what is better for soundcard...usb or firewire

grainshifter · Post by **grainshifter** » Sat Oct 08, 2005 4:07 am

apologies in advance, couldn't find anything in search engine

i was seriously considering getting the new m-audio fast track pro

http://m-audio.com/products/en_us/FastT ... -main.html
now

i am wondering if i should go with a firewire card

like the m-audio firewire 410

http://m-audio.com/products/en_us/FireWire410-main.html

these two cards are very similar, but one uses usb, and the other firewire...and i was leaning towards the fast track pro, b/c it is a $100 cheaper

i already have the mackie 1220 onyx w/ firewire,,but wanted another smaller interface for mobile recording and dj'ing

thanks!!

sqook · Post by **sqook** » Sat Oct 08, 2005 9:56 am

Definitely go with firewire. USB cards just suck. However, you should also look at firewire cards that aren't made my m-audio, IMO. I've already ranted on this issue dozens of times in this forum, so I'll leave it as an excercise to the reader to use the search function and read about them there.

hoffman2k · Post by **hoffman2k** » Sat Oct 08, 2005 9:59 am

I agree. Don't buy firewire audio devices from m-audio.
I've had nothing but bad experiences with it.

robin · Post by **robin** » Sat Oct 08, 2005 10:04 am

grainshifter wrote:i already have the mackie 1220 onyx w/ firewire,,but wanted another smaller interface for mobile recording and dj'ing

in your position, and because you have a pcmcia slot on that pbook, i'd go for the echo indigo dj. all space saved in a dj booth is a bonus, in my experience.

i used to think usb audio interfaces were all rubbish but the maya 44 usb i have does a reasonable job, with low-ish latency. i'm looking into presonus stuff at the mo. i'd avoid m-audio like the plague, i've seen too many horror stories re: drivers etc esp. under OSX.

mosca · Post by **mosca** » Sat Oct 08, 2005 10:19 am

and to redress the balance - i use an m-audio fw audiophile and have had nothing but great joy and love from it, not once has it not done what it says on the tin

robin · Post by **robin** » Sat Oct 08, 2005 10:35 am

mosca wrote:and to redress the balance - i use an m-audio fw audiophile and have had nothing but great joy and love from it, not once has it not done what it says on the tin

i should have mentioned that in my reply too....some people get along fine with m-audio fw stuff.

Shoma · Post by **Shoma** » Sat Oct 08, 2005 11:07 am

Check out terratec X24 FW: http://www.sonicstate.com/news/shownews.cfm?newsid=2310

Per Boysen · Post by **Per Boysen** » Sat Oct 08, 2005 12:48 pm

grainshifter wrote:i already have the mackie 1220 onyx w/ firewire,,but wanted another smaller interface for mobile recording and dj'ing

robin wrote: in your position, and because you have a pcmcia slot on that pbook, i'd go for the echo indigo dj. all space saved in a dj booth is a bonus, in my experience.

Since you want also to record, not only dj, I think the Echo Indigo i/o would be better for you. You can not record on the dj model. On the other hand, with the i/o model you can not preview to headphones aside form the PA output (which you can do with the dj model)

forge · Post by **forge** » Sat Oct 08, 2005 1:49 pm

I can only speak of firewire form the M-Audio point of view, but I would not recommend it. Especially if you are on PC, I dont know what experiences people have had with other firewire interfaces, but for me on a laptop PC it's not reliable enough - I've used it on a desktop via a PCI FW card and it's been solid, but the 4 pin FW sockets on a PC laptop suck.

I have come to the conclusion recently that I really get the feeling that PCMCIA is the best. At the moment I have I FW 410 daisy chained with an external HD of a PCMCIA>FW card and it seems okay, but the 410 is only reliable on the PCcard, the 4 pin port is temperamental as hell.

inis · Post by **inis** » Sun Oct 09, 2005 6:27 pm

I love M-audio. had 3 firewire interfaces. No problems ever. It seems like people that have one little problem blow it way out of proportion. Although, if you were to do a survey, i think you would discover that a majority of M-audio users dont have any problems. Its just the people that are bitter for one reason or another are very vocal all the time, trying to make themselves feel better by somehow hurting M-audios business.

D K · Post by **D K** » Sun Oct 09, 2005 8:51 pm

hello
i haven't liked m-audio in the past, but i've been using an ozonic
for a few months, did some live shows, radio and studio stuff
and it's been 100% reliable so far.
and i see you have a mac, if you have tiger you CAN use your on-board soundcard to preview with, in case you decide to use an echo i/o.
nice feature of tiger is the support of multiple soundcards.
you have a p.m., btw
cheers
doug

georgebrazil · Post by **georgebrazil** » Mon Oct 10, 2005 3:10 am

Folks, interesting discussion. I do have a question -- what about Focusrite new interface (Saffire), on a iLink 1394 (FW) 4pin port, does it work nice? I own a Toshiba Satellite S520 with such port; want to buy this audio interface. tks in advance for any hints.

forge · Post by **forge** » Mon Oct 10, 2005 3:34 am

georgebrazil wrote:Folks, interesting discussion. I do have a question -- what about Focusrite new interface (Saffire), on a iLink 1394 (FW) 4pin port, does it work nice? I own a Toshiba Satellite S520 with such port; want to buy this audio interface. tks in advance for any hints.

I would try it with a PCMCIA firewire adapter and see what it's like, there's been a few threads here discussing the merits of 4 pin firewire and I've been highly vocal on the topic - the plugs are just to small and unreliable

MarkH · Post by **MarkH** » Mon Oct 10, 2005 3:42 am

Hey mate.. Just don't use the little 4-pin firewire on PC laptops. Those are bad news. Either get a computer with 6-pin firewire (I know Powerbooks have 6-pin Firewire) or an Adaptec PCMCIA Firewire interface for your PC Laptop and all is good - even with M-Audio interfaces. If you want something more high-end, the MOTU Traveler is a great choice.

Stay away from USB audio interfaces - especially for live performances! That's just asking for trouble.

grainshifter · Post by **grainshifter** » Mon Oct 10, 2005 5:37 am

OK

thanks for all the responses...looks like i shouldn't get a usb device, like the fast track pro by m-audio....damn...that thing was just in my price range, with ideal features....just makes me wonder,,,,why do companies even make usb devices then, if they seem to be so unreliable?

are there people that actually like m-audio, and can back them up? or is this thread overwhelmed with peeps that have had bad experiences w/ m-audio and usb devices?

still, cant honestly say i've been convinced, though i really appreciate the posts... im not in a rush...so i'll keep hearing what you all have to say....so at this point, can anyone vouch for m-audio? or usb?

love,

grainshifter

what is better for soundcard...usb or firewire

what is better for soundcard...usb or firewire

Re: what is better for soundcard...usb or firewire

Re: what is better for soundcard...usb or firewire

what abou t focusrite saffire on a fw 4pin port?

Re: what abou t focusrite saffire on a fw 4pin port?

Re: what is better for soundcard...usb or firewire