M-Audio firewire or USB?

Dracon

Dracon

New member
I'm thinking of either getting a OMNI Studio USB (from E-bay) which comes with USB 1.1 or of getting a Firewire Solo.

I like that the OMNI has two MIC preamps, and acts as a small mixer, but I'm not too thrilled about the USB 1.1, which brings the Firewire Solo into play. The Solo only has one MIC preamp and not as many dudas as the OMNI.

How much would I be shooting myself in the foot if I get the OMNI with a USB 1.1?

This would be for a mobile recording (with a laptop) project studio.
 
I'd never go with USB 1.1. Well not again anyway. I had to many issues.

Firewire is the way to go if you're going to go with an external interface. It's just more stable.
 
vestast said:
Firewire is the way to go if you're going to go with an external interface. It's just more stable.
Click to expand...

I've seen this statement so many times and it's just not true. Issues can be had with both protocols depending on the interface itself, the drivers and the system it is going to be used on. If you're only doing 1-2 tracks at a time and need a midi I/O, either "usb 1" or "firewire" will be just fine. My first external was an Edirol UA700 USB 1.1 interface and it suited the task with no problems what so ever. When I needed to do more simultanious I/Os, I simple moved to a firewire interface.

As for how stable the Maudio interfaces are, I don't know cause I've never used them. Just make sure you know if there are any issues with the drivers for either unit before you choose.
 
Clit Torres said:
I've seen this statement so many times and it's just not true. Issues can be had with both protocols depending on the interface itself, the drivers and the system it is going to be used on.
Click to expand...
I'll tell you that it IS true.
You're far less likely to run into troubles using a firewire interface than using USB.
 
christiaan said:
I'll tell you that it IS true.
You're far less likely to run into troubles using a firewire interface than using USB.
Click to expand...

The thing is, initially, I experienced problems with a firewire interface myself (never with a USB). And I've spoken to others who have experienced similar problems with other firewire interfaces. Now these were all compatability issues that dealt with either a host controller chipset mismatch, or driver problems, not the firewire protocol itself. So naturally, I'd assume people having problems with there USB1.1 interfaces are experiencing similar problems which are not being caused directly by the USB1.1 itself.

Now I could be way off, but what stability issues are people having with the USB 1.1 interfaces? And what interfaces are they using :confused:
 
Okay! So the USB 1.1 or Firewire issues are based only on the chipset incompatabilities?

I've used USB peripherals (External CD-ROMs, Mouse, Keyboard, printers, etc), and I've used Firewire (Digital Cameras) but they've all been on Desktops not on Laptops.

Anyway, I was looking into Toshiba, but I've asked the question on another thread in this forum, to see what folks are using and what works.
 
Just looked at the transfer rate between USB & Firewire.
I think, although I wish I had the faster transfer rate on the OMNI Studio, that I will go with the firewire.

Here is the breakdown.

Max. Burst Transfer Rate
USB 1.1 USB 2.0 FireWire 1394a FireWire 1394b
12 Mb/s 480 Mb/s 400 Mb/s 800 Mb/s

Although 12Mb per second should be good enough for what I'm doing right now, I also want to ensure that in the future if I want to do more that I can do it. So it will be FireWire.

Thanks for all the advice folks.
 
sonnylarsen said:
Check Musician's Friend for the USB Omnistudio (USB 2.0) I think they are selling refurbs for $199
Click to expand...
Are you saying that Musiciansfriend upgraded the OMNIStudio to 2.0? The Manual from M-Audio states that the OMNI Studio came with USB 1.1. That would actually be cool.

Although Firewire 1349b is twice as fast as USB 2.0 and it's beginning to look like I'm going to be doing more and more of this stuff.
 
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