USB sound card

[pewing33ny]

I'm going to getting a new cpu, most likely a imac which i can't add a sound card into. Are there any very good USB sound cards on the market that are $300 or less that match up the cards you install in a regular pc.
Also do you lose any quality if you use a USB or firewire card.

[brzilian]

USB and Firewire translate into less performance at higher price.

USB - 12Mbits/sec (1.25Mbytes/sec)
Firewire - 400Mbits/sec (50Mbyes/sec)
PCI - over 100Mbytes/sec


What this all means is that USB would choke trying to record more than 4 channels at a time. One track of 24/96 audio needs a bandwidth of 2.3Mbits/sec alone.

Keep in mind that the USB bandwidth is shared among ALL connected USB devices so if for some reason you are using another device at the same time, you will not get the full bandwidth.

Unless you absolutely need Firewire or USB or have money to throw away, PCI devices will always make more sense.

[BrettB]

I never really understood why manufacturers are going for USB.


Can anyone please tell me where I'm missing the point? Why should USB be better?

[pisces7378]

If you are "probably going to be going for an iMac" and you cannot stick a PCI card into an iMac then it is obvious that you have other priorities involved in your decision to buy a new machine.

And iMac is a fine solution if you hace a stand alone recorder like the Mackie HDR2496 or the Mdr2496, or the SDR2496... and all you need th4e iMac for is processing a couple of trakcs after the mackie gets "full".

But they are not designed for recording audio... if they were then they would adhere to PCI protocols. So spend a few $$$ more and get yourself the cheapest G4, and you will be in business.

USB SUCKS!!!!

It is fine for MIDI and USB 2.0 will be fine for audio I guess. And maybe firewire will become a new standard to recon with... but at the moment there is nothing like getting into the backbone of the computer like a PCI card can do.

have patience... Sit back, wait, watch the market. See what the techie companyies come up with and see what works and what does not. Then make a decission.

I feel that the tech world is really kind of coming to a breaking point. Something big is going to happen in the next year.

[jdechant]

Originally posted by BrettB
I never really understood why manufacturers are going for USB.


Can anyone please tell me where I'm missing the point? Why should USB be better?

yeah I can... most manufactures now will sort of include a quazi-disclaimer to the effect of "ideal for laptop recording" or "for laptop recording"...

they're mainly intended to be used by people who want to record onto their laptop and cannot put a PCI card in... I take the manufactures suggestions to mean, "to be used only with laptops or systems where addition of a PCI card isn't possible"...

thats mainly why they're made and sold, I believe anyways...

I also like how on USB the delay between audio and MIDI being recorded at the same time constantly changes (may be 5 ms on second and 10ms the next)... usually not a problem, but it can become one if you're not used to playing in a band and moving around while you play, which is what the delay here translates to...

[brzilian]

Having a laptop is a still not a good enough reason for using USB.

Even PC-Card adapters would be a better buy as the PCMCIA bus has more bandwith than either USB or Firewire. After all, SCSI PC-Card adapters have been available for quite some time.

[adam]

for inexpensive 2 track stereo audio, USB is probably not a bad solution. Simple, self-powered, and most importantly inexpensive. I cannot vouch for the quality, but if you take it for what it is, some of these products make sense. Something like the m-audio Duo which is like $250 seems like good bang for the buck.

I ended up going the cardbus route and ordering a RME Multiface, for a number of reasons over the echo audio stuff (though those are supposedly great products too).

[SalJustSal]

USB is a good solution if you only want to record about 2-4 tracks at a time.

[Polaris20]

If you're getting the iMac that's great, buy the Digidesign 002, the Presonus Firestation, or the MOTU 828. Plenty of choices for ya.

Just don't go USB.