PCI / Firewire Debate

[justabob]

I do have a question if any one would like to bash me. yes im the new guy. pci is so very much faster than fire wire. having been using a pci system i worry if upgrading to the newer firestudio type system have the umpff needed to get the job done as well

[attunement]

Justabob, I had the same concern that you did. But as I researched it what I found that firewire apparently is more than up to task in terms of receiving whatever audio production can throw at it.

When I was researching audio interfaces I was surprised that PCI seems to be going out of vogue and everything is firewire these days. Apparently that's because it's easier to just plug something into a slot than to open the box and insert a new PCI card (just guessing.) And also because firewire has the throughput required. So ... that's what I've learned through my research anyway. So now I don't go out of my way to avoid firewire in preference of PCI the way I used to.

[robgb]

Originally Posted by justabob

I do have a question if any one would like to bash me. yes im the new guy. pci is so very much faster than fire wire. having been using a pci system i worry if upgrading to the newer firestudio type system have the umpff needed to get the job done as well

I'd stick with PCI, if I were you. The only reason I switched to firewire myself is because I switched from PC to Mac, and my Mini Mac requires an external firewire soundcard to get good sound. You can buy Macs, of course, that allow for PCI cards, but they cost an arm and a leg.

I found, however, that having Logic as my main DAW (after using Cubase/Nuendo and Sonar), is well worth the trade-off. Logic is by far the best DAW I've ever had the pleasure to work with.

[Money Shot]

Mac developed the firewire. Even tho I use pc, I decided to go with firewire before I even bought an interface. It's fast, the cards are affordable and easy to install and it just seemed like the right thing to do. I think I heard a rumor about usb interfaces becoming more popular as they progress in usb technology. I dunno tho. PCI? I dunno about that either.

[brandondrury]

I guess we need to define "umpff" in this case. I really don't know what you mean.

You mention that PCI is faster than Firewire (assuming you mean in terms of bandwidth and not necessarily latency). Maybe you are right. The Presonus Firestudio is capable of 26 simulateneous ins and 26 simultaenous outs at 44.1Khz. I've never used more than 20 simultaneous inputs. Is this the "umpff" you are talking about?

If it is, I'd say that Firewire and PCI are more than adequate.

Brandon

[brandondrury]

When I was researching audio interfaces I was surprised that PCI seems to be going out of vogue and everything is firewire these days. Apparently that's because it's easier to just plug something into a slot than to open the box and insert a new PCI card (just guessing.)

That's probably part of it. I'd say the ability to work with laptops is the big one though.

Brandon

[bronson]

Hi
I too am in the market for a new audio interface. probably a Motu 828 mk3(firewire) or a Rme Multiface(pci)
I've only ever used pci cards and never had any problems.
Although I am quite sure that most of the firewire interfaces are quite capable of handling the audio side of things, I am a bit concerned about the latency, when it comes to playing soft synths with a midi keyboard.
With my current pci card I can get the latency down to 1.088ms which is excellent but unusable after a few tracks are laid down and a few plugins used, so I normally jump up a couple of notches and use a latency of 2.902ms.
The next jump up is to 5.805ms which is just about useable but you can just about hear the effect.
I have quite an up to date machine..intel quad 2.4 and....
and I seem to be rambling on here ............so..............

I guess my question is ...........What sort of latencies do firewire users have to work with.

cheers

[Money Shot]

I use my firebox at 6.0ms latency. It could prob. go lower but it works well that way. I have a usb 2.0 so I've considered using a midi controller through that. That's what I'll most likely end up doing.

[brandondrury]

What sort of latencies do firewire users have to work with.

The latency of Firewire is probably the same speed as that of PCI....HOWEVER........it's more complicated than that. Not all PCI cards are created equal. I used a pair of Delta 1010s for years. As new drivers came out, I found myself using faster and faster latency times without any CPU issues.

When I switched to my Presonus Firestudio, I couldn't get away with 96 samples without clicks and pops. I had to use 128 (which I think is just under 6ms). I can live with that.

So if you want to be sure that you can run with as low of latency as possible, you need to find an audio interface with mature drivers or that came with lower latency right out of the box. I know the RME stuff is supposed to be lower latency from the beginning. For me I didn't consider this worth paying double for, but some may.

[Money Shot]

WTF!?!? I just looked up an rme pci. It's so expensive. My firewire card was under 15 bucks.