Usb

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Fefiks

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What do you think about recording with USB devices into the computer? (such as Tascam US-428, Roland UA-30/100)
 
It's handy but you got a fairly limiten throughput, i.e. number of channels.
 
Two channels of audio, four tops (one of those devices claims it can pipe four simultaneously). It's also somewhat likely that if you're piping audio and MIDI through the USB port at the same time you'll have MIDI timing problems.
 
My friend has one of those USB units..nothing but trouble when you try to use the midi at the same time..BUT as always, YMMV.
 
Excuse my english ametth, but What do you mean with YMMV????
 
Waht does YMMV mean?....

A) "Your milage may vary"
B) "You mild mannered varment"
C) "Your mildly mis-alligned vagina"
D) "Your mistress misuses vibrators"

Regis, can I phone a friend....
 
OK... thank you for being that educational!!!!! It's allways usefull knowing this kind of very interesting things!!!!!!
 
Be aware also that USB carries with it a significan't overhead for sending each byte that does not exist for older interfaces like a serial or parallel port. I've only measured USB performance against serial in one case, but serial MIDI performance was significantly more accurate and faster than USB. Given the choice I'd advise people to use serial or parallel ports over USB for MIDI, at least for the near future. If you don't have a choice then get a reall fast CPU that can blast through all that extra code faster.

For Audio... I shudder to even think...

USB has the potential to have very fast, very accurate audio. It's designed for it. But I have little faith in companies actually using those features properly that are needed to make audio fast and accurate. As usual USB is really cool technology, but is so feature laden and multi purpose that it is uncommon to find an implementation that is as fast as a dedcated PCI device, serial port, or parallel port. Also as usual, ignore the marketing hype newer is not always better (at last not at first).
 
i agree i'm having trouble with USB and MIDI as we speak

creature
 
Great for laptops

I do my home recording on a laptop PC (of all things.) I bought it while my 4-track was still working, so I didn't bother to look for serious audio options that I couldn't afford anyway. When the old 4-track bit the dust I realized the laptop could do 15 or so tracks with snazzy DSP...

USB to the rescue! The laptop works REALLY well for me, but only has a mono input. USB is the only inexpensive option I have since all the PCMCIA cards I found were too pricey for me.

I went with a Tascam US-428 and I'm pretty happy with it. Its a pretty good way to get 4 inputs to a laptop. That makes 6 audio channels- 4 in, 2 out - at the same time. Seems to work OK, but I don't often use more than 2 inputs. Sounds good to me, but I don't have tons of experience with other stuff to compare it with.

I can also play around with mixing my tunes on the plane... ;) And play rough mixes for friends with better ears wherever I am. And my computer is quiter and easier to muffle.

(There's gotta be some perks to laptops)

Take care,
Chris
 
I'm in the process of moving my recording setup to my laptop as well. My laptop has no midi input so I have NO CHOICE but to use usb. I have a Midiman 2x2 usb box. I just downloaded the latest drivers for it, and it seems to work pretty well.

I also found something called a USBPre that's a usb Mic preamp with phantom power, and is bus-powered, and can also be used as a soundcard as well. I'm also considering the US-428 for my mixing needs as well.
 
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