I understand the whole philosophy behind software revision numbering methodology, but still, 3.3.1 seems like a lame name for something as cool as the new multi-unit support in the newest PreSonus Firewire Driver update. Couldn't they call it, like "3.3.DUDE!" or "version∞" or "3.3.1!!!!!!!!!!" or something like that?

The new multi-unit support designates one interface as the master Firewire interface, and then allows any number of Firewire interfaces to be daisy-chained after it. The FireControl software designates input numbers,. and allows for the renaming of units so you can more easily keep track of what input is coming in from where.

The only limitation here is that you can't use the direct monitor out from one unit to monitor the input signal of another unit, but PreSonus has a scheme to over come that. In the following diagram, each slave unit has two outputs sending a stereo master mix back to the unit the precedes it in the daisy chain hierarchy:

PreSonus warns that the incoming mix from each successive interface will be slightly out of phase with the next, so they "recommend that the monitor mixes for each musician be sent from the unit to which that musician's instrument is connected." They also state that, even though the software can support infinite units, they've only tested it with up to three with total success, and that if you want to try three or more, you should look into getting a dedicated Firewire bus card with at least 2GB of RAM.

Have fun!