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firewire vs usb

P

Phat Ham

Feb 13, 2000
2,465
7
#1
I'm about to buy a new laptop, and will soon be buying something along the lines of an mbox to go along with it. The idea is to have a system that is compatible with my guitar player's mbox 2 pro setup so that he can record something, dump it to an external HDD, give it to me, and I can record my part. I was planning on getting a macbook, but the new ones don't have a firewire port.

From what I've read USB should be fast enough if I'm only recording one part at a time. Is this correct? Is there any latency at all? Is there any advantage to firewire if I'm only recording 1 track at a time?

The other issue is the external hard drive. If I want to run this setup directly off an external hard drive will USB be fast enough? Will firewire be fast enough? Or would I have to dump everything onto my machine's internal drive before I start recording?
 
#2
Firewire, aka IEEE1394, has two versions: a and b. 1394a has a max data rate of 400Mbps. A newer verison, IEEE1394b, has a max data rate of 800Mbps; though it's difficult to find 1394b. I think apple uses it mainly.

I'm surprised a mac product doesn't have a 1394 port.

USB 2.0 (high speed) has max data rate of 480Mbps.

USB should be fine.
 
#5
USB is faster unless you have multiple usb devices plugged into the same USB hub. It doesn't really make a difference unless you have a lot of USB stuff plugged in.

My laptop has 2 hubs, so I have a wireless mouse plugged into one, and my Line 6 Gearbox in the other.
 
#6
For recording one part at a time USB 2.0 is more than adequate. Firewire is faster in real life, but you don't need it to record one channel.

I have never had good luck recording to an external hard drive via firewire OR USB. I recommend doing everything on your internal hard drive and then export it to the external drive when you finish your session. Then import it from the external drive when you want to start up a session, etc. Yeah, it's a pain...
 
#7
scottbass said:
For recording one part at a time USB 2.0 is more than adequate. Firewire is faster in real life, but you don't need it to record one channel.

I have never had good luck recording to an external hard drive via firewire OR USB. I recommend doing everything on your internal hard drive and then export it to the external drive when you finish your session. Then import it from the external drive when you want to start up a session, etc. Yeah, it's a pain...
Click to expand...

I second that statement.
 
#8
I have a Mac from the last generation. It has firewire. I was also surprised to see the new one did not. The new macbook Pro does have firewire.

If price is an issue, perhaps you could by a refurbished macbook or Macbook pro. Would be cheaper.
 
#9
7thbass said:
I have a Mac from the last generation. It has firewire. I was also surprised to see the new one did not. The new macbook Pro does have firewire.

If price is an issue, perhaps you could by a refurbished macbook or Macbook pro. Would be cheaper.
Click to expand...
yeah i'm thinking about it. The refurbished macbook pros have FW400 and FW800, 15" display, and are in the same price range as the new macbooks. Slower bus speed and RAM though. I'm stopping by an apple store tonight to see what the new touchpad thing, keyboard, and LED displays are like.
 
#13
Phat Ham said:
firewire 400 (IEEE 1394a) may look slower on paper but in reality it has much higher sustained throughput due to the different architectures of the systems.
Click to expand...

+++1 USB on paper has a faster burst rate but FireWire is much, much more consistent. If you new laptop is firewire capable, I would look into the Presonus "FireBox". Small foot print, good price and Uber clean for the $$$ :)
 
#14
skb5string said:
+++1 USB on paper has a faster burst rate but FireWire is much, much more consistent. If you new laptop is firewire capable, I would look into the Presonus "FireBox". Small foot print, good price and Uber clean for the $$$ :)
Click to expand...
my guitar player already has a Pro Tools setup and I'd like my setup to be compatible with his. That means I'm limited to the MBox and Digi stuff right?
 
#18
skb5string said:
+++1 USB on paper has a faster burst rate but FireWire is much, much more consistent. If you new laptop is firewire capable, I would look into the Presonus "FireBox". Small foot print, good price and Uber clean for the $$$ :)
Click to expand...

i have a new generation of the firepod and it is totally worth it. night and day difference between the presonus and the USB unit i used before. i still have my USB interface because it's super portable and works fine for saving an idea or basic noodling, but i boot up the firewire when i'm really feeling the mojo.
 
#19
7thbass said:
I have a Mac from the last generation. It has firewire. I was also surprised to see the new one did not. The new macbook Pro does have firewire.

If price is an issue, perhaps you could by a refurbished macbook or Macbook pro. Would be cheaper.
Click to expand...

+1.
The newer Pro line has firewire.
I have an older 12" Powerbook and an Alesis io|26 firewire setup which gives you 8 ins but it doesn't run Protools. You can aparently open Protools files in (Apple) Logic- don't think it works the other way though.
 
#20
Vin_MM_Sabre_79 said:
+1.
The newer Pro line has firewire.
I have an older 12" Powerbook and an Alesis io|26 firewire setup which gives you 8 ins but it doesn't run Protools. You can aparently open Protools files in (Apple) Logic- don't think it works the other way though.
Click to expand...

Pro Tools requires Digi or M-Audio gear to be connected to work. Logic doesn't read Pro Tools other that importing the Wav files PT generates, but none of the project info comes over.
 

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