• SONAR
  • I want a new interface > Where should I shop? (p.3)
2012/11/25 22:17:54
vmw
My advice if you are going for an external interface is to try to find a unit that supports USB3. The reason being is many new motherboards don't support firewire 400/800 and while PCI firewire cards can be found the motherboards want PCIe. PCIe can be found but are much thinner on the ground and if you have SLI dual graphics cards then that can limit physically and electronically, which slots are available on the motherboard. USB3 is fast and may help future proof your interface at least for a generation or two of common standards for motherboards.
2012/11/26 00:11:04
SuperG
vmw


My advice if you are going for an external interface is to try to find a unit that supports USB3. The reason being is many new motherboards don't support firewire 400/800 and while PCI firewire cards can be found the motherboards want PCIe. PCIe can be found but are much thinner on the ground and if you have SLI dual graphics cards then that can limit physically and electronically, which slots are available on the motherboard. USB3 is fast and may help future proof your interface at least for a generation or two of common standards for motherboards.

There's a bit of a chicken-and-egg thing going on with audio interfaces. Firewire used to be considered more of a purists interface, with some interface models having slightly better features (i.e. higher bit depth and sample rates) than some of the USB models. That's no longer necessarily true, but you'll notice there hasn't been any new products in a while. Manufacturers are cleaning (profit-wise) up using the older USB 2.0 chipsets, so there's a dearth of USB 3.0 audio interfaces. Also, the USB 3.0 interfaces might eat into profits from their higher-dollar PCIe-plus-external box products since they have similar capacities.

Me? I wanna TC Electronics Desktop Konnekt 6 (built-in reverb on monitor solves a lot of recording latency issues), Presonus Audiobox VSL runs a close second...

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There's no excuse for the Yamaha Audiogram & USB 1.1...
2012/11/26 20:12:01
gswitz
I found a good deal on the web...

http://www.juno.co.uk/products/rme-fireface-ucx-audio-midi-interface/445883-01/

My local mom and pop shop said they couldn't order from RME, but my Guitar Center brick and mortar ordered it for me at this price plus the cost of shipping and tax.

Did the best I could. Thanks for your help, everyone!
2012/11/26 21:27:21
SuperG
gswitz


I found a good deal on the web...

http://www.juno.co.uk/products/rme-fireface-ucx-audio-midi-interface/445883-01/

My local mom and pop shop said they couldn't order from RME, but my Guitar Center brick and mortar ordered it for me at this price plus the cost of shipping and tax.

Did the best I could. Thanks for your help, everyone!

Very nice. RME is top-of-the-line!
2012/11/27 21:52:45
Maarkr
I just updated my system and there are plenty of mobos out there with firewire, so I stuck with my firewire interface.  You may have to pay a bit more.  Bitflipper told me on a post a while back (sic) "USB 3 has not real advantages over USB 2 as far as audio capability."

2012/11/28 20:29:07
vmw
SuperG
Me? I wanna TC Electronics Desktop Konnekt 6 (built-in reverb on monitor solves a lot of recording latency issues), Presonus Audiobox VSL runs a close second...

 
I am running a TC 24D Konnekt, which is the reason I came across the firewire problem when I got a new PC.
2012/11/28 20:45:32
vmw
I just updated my system and there are plenty of mobos out there with firewire, so I stuck with my firewire interface. You may have to pay a bit more. Bitflipper told me on a post a while back (sic) "USB 3 has not real advantages over USB 2 as far as audio capability."

 
I went for a motherboard that had external eSATA and USB 3 & 2. The eSATA for my external drives. The USB3 is fast, when getting raw files 70+mb from the Nikon D800 which supports USB3, it is breath takingly fast. The motherboard is
http://www.gigabyte.com/products/product-page.aspx?pid=4050#ov
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