Audio interface for laptop: Remote recording

D

Duvallbill

New member
Hi All.
I will be doing some remote recording in areas with unreliable on non-existant power. so I need a bus powered audio interface. 4 ph powered ins would be nice. I'll be in W africa so it needs to be durable and reliable (takes a bit to ship things back for repairs).

My system:
HP zt3000 laptop - 1.5 mobile Pent; 60 gig drive (will likely add an external drive to hold the audio); 512 MB ram. This machine has 1 firewire and 3 USB 2.0 busses.

Please advise, Oh Sages of digital recording. And thanks in advance.
Bill
 
An alternative for the recording could be something like the Edirol R-4.
Then just transfer over to the laptop.
The FA-101 can be powered via a 6 pin FireWire port, but it only offers two phantom powered XLR inputs.
It might be rather hard to find a bus powered interface that offers at least 4.

Another idea that opens a wider range of interface options, would be the use of a 12 volt car battery and a DC to AC power inverter.

HTH
 
First of all: Forget about USB audio interfaces, especially when you need 4 ins. You want something reliable? Let me say it again: Forget about USB audio interfaces.
Secondly: Most if not all firewire interfaces on laptops won't give you bus power. Even if they have six pins it's more than likely that they won't be able to supply the juice needed for the audio interface. Even if they can, it will suck the life out of your battery before you know it.

I have a Pavilion laptop myself and it has a 4 pins firewire interface -> no bus power.

Listen to crankz1 and try to put together some sort of external power supply.
 
It is great to have this input. I'm here in Togo, West Africa and can't just run out to my local pro shop and "try before I buy".
I was wondering about the firewire bus power on the zt3000. Heard from two HP users who said it was not powered, but got an email from HP that said it would power external devices. This if fairly critical point so I appreciate confirmation that the firewire bus is not powered. If I purchase an interface I have someone to carry it to Togo in December. But if it does not work there is not way to return and replace for 8 months.... One shot shopping!

I like the idea of external power but can't carry too much weight. You can't always rely on driving up into a village.

So something standalone liike the edirol might be something to consider. Which leads me to my next question.

What about the edirol ua-1000. Bus powered (USB 2.0) with 4 xlr inputs on the front (total of 8 inputs). I see the objection to USB 2.0. But if it becomes one of the few options and I only need to record 2 to 4 tracks at a time........... What do you think?

Again, thanks for the input. Could not even consider making a decision like this without this source of info.

Bill
 
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