New computer with no Firewire. Go with USB?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Don Benoit
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Don Benoit

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I just put a new computer together and the motherboard does not have a firewire connection. I have a M-Audio Omni Studio which has a Delta 66 card. I have trouble figuring out the routing of the software patch panel sometimes and the XLR input plugs seem loose and noisy. I clean them with contact cleaner and they are Ok for a while.

Should I keep and change the XLR connectors on the Omni Studio, or
go for a USB system like the M-Audio Fast Track USB, or
go for the Fast Track Pro, or
buy a firewire card and go form the Firepod?

I am only going to record my steel guitar with commercial background tracks.

Some advice please.
 
If you're only doing one or two tracks at a time, USB should work fine.
If you want to go firewire later, it's really not very expensive or difficult to get a firewire card installed on an empty PCI slot.
 
Tough call. The FIREPOD will sound better than the M-Audio gear, IMHO, but the M-Audio will probably last longer. M-Audio's drivers suck, in my experience, so that's a point for the FIREPOD. Personally, I wouldn't pick any of those.... :)
 
What's your price range? Edirol gets thumbs up from folks I trust. I've had good luck with MOTU. RME and Apogee are both highly regarded. IMHO, any of those four are likely to be pretty safe.
 
regardless of what you pick I would opt for buying a firewire card and throwing it in there. Siig is probably the goto brand for firewire cards with the T1 chipset. :)
 
buckkillr8 said:
regardless of what you pick I would opt for buying a firewire card and throwing it in there. Siig is probably the goto brand for firewire cards with the T1 chipset. :)
Click to expand...

Agreed. Regardless of what interface you pick, if you find yourself needing more disk space, you'll be a lot better off with a FireWire HD than you would be using a USB HD.
 
Unless there's something specifically known to be bad about the Firepod, I would say it's going to be a solid piece of gear.
The only consistant thing i've seen that you have to be careful about with Presonus, is that their firewire drivers aren't very good out of the box, and usually seem to require later beta drivers to run properly. (by the way, this goes for nearly every firewire deck that gets released by the usual suspects)
But if you go to the Presonus forum, you can find out in advance which ones are solid and which ones aren't ready for prime time.
 
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