Hello there!
I just got myself a brand new Dell Inspiron 640m laptop (in some countries the inspiron e1405) with the following specs:
Intel Duo Core T2400
2 GB SDRAM
100 GB 7200RPM HD
Which I intend to use for audio recording, therefore I am trying to decide which mobile soundcard to buy. Before I got the laptop I'd set my eyes on the Presonus Firebox or the Focusrite Saffire LE since these devices are getting rave reviews (at least the ones I've read ;0). BUT......
Then I came across this topic on the notebook review forum: http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=73829
It seems like firewire devices don't work with Dell laptops since they are not using the TI chipset. Normally this could be fixed by buying a PCMCIA firewire card with TI chipset, but my laptop only has the new Expresscard slot and there seem to be troubles to get a firewire expresscard working with the new Dell laptops. Which seems to come down to this: no firewire audiocard for me :-(.
The first thing I'd like to ask is this: can anyone confirm this story? Is there anyone out there who could get his Dell laptop (preferably a Inspiron 640m) with a Ricoh firewire chipset working with a Firebox or Saffire? Or anyone with a working Firewire Expresscard?
Secondly, although I preferred a Firewire DAW over a USB (because of the negative stories I read on USB audio), it looks like I'm going to be forced to buy a USB DAW. The problem is; I want to be able to record 4 analog inputs simultaneously (and the DAW should have 2 mic pre's). The only USB DAW's I could find who are able doing this are:
Lexicon Omega
Edirol UA-101
Can anyone confirm this? Or are there models I overlooked? And what do you think of these DAW's? Are they any good? I'm especially focussed on getting good recordings, so nice pre-amps are important. At the moment I'm leaning towards the Omega, because of the price (which is more similar to the Firebox than the Edirol DAW).
But still a little voice inside is telling me not to buy a USB device and it tells me to wait till it's absolutely sure there is no way of getting the firewire working on the laptop. What do you guys think? Your opinions are greatly appreciated!
greetings,
Vbibber
I just got myself a brand new Dell Inspiron 640m laptop (in some countries the inspiron e1405) with the following specs:
Intel Duo Core T2400
2 GB SDRAM
100 GB 7200RPM HD
Which I intend to use for audio recording, therefore I am trying to decide which mobile soundcard to buy. Before I got the laptop I'd set my eyes on the Presonus Firebox or the Focusrite Saffire LE since these devices are getting rave reviews (at least the ones I've read ;0). BUT......
Then I came across this topic on the notebook review forum: http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=73829
It seems like firewire devices don't work with Dell laptops since they are not using the TI chipset. Normally this could be fixed by buying a PCMCIA firewire card with TI chipset, but my laptop only has the new Expresscard slot and there seem to be troubles to get a firewire expresscard working with the new Dell laptops. Which seems to come down to this: no firewire audiocard for me :-(.
The first thing I'd like to ask is this: can anyone confirm this story? Is there anyone out there who could get his Dell laptop (preferably a Inspiron 640m) with a Ricoh firewire chipset working with a Firebox or Saffire? Or anyone with a working Firewire Expresscard?
Secondly, although I preferred a Firewire DAW over a USB (because of the negative stories I read on USB audio), it looks like I'm going to be forced to buy a USB DAW. The problem is; I want to be able to record 4 analog inputs simultaneously (and the DAW should have 2 mic pre's). The only USB DAW's I could find who are able doing this are:
Lexicon Omega
Edirol UA-101
Can anyone confirm this? Or are there models I overlooked? And what do you think of these DAW's? Are they any good? I'm especially focussed on getting good recordings, so nice pre-amps are important. At the moment I'm leaning towards the Omega, because of the price (which is more similar to the Firebox than the Edirol DAW).
But still a little voice inside is telling me not to buy a USB device and it tells me to wait till it's absolutely sure there is no way of getting the firewire working on the laptop. What do you guys think? Your opinions are greatly appreciated!
greetings,
Vbibber