Presonus Firestudio project work with M1 Mac:
Presonus Firestudio project work with M1 Mac: Has anyone had success running the Presonus Firestudio Project with an M1 MacBook Pro?
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Good Evening
Not sure if you could get this to work with M1 as I have no experience with it nor ‘Rosetta’ but I did get my FireStudio to work with my 2018 mini when ai bought it. Unless you have a Thunderbolt Monitor, I think you will be SOL in interfacing a FireWire interface to TB4/3/USB ‘whatever number they decide to call it today’ port
If I recall what did was I used Apples TB3 to TB2 adapter (also TB1 compatible if I recall) and hooked up the TB Display. From there I ran the interface off the FW port on the back of the monitor and needed a cable with 800 at one end and 400 at the other. (or maybe a dongle converter … can’t remember). The only reason I did this until the new interface and monitor showed up was because I hadethe cables adaptors on hand.
If you do get this to work I am sure you may have a driver issue. There is no ‘official’ driver beyond Mojave although there is/was a thread on how to get ‘Universal Control’ to work with Catalina (The most current OS then). The other option was use one of the audio box drivers which had both a USB and FW driver. These drivers are only Intel Native so I am not sure how and if an M1 machine would or could deal with this.
My advice: Dongles, converter cables, adaptors and a TB display is going to add up dollar wise quickly. Sell your FireStudio to a teen or someone who is starting out who has an older MacBook Pro with a FW port. This setup even with an older version of Logic or Garage Band is more than enough for many who are starting out.
That being said, take the money you saved by not buying what you need to interface this device and have a look at the Presonus Quantum 2626. Layout wise very similar to the FS Project and in my opinion a bargain. I did check the Web and it does appear to be compatible with M1
one thing I Love about both these interfaces is the 8 ins on the front. If you keep your stuff in a rack, plugging stuff in and out via the back in a set up like mine would be a royal PITA.
Good Luck and hope you find something to make music.
FenderTwin