Really worth it??? Edirol-FA 101!

rikhyray · Post by **rikhyray** » Thu Feb 10, 2005 7:40 pm

Are you people talking about midi or audio ?
i want to get small controller and PCR 30 or PCR 1 M seem to be the best but would really like to know from real users if there are any serious problems. I had Novation25 but it was too bulky . M Audio and Evolution are trash, I wouldnt use any for free or even if paid for. Remains Alesis that is still not available but seems more bulky then Novation. So... Edirol unless they have secret faults that someone is going to reveal.
My question is regarding midi, I dont see USB audio as serious solution anyway.

Spacerboy · Post by **Spacerboy** » Thu Feb 10, 2005 7:51 pm

rikhyray wrote:Are you people talking about midi or audio ?
i want to get small controller and PCR 30 or PCR 1 M seem to be the best but would really like to know from real users if there are any serious problems. I had Novation25 but it was too bulky . M Audio and Evolution are trash, I wouldnt use any for free or even if paid for. Remains Alesis that is still not available but seems more bulky then Novation. So... Edirol unless they have secret faults that someone is going to reveal.
My question is regarding midi, I dont see USB audio as serious solution anyway.

the point is, if people report CPU usage of FireWire soundcards of up to 30% in idle then there has to be done something. that means if ableton meter points at 70% its already clicking and crackling and the whole thing might to stop while gigging. FireWire is supposed to use NO CPU at all...that what this posting is about. therefore i also changed the title now...to not bring confusion in the whole thing
For me, as I said, the PCR 30 was a good choice and I don´t regret this buy...

spacy

Rx · Post by Rx » Thu Feb 10, 2005 8:27 pm

module wrote:Hey guys, i use a Edirol PCR30 to control Live 4 in a gig situation running a PC athlon xp 2100 Motu firewire 828mk II card and ive never had any problems with it at all, i suggested to a friend the other day that he should get one... is there something wrong with them?

i thought it was a pretty cool midi controller due to its size and the nice feel of its knobs and sliders...

you got me worried now...

there's nothing wrong with them as long as you don't have the first batch released - all the other ones have been fine. iif they hadn't been dicks about exchanging the one i had, i would still have it today. but alas, i have a Korg MicroKontrol that i like a lot better (yes, i like colored lights).

Rx · Post by Rx » Thu Feb 10, 2005 8:29 pm

Spacerboy wrote:the point is, if people report CPU usage of FireWire soundcards of up to 30% in idle then there has to be done something. that means if ableton meter points at 70% its already clicking and crackling and the whole thing might to stop while gigging. FireWire is supposed to use NO CPU at all...that what this posting is about. therefore i also changed the title now...to not bring confusion in the whole thing.

sounds like really bad drivers - have they mentioned when they will release an updated driver?

basetwo · Post by **basetwo** » Thu Feb 10, 2005 8:35 pm

Spacerboy wrote:FireWire is supposed to use NO CPU at all...that what this posting is about.

Maybe this is picking nits, but... The CPU will have to do something with the data going to/from the firewire card. The way I understand it, Firewire is preferable to USB because USB has CPU "overhead" just to get the data "packetized" to send across the USB cable. Firewire cards do this instead of relying on the CPU.

The above is somewhat of an oversimplification, but if your firewire card is receiving data, then the CPU has to do something with it, so you will see some CPU utilization. Maybe it shouldn't be 30%, but it should be something.

module · Post by **module** » Fri Feb 11, 2005 2:27 am

sweet cheers

j · Post by j » Fri Feb 11, 2005 2:47 am

choosing an interface is not easy..jeez I reall thought the FA101 looked promising...

anybody using the FA101 on a newer pbook?

spacerboy...how much would you want to sell yours for?

thanx
j

Spacerboy · Post by **Spacerboy** » Fri Feb 11, 2005 8:29 am

module wrote:sweet cheers

M-Audio will be happy about that....but they also should look into this problem...if they reach up to 30% CPU usage, they are not better!

olafmol · Post by **olafmol** » Fri Feb 11, 2005 8:47 am

how can you people conclude from 1(*one!!*) setup with problems that the FA101 is a piece of junk???? ever heard of different kinds of firewire chipsets that don't always work nicely together? it might very well be the cause of this problem.....

i know someone with an FA101 and he's very pleased with it...

computer setups are much more complicated these days, so only pointing at 1 device is not the way things work generally, mostly it's a combination of stuff that is causing trouble

Olaf

Haselmeier · Post by **Haselmeier** » Fri Feb 11, 2005 9:05 am

As far as know, all FireWireDevices use CPU - Power around that (15-30%).
In some cases some companies could lower it down a bit ( Yamaha 01x ), but they did need a year for that.
But you all know that there should be a reason for faster CPU's!!! Isn't it?

Spacerboy · Post by **Spacerboy** » Fri Feb 11, 2005 9:15 am

olafmol wrote:how can you people conclude from 1(*one!!*) setup with problems that the FA101 is a piece of junk???? ever heard of different kinds of firewire chipsets that don't always work nicely together? it might very well be the cause of this problem.....

i know someone with an FA101 and he's very pleased with it...

computer setups are much more complicated these days, so only pointing at 1 device is not the way things work generally, mostly it's a combination of stuff that is causing trouble

Olaf

I have 2 Systems, and on both is the same effect.
Edirol wrote me one email saying they work on the problem. So it is known and it is possible to be solved!
but that was 6 month ago already, and nothing happend!
Instead they produced another piece with maybe the same problem!

and sorry, but if firewire needs 15 to 30 % cpu...whats about you have 3 firewire devices running the same time? all you can do then is maybe typing something in notepad

And its not only 1 setup! more people are posting the same probs....

spacy

Really worth it??? Edirol-FA 101!

Re: Edirol PCR30

cool

Re: cool