio.
With a good PC you can play back about 30 channels simultaneously but the card makes some noise.
The (detented) potentiometers aren't very precise and the internal phantom power generates quite some noise, which we can nevertheless get rid off by cutting the low-mids.
No XLR for the outputs — a big disadvantage of the card.
GETTING STARTED
Installation is very easy, since it's connected via USB.
However, as I mentioned before, you must go to Presonus' website to get them.
OVERALL OPINION
I've used it for two years and it was my first sound card. I now have an Avid Digi 003 Rack and the difference is huge.
Nevertheless, for the price (less than $150) and despite its flaws, this card is a good product to start out with in a home studio.
What I like the most about it is its minimalism, and what I like least is its lack of a sound character.
In my experience, this card is definitely better than an M-Audio (which sound metallic) or an entry-level Apogee with only two buttons, so I would definitely recommend it in this price range.