Is USB outdated?

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thane1200

thane1200

Medicated Member
Is using a USB audio interface really outdated?

I'm thinking about buying a USB interface VS a firewire becasue of the price to function ratio; but I'm concernd about latency issues. I have a pretty nice computer, but I've read that with USB the computer often gets "overloaded" and slows way down. I really like having individual level faders, sends/returns, and the like so I'm thinking about this TASCAM
I already have a TASCAM 4-track and am happy with the quality, so I'm not too worried about that. I'm just wondering if I may experience any serious problems.
For the record I have an AMD Athlon64 3000+ with and MSI mobo, running smoothly with over a gig a RAM and a "decent" soundcard (I love it but I know I'll get shit for it LOL), and an 80 gig WD SATA hard drive

Any insight would be greatly appreciated. Thanx!
 
Last edited:
This was copied from the manual:

3.1 System Requirements

PC: Minimum requirements: Pentium 200 MHz (or
equivalent) processor running Windows 98 (First or
Second Edition), 64MB RAM. Recommended:
Pentium II 300MHz processor with 128MB RAM or
better. (These requirements are for use with Cubasis
VST. Other applications will have different
requirements. Consult your application's manufacturer
for further information.)
Due to Windows 95’s handling of the USB spec, the
US-428 will not work under Windows 95. We
recommend upgrading to W98. Windows 98
Second Edition has further improved USB
capabilities. A fast EIDE hard disk is required for
throughput of multiple audio tracks. 64MB RAM is
the minimum recommended, but with all digital
audio programs, you’ll have better results with more
RAM. An SVGA graphics card is suggested (min.
256 colors, 800x600 resolution or better).
Although this product has been checked for use
with standard configuration computers which meet
the specifications above, we cannot guarantee the
operation of the product, even with computers
meeting the specifications, due to differences in
architecture and implementation between
computers.
NOTE
Chipsets are also a concern with USB audio. We’ve
found that the most depend

able motherboards are
ones which utilize Intel-based chipsets. You can
determine your chipset by going into the Device
Manager. On the Windows 98 desktop, right click on
My Computer, and select Properties. Click on the
Device Manager tab, and then click on the plus (+)
sign next to Universal Serial Bus Controllers. (see
illustration 3.01)
The following chipsets have been successfully run
with the US-428:
Intel 82371 AB/EB PCI to USB Universal Host Controller
Intel 82371 SB PCI to USB Universal Host Controller
Intel 82801 AA PCI to USB Universal Host Controller
ALi PCI to USB Open Host Controller
Some other chipsets, notably those specifying Open
Host Controllers (rather than Universal Host
Controllers) and VIATech chipsets, have been subject
to some occasional incompatibilities. We have found
that, in the majority of cases, a PCI-based USB card
utilizing an Opti-chip controller will work
dependably. These cards (also available in PCMCIA
format for laptops) are available through a number of
manufacturers. Please consult the TASCAM website
for further information.
MacOS: PowerPC running MacOS 8.6 or better, and
a USB port. Any Macintosh computer with one or
more USB ports running Mac O/S 8.6 or later (the
US-428 has not been tested with Mac O/S X as of this
writing. Please check the website for updates).
Very early iMac computers may need one (or more)
firmware updates to use the US-428. Which
firmware update(s) is (are) needed depends on
which Mac O/S verion is installed in the early iMac.
Apple provides details in its Apple Support Article
#58174.
PowerBook G3 Series (or later) with built in USB (or
using a 3rd party PCMCIA USB Card) have been
tested and work fine. Additionally, older PowerMac
computers using 3rd party PCI-based USB cards also
have been tested and work fine. Any iMac, G3 or G4
will work fine as well. A MacOS version earlier than
8.6 will not implement full USB support, and is not
recommended.
Again, plenty of RAM and fast drives are suggested.
NOTE
Illustration 3.01 - Determining your USB Controller
 
in my opinion...
i think in the audio world it's outdated. i prefer firewire to it. however, i think USB still has good uses in data storage...as in transfering files over to a USB drive or something.. :cool:
 
The serious studios all use firewire. It is my understanding that USB is fast enough to do some recording, but it gets overwelmed easier. Transfering data from some USB storage device is less critical (time-wise) than recording. If the USB buss gets a little bogged down during a file transfer, it isn't a big deal. When you are recording, it is.
 
Take anything from barefeats with a grain of salt the size of your house.
 
I actually use both busses in my setup. My recording interface is a Motu 828mkII over the firewire bus, and my audio data is recorded to an external drive on the USB2 bus. Hasn't given me any problems so far.
 
maybe i lost something...why firewire over pci?
 
distortedrumble said:
maybe i lost something...why firewire over pci?
Click to expand...
Portability and flexibility. Lets say you're right in the middle of a tracking session. You have a band in the studio that is paying money for your services. Everything is going fine...then all of the sudden, BAM! A dll gets corrupted. Or maybe a hard drive dies, or the memory goes bad, or the CPU overheads...any number of a million possibilities. So your tracking has come to a screeching halt and the band becomes just slightly pissed off. Which would you rather do?

a) Crack open the case, pull the PCI card, crack open the case on a replacement machine (hoping you have a free PCI slot), installing the card, and then booting up and hoping that you don't have any resource conflicts

or

b) Unplugging the firewire cable from the main system, and then plugging the firewire cable into the backup system

The question kind of answers itself. Also think about it from a business perspective...which looks more professional and more prepared?

Yes, when pitted against standard firewire, the pci bus still holds the speed edge. However, with the advent of commonplace firewire 800, the gap has nearly been closed, and once firewire 1600 becomes mainstream, firewire will actually outrun the pci bus. Of course, by that time, pci express will probably have become mainstream and the whole battle will continue, but for most peoples uses (even in pro studios), standard firewire 400 still has enough bandwidth for any reasonable use.
 
For multitrack recording you need bandwitdh that usb can't provide.
Any more than 2 tracks at 24/96 and usb1 will start to choke.
It's got 12Mb/sec vs Firewire @ 400Mb/sec
 
Bulls Hit said:
For multitrack recording you need bandwitdh that usb can't provide.
Any more than 2 tracks at 24/96 and usb1 will start to choke.
It's got 12Mb/sec vs Firewire @ 400Mb/sec
Click to expand...

No real audio interface uses usb1 :P Usb 2 is rated at a higher speed (480 Mbps) so the question is does that actually translate to use. I only use a USB 2.0 harddrive but it seems extremely fast and hasn't given me a problem. I also use the firepod and it seems slow and not as solid? to me compared to all PCI systems I've used.
 
thanx guyz for the input! I'm still undecided but I can help but thinking that It will work fine, I mean that's what it's made for; plus my PC is up to par.
 
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