I also have both. I purchased my Firebox off ebay from a seller that also included a prosumer quality desk mic for the same price as the firebox alone. The audio reports have been great and the 48V phantom runs the mic fine. Given the addition of the mic ("valued at $100 what ever that means) the price differential between the D-44 and the Firebox is dimminished. I personally don't have any complaints with the stock firmware. Another problem with the Presonus is that you can run only one on a given computer. The drivers lock to a particular firebox for some reason and if you try to install a second the first will un-install before reinstalling.
If I was going to get only one I would choose the firebox with the mic. 73 W9OY __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com _______________________________________________ FlexRadio mailing list FlexRadio@flex-radio.biz http://mail.flex-radio.biz/mailman/listinfo/flexradio_flex-radio.biz Archive Link: http://www.mail-archive.com/flexradio%40flex-radio.biz/ FlexRadio Homepage: http://www.flex-radio.com