Firewire vs. USB interfaces

Just out of interest I'd like to find out whether there are any (other than religious arguments) valid reasons for choosing Firewire over USB for audio interfaces.
Siberian

Don't know about a dumb protocol. It's true that it's host controlled but it does have it's own bus and host controller which handles enumeration as well as round robin (ala sna) polling for each device. I know USB fairly well but am not that familiar with Firewire which is why I engendered this discussion. As for being faster, well it depends for what. Isochronous traffic is not handled well by token ring (or fddi) or peer to slave networks. OTOH because it is deterministic (contrary to ethernet or csma/cd) for real time systems you can guarantee a given window to transmitt every n millisecods. So in the real world if you're doing file transfers 480 Mb/s will be faster than 400. If you're spooling audio or video it will be slower.
As far as a previous post concerning connectivity, USB allows for a theoretical 127 devices to be connected. However given current hub constraints it's not implemented. But that is not the fault of the standard or the protocol rather a lack of hubs capable of handling it.
But your point is well taken, the fact that Firewire has it's own CPU (which is probably what makes it more expnsive as a solution) is a step in the right direction to offload the host one from handling I/O related issues.
Thanx
Siberian

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Suggestions on firewire/usb interfaces with 16ch of adat lite pipe

hey guys,
I recently bought an rme fireface 800 and am not too happy with it. looking for a firewire or usb interface with at least 16 channels of adat. can't use any pci options like 2408 because slots are full.
thanks
ej

convertors on the fireface aren't anywhere close to my apogee stuff, digi 192 or the da convertor on the presonus central staion for that matter. did small shoot out between fireface vs apogee da16 vs central station. Fireface was by far the worst of the bunch. Thought it was just me and called a friend who has a ff and a cs. he said the that ff sounded like "pooh: running analog through the central station but sounded great being connected directly to speakers. all of my other convertors sound great coming through the cs (digi 192, apogee trak 2, apogee da 16) but fireface doesn't. all were clocked off of apogee big ben and all were using moogami or monster cable. So the logical conclusion would be that the fireface d/a convertor aren't that good.
In thinking about it maybe the fireface might only sound good when it is using its own clock and doesn't like big ben (I haven't tried that yet). I suppose I could reconfigure things so that when I'm using logic the fireface is the master for everything but I run pt and logic at the same time and would rather not.
It just seems to be a waste to only use the fireface for it's 16ch of adat and routing matrix...but it looks like I might not have a choice.
any insights, comments or suggestions are welcome.
thanks,
ej

Firewire / usb interface

Hello all,
I am looking to purchase a firewire or usb interface for my audio inputs into Logic. I have looked at the Edirol FA-101 and UA-101 and was wondering what everybody else is using and what somebody would suggest.
Thanks for any body's input,
Aaron

Firewire all the way, USB2.0 is not quite there. For the price (as low as $200ish on eBay) it's hard to beat the Presonus Firebox. The sound/specs seem right on par with everything up to the $500 range models, and it has great input/output routing capabilities for recording and live use. That said, I've had no opportunity to compare it with any of the likely excellent products suggested above by the others. Just my 2 cents..

Low latency audio interface, firewire or usb? and wich one would u recommend?

Low latency audio interface, firewire or usb? and wich one would u recommend?

Around 600, only need 2 xlr inputs.

HELP FIREWIRE TO USB

Hey all - I have an old external hard drive with FIRE WIRE ports only (has all my songs ) I now have the Macbook Air with USB Ports only!!! HOW DO I GET MY SONGS!!!! THANKS!!!

I have never heard of a USB to Firewire converter so I would say you have a limited set of options.
If you can easily remove the hard drive from its current enclosure you could purchase a USB to XXX adapter such as:
http://www.amazon.com/Sabrent-USB-DSC5-3-5-Inch-Converter-Adapter/dp/B000HJ99DI/ ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1312878326&sr=8-1
You could purchase an inexpensive hard disk enclosure with multiple i/o options for your current drive and mount it in that enclosure. Search amazon.com for examples.
If your MBA is a 2011 model with Thunderbolt you could wait until Sonnet releases their Thunderbolt to FW800 adaptor--rumored to be the end of September. No pricing is available yet:
http://www.sonnettech.com/news/nab2011/
You could also purchase a 2nd hard drive with a USB interface that has enough capacity to hold all of your data and have a friend with Firewire copy it for you.

So What's the Consensus on USB Interfaces with Logic?

Digidesign's new ELEVEN Rack has a coreaudio driver and therefore can be used as a main interface. This is good news for those who like to use both Logic and Pro Tools, perhaps depending on the project, or to track in Logic and mix in PT.
But, Digi has chosen to make the Eleven Rack a USB interface. Some people on the DUC are not pleased about this and claim this will mean low track counts and all manner of horrors. I worry about it too. Digi went from the Mbox which was USB to the MBOX II Pro which is Firewire, and Ensemble and all the other top interfaces are firewire. Digi's answer seems to be that Firewire is going the way of the buffalo.
Does anyone have any real data on whether a USB interface will result in poorer perfomance?
Thanks
Tom

As FW is approx 5x faster than USB It will mean lower track counts, but as the Eleven rack is a guitar processor, I'm sure Digi aren't marketing it as a multitrack audio interface.
FTR: I went and had a listen to the Eleven and I wasn't all that impressed to be honest, the new Logic amp designer and pedals are far more realistic.

Updater - ipod usb interface not recognised at PC

I have a a 15GB ipod with dock connector. It was working fine playing songs and was visible from my Windows XP PC via the single USB cable. I could see ipod files.
I downloaded ipod updater 2005-09-23 and selected update.
Thereafter :-
Ipod is no longer recognised by the PC, it gives - "usb device not recognised" when the menu button is pressed.
The ipod screen is blank. Reset gives the apple logo then the icon asking to connect the cable ( which is already connected).
Other usb interfaces on the PC give the same message.
Other devices connect OK to these USB interfaces.
The cable was working prior to the update.
Another PC ( compaq laptop ) gives the same "usb interface error message" when the ipod is connected.
the problem is within the ipod usb interface.
The updater appears to have corrupted/changed the ipod "usb interface"
I am unable to update again or restore as no connection available to the PC.
How can I restore the ipod's usb connectivity?

I went out and bought a firewire cable today.
The ipod was immediately recognised and ITUNES updated. I then connected the USB cable. It now works OK as well. I am so relieved.
On the updater screen, if you right click on the top bar, it drops down the "ipod models" updated by this version.
For my model it shows a firewire icon on the ipod. Is this co-incidence? I expect so.

Firewire and USB issue on PBG4 15" 1.67ghz - Help!!

On the firewire 400 port of my Powerbook G4 15" I run an M-audio Firewire 410 external audio interface. This has worked perfectly ever since I got my powerbook in December 2005.
On switching on my powerbook only days ago, I found that although my Powerbook recognises my Firewire 410 as being attached and powers it, it will not play any sound whatsoever.
I subsequently tried my Firewire 410 audio interface with my PC running XP, which again finds it but plays the audio with high digital distortion.
I believed this to be a problem with my audio interface and not my powerbook - but on one of the USB 2.0 ports, I have attached a 250GB Freecom Classic External HDD. Again, since i got my powerbook this has worked fine, but now my powerbook will only recognise it as a 'Cypress AT2LP RC42' device that cannot be installed.
The Hard drive also will not work on my PC and I have found from other forums that 'Cypress AT2LP RC42' means that your hard drive enclosure is not getting enough power.
Both of these devices stopped working within the same week, and are now useless. The only common thing between them is they were both connected to my powerbook G4 when they stopped working.
I reset my power management system by taking out the battery and adapter and holding the power button, i've verified my permissions and powerbook HD, and still nothing. I have no other choice but to imagine that my powerbook has damaged these devices, which are both powered through their respective ports.
I recently upgraded to 10.4.6 through the system update utility, but quite a few weeks ago now.
Can anyone shed light on this, or give me any indication how to solve this?
Powerbook G4 15" 1.67Ghz Mac OS X (10.4.6)

This seams to be related to Firewire port only, I just switched to using usb extention cord on the same drive and its omovign information happly on both USB ports....
So question is how does one check health of the Firewire port and associated driveres, which logs to monitor and what information is prudent?

Firewire and USB as a Power Source Problem

I understand that I should be able to power an external device using just the firewire or USB ports. However, I just bought a MacBookPro (I had a PowerBook G4 previously) and it appears that when I connect my Blackberry to my USB port it no longer gets fully charged. And now, I just connected my Firebox recording interface (with Firewire)and it only works with the external power supply attached (whereas it worked fine on my G4 with just the firewire cable). Has anyone else experienced something similar, or is there a problem with the PowerBook?

Okay I got it to power by HD but It still won't power my PreSonus FirePod. I've read some other post and it would appear that the FirePod is incompatible with the Mac Book Pro. How could this be? I thought Macs were the best? Somebody please help.

Firewire or USB (much faster)?

Wondering whether to splurge on a firewire interface or go for the cheaper USB. I saw this site which seems to say firewire is faster, but much faster? Cost benefit analysis for garageband interfaces??
http://www.usb-ware.com/firewire-vs-usb.htm
Would like to hear some opinions.

I used to use the M-Audio MobilePre USB. It worked fine until GB2. The noise problems were fixed with a new driver. However, USB taxes the CPU more. I wouldn't say the FireWire is necessarily faster, although I suppose it is, but it has its own power and does not create the load on the CPU.
A USB interface will work fine, especially with a fast computer. You may run into over-working the CPU with effects and lots of tracks. If you can afford FireWire go for it. Then there won't be any questions or regrets.

Recording to MBP Firewire vs USB

I've seen discussions in favor using Firewire over USB 2.0 for recording with a laptop such as a Powerbook or Macbook Pro. However, I have a MOTU firewire interface and only 1 port. Can an external drive be daisy chained with an audio interface somehow or should I get a USB 2.0 drive for recording & storage? Is there another option I'm overlooking?
Even still, does the external drive need to be 7200rpm or would 5400rpm work as well?

The more GB you get the better.
Don't bother buying a USB hard drive,you have a good audio interface and a MBP don't do that to them,they will start complaining....:-)
As for what is a good deal...i will leave that to be answered by people in here that leave in your country.
powerbook G4 Mac OS X (10.4.5) logic pro 7.1.1,FW410 m-audio

Software needed for the USB device, "USB Interface Controller TEST2.0"

My mother recently acquired a digital camera. She acquired it from a second-hand store, which did not include an interface cable or software. The manual (and the USB port on the camera) indicates that a male-male USB cable is necessary for photos to be copied to the hard drive.
I was not successful in locating such a cable at any local electronics store (I assume such a cable is now out-of-date). I purchased one from a seller on eBay. The brand is "e circuit electronics".
Upon powering up the camera with the cable connected to it and the computer, the following message appeared:
"Software needed for the USB device "USB Interface Controller TEST2.0" is not available. Would you like to look for the software on the Internet?"
I clicked "Yes". After an approximate two-minute wait, another message appeared stating:
"Software Update is not able to connect to the Internet. Please check your configuration and try again."
I deleted, "Software Update Preferences" in the Preferences folder inside the System Folder, without solving the problem. How do I solve the issue of allowing Software Update to connect to the Internet?

Thank you for your continued assistance, BDAqua. Unfortunately, the driver you linked to does not seem to be compatible with the camera. It is a driver for the V20 model, whereas my model would correspond to be a V2755, as referenced from a list of other Vivicam models when during a search at the Open Drivers web site.
From the system requirement about the card reader you gave me, it will not work, as this system is running 9.1. I am hesistant to upgrade this computer to 9.2, as I have experienced system unstability with that version, with even the 9.2.2 update applied.
In the mean time, I have e-mailed Vivitar regarding this issue, but have as of yet received a reply.
I am not certain as to other specifics to give you, in order to solve the Software Update problem. Please elaborate.
Yes eww, the computer in question is able to fully connect to the Internet for all that I need. I am fully aware of the difference between a computer connecting to the Internet, and a computer connecting to a digital camera. I have 15 years of Macintosh experience.

How do I add a USB interface back to my network preferences

Help, I mistakenly deleted the usb interface from the list of available interfaces from my network preferences. How do I add it back?

Hello,
I found a website that you can download mail for. I dont know if you can trust the website, but this is just to let you know that it is out there. http://en.softonic.com/s/mail:mac
Also, if you do not want to download that, you can alway have a safari tab open with you email. That also works.

I have a Powerbook G4. I want to use an iMac desktop, the model that is shaped llike a lamp, as an external monitor. Can I do this with firewire or USB cable or do I have to have a different cable?

I have a Powerbook G4. I want to use an iMac desktop, the model that is shaped llike a lamp, as an external monitor. Can I do this with firewire or USB cable or do I have to have a different cable?

You need a network connection and a product such as ScreenRecycler. All such products require a bootable OS on the iMac.
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Premiere Pro CS3 Capture Question (Firewire to USB Converter)

Does Premiere Pro CS3 support capture through a Firewire to USB Converter? More specifically, we have one particular PC laptop that does not have a firewire port, only USB 2.0. So we were thinking of getting a firewire to USB converter. Will that work for capturing footage from our Mini DV camera?
Camera is Canon XH-A1S HD and a firewire cable will be running from this camera to the firewire to USB converter, then a USB cable will be running out of the converter into the dual core laptop with Windows 7, 4GB RAM, Nvidia 460M video card.
Thank you!

Might work then again it might not. Have not heared of any positive results. In other words imo its a waste of money.
You need a real firewire connection.

Firewire vs. USB interfaces

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