Who Has Upgraded From USB to FireWire?

[Alexrkstr]

Just wanted to hear what type of difference you experienced using PTLE and upgrading from a USB interface to a FireWire.

Could you add more tracks? RTAS? etc? or did you not see a difference?

[pezking]

The interface will not affect the performance of the plugins or track count.

All it will affect is the sample rate*, and the i/o count.

*by this I mean that with the Mbox 2 family (except the Mbox 2 Pro) the session will be limited to 48kHz. With the 003 Family, and the Mbox 2 Pro, you can use sample rates of up to 96kHz.

[Alexrkstr]

Originally Posted by pezking

The interface will not affect the performance of the plugins or track count.

All it will affect is the sample rate*, and the i/o count.

*by this I mean that with the Mbox 2 family (except the Mbox 2 Pro) the session will be limited to 48kHz. With the 003 Family, and the Mbox 2 Pro, you can use sample rates of up to 96kHz.

Hi pezking,

Actually I believe that the computer performance is a little bit optimized since USB consume some CPU power.

Also, if the data goes from:
Instrument >> Interface >> CPU >> HD
there is one more step than going direct when you daisy chain:
Instrument >> Interface >> HD

USB transfer speeds are lower than FireWire so you will be limiting the number of tracks as well.

If someone has different information it would be interesting to know...

[pezking]

If you're specifically referring to Pro Tools, whether or not you use the Mbox 2 Pro or the Mbox 2 (or mini or micro) it will not affect the performance.

Yes if you're trying to do multiple channels of I/O a firewire interface has various benefits, but that's not really the question you've asked.

You will be able to achieve the same performance with the same settings with any given Pro Tools LE interface. I can't stress that enough.

[Alexrkstr]

Originally Posted by pezking

If you're specifically referring to Pro Tools, whether or not you use the Mbox 2 Pro or the Mbox 2 (or mini or micro) it will not affect the performance.

Yes if you're trying to do multiple channels of I/O a firewire interface has various benefits, but that's not really the question you've asked.

You will be able to achieve the same performance with the same settings with any given Pro Tools LE interface. I can't stress that enough.

Hmm...My question is only CPU load related, let me re-phrase it:

Will I see less CPU consumption (processing load) in the computer if I use FireWire instead of USB?

Logic on why I think the answer is yes is above.

[bennychico11]

Originally Posted by Alexrkstr

Also, if the data goes from:
Instrument >> Interface >> CPU >> HD
there is one more step than going direct when you daisy chain:
Instrument >> Interface >> HD

you're still going to need to go from Interface to CPU to HD....the processor needs to do it's job first before you write to disc. Otherwise we'd just plug hard drives into our Mboxes

any CPU usage differences (if any) between USB 1.1 and Firewire will be minimal, especially with processors today. That being said, the other benefits of firewire over USB 1.1 are much more important (sample rate & extra I/O)

[Alexrkstr]

Meh... I called Digi and they answered the question for me.

Question - Is it worth to go from a USB to a FW to reduce the load on the CPU?
Answer - It will not reduce it that much if at all unless you are planning to record multiple tracks at once because of it's bandwith.

[wreckd504]

isn't that what benny just said?

[Alexrkstr]

Originally Posted by wreckd504

isn't that what benny just said?

Yes, very close and it happened at the same time... I just happen to be at home now

[bennychico11]

Originally Posted by wreckd504

isn't that what benny just said?

maybe I should go work at Digi

[pezking]

Originally Posted by wreckd504

isn't that what benny just said?

And me!

Originally Posted by bennychico11

maybe I should go work at Digi

Maybe I should go work for them lol