Whats the difference??
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Posted on May 06, 2006 08:17 pm
mellow
Member Since: Apr 22, 2006
Ok im planning on getting a soundcard an im takin my time toneport is 1 of my first choices. Whats the the difference between Firewire, USB, PCI, and PCMCIA.???
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Noize2uCzar of MidiAdministrator
Since: Apr 04, 2002
May 07, 2006 05:48 pm PCMCIA is for laptops only, and it is a card that is inserted and interfaces what ever device you are using, in this case an audio interface.
PCI is a rock solid and very stable bit on your desktop mother board. You insert the PCI card and it in turn kooks to your interface or host the interface's plugs on itself.
Between firewire and USB 2.0 the USB 2.0 is the most stable right now for audio interfaces, but firewire is getting closer. Firewire was supposed to have faster tranfer speeds, but that has yet to be seen. I started using a Line 6 Tonepert UX-2 just for quick things and it is USB 2.0 and I am loving it. Extremely low latency of about 3 miliseconds or so. And the sound is very good as well. If choosing a firewire interface do some research first to make sure it is compatable with all your hardware, such as motherboard and other cards you may have plugged into the PCI slots. And even the video card in an AGP slot can have an effect on the firewire drivers compatability so check everything for certain, dont just take some salesmans word for it.
mellowMember
Since: Apr 22, 2006
May 08, 2006 09:05 am Thanks noize that taught me alot. I will do alot of research, i wish the tascam us 122 had good reviews on the drivers and everything because that is ALL i need for everything in 1 card, since i play the keyboard. But i guess i need to look for something new or just get the toneport UX2.
May 08, 2006 09:21 am I was looking at the Tascam thing a couple years back, cuz you are right, it looks and reads like a perfect little unit, but man, good reviews are hard to come by on that deal...
Are you using a laptop? If not, why not look at an internal PCI card...most are very stable, good I/O rates, decent prices and they don't hog more room on your desk top.
pjkPrince CZAR-mingMember
Since: Apr 08, 2004
May 08, 2006 09:43 am I gambled, and got a good one (US122). Haven't had a lick of trouble (well, nothing serious).
But, Harmony-Central is full of polar reviews, so it's certainly a risk. I loaded mine on a dell 600m, with MS XP Home.
mellowMember
Since: Apr 22, 2006
May 08, 2006 05:10 pm Nah, i have a dell 8200, with Intel Pentium (R) 4 CPU 2.00 Ghz
1.99 Ghz, 256 MB of RAM. But i am goin to boost my ram up to 512 MB. So yea i was thinkin about getting a PCI sound card.
mellowMember
Since: Apr 22, 2006
May 08, 2006 05:11 pm With windows XP home edition
