Firewire upgrade time?
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Posted on May 21, 2007 01:15 pm
Lexalotacus
Mamma Jamma
Member Since: May 20, 2007
Hey guys, I've been using usb for everything, toneport, oxygen8, blah blah blah... I really want to get into micing my amp and using condensers for vocals and such so Im wondering if anyone really knows the pros and cons of usb vs firewire interfaces? Like if I were to get the mbox pro 2 with firewire as opposed to the usb mbox pro 2??
Thanks again
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May 21, 2007 01:53 pm This one is a religous argument that impartially has a simple answer.
Firewire is faster and can maintain faster speeds for longer periods.
So Firewire is better, but for what ? A Toneport or Oxygen keyboard functions perfectly fine with USB1 never mind USB2 so Firewire is clearly not required.
For 8 channel output devices then probably Firewire would be better. For one man, his Toneport and his computer firewire is absolutely not required.
btw: getting an MBox Pro 2 is going to generate you a whole other set of problems, if you have a working setup now then stick with it.
Noize2uCzar of MidiAdministrator
Since: Apr 04, 2002
May 21, 2007 07:22 pm Yep, I cant agree more. Although in most cases at the moment 2 channels on USB is faster unless you have the perfect match of interface and firewire chipset on your PC.
But, I digress. The UX-2 is what I use more often then not for running mics into the PC now. The pre amp models are killer and it is just plain simple and easy to use. My only solution is through a mixer, but as one man you really don't need that yet. YOu woud really be surprised at what can be done with that little Line 6 Toneport UX-2 unit.
May 22, 2007 12:03 am Oh I know, I absolutely am falling more and more in love with the UX2.
I guess you guys are right about firewire, It's not really necessary. Im just interested to see what other people think because I've always been told it's faster and I hate latency problems.
Cool! thanks for the input!
May 22, 2007 10:25 am Firewire is cool, it's fast, but then, so is USB...I run all USB now and don't have issues myself. USB is hella fast, so is firewire...like tony said, it's all a religious argument. Mac/PC, Gibson/Fender, Ford/Chevy, whatever...
May 22, 2007 11:23 am + it doesn't matter if it's faster when you don't need the extra speed.
Noize2uCzar of MidiAdministrator
Since: Apr 04, 2002
May 22, 2007 09:06 pm Yep, it doesn't matter how big the pipe is (ie, firewire or USB) it is all on the transfer through the chipset and CPU. Those are the blackages at the moment for recording audio and video. Think of them and their connections on your motherboard as a valve. Even when it is fully open it can't allow all the data to stream through as fast as it comes in. But once through it can process it faster again, then slows down once again going onto the hard drive. So at the moment firewier and USB can only go as fast as the gateway allows it to go. Dual core chips have helped, but AMD's Quad will finally allow almost a fully open valve to allow the speed of firewire and USB to be fully used. But your talking a $400 plus mother board plus about $1000 for the chip. Not a cheap set up at the moment.
