Old 09-26-2011, 07:22 AM   #1
andrewdee
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Default Best Audio Hardware Interface

I know its a broad question and what you are using reaper for, Live with multi tracks or recording one track at a time.
Ive been using M Audio 2496. and thinking of getting the motu 828
also is firewire better than USB in the audio world
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Old 09-26-2011, 10:15 AM   #2
camerondye
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To me the best audio interface is one that always works correctly always and after many weeks of searching I went with an RME Fireface800 and I've been happy ever since. The only drawback to the FF800 is the onboard preamps aren't the best but on the newer interfaces...hopefully they are better. Their drivers are the best though and keeping workflow moving is so important to me. RME is a great company and they have a great reputation of anything that sell running well.
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EDIT: Firewire used to be better but I think its getting so close it's negligible now from what I hear. Also say if you are mac or pc...might help

Last edited by camerondye; 09-26-2011 at 10:26 AM.
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Old 09-26-2011, 12:53 PM   #3
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The only difference between Firewire and Usb is the amount of data they can carry.

USB2 does up to 16 simultaneous channels in&out
Firewire400 does over 100
Firewire800 does twice that
(You dont see many fw800 interfaces 'cause few people need that much bandwidth... which is also why fw1600 and fw3200, while approved, never materialized.)

Where firewire really shines is when you daisy-chain devices like hard drives or convolution fx boxes (see my sig below) You cant do that on usb.

Before anyone screams 'Firewire is dying!', Thunderbolt from Apple and Intel will run firewire devices as a subset when the adapters come out.
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Old 09-27-2011, 12:26 PM   #4
Teknologist
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Biggest difference between Firewire and USB is that Firewire is a Peer to Peer connection and does not require a CPU. While USB requires a Host CPU to control the USB Traffic. This means there is a CPU overhead in using USB.
If I am not mistaken FireWire supports DMA (Direct Memory Access)

What this means is use USB for generic peripherals that don't require super high speed low latency like Mouse, keyboard, simpler audio interfaces, flash drives, portable hard drives and anything else USB supports.

Use Firewire where you need more reliable speed and lower latencies.

For multitrack scenarios I use firewire external drives over USB even if the drive supports both. There are no CPU cycles wasted and it's more like connecting the drive to the local PCI bus. It support more tracks simultaneously.

As far as Actual speed is concerned they are both just about as fast, the difference is maintaing that speed and the CPU usage in doing so.

I would definitely recommend going FireWire for Audio purposes.
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Old 10-21-2011, 04:46 PM   #5
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the saffire pro 40 i bought a coupleof weeks ago has been great. Firewire, 8 preamps, adat to expand to 16....solid. I recommend it.
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Old 10-21-2011, 07:04 PM   #6
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Teknologist View Post
I would definitely recommend going FireWire for Audio purposes.
Yes, but If you want to avoid issues with Firewire, I would strictly recommend choosing Texas Instrument chipset. Not so common on desktops, very rare on laptops.
The worst chipset for audio being the Ricoh, the most common on laptops.
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Old 10-28-2011, 07:19 PM   #7
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there is no "best". There are some that are better than others for certain applications, but as long as the conversion is spot-on, the medium (firewire, usb, etc.) WORKS for your system anything can work.

Remember, it's all just tools. How you use them is what really matters.
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Old 11-16-2011, 12:51 PM   #8
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Quote:
Originally Posted by andrewdee View Post
I know its a broad question and what you are using reaper for, Live with multi tracks or recording one track at a time.
Ive been using M Audio 2496. and thinking of getting the motu 828
also is firewire better than USB in the audio world
I am using the Motu 828 MK III and it's working fine although the CueMix software can be a little finicky at times. But the sound is great. As stated, firewire carries more data. I have no latency problems at all with the Motu.

I am recording one track at a time at home.
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