A Battle Royale!!! Cardbus vs. USB!!!!??
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Posted on Aug 04, 2004 08:33 pm
Pan sapiens
Member Since: Aug 03, 2004
I'm curious as to the advantages or disadvantages of a pcmcia sound card. I have heard before that usb is less than ideal for audio. would i be better off using the cardbus slot on my notebook?
Can anyone point me towards a pcmcia sound card manufactured by anyone other than Echo?
thanks for any help!
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WaltChief Cook and Bottle WasherMember
Since: May 10, 2002
Aug 04, 2004 11:07 pm Notebooks / laptops are just inherently problematic for recording; mho. Having said that, moderate that statement per what you are trying to accomplish. Up to four track live recording can be accomplished fairly well. Beyond that: multiple hard drives, extended ram, multiple I/O A/D - D/A converters, etc. all become expensive and combersome with a laptop. At some point a rack mounted PC with a flat screen or a dedicated recorder can be very viable alternatives for a portable studio.
Aug 05, 2004 03:31 am Yeah, but I already have a laptop and I rarely record more than a couple tracks at the same time. I'm more just interested in whether i should go the pcmcia route or the usb route in making my computer at least decent for recording.
thats is, unless there is something better than either.... i do have a firewire port but i was gonna use that for a hard drive.....
vdalehubbardLost for words with all to say.Contributor
Since: Sep 12, 2003
Aug 05, 2004 09:16 am Well, since you have firewire or USB, that will work great I believe for a soundcard. Can't be totally sure because I haven't tested it out personally. I see that you have an external 250GB firewire Harddrive. The way I would go about it is to have a soundcard go through usb IF you have USB 2.0 capabilities. Then have the firewire for the external harddrive. If your USB isn't 2.0 then maybe use the firewire for the soundcard, record what you want, disconnect the soundcard and connect the HD and move it to it. But your internal harddrive at 60GB should be enough space unless you already have tons of stuff on it before recording.
I believe I just went too far into thinking about this!!
BrunoThe Quiet MindedMember
Since: Jan 01, 2003
Aug 05, 2004 10:20 am Think with me......do you really think that serious manufacturers like M-Audio would offer anything but high quality gear? I dont. Check out some M-Audio USB interfaces, they seem to be very nice.
WaltChief Cook and Bottle WasherMember
Since: May 10, 2002
Aug 05, 2004 08:49 pm Ya, Both USB and Firewire are fine. They use the same A/D converters as a card. Once digital the only difference is the transmission protocal. Bandwidth can get a little limited on USB1, but in as much as you are only recording a couple of tracks at a time you will be fine. I use a Tascam USB 428 and the converters are as fine as any. The pre amps in the unit are not the best, but that has nothing to do with its USB operation. No fear per quality difference as long as you stick with a quality manufacturer.
Aug 10, 2004 07:46 pm i have 2 usb 2.0s, 1 firewire, and a cardbus slot.
I am always using a usb mouse.
I hope to buy a usb midi controller soon (firewire will prolly be too expensive and ive never heard of a pcmcia one).
I own a hard drive that is usb or firewire compatible.
i would rather not buy a usb sound card because i obviously already have uses for the usb ports I have. I want my sound card to be connected in a way that doesnt require me to constantly disconnect it. I will need it not only for recording but for the purposes of working with the audio i have recorded and preferrably also for just increasing the quality of mp3 playback, etc. on my laptop.
I do have the option of using my cardbus slot to expand my # of usb or firewire ports. My question for the gracious members of hrc is whether the pcmcia is a fundementally slower port that is worse equipped for music. i doubt these additional usb ports would be worth using for audio as any of the limiting factors of the cardbus would be passed right on to these additional usb or firewire ports.
I really don't know this market very well but i have done a little research. The echo indigo i/o at under $200 seems to have more features (full duplex recording, for instance) than m-audio's offerings in the same price range or even for less than $300.
I still have not heard whether there is anything fundementally wrong with recording using pcmcia. If pcmcia can run multiple firewire ports then what makes it inequipped and not preferrable (to the laptop user with a small budget) for recording.
Because I am in college and am moving my home back and forth between WA and CA all the time, I am looking for something that is relatively portable as well.
I am just wondering if I am shafting myself by getting a pcmcia soundcard. do the limiting factors of this port make its soundcards all intrinsically flawed compared with their usb counterparts? I know all you desktop users prefer usb and firewire but in my rather uninformed position, using my cardbus slot really seems like the better decision.
sorry for the long reply, i hope my problem makes more sense now.
