FireWire versus other audio interfaces

[SammyJames]

Hey guys:

I've narrowed my search down considerably. I've already purchased an Edirol PCR 500, which is on its way to me as we speak. I'm also strongly considering purchasing a MacBook Pro, probably the 15", and with the 2 Gigs of Ram and the 2.2 Core2Duo.

Now for the hard part -- I wish that I could afford to buy an Apogee system, but I can't afford that at all. So, what I am wondering is this: I will be using my Mac to sequence a bunch of soft-synths. Is there anyone on this board who has experience doing this? Remember that I will not be using ANY external synths -- only what comes out of Cubase, kontakt 2, and whatever other synths I can dig up.

I'm looking at the PreSonus FireBox, and the MOTU UltraLite. The latter is nice, but too expensive for me, and has too many ins and outs. I need a really super-basic interface -- it doesn't even need MIDI (remember, I'll have the Edirol which will run directly into the Mac using USB).

I don't need a ton of inputs and outputs -- I need a high-quality and vERY fast interface. If I can get away with using the headphone outs on the Mac, fine. But I need to know whether this will work, or whether I'll be yearning for low-latency-land.

Thanks.

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[SammyJames]

According to THEIR web site, the FireBox won't run on bus power from the FireWire port on a MacBook Pro. It is a strange coincidence, given that I was really looking at this product. Oh, well. It's funny, because in the literature on their site, they say that if you "plug the FireBox in using the adapter" and "then remove the adapter once the MacBook Pro is up and running," THEN you can use the FireBox without the adapter.

Who in the hell has time and patience for THAT finagly bunch of hooey? I sure don't.

- Sammy

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[Artemiy]

Hello Sammy!

I'd suggest you first check out if you're happy with the latency of the internal sound card. With that 2.2 GHz 64-bit CPU, CoreAudio should be able to work at 96 KHz and get you down to 7-8 ms which is acceptable in most situations.

Regarding the bus-powered interfaces, I'd heavily suggest you get only this type, extra wires are so uninspiring Presonus might have not worked much on their power supply and it requires some extra on power up. Macs typically give 8 to 12 Wt for the FW ports, and most interfaces I know can be powered from there. Check out Focusrite Saffire LE, Edirol FA-66.

[SammyJames]

Yeah, man. I am looking hard at the Edirol. That one looks really nice, and yes, you can power it from the FW port. (The PreSonus is supposed to be able to do the same thing -- according to their web site, this is a fault of their own unit, which apparently has some hardware bug. I mean, jeez! I just kinda have a problem thinking about that. It seems like the last thing in the world that most people would want would be yet another cable to contend with...)

And as far as the latency thing goes, I hate to keep on sounding like Sammy's Broken Record, but I just can't deal with anything over about 2-3 ms. Magic Dave at MOTU wrote me, saying that the UltraLite can do about 3ms, so that one might be good. He also explained that most FireWire interfaces are about the same, because it is the software and drivers (and OS) that determine the real latency. So... maybe this whole system will work okay.

I'm pretty sure that a lot of you will be baffled as to why I need such low latency. Maybe if you ever saw me actually PLAY, then you might understand. I'm not THAT good...

But I'm PRETTY good.



- Sammy

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[Artemiy]

[SammyJames]

Hey, Artemio -- I am getting that Edirol PCR 500. You were the first person to turn me on to that piece. I really love it -- I think that it is the best in its class. I'm looking forward to the AutoMap feature too, which is by all accounts a lot like the Novation units that do the same thing. The difference is that the Novation ReMote or whatever it is costs like about TWICE what the Edirol thing costs, and I don't understand why. Maybe Novation thinks that they can charge 600 bucks for a non-synthesizer controller keyboard, which looks ugly as sin too. Or maybe they have all had brain aneurysms. It is possible.



Take it easy.

- Sammy

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