USB vs Firewire

  • Thread starter Thread starter 47ronin
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47ronin

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Im thinking of going with a Mac laptop set up for recording. Which do you think is better, a USB or Firewire interface. My needs are fairly simple. I do most of the tracks in reason and just a couple audio tracks. The firewire stuff looks more expensive and i am wondering if it is worth the extra cash...

thanks

47 ronin
 
47ronin said:
Im thinking of going with a Mac laptop set up for recording. Which do you think is better, a USB or Firewire interface. My needs are fairly simple. I do most of the tracks in reason and just a couple audio tracks. The firewire stuff looks more expensive and i am wondering if it is worth the extra cash...

thanks

47 ronin
Click to expand...

This topic has been beaten to death here. Do a search on old posts.

USB - 12Mbits/sec
Firewire - 400Mbits/sec

You do the math.
 
when you say usb, i assume you mean usb 1.0

but, usb 2.0 is actually faster than firewire, 480mb/s

if it doesnt specifically say usb 2.0 on what your looking to buy, than you can safely assume its the older, slower usb 1.0

Eric
 
Hi Ronin,

If you are just going to be recording a few tracks of audio, then a USB interface will probably fill your needs just fine. I recorded for a couple years with a Tascam US-428 and never ran out of power with it. I'd build up songs with 20-30 tracks, but never needed to record more than 4 tracks at once, so it worked fine.

I now have a firewire interface and can record up to 18 tracks at once, if needed. The most I've needed so far was 6- but I still couldn't have made the session with the USB device. I have other plans, as well, that will eat up 16 tracks at a time, so it was worth the extra money for the firewire.

If you don't need the extra bandwidth offered by firewire, why pay for it? If you don't see yourself recording more than 4 tracks at once for a while, save the money and go with a USB interface.

Take care,
Chris
 
The Mac USB spec is still at 1.0.

I use a mac with the MBox (USB) and it allows for 2-in/2-out.

Also, if you're gonna use a laptop, chances are it's not going to have enough power to handle a firewire interface. There aren't any outboard process handling options available, so you simply won't be able to make use of the number of simultaneous tracks it'll offer you.
 
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