Firewire Question

  • Thread starter Thread starter maximum octopus
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maximum octopus

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How fast is firewire (like the MOTU 828) compared to something like the Layla where you have a pci card installed? I was able to record 8 tracks at once quite easily on my old Layla and I am concerned about taking a step back with a firewire unit, but I like all of the options on the 828 MKII. Any experts out there that have used both?
 
PCI - 100+Mbytes/sec
Firewire - 50 Mbytes/sec

This topic always comes up. Do a search on old posts.
 
actually, the pci bus runs at 133 mb/s, and so even though the official firewire spec is 400 mb/s, most people have firewire via a pci card, so the most they will get anyway is 133 mb/s, and even then, rarely will people be able to fully saturate the pci bus. Plus (obviously dependent on the chipset) most motherboards dont link the firewire fast enough to get it to its full spec anyway. Conclusion: firewire vs. pci--->not really a difference? dunno....just the $0.02 from a highschool sophomore computer nerd.
 
brzilian said:
PCI - 100+Mbytes/sec
Firewire - 50 Mbytes/sec

This topic always comes up. Do a search on old posts.
Click to expand...

what firewire were you using? lmao
 
brazillian wrong for once?? no way!! never thought i'd see the day :D
 
solaris0031 said:
actually, the pci bus runs at 133 mb/s, and so even though the official firewire spec is 400 mb/s, most people have firewire via a pci card, so the most they will get anyway is 133 mb/s, and even then, rarely will people be able to fully saturate the pci bus. Plus (obviously dependent on the chipset) most motherboards dont link the firewire fast enough to get it to its full spec anyway. Conclusion: firewire vs. pci--->not really a difference? dunno....just the $0.02 from a highschool sophomore computer nerd.
Click to expand...

Firewire 400 runs at 400Mb/s
PCI runs at 133MB/s

400 megabits per second is less than 133 megabytes per second.

No, Brzilian isn't wrong per se.
PCI does 133MB/s but with overhead a maximum of around 100MB/s is to be expected.
Firewire 800 runs at 800Mb/s which will probably result in a real life situation of around 50MB/s, IMO a fairly good estimate.
 
No, Brzilian isn't wrong per se.
Click to expand...

i didn't think it was possible. :)

anywho, i've seen some firewire cards with huge I/O counts like 18 in and 1 out. i dont' know if they ever cut out due to too much info going through them but a lot of people are satisfied with firewire. I think i will change to PCI insted of USB :( with my next soundcard as i don't need the mobility. The MOTU does look sweet though. I'm eyeing up the echo layla 3G and the EMU 1820M, both have many great features.
 
my 828 will do 8 in all day long no problem. motu pretty much invented firewire audio. Look at their really old units that run on "audio wire" with audio wire pci cards. Theyre really nothing more than specialized firewire cards. Bottom line is that know what theyre doing with firewire, especially on macs..but my pc setup is great, too.

H2H
 
Yup .... no problems getting a bunch of audio in and out of my 828mkII.
20 IN's
and
22 OUT's
Plus MOTU states that you can chain more of their Firewire interfaces for expanded IO capabilities.
If I ever get to the point where I need more than 20 IN's .... you can bet I'll buy another MOTU. :cool:
I'm well aware of the different transfer rates between PCI, Firewire and USB12, but MOTU is definitely doing something right with their Firewire interfaces.
 
Sounds like some people here need to take Math 101 and Introduction to Computers over again...
Click to expand...

what does calculus II: introduction to integrals, have to do with anything? :D
 
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