Ok..so its a general question first, which I have seen discussed in other threads, so I understand if people don’t care to comment generally on which card they prefer for use with the VCI-100.
I posted this question because in the future, once I learn about the basics of Digital DJing, I would like to incorporate a keyboard to play music into my Djing…
So my question is, how would this be done? Would the keyboard be plugged into a midi input on the soundcard? If so, then would the Saffire be the way to go? Or would it be another input that I could plug it into for the soundcard? I am liking the firebox very much, but I want to make sure it doesn’t limit me in the future if I can help it. The firebox seems to need that extra cable for midi connections which I would prefer to avoid.
Any and all help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks so much for helping a new comer out, can’t wait to get my set up in a few weeks and start jamming!
Reg
The sound cards you use have no bearing on the VCI-100. The VCI-100 will be plugged directly into your machine via USB.
At that, almost any MIDI device you get can be used via USB. So you won’t need to run the MIDI cable into the Saffire LE, just straight into your machine.
You pretty much need to decide where you want this to go. If you only need your sound card to output your DJ signal, you won’t ever need much more than 2 channels. If you are going to run individual channels of synths/drum machines etc. to a sound board then you’ll need more. It’s up to you.
I have no experience with either sound card so I can’t speak to their quality, unfortunately.
What do you think of the Audiofire 4? I had a rep from the company email me and this is what they said:
Our AudioFire interfaces have very very low latency ( average 6
to 10ms)…
Also, can you tell me how the two soundcards stack up against each other?
The specs of our AF4 are much better than the Presonus Firebox ( input
and output dynamic range ( 10dB higher! )and noise ratio). So, the sound
quality will be better
So that is what he said, can anyone offer any thoughts or further advice for me? Thanks so much
REg
I just purchased the Firebox not so long ago. I’ve only used it once, at a medium club, but i thought it was performing pretty solid. It’s loud as fu$% like the guys here were telling me before. I’m really much looking forward trying it out in a real club on the 31st of october.. (Netherland based guys, we’re playing in Sugar Factory from 3-5).
But i have one question tho for fellow Firebox users; shouldn’t it be possible to connect 2 computers to one Firebox? Since there are 2 firwire plugs on the back? If so, what do i do? Because i couldn’t get it to work out the other night.
I cant recomend the Firebox enough. Its rocksolid. Ive been using mine in fairly big clubs for nearly 2 years now and it stands up to the task. Its really tough so no worries chucking it in the gig bag. Sounds great .
You get the midi breakout cable in the box BUT it is 9pin so very hard to replace in UK (only by request from whoever imports Presonus in your country). Or direct from Presonus in US.
Never tried hooking it up to 2 laptops but ill have a go.
I have been using a Presonus Firebox for about a year now on Windows XP. Latency is great with both Traktor and VDJ, the damn thing is rock-solid, and it’s always just worked for me. The 1/4" inputs/outputs are a bit annoying, but not a dealbreaker. The individual volumes for the headphones and main out are a nice touch. Tends to get hot, but I haven’t had anything odd happen yet. Highly recommended.
I seem to recall that the Saffire would not allow independent headphone monitoring; the headphone out is always the same as Outs 1 & 2. I own a Firebox & think it’s the bee’s knees. And it’ll survive nuclear impact.
That is for chaining devices together, basically its so you can stack a bunch of firewire gear chained into one another yet still only have 1 cable goto your computer.
Excuse my noobness but how would i connect my Korg Km402 mixer to either the Firebox or Saffire?? Cus ive noticed the I/O jacks are 1/4 jacks instead of the RCA L and R jacks that are behind my Korg. I am running Virtual Dj and would like to run deck 1 and deck 2 of VDJ into Channel 1 and 2 of this mixer and be able to preview songs but the 1/4 jacks are befuddling me. Any input would be nice Thanks a bunch!
