For Mac OS X.2.5 and higher, the OS comes equipped with FIREstation drivers already installed in the Audio MIDI Setup menu; currently, the FIREstation is approved for use in OS X with Cubase SX, Nuendo 2.0, Deck, Peak and Logic software. Newly approved software will be added to www.presonus.com.
The new Windows XP driver improves the installation of the FIREstation and adds multichannel WDM support to many popular software packages such as Sonar 2.0.
According to Jim Odom, president of PreSonus Audio, “The FIREstation was already a popular interface to begin with. But as computer hardware and operating systems continue to become faster and more advanced, we need to keep moving forward with that technology. These new drivers will help to expedite the install process for PC users, while Mac users will now have compatibility with their OS X operating systems.”
The FIREstation is a FireWire-compatible interface, featuring eight channels of balanced/unbalanced analog and ADAT I/O, as well as S/PDIF and MIDI I/O. A user can plug in mics, instruments and external preamps into the analog inputs while monitoring them in real time with zero latency. Also, any mLAN-compatible keyboard can be patched into the FireWire ports to send audio and MIDI information to the computer. The FIREstation can also be used independently in Stand-Alone mode, where all eight channels of analog inputs are directly routed to the FIREstation’s ADAT Lightpipe outputs. Similarly, all of the FIREstation’s ADAT Lightpipe inputs are routed to the analog outputs and line mixer. In this mode, it can be used as an 8-channel AD/DA converter.
