Firebox upgrade to Firestudio Mobile?

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 14/03/2014 04:31:31

Hi,
I bought a Firebox in 2005, used it for 3 years, and then upgraded to a TC Konnekt Live.

After 5 years+ of good but frustrating use with occasional driver issues my Konnket live finally died last week.

So I dug out my Firebox as a backup. Says not supported on win 8.1
But....I got it working fine by setting the install to Win 7 compatibility mode, and it seems to perform rock solid under win 8.1!

However, I'm still looking to upgrade and wondering if the Firestudio Mobile is worth it, seeing as it has been out a few years now.
I can get a good deal on one here http://www.soundhouse.co.jp/shop/ProductDetail.asp?Item=590^FSM^^

Should I upgrade? Will it be discontinued soon, leaving me with a new but unsupported interface?
Or should I go with a USB interface now that firewire seems to be dying?
[I'd actually ordered a Focusrite 18i6 on Amazon Japan but they cancelled it so looking at alternatives now]

I really need 6 inputs now [at least 2 mics and 4 line]

Not sure how long my Firebox will last, but would not mind a bump up in quality either.
Firebox is nice but the gain issue on the mics is a little annoying still, noise and all.

Thanks for any input!

I really like my FireStudio Mobile (running with a 2011 MacBook Pro when recording and Stand alone when jamming).

I too worry about the future of Firewire, especially when OS updates and ThunderBolt2 seem to be causing issues.

I am running the latest version of OSX and it seems to be working properly again. I have read other posts in this forum where users were not having much luck with the FS Mobile. Not sure which OS they were having issues with though. Worth a search.

Wally