___Firewire vs PCI____:::::::::::::::::::

[JasonLive]

Hi new member here!

Looking for the bottom line on using Firewire. I'm currently using PCI (MIA midi), but am looking to upgrade. I don't usually run too many tracks at once (maybe 2-3).

It's mainly between the Fireface 400 or the Multiface 2 PCI bundle....

If I save a little more, maybe the Fireface 800.


Please, if you have any suggestions or advice... welcome!


Thanks!

[TimOBrien]

PCI vs. Firewire vs. USB (about halfway down the page)
http://www.tweakheadz.com/soundcards_for_the_home_studio.htm

Nothing wrong with using Firewire for upwards of 40 or 60 simultaneous tracks; you won't even make it breathe hard for home use. Of course PCI has a little bit better theoretical throughput but seriously who cares??? Either will get the job done.

(I'm using a Motu828mkII with zero problems. Any of the interfaces you mention would do fine too.)

[dcwave]

Here's something to keep in mind. Most FW audio interfaces have recommended chipsets for best performance (if not directly then their user group), which means that you may still need to buy a PCI firewire card for your device to plug into. Most built in FW chips are cheap and suck.

I am firewire right now with 24 channels of input/output. The two audio interfaces plug into an Adaptec PCI firewire card.

[CapnLockheed]

Texas Instruments makes the best firewire chipsets for audio, or so I've been told.

Cheers.......CL:D

[Matthew Skinner]

Hi JasonLive,

Why are you wanting to change from a MIA Midi ? Is it more channels, or your getting a laptop ?


My thoughts on sound cards can be read here which was written 2 years ago and still holds true.

http://www.pcmus.com/Best-Audio-Recording-Card.htm

For a 2 in 2 out channel audiocard I would recommend a good USB 1 device thats class complient, or a good PCI card. Even though PCIe is here, old PCI 2 channel cards are so mature and cheap that they will be viable for a long time to come when you compare the extra $ needed to be spent on a different solution. In 2 channels devices I cant recommend firewire as you will find they are more expensive for similar features and quality and the drivers will not be as optimised as usb1 or pci solutions.

For devices over 2 channels then firewire is a good solution as the up comming pci express slots will mean if you buy a multichannel pci card you may have to throw out a $2000 pci card in a few years time when you upgrade your pc due to it no longer having the slot for the card.

Firewire is a lot more difficult for driver developers to write good stable and low latency drivers for. This means you will wait longer for new OS support (windows vista is close to release) ,bug fixes taking longer and probably have larger latency as a result. With a good driver development team and a good computer that setup right for low latency theres no reason why a firewire device cant get within 0.5ms of other solutions. Also if development is too difficult then the product may get dumped when a new OS like windows vista comes along as the cost of newer drivers outweighs the sales comming in. Sadly products being discontinued is a fact of owning a computer, getting the longest life you can is hard if you dont know how the market will be moving in the years ahead.

USB has the huge advantage of "class compliency" where hardware conforms to a standard and then all future OS's automatically are supported as windows has the driver built in by default. It does not matter who made the usb soundcard as the default windows driver will work. With ASIO4all software and the move towards KS you have a card which is sure to work for a very long time.

USB on a good computer and for 2 channels works very well, is cheap for hardware makers both in the hardware and for supplying drivers which is why its going to be and already is the main area of focus for developers.

USB2 and Firewire are battling it out and its not certain which one will become the more common in the years to come. Firewires by far more common right now, however this could quickly change over the next few years (4+ years) if the class complient audio drivers and chips for USB2 Audio that are only just comming out make this more attractive to end users and developers. Its impossible to say right now which one will win as its a very long term thing and you cannot underestimate Microsoft and what they wish to push as the better solution.

[JasonLive]

Hi JasonLive,

Why are you wanting to change from a MIA Midi ? Is it more channels, or your getting a laptop ?


My thoughts on sound cards can be read here which was written 2 years ago and still holds true.

http://www.pcmus.com/Best-Audio-Recording-Card.htm





I know that I would like to move towards making my setup more mobile, for greater flexibility & portability. I didn't really know USB2 was still in the game, as firewire seems to be everywhere these days. Most card manufacturers are really pushing their firewire interfaces.


Thanks for all the links and all the replies. Very helpful! I just might wait a little longer before I change my soundcard afterall.


Best regards!

[Matthew Skinner]

ok if you only need 2 channels and just want to be more mobile then a USB1 device will work fine for you and overcome some of the concerns of higher latency, slower driver releases and higher chance of product being discontinued.

This link is an interesting read but you have to wade through sales pitches and vested interests as to where the company has spent all its money in development.

http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/dec05/articles/pcmusician.htm