I guess my only question that is I also have controls for the 2 preamps on the Firebox. Which should I be using, the software mixer or the controls on the Firebox.

Annette - BOTH of the controls are used in the signal path. My advice to you is to set the software mixer controls to 0dB on the INPUT and on the OUTPUT and then not adjust them any more. That way you have the same output from MC as you do at the output of the soundcard. With the INPUTS at 0dB, you should be able to leave those there and adjust the knobs on the soundcard itself with enough volume change to be able to control your input.

if you leave the software controls at 0dB, then you should have plenty of control using the knobs on the presonus.

..."I'm kind of a member of the grammar police and a spell-checker"...

Let me ask you, does it just drive you nuts when you see spelling and grammar mistakes in newspapers, in magazines, on signs, things that are printed in volume? I was in rehab for what the state thought was a "drinking problem", and they passed out photo copied papers, things they had been using for several years with spelling and grammer mistakes. I would take out my pen, circle the mistakes, and pass them back in. Needless to say, this really pissed them off. My point was, how can you present yourself as a professional who can help me when you can not run a spell checker on your information. And after all the arguments, and there were arguments, the spelling mistakes are still there.
I've seen spelling mistakes in the "ticker" line at the bottom of the screen during a news program, and I can excuse some of that since sometimes the stuff comes up as it is being written and reported, but when a news program has misspelled words on a graphic that ran at the 6:00 news, and the mistake is still there at 11:00, no excuse.
And I do find myself correcting old posts...maybe that is a little too much...
Later
Albert

Is this one of those places where we have to stand up and say "My name is Janet. I'm a hopeless spell-checker." If it is, 'My name is Janet..." I'm glad I'm not the only one though. And yes, it bugs me the most to see mistakes in my own posts!

Thanks Beagle,

I think we talked about the output in the other thread, but I wasn't sure it was the same for the input. That is a much easier way to go for me. Like I mentioned, there is also a control panel that adds 12 dB to the pre-amps and I often forget to check it off. It does make a difference in the recording.

Greg,
My spelling is good, but my keyboard doesn't always pay attention.
I found a few errors, but may have missed some.
Let me know what else you see. You can email me if you'd like.

Spelling was always my best "subject" in school. I'm aging myself a bit there now. But once I bought one of those keyboards Bob refers too, it was all lost, which is sad. I also forget how to do cursive writing or how to count money if I find any in my wallet. I have so many PIN numbers and passwords floating around in what little brain I have left, I'm not surprised.

Hope that helps, Annette - you should have plenty of control with the hardware knobs as long as you leave the inputs and outputs in the software mixer at 0dB.

Spelling and grammer are important to me as well - sometimes I wish there were a spell-checker in the forum. some forums have that feature.

I'm not so die hard that my posts need to look like a dissertation (yes, I had to spell check that word!) - I don't mind using "forum shortcuts" and abbreviations. and I don't mind run-ons or words that should be capitalized NOT be capitalized. but spelling is generally important to me.

I've always taught my children that spelling is more important to everyone's perception of your intelligence. If you can spell, you are perceived as being intelligent, maybe even more so than you might be. same for grammer (he says with an incomplete sentence!). grammer and spelling can give others a perception of your intelligence whether for good or bad. people who spell incorrectly or have poor grammer structure are perceived as being low intelligence and even "ignert" - whether it's true or not.

Bob - it's already up on MT, if you have changes that need to be made to it, let me know.

Boy, this thread sure got random. :-) And while we're talking about it, check the spelling of grammar, Reece.

Which brings up another totally unrelated point--speaking correctly. I've always tried to teach my boys to speak correctly (good grammar, I mean). Now my youngest son, who struggled in school and would be the first to admit he's not a student (and groaned when I corrected him), is correcting his wife's grammar. I think that's funny!

And yes, Bob--these darn keyboards!

oops!!