PCI & PCIe popularity
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Posted on May 04, 2010 10:48 am
stratwizard
Member Since: Nov 19, 2008
I have been doing some reading and research and have noticed that even though PCIe interfaces providers faster connection (and usually cheaper) than interfaces that connect via firewire or usb ; the later seem to be as popular as those interfaces. I know I am not very knowledgeable on these topics but what is it that I am missing here???
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cruxTypo SzarMember
Since: Jul 04, 2002
May 04, 2010 02:07 pm probably jsut ease of use and portability. With more ppl moving to laptop recordsing and also wanting their rigs not to be completely invested in their computers firewire and usb cards definitly grew, which in turn i think made the industry focus alot on developign those types of cards.
The stability of modern firewire, usb cards is definitely nothing to scoff at. Even though PCI cards r 'more' stable its basically saying their 'more good'. With the indirect benefits u get from cards taht dont have to connect inside ur computer i think then u can see y ppl r totally happy to settle for 'good'
May 04, 2010 02:10 pm Some folks are scared to open a PC and install physical components, and, as stated above, portability.
Not everyone (especially us hobbiest) need the massive data speed as many folks record one or two tracks at a time and USB or Firewire works just fine for that.
cruxTypo SzarMember
Since: Jul 04, 2002
May 04, 2010 02:17 pm definitely and with alot of firewire cards going up to 10 tracks with pretty good stability id say PCI cards r continue to be marginalized
Quincysanhttp://www.unitedmusicians.infoContributor
Since: Nov 11, 2007
May 04, 2010 02:23 pm No doubt about it, PCI/PCI express is fastest. I'm guessing that the form factor of the interface and the cost of components plays a roll in which components are externally housed. Depending on the features of your interface, it's probably more cost efficient to stick pre-amps, I/O etc on one external device rather than brainstorm ways to fit everything within the confines of a PCIe slot. I know the Delta 1010LT is an exception but it's my understanding that these pre-amps are iffy in comparison to the Delta 1010 (which includes a core processing card and a seperate rackmounted I/O breakout box).
I'm looking at a ProTools HD system...looks like they have a "Core system" which is a PCIe card with DSP processors on it. The DSP processors are supposedly used for audio processing. While I'm not sure why audio is more quickly processed in a DSP than through modern CPU and memory technology...that seems to be how PT does it. Maybe they also do it because the "HD Accel-core" card is necessary to use a PT audio interface, which in this instance takes the form of a rack mounted I/O breakout box for the Core card. AD/DA conversion happens on the accel core card itself so the audio interface (I/O) is nothing but pre-amps. Both items cost over $3,000, so even if the HD Accel Core is negligibly faster, or even slower, Avid has reason to continue the two complimentary products. As long as the general consensus remains that PT is the industry standard, I imagine professional studio owners will fork out the gouged prices in order to give their studio that "All PT HD" vibe (notice I said general consensus and not industry consensus). I've been through a few studios where the first words out of the owners mouth are "It's all PT HD" like its supposed to be some mark of valor. I guess it is, or those studios wouldn't attract paying clients and clear a profit given the astronomical cost of ownership.
Now a separate study on how many "pro" studios in Kansas City are financially stable would be very interesting to me. My mixes sound better than many of the "Grammy nominated" engineers in the area. Maybe it was their grandmother who called in the recommendation to the studio owner.
Ooooh! You've been pun'd. That was quite an elaborate setup, but totally worth it.
May 06, 2010 02:57 pm Usually its Apple that makes an old card obsolete and then we gotta buy new cards... I got the PCIe cards in my last PT HD setup cause the computer didn't have the "older" style cards. But much of the recording is just done on Firewire 800 drives.
www.livesoundaudio.com
