usb vs. firewire

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brandon.w

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I'm upgrading to digital recording...I was looking at getting a tascam us-428 with a fourchannel preamp to give it phantom power...I chose this because while computer literate and comfortable with software, I'm not clear on connections and whatnot, and it seems unthreatening...I could actually see where everything I would want to use would go, and I liked the idea of having an actual control surface...however, my friend insists that I should go with a slightly more expensive firewire connection, as he says it's more reliable. I don't think learning new hardware would be such a bad thing...but I just don't understand it...two XLRs...8 1/4' jacks...and like three knobs...it's a rackmount (I don't have a rack)...I would have to pay more if I wanted a control surface...and it just slightly confuses me, I understand it, but I have a harder time visualizing how I would get something like a four-mic drum rig into it without using akward 6 dollar adapters from radio shack or something....

so my question is...is firewire really THAT much better than usb? if I were running an 800mhz G4 iMac with 512mb of ram or more, would there be a huge difference....he said he's heard that it lags, sometimes crashes, or has a hard time recording four tracks at once...I was just wondering if any of you could shed some light on this for me.
 
USB sucks. I have the USB Edirol UA-5 and it's been nothing but problems (peep my post below) . I'm now gonna try something firewire like the Presonus Firestation or maybe the MOTU 828. USB just doesn't have the bandwidth to handle massive amounts of audio and midi data. Listen to your friend. You will end up finding you are limited to much by USB and when it's time to expand you'll regret it.

My 2.
 
In my experience Firewire is much more reliable with constant feed applications than USB. :D
 
Not only is firewire faster, but it's also a completely different protocol than USB, which is probably why it works better.

The Presonus Firestation isn't really that much more than the US428. You're much better off with the Firestation or MOTU, especially if you're running mac.
 
This topic has been beaten to death here. Do a search on old posts and you will find your answers.
 
USB 2.0 is faster than firewire.

...just adding some fuel, not making a real argument :)

Slackmaster 2000
 
Slackmaster2K said:
USB 2.0 is faster than firewire.

...just adding some fuel, not making a real argument :)

Slackmaster 2000
Click to expand...


Hehehe :)

On paper maybe. I've read reports where the actual throughput for USB 2 is around 200-300Mbits/sec. That still falls short of its 480Mbit/sec claims which are only achievable under certain circumstances depending on hardware used.
 
I use a 428 and I don't have any problem with usb. But your limited to 2 track recording with it so...
 
limited to 2 track recording on the 428? I thought it went four at a time?
 
Short answer - Firewire is MUCH faster than USB 1

On paper, Firewire is slower than USB 2.0. In practice, there isn't enough USB 2.0 hardware out yet to judge the difference.

Also if you are a Mac user in a Mac world, you want Firewire. It's become a Mac standard. USB will probably remain the PC standard.
 
The US-428 can do 4 tracks at a time. The cubasis version that comes with the us-428 only allows two at a time but once you upgrade to some real software, like nuendo or cubase, you can utilize all four inputs.
 
I've had a MOTU 828 and 896 (both firewire) doing 8 tracks at a time each and no problems...on a mac.

H2H
 
Digital Horseshoe said:
The US-428 can do 4 tracks at a time. The cubasis version that comes with the us-428 only allows two at a time but once you upgrade to some real software, like nuendo or cubase, you can utilize all four inputs.
Click to expand...

Ok, four tracks, but at what setting? I doubt you are working in 24/96.
 
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