Firewire or USB?

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s.k.
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Firewire or USB?

Post by s.k. »

sorry for not using the search, im on my mobile... can anyone break it down real quick please? i need to buy an interface and i have a few good second hand offers. so what are the pros and cons of each format? thanks in advance!
oblioblioblio
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Re: Firewire or USB?

Post by oblioblioblio »

Firewire is being phased out of laptops and Windows computers, along with Expresscard expansion ports, so a Firewire device might not have the same longevity with compatability. Still popular with Macs.

There was some stuff with digital transfer rates but it's mainly over my head. USB is technically faster but i think there was some stuff with Firewire that made it more suitable for exchange of digital video and sound.
AK
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Re: Firewire or USB?

Post by AK »

I get glitches and the odd missed beat over MIDI with my USB interface ( focusrite scarlett ) prior to that I had a PCI card which was rock solid. Never had Firewire so can't comment on stability.
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Phase Ghost
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Re: Firewire or USB?

Post by Phase Ghost »

USB can be faster, but firewire has a faster sustained data rate. Also, there's some technical stuff where Firewire doesn't need to go through the CPU for all it's tasks like USB does which saves on CPU load.

Personally, I've always used firewire. My friend has an M-Audio USB interface and I don't recall ever having a problem using it when I'm at his place.
simonb
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Re: Firewire or USB?

Post by simonb »

AK wrote:I get glitches and the odd missed beat over MIDI with my USB interface ( focusrite scarlett ) prior to that I had a PCI card which was rock solid. Never had Firewire so can't comment on stability.
I get glitches and the odd missed beat with my Firewire interface, think it's more down to other computer issues/MIDI being a bit sh!t.

Then again my interface is also a Focusrite, maybe it's them ;)
s.k.
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Re: Firewire or USB?

Post by s.k. »

thx guys. im about to get an m audio firewire audiophile, to be used on a mac mini. its a temporary solution anyway so i guess it will do fine. so far i always had a PCI soundcard, so no experience with external ones. anything else i should know of? thanks again :)
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Re: Firewire or USB?

Post by tone-def »

You can never have enough USB ports so its a good idea to make use of the FireWire port.
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