external soundcard fw or usb?

[BloodStar]

hey guys,

i just ordered a new laptop, so now i am looking for some external soundcard. still not decided between fw and usb. heard plentz of people have troubles with fw connection stability, soundcard suddenly not recognized, etc.
usb should be more stable and it should have sufficient port capacity as the device i was looking for (emu 0404 usb) is usb 2.0.

dont need more output/inputs, will just use it for playing my live sets, so 1 stereo out, low latency, posibly 1 stereo in should be enough,. indeed d/a as good as possible.

what's your thoughs and what soundcard are you using?
cheers

[Izz]

Currently I use FW (korg zero 4) and find its fine, had the odd crash but nothing serious. Used a USB card before and it was absolutely gash (tascam). Stuttered to **** and was bareley useable. Mabye a more upmarket/expensive USB card would work better but for me FW is win.

[ritaheed]

a use a saffire 10 in/out firewire.... its kool with xp but its murder with ma laptop thts got vista on it - gonna get a firewire express card to see if it makes it more stable with the vista laptop.... if no vista's gettin scrappd for windows 7

[teknorich]

If you're getting an express card, you should make sure it's got Texas Instruments firewire:

http://www.startech.com/item/EC13942-2-Port-ExpressCard-IEEE-1394-Firewire-Card.aspx

Is supposed to be the best for audio, whereas Ricoh (Dell laptops) and Agere (some Macs) are not highly rated.

As for Windows 7, if you know anyone who's a student, then you can blag it for £30:

http://www.microsoft.com/uk/education/studentoffer/

A mate in work already did this, using one of the placement students mail adresses, and it was fine. MS send the download link and licence key to that student mail address (.ac.uk) but then obviously, once downloaded, there's nothing to stop you installing it, as nobody checks from then on if you really are a student or not. Am gonna do it myself in a couple of weeks B-)

[ritaheed]

If you're getting an express card, you should make sure it's got Texas Instruments firewire:

http://www.startech.com/item/EC13942-2-Port-ExpressCard-IEEE-1394-Firewire-Card.aspx

Is supposed to be the best for audio, whereas Ricoh (Dell laptops) and Agere (some Macs) are not highly rated.

As for Windows 7, if you know anyone who's a student, then you can blag it for £30:

http://www.microsoft.com/uk/education/studentoffer/

A mate in work already did this, using one of the placement students mail adresses, and it was fine. MS send the download link and licence key to that student mail address (.ac.uk) but then obviously, once downloaded, there's nothing to stop you installing it, as nobody checks from then on if you really are a student or not. Am gonna do it myself in a couple of weeks B-)

mate the card a was gna go for was this http://www.siig.com/ViewProduct.aspx?pn=NN-EC2012-S1

this was the one recomended by focusrite on there website - dunno if this has got tecas instruments firewire tho??

cheers for the heads up with windows 7, am a student so gna get tht this weekend :)

[Jay Pace]

I've got a firewire external (final scratch 2) which got stroppy about being connected via firewire. Cuts out and needs to be reinitialised, which is a pain in the arse.

[herman]

I use one of these for gigging with http://www.mackie.com/products/satellite/index.html only use the breakout part the base unit is in a box somewhere anyway it works pretty solidly for me with a Macbook

[teknorich]

@ Ritaheed - That Siig card does have the Texas Instruments Firewire chipset. Check the specifications tab, and you'll see "Chipset: Ti XIO2200"

As for Windows 7, the download version is £30, but from what I've heard it can be a pain in the ass to install (have to make bootable pen drive etc). On the same offer, you can buy it on disc from Microsoft for £39, which is what I'm gonna go for. Is only £9 extra, but it is a standard, bootable disc, so it's a normal, easy install. Either way, when the RRP is like £150, it's worth it!

[BloodStar]

cheers guys. my mate were using express card with his laptop, and it was all just bad joke. problems all the time, even card had TI chip on it. problem was express card port is not too tight, so after few months of using it started to move, which were causing connectitvity issues,. horrible sloution, tbh.

the vaio i am buying has Win7 already preinstalled. will check if all works fine, if not i install win xp again,.

still not fully decided which way to go if FW or USB. gonna throw a coin :)

[ritaheed]

@ Ritaheed - That Siig card does have the Texas Instruments Firewire chipset. Check the specifications tab, and you'll see "Chipset: Ti XIO2200"

As for Windows 7, the download version is £30, but from what I've heard it can be a pain in the ass to install (have to make bootable pen drive etc). On the same offer, you can buy it on disc from Microsoft for £39, which is what I'm gonna go for. Is only £9 extra, but it is a standard, bootable disc, so it's a normal, easy install. Either way, when the RRP is like £150, it's worth it!

thanks man for the info :)

do you think my soundcard will run fine with windows 7 or do you know if you need to wait for an update?

vista is just terrible with my soundcard

[teknorich]

My soundcard is USB, rather than firewire:

http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/mar07/articles/niaudiokontrol.htm

I know a couple of people who use 7, and they say it is as flashy as Vista, but as stable as XP, so you should be in luck. TBH, I still use XP myself, but will upgrade to 7 soon. Am just waiting a couple of months to see any issues come up, and to make sure all 3rd party drivers (midi controller etc) are sorted out.

[ritaheed]

My soundcard is USB, rather than firewire:

http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/mar07/articles/niaudiokontrol.htm

I know a couple of people who use 7, and they say it is as flashy as Vista, but as stable as XP, so you should be in luck. TBH, I still use XP myself, but will upgrade to 7 soon. Am just waiting a couple of months to see any issues come up, and to make sure all 3rd party drivers (midi controller etc) are sorted out.

sound mate

[ritaheed]

@ Ritaheed - That Siig card does have the Texas Instruments Firewire chipset. Check the specifications tab, and you'll see "Chipset: Ti XIO2200"

As for Windows 7, the download version is £30, but from what I've heard it can be a pain in the ass to install (have to make bootable pen drive etc). On the same offer, you can buy it on disc from Microsoft for £39, which is what I'm gonna go for. Is only £9 extra, but it is a standard, bootable disc, so it's a normal, easy install. Either way, when the RRP is like £150, it's worth it!

mate could you copy the link to buy the student disc, cant seem to find it

[teknorich]

No worries mate. You use the link I posted:


http://www.microsoft.com/uk/education/studentoffer/

then look for this section:

Windows 7 - What do I need to do?
1 - First, make sure your PC can run Windows 7 with the Windows Upgrade Advisor.
2 - Go here and validate your email address.
.
.

You click on the word "here" and then you'll be prompted to enter your student mail address. They then mail you a link to the shop, where you can buy it. They're just trying to lock it down and make sure only students use the offer, by making it a "hidden" link which they only provide to the student mail address.

R.

[ritaheed]

cheers man :)

[tonyc2002]

@ Ritaheed - That Siig card does have the Texas Instruments Firewire chipset. Check the specifications tab, and you'll see "Chipset: Ti XIO2200"

As for Windows 7, the download version is £30, but from what I've heard it can be a pain in the ass to install (have to make bootable pen drive etc). On the same offer, you can buy it on disc from Microsoft for £39, which is what I'm gonna go for. Is only £9 extra, but it is a standard, bootable disc, so it's a normal, easy install. Either way, when the RRP is like £150, it's worth it!


Mate cheers for this, I just bagged myself a copy of Win 7 Professional for £40!

Awesome! :biggrin:

[teknorich]

Yeah, I'm gonna go for the pro version too. £40 is fine by me! Quality offer! :yup:

[BloodStar]

http://www.rme-audio.de/en_products_fireface_400.php

sorted :-)

[aNaLpLeAsEr]

Windows 7 for music production this early on?