makepeace
hi guys,
have recently been messing around with my cheap usb guitar link interface and reaper, guitar rig etc. i have eventually decided that its not worth it doing it like that, and i'm going to be looking for an interface pretty soon.
a couple of things:
i am running an HP compaq 6715b. its a decent machine; 2gb ram, amd turion64 x2 and i plan to upgrade the ram soon to 2x 2gb. it has 4 usb ports and 1 4 pin firewire port. first question: based on a firewire interface i will likely buy, is there any difference between the 4 pin and 6 pin firewire? ie, would anything that requires a 6 pin plug be adaptable to plug into my mini firewire 4 pin port? or are there disadvantages to doing this?
secondly, how does firewire compare to USB?
interfaces i have had a quick look at are the focusrite saffire 6 usb, focusrite saffire pro 14 firewire, presonus firebox, m audio firewire 1814. i also found a tapco link firewire 4x6 by mackie for super cheap, does anyone know anything about these?
any other ideas? i'd primarily like to record guitar through my amp at the moment, but anything goes for the future.
thanks!
greetings
I'm not too sure about 4 pin vs 6 pin Firewire, but I can advise you on Firewire vs USB.
Firstly, Firewire is slowly on its way out, but interface manufacturers seem to have stuck with it, and it is reliable. Secondly, don't get USB 1.1. I would probably get a Firewire interface if it has 8 preamps (now), but for a simple 2 preamp interface, USB 2.0 is more the enough. Also, USB 3.0 is coming into play and that is even faster than Firewire, so if it were me I would stick with USB in the long run, but Firewire still rules the stuff with lots of inputs (until USB 3.0 begins to be implemented).
makepeace
Thanks for the response Mr Frodo. I think I understand your point of view re USB vs Firewire concerning the number of preamps etc, and that USB 2 would be more than enough for a 2 pre, but seeing as these units are all in a similar price range, and the existence of USB 3 is not really relevant as this support will not be available to USB 2 units, if Firewire is better than USB 2 right now, would it not be the more attractive option? As I see it, it's not as if anything is likely to change for me in the future to make a USB 2 unit more attractive in the long run, or am I mistaken?
greetings
Well, USB 3.0 is backwards compatible with USB 2.0, so (from what I've read) a USB 2.0 device plugged into a USB 3.0 port will operate at USB 3.0 speed. That's the benefit.
Gearhead
If you buy a USB2.0 device now, it probably won't ever work faster than it does now. Plus, it will not have to since it works already. The upside is that you can get a computer 10 years from now, plug it into the USB4.1 port and it will still work. The firewire interface though, will in all likelihood not exist on that machine.
makepeace
Sweet, geddit. But now, suppose that I will use this thing for a couple of years, and throw it in the trash, sell it for peanuts later when I upgrade, which I most likely will.. Firewire? I like the look of that Focusrite pro 14.
MikeM
I'd go USB. Just in case you end up wanting to record in a school hall or something like that, you can plug it into any PC.
greetings
No... Go for the Focusrite Scarlett range. Only two mic pre's, it doesn't matter.
