Advice on interface dilemma!! USB or Firewire.

Hey guys. Hoping for some more of your informed opinions.
 
I know this subject has come up many times before, but I want to upgrade my interface, after going through four already!!
 
The main reason is because I want a couple more inputs, but also, ever since I started with this world, interfaces, and USB, have given me lots of grief. The first interface, an M-audio fast track, when I made my brief escape from Cake to Protools, simply failed. Of course, for ages, I thought I was doing stuff wrong, and spent lots of wasted hours 'fixing' my computer. But the interface had a problem. Bought another M-audio. The mobilePre. Which was pretty good. And I went back to Cake, upgrading to X2. Got me up and running, but still with many latency and conflict issues. Bought a Mackie Onyx. Great, once I got it it working OK. Shifted to X3 and in particular, Win 8, and lots more compatibility issues. There's lots of info floating around re their driver issues, but I took a chance, with mixed results. My latest is the Focusrite 2i2, which has been great, mostly!!! It simply doesn't have enough parameter control, plus like I said, I now want a least 3 inputs, so it needs to go.
 
So what I would like is some advice on is the age old USB / Firewire debate.
 
It seems to me that if I go firewire, I may eliminate some of the problems that are always there, which are USB conflicts. My present motherboard, which is only new, has problems if I change things between the different board connections on the rear of the PC, and in particular, between the front USB 2.0, or 3.0 inputs on the front. To the point where the PC will not even recognise the interface. I have tried everything to fix these problems, and have workaround fixes in place, but continue to have problems, and I blame it on the MBO, and USB. I may yet change the MBO to something more common.
 
I am concerned of moving to Firewire, that I may just have the same issues, or different ones. Also concerned that if I buy a dedicated Firewire interface, and not one of the Firewire/USB combo units that are available, that I will get stuck.
 
I am looking at Focusrite's latest addition to their Firewire range, the Sapphire Pro 24, which has 4 preamps. Perfect.
 
Is Firewire still a direction to move in for the PC? I would very much appreciate any thoughts.
 
Cheers. Dave.  edit - sorry. just realised I posted this in the wrong section. My apologies.....

Firewire proper setup, is also dependent on Motherboards and chipsets/bios implementation of onboard devices...
 
As some of the older builds x58/x79 ,I had to setup, with the 1394 a/b pci or pcie-1x in MB slots...Issues were shared IRQs with something else on the board, or in Win 7 doing it as it likes to do......No matter the brand of 1394 cards installed, I always had issues trying to make them work correctly, because of that sharing problem.
 
I know nothing about...ECU H87 mobo?
 
So it is best to read the Mother board manual before buying in...if You can, if it states shared devices...??? check into it!!!... to help sort that IRQ perfect unshared slot out, for 1394a/b cards "best suited or tested with" the audio device ,  you select for the deed... and what is shared or not, "natively", by the MB should help you along with little problems resulting in setting it up right .
 
Perhaps someone Like Jim or Jcs could help you with that build, as they build firewire systems for Music..and are helping around the camp.
 
From my stand point Firewire is better, Than USB...As Windows 7 and up, have so many tasks and services running in the background, and like to share IRQs, there is always something interrupting the cpu!..I say 1394a/b can be tricky,..And as Karyn states/ cpu interruption can causes problems on the audio end of things../.in both camps!
 
And then there are the win tweaks...to solve for some of them.
 
My solution was to try the Thunderbolt 2 Port with firewire adapter..(had one small issue with audio device being dropped or not found in sonar x3e) recent latest Bios Update may have fixed, for now?..still testing....." I am in heaven!"...Just saying from my perspective.
 
No disrespect intended at all.
 
Best of luck, and Regards.

I had some initial issues with USB as well when I got my audio interface.  I installed a dedicated USB adapter and always connect my interface and midi keyboard to the same ports on that adapter.  It has worked flawlessly ever since.

I'm enjoying quality performance and sound from a firewire based TC Impact Twin. Very good purchase imho.

For me, USB interfaces have been idiot proof and I've owned/used many.

Firewire devices have been twitchy and unreliable for me on certain systems. You gotta be sure you FW chipset is one of those recommended by the interface mfg etc. and sometimes I've ended up spending extra money and calling on expertise to get things up and running if only barely (location recordings with other people's gear).

I retired my Focusrite Saffire Pro (FW) in favor of the little RME Babyface (USB) last year and have been very happy ever since.

Thanks Jim, and others.
 
My USB3 is integrated in the MBO chipset, but I dont use it for anything. I have added another interface to the front from the MBO for USB2, which is where I run my interface and midi controller from. If I run them from the rear direct off the MBO USB2, they are not active on boot, something I can't seem to fix. The only other USB devices are an external drive, and keyboard/mouse, wifi if I need it, but not usually plugged in. I did have a printer, but found the interface gave problems, so it's unplugged too. The MBO I have doesn't have the TI chipset, but the new MBO will have.
 
But a suggestion above, to add a USB2 card, might be worth considering. I will borrow one and see if that fixes my USB issues first. Then consider a MOTU interface or similiar.
 
Ok. More to consider. Thanks guys.

Another vote for using a dedicated PCI USB card here.

I 've found issues, especially dropouts at low latencies, with motherboard USB ports (on Intel chipsets). A dedicated USB2 card made those problems go away. Just remember to go through the Windows power schemes and make sure it isn't putting USB ports to sleep.

As for firewire, there are all kinds of issues reported with Windows. Chipset matters, and there can be problems with the firewire driver as well (is one that works for audio even included in Win8?). Where the new(ish) Thunderbolt i/o system with its claimed firewire compatability fits into things I don't know.

Audio interfaces generally don't like USB3 sockets and I've found issues connecting some MIDI over USB gear to them as well.

Thanks tlw. Yeh, not going to sleep, just doesn't wake up on startup. Then after that, occasional interupts, that either knock the driver out, or cause gliches. As I generally have no problems running things from the USB2 connector off the MBO, I assume that it's a physical hardware problem on the MBO with regards to the other USB2 ports on the MBO rear chassis, which are split into 2 groups. Don't know. I've spent a lot of time trying to solve it and have given up. We shall see!!!

I've had good results with both usb and firewire.  I look forward to dumping firewire in the future, but for now it allows me to record 16 tracks at once with profire 2626 and octane by M-audio.   I'm still waiting for the amazing usb3 interfaces that allow for 24 tracks to be simultaneously recorded.
 
Firewire has NOT been reliable on laptops for me.  I'm sure if I bought a laptop designed for audio, that would be remedied.  I've owned a handful of usb interfaces (mobile pre m-audio, ART tube duo thingy, zoom R16, etc)  All of them have worked pretty flawlessly once drivers were correct and sonar settings (wdm, asio, etc) set properly.  This goes for desktop and laptop.

I've used/use both Firewire and USB interfaces. Over time, USB's limitations became less of a problem, and Firewire's advantages became less relevant. Both can be touchy, for different reasons, so Jim's advice is well-taken.
 
However, regardless of theoretical performance issues, there are also practical considerations. Frankly, I think the issue of computer ports and audio is a mess. Firewire is fading; laptops often don't include Firewire any more. You're okay if there's Thunderbolt, but now you're dealing with TB-to-FW adapters. USB 2.0 is fine, but can be touchy (separate PCI card with ports has been my solution) and 3.0 has a lot of complexities - check out the RME web site for the hoops you have to jump through for reliable USB 3.0 operation. Thunderbolt looks promising, but is costly and hasn't really gained traction.
 
USB interfaces outsell Firewire ones by a wide margin, similarly to how VHS outsold Beta and we know how that ended up. So I think the odds of having an interface that works with more computers goes to USB. But, Firewire isn't going away any time soon so if your computer supports it or you have a Thunderbolt interface, in theory a Firewire interface won't become a doorstop for quite some time.
 
So really, I think the bottom line is they both can work fine, but whether they do or not depends on your specific computer.

The MIDI issues I've found with USB3 ports is that my Dark Time is only picked up properly by Windows about half the time. Which I guess may be down to Doepfer rather than the USB port.

I've also an M Audio midisport that simply wouldn't work remotely reliably on a USB3 port under Win 7. Though that's the least of its problems, unless you like your sysex and NRPNs scrambled beyond recognition. Anyway, there's no Win8 driver for it so it's no longer in use. Lesson learned? Avoid M Audio.

Havn't been on here for a few days, so thanks for all the help. I've got a USB PCI card coming, probably today, and will fit that and see if it fixes some issues. If so, I will stick to USB and get an interface that fits my requirements, which have suddently gone up in complexity!! 4 inputs at least now, provision for seperate phantom powering of at least two of the inputs, and a new multicore/rewire of my sound booth, plus another two pre's. Back to net surfing!!!!! Does it ever end lol!!