On 04/19/2014 07:59 AM, Jonathan E Brickman wrote:
Thanks! Do you know of any good such devices which are not very
pricey? I
found a few out there after reading your post, but they seemed all to
be in
the high-port-count and higher-cost ranges.
Cheapest Audio plus midi has got to be the old ens1370 based cards...
free if you can find it. Best 16 bit sound for the price. If you don't
have a pci slot, then the next price range is going to be USB
devices... because most new systems don't have a FW plug, so an
adaptor is required. Also, USB covers more people's systems so scale
brings prices lower too. USB midi ports can be had for less than $30.
And of course there are lots of USB audio solutions out there
including built right into the mic stuff, again under $100. USB audio
is much more picky about system tuning for low latency.
Assuming you already have a FW port, it is a better solution than USB,
but even a 2+2+midi FW unit will cost more than the USB 2+2+midi unit.
The Focusrite line starts with the pro 14 at $260. They call it 8in
and 6 out, but I only see 6 physical inputs (and two of those are
s/pdif i/o so only 4 i/o for analog) at $260... yet they sell the 2i2
for usb for $150 or so. Presonus is the same, their "Firestudio
mobile" is similar features and price to the pro 14 and the price
matches too. (just note that it seems to need breakout cables to get
at all the ports... including MIDI) Their audiobox USB (2+2+midi) can
be had for $140.
So, yes FW costs more, but works better/easier. In the end you have to
decide how important moneywise these things are to you. The presonus
USB has been very good and stable... except in USB3 ports on Intel
USB3 ports which are... broken at least for low latency audio (Intel
agrees).
That helps a lot. Had not heard that USB3 was broken for low-latency
audio, I'll have to remember that. The reason I'm suddenly interested
in Firewire though, is something I read recently: 6-pin Firewire ports
are generally rated for 50,000 insertions, which is literally five times
the very best of the USB1 or USB2 standards (the best USB is,
interestingly, microUSB, at 10,000). I have been wearing out USB-A
ports and cable ends at a disturbing rate on this mobile rig, and on a
hunch checked Firewire ratings, and remain quite shocked.
Hmmm. My previous laptop lasted almost 10 years. I took it back and
forth with me to work, where it sat playing music for me. So the USB
connections were being plugged and unplugged at least 3x a day, 5 days a
week. 6 days a week when I started using it to record our church
services. The connectors and cables lasted fine the whole time.
They outlasted the motherboard power connector!
--
David W. Jones
gnome@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
authenticity, honesty, community
http://dancingtreefrog.com
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