PCI soundcard vs. USB -Pros & Cons?

  • Thread starter Thread starter stringman
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stringman

New member
Hi everyone,

I'm thinking about setting up for computer recording. Can anyone give me an idea about the pros & cons between a PCI or USB sound card.

I appreciate any thoughts you might have on the subject
 
I just did a search on the topic (probably should have done it first). Anyway, lots of info from previous threads, so no need to reply.

Aloha!
 
USB will have more latency if you're recording more than 2 or so tracks at a time.

PCI will have 0 latency even up to 24 tracks at a time.
 
Drummer4Life05 said:
USB will have more latency if you're recording more than 2 or so tracks at a time.

PCI will have 0 latency even up to 24 tracks at a time.
Click to expand...
You obviously have no idea what you're talking about.
 
christiaan said:
You obviously have no idea what you're talking about.
Click to expand...

Yeah! :D

Care to clarify? Or are you just gonna shoot me down?
 
Drummer4Life05 said:
Yeah! :D

Care to clarify? Or are you just gonna shoot me down?
Click to expand...

There is no such thing as zero latency if there is some kind of analog to digital to analog conversion taking place and it doesn't get worse with more tracks.

USB sucks because of its bandwidth compared to PCI (1.25Mbytes/sec vs. 100Mbytes/sec). Latency is not influenced by bandwidth, but by the efficiency of the A/D/A conversion hardware and the drivers for a particular device. USB just cannot handle the amount of data travelling down the pipe that 4 tracks of 24bit audio generate.

So yes, christiaan is right when he says you don't know what you're talking about.
 
USB Bandwidth

isn't 1.25MB/s the limitation for USB1.1?
USB2.0 is supposed to be "capable" of 480Mbps (=60MB/s) right?

Don't mind me.. I have no idea what I'm talking about....

yinsern
 
brzilian said:
So yes, christiaan is right when he says you don't know what you're talking about.
Click to expand...
Brzilian, you nailed it.
I planned to explain later because when I posted it I just didn't feel like sitting down for it. Thanks for taking it off my hands. Appreciated.
 
Re: USB Bandwidth

bambazoon said:
isn't 1.25MB/s the limitation for USB1.1?
USB2.0 is supposed to be "capable" of 480Mbps (=60MB/s) right?

Don't mind me.. I have no idea what I'm talking about....

yinsern
Click to expand...

The USB 2.0 protocol is still not as effiecient as Firewire, so real world sustained bandwidth figures are still in the 200-300Mbps range.

There aren't that many USB 2.0 devices out on the market either for DAW work.

The point you and Drummer are missing entirely is that USB is a waste of money if you can go the PCI route because you pay a premium for a USB device and it delivers inferior performance.
 
Re: Re: USB Bandwidth

brzilian said:
The point you and Drummer are missing entirely is that USB is a waste of money if you can go the PCI route because you pay a premium for a USB device and it delivers inferior performance.
Click to expand...

I knew that! :D
Did I say something different?
 
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