Usb or firewire interface round up

Hi
i am asking this questions once more, only this time i am also asking with regards to also combining the possibilities of using Pro Tools software on the same machine.
So can anyone round up interfaces and or solutions which allows logic users to have Pro Tools software running on hardware with adat links to expand the number of tracks if desired, and can open Pro Tools sessions with out a problem?
would M-Audio gear, mixers or small interfaces to pro tools compatible hardware with a adat link do the job?

On the ProTools side, there really aren't many choices. Digi 002, Digi 002 Rack, M-Audio Firewire 1814, M-Audio Project Mix I/O.
For the gadgets which expand the channels via ADAT, there are more choices, starting with Behringer ADA8000 (very cheap), Presonus Digimax LT, Focusrite Octopre, M-Audio Octane, etc.
I'm not fond of M-Audio interfaces, but they're probably more comfortable running Core Audio applications (such as Logic) than the Digi 002 series.

Similar Messages

IMac and USB or Firewire interface?

I'm close to purchasing a new quad core iMac. My only hesitation is that the iMac has only a single Firewire input. At the moment I use a MacBook 2 GHz with an Edirol UA-25 USB interface and two external Firewire drives, one for recording audio and the other for samples.
But what if I need to replace my interface? There are far more Firewire audio interfaces than there are USB offerings. I assume that daisy-chaining the two external drives plus a Firewire interface might over-tax the iMac's single Firewire input. On the other hand, the most I ever record at one time are two tracks. I guess what I'm really asking is this: Given my need for only two inputs, what's the difference between a USB and a Firewire interface?
Jim

It's a Firewire 800 port.
Daisy-chain or use a hub. For maximum performance in daisy-chaining, hook up your FW800 devices first, and hang the FW 400 device(s) off that. If you have more than on FW 400 device, use a hub.
Also, I don't think there's ever been a Mac that had more than one Firewire controller, i.e. even on machines with more than one port, all Firewire ports hook up to a single chipset, meaning it's just an integrated hub, with no speed benefit at all from the multiple sockets.

USB or Firewire Interface for Logic

Hi,
I have a new iMac 20" dual core and am after a new audio interface to use with logic pro. Which would be the best to use with the iMac USB or Firewire?? I heard that the firewire ports are shared or something and I already have an external drive in one of the firewire ports so I was after some advice.
Many thanks

What you've probably heard is that the firewire bus is shared, not the actual port. All firewire ports on all Macs share the same bus. What this means is that if you are running a FW800 device and a FW400 device, the entire bus will only be running at 400.
I'd personally recommend going firewire. You can always daisy-chain your devices and the firewire connection is better suited for audio in terms of consistent speed.
There are plenty of posts throughout the board that talk about which ones are the most recommended. A simple search should yield an abundance of information on which interfaces are the best suited for what you want to do.

User friendly usb or firewire interface for new garageband user

Hi, newbie here: sorry if this is redundant, but in my case i just ordered an imac 17" with lots of speed and i want to know what are easy but decent interface options that folks can use to record in Garageband.
I assume the new computers come with Garageband3?
I have a couple shure mics; 57 and 58, and some ukes with and without active pickups, and a p.a. system. I have a couple accoustic guitars too, and I do some vocals.
I am new to GB so will be looking at the video tutorial for GB as well.
Any recomendations for an easy but decent interface REALLY appreciated.
imac duo

PreSonus' hardware is plug and play:
http://www.bulletsandbones.com/GB/Interfaces.html

Directly control three LEDs based on USB or firewire port in laptop

As USB or Firewire interface is popular gradually, I attempt to control three LEDs through the USB or Firewire port in a laptop. The power can be provided through the interface or extra device. It's a very simple experiment, but I don't know how I can do this. Are there any solvements from NI? If not, what kind of development tools do I need for this object? Thanks in advance!

Paris,
National Instruments offers USB digital I/O devices that should work for this application. I have included links to these product pages below:
DAQPad-6508
DAQPad-6507
Since you only need to control three LEDs, you may want to also consider one of National Instruments FireWire multifunction DAQ devices. Besides eight digital I/O channels, they also include analog input, analog output, and counter functionality. I have also included links to these product pages below:
NI DAQPad-6070E for FireWire
NI DAQPad-6052E for FireWire
Good luck with your application.
Spencer S.

IPhone3G Not Charging, USB vs Firewire, Dock Connector, BMW iPod kit, etc

If find my Mini/BMW iPod kit will not charge my iPhone3G so I did some reading on this problem and here is what I found. There's about a million or more people complaining.
The dock connector specification simply has pins mapped to both the USB and Firewire interface. It has other interfaces as well--like video and audio. Both USB and Firewire include power lines on the interface, USB - 5 volts, Firewire - 12 volts. The power comes from the computer/car/etc to power the devices like an iPod/iPhone.
The iPhone3G is perhaps the first dock connector device that no longer supports Firewire in any form. So if a computer, car, etc, provides 12V power only to the doc connector--the Firewire interface--it will not charge the iPhone3G battery.
It ***** that Apple made this change, but being a hardware engineer, I can undstand the value in dropping support for an unpopular interface and an additional voltage regulation.
There is no use in complaining as this cannot and will not be fixed. Look for an aftermarket adapter.
-hjb-

I found this soon after I bought my IPHONE:
http://home.swipnet.se/ridax/connector.htm?connipod.htm
I haven't received mine yet so i can't say yea or nye.
I took a "Griffin PowerJolt Car Charger for iPhone or iPod (Black)" and modified it to hardwire into my fuse block in my Infiniti G35X. This is just for charging though.
Rich Dunklee
NR2D

Favoring FireWire interface over USB for external HDD

I have my iMac hooked up to an external HDD via both USB and FireWire 800 as it is triple-interfaced (USB, FW 400 & FW 800).
Lately, as I turn on the external HDD (pretty much always once the iMac is up & running), the HDD icon shows in the Finder with the USB symbol.
It requires me to eject the HDD in the Finder and then disconnect the USB cable for the iMac to detect the external HDD again but now through FireWire.
The reason I use both interfaces is to handle HDD read/write communication via FW whereas USB only as hub (the external HDD comes with 3 USB ports).
Is there anything I can do to make sure the primary interface is FireWire and not otherwise?
Thanks!

In a recent phone call with OWC's tech support I asked the same question. Answer was "Do not connect both interfaces at the same time". There is no way to arbitrate the connection the Mac will use, and strange things will happen.
If you think about it, there is no way to specify a preference in the Mac for what ports to connect with, so it does what it wants, not what you'd like.
I can only imaging what happens on Windows machines. I suspect corruption ahead

USB/Firewire Interface for MIDI and audio (Garage Band)

I want to connect a Roland Handsonic (electronic drum) and Shure microphone to a Mac Pro for recording in Garage Band. What is the best USB/firewire interface for MIDI and audio?
Mac Pro desktop Mac OS X (10.4.8)

If you click one of the links you can read all about it in depth.
three guitarists
That's not what you asked for B-)>
Once you want more than 2 audio inputs, the prices start jumping up dramatically.
would this be the best interface to use?
If you really want "Best" then it's a simple answer:
http://www.bulletsandbones.com/GB/FirePod.html

(MacOSX Lion 10.7.4) The problem of connecting the audio interface (USB and FireWire), grained acoustic distortion!?

When you connect the audio interface to usb or firewire grained acoustic distortion, there is no loud noise in the acoustics! In the old "iMac24 Snow Leopard" was not like this!
Just bought the iMac21 lion, installed the new drivers and the two interfaces of different firms is presented, this acoustic problem.
I understand it comes from a usb and firewire!?
Help Me_____
Sorry for my english

Well, it's been a few days and with no response I thought I'd look for another solution. I've been trying this software called iVPN, apparently it's like a front-end to OS X's built-in VPN server. Anyway, I disabled the VPN Server from the Server app, turned on iVPN and was VPN-ing from my iPhone over 3G in notime. It's a great app, though it kinda ***** that the server can't do what it's built to do. Since VPN was the big reason I got Server in the first place, I'll probably uninstall it and stick with OS X's built-in file sharing and iVPN.

USB or FIREWIRE for audio interface?

Hi,
what will you prefer to , USB or FireWire of your audio interface?
and why?

mactreouser wrote:
Hi,
what will you prefer to , USB or FireWire of your audio interface?
and why?
Here's the "pecking order" for performance and stability :
1.- Internal PCI or PCIe card to audio interface. These units are the best overall, both in audio quality, low latency, and reliability. Some have built in processing cards, with which you can use instead of the computer's CPU, for audio processing tasks.
2.- FireWire audio interface. These are reliable, but can have issues if not set up properly, due to the FireWire drivers which need to be used to run these units. Some have onboard "low latency" mixing facilities, and some have CPU processors for processing audio.
3.- USB 2.0 audio interface. These are also reliable, however are more limited in bandwidth than the FireWire counterparts. This is due to the different nature of the USB audio protocol VS the FIreWire one. Still, it is not that bad for home recording.
4.- USB 1.0 and 1.1 audio interfaces. These are reliable, but not recommended if a lot of realtime audio recording is going to take place. In other words they are great inexpensive units for doing programming, sequencing, editing and mixing, BUT not so much for live audio use, or live audio recording. this is due to the limitations on the USB audio protocol architecture. It simply cannot handle low latency audio very well.
Cheers

Need simple usb/firewire interface with digital in

I want the simplest, cheapest way to transfer the 44.1kHz/24bit digital output of my ProTools system into the usb or firewire port of my Mac (OS X). I don't want to convert to analog. Any ideas gratefully received!

Hi,
This post is too confusing...do you have one or two Macs? Is your PT rig on one and your "Mac(OSX)" another computer?Well,here's what I can come up with...
1. If you are using ProTools,why are you posting in a Logic Pro forum?Just thought I'd ask...
2.If it is in your Mac already,why do you want to go out of your computer and back into it? Your audio is already in your computer,simply bounce it out,and import it into the other software you want the audio to be used in...
3.If you are talking about 2 different computers,you can connect them via ehternet network and transfer your audio that way...without doing it "realtime playback."
4.If you are wanting to print your audio onto another computer...meaning what you said you wanted to do...then you could get a cheap 2 channel interface that is supported by your Mac(OSX)...whatever that is(without knowing if you have a new Intel chipset Mac or an older Mac,or a dual processor Mac,or a Quad Mac...it's hard to know what to recommend...)
I hope this helps...
Nick

External usb/firewire interface

Hi,
I'm thinking of using getting an external USB Audio Interface, and would like some suggestions about products that work well with logic express and my Macbook Pro.
I need something that will allow all my band to hook at once (at least 5 inputs) and hear, with headphones, at the same time (at least 5 outputs).
I was considering the M-Audio Fast Track Ultra.
Has anyone tried it?

I would second using a Firewire interface, I've had both USB and Firewire and found the latter to be far more steady. I think you would find a lot of people would warn you away from the M-audio interfaces, their drivers are famously poor. Presonus makes some really solid interfaces with great pre's. The Firestudio or FP-10 go for $300-$500 depending on where you shop and how good you are at talking salespeople down. From personal experience I would spend the extra money on the new Firestudio, I've been very happy with the one I've been working with.

Is there a USB to Firewire 800 adapter?

Hi,
I've seen that I can get a USB external hard drive for much cheaper than a firewire800 one so was wondering if there is an adapter to plug a usb hard drive into the firewire800 port on my MBP so I can save my USB ports?
Thanks in advance
Simon

No. No adapter exists to connect USB devices to a FireWire port; hubs which provide both USB and FireWire ports don't transfer any data between the interfaces.
(23300)

Audio Controls Disabled with Firewire Interface?

I've found a few references to this in other posts from the past, but rarely and never with any answer or solution.
I just replaced my cheapo USB audio interface with a *Tapco Link.Firewire* interface. It works and sounds fantastic except for one issue that is a huge problem for my set up, and one I never anticipated.
With the firewire interface selected, Mac OS X disables all volume and mute controls. This means the only way to adjust volume control is with the knob on the interface.
The USB interface I was previously using worked like a charm with the native OS X volume controls, and it just doesn't seem right that I am locked out. I rely very much on the Apple remote and keyboard volume controls, especially the muting button.
If there is a solution for this, a different driver I could install, I would love to know about it. There are no drivers from Tapco, they say it just works with Core Audio.
Is this normal for these firewire interfaces or did I just maybe get a dud?

When I use my FW interface (Ultralite) my laptop volume controls don't work, I have to use the volume control on the interface, my monitors' volume control or volume controls within any software I'm using.
It's normal.

GarageBand 3 and Firewire Interface

I want to know more about using a USB or Firewire audio interface to record real instruments & mics as separate tracks in GB... but I'm so novice I don't even know what questions to ask? Basically, if I get something like an 8-channel Firewire audio interface, can I plug a few mics and a couple guitars in and record each one as its own separate track? Am I correctly intepreting the purpose and use of these devices? Are there any compatibility issues to consider?

Briefly: Everything that you record from the "real world" has to be converted from analog sound wave to analog current to digital signals for GB to be able to use it. A microphone or electic guitar pickup does the first part, the analog to digital is the part that you use these interfaces for (you can also do it on-board if your Mac has a line-in, but your signal has to be pre-amped to do that, and it's strictly one stereo channel only).
The interfaces send their converted digital signal through the USB or Firewire port, and they can send multiple channels at once. GB can handle eight stereo tracks simultaneously, you can even combine several devices on several ports, as long as it's not more than eight channels.
The only compatibility issues are: Does your interface need a driver, and is this driver available for your Mac? (There's a couple of devices that still aren't fully supported on Intel Macs.)

Usb or firewire interface round up

Similar Messages

Maybe you are looking for