****a real quick Question about SOUND CARDS ***

[SixReasons]

Ok people I'm not to familiar with sound cards and specs.. I had my mind set on one the bam!! Another one came out.. I just need to know which one is the best and why.. First let me start off by saying.. I'll be using this on a PC looking to just do vocals maybe something in the future…. I MUST have protools!! M-powered or regular it don’t matter… and it must be USB or 1394 compatible which both of the 2 devices listed below are.. I just need to know pound for pound which is best…

And also is it true that if you have a Mbox you cant use it as you regular computer sound card? You can only use it when using Protools???

Here are the 2 devices

FIREWIRE410 By M-audio http://www.m-audio.com/products/en_us/FireWire410-focus.html

Or
The M-Box 2 by digidesign http://www.digidesign.com/index.cfm?body=/news/details.cfm@@story_id=3592&localonly=N

I know they are the same company I just need to know which hard ware is better.. I'm not worried about software I can upgrade that at any time..

 

[50 cal]

i would get the fw 410, because for one it's cheaper and since it's firewire it'll handle audio better than usb. i think the m box 2 is like 500 and you could get the fw 410 for 300, 260 if your a student at academicsuperstore.com

 

[SixReasons]

I'm not worried about the price I can afford either one I just want to know which is best

 

[eXampuL_oNe]

I don't really know.. FireWire410 just sounds cooler than Mbox so I voted for that one..

 

[Scholar]

yea just go with any M-audio products they are good shit.plus it has Pro tools for it as well so Knock your self out!!!

 

[classic]

I have had the firwire 410 for almost 2 years now, its a much better option. Better converters, more IN's and OUT's and i like firwire more then USB. Also it has 2 preamps. I think is a far superior soundcard...

 

[SixReasons]

look at the mbox2 dont it look like its made by m-audio lol look at the back

 

[bigdmakintrax]

Firewire hands down no questions dawg.

and as always I got some info that might back that right up done in a lab level test


FireWire vs. USB 2.0
Question: Which is faster Hi-Speed USB 2.0 or FireWire?
Answer: In sustained throughput FireWire is faster than USB 2.0.

Question: If Hi-Speed USB 2.0 is a 480 Mbps interface and FireWire is a 400 Mbps interface, how can FireWire be faster?
Answer: Differences in the architecture of the two interfaces have a huge impact on the sustained throughput.


FireWire vs. USB 2.0 - Architecture
FireWire, uses a "Peer-to-Peer" architecture in which the peripherals are intelligent and can negotiate bus conflicts to determine which device can best control a data transfer


Hi-Speed USB 2.0 uses a "Master-Slave" architecture in which the computer handles all arbitration functions and dictates data flow to, from and between the attached peripherals (adding additional system overhead and resulting in slower data flow control)

FireWire vs. USB 2.0 Hard Drive Performance Comparison
Read and write tests to the same IDE hard drive connected using FireWire and then Hi-Speed USB 2.0 show:

Read Test:
5000 files (300 MB total) FireWire was 33% faster than USB 2.0
160 files (650MB total) FireWire was 70% faster than USB 2.0

Write Test:
5000 files (300 MB total) FireWire was 16% faster than USB 2.0
160 files (650MB total) FireWire was 48% faster than USB 2.0

Question: So which products should I choose FireWire or Hi-Speed USB 2.0?
Answer: Often the choice will be made for you by the product itself. Some types of products are only available with the FireWire interface and some only with USB.

For all out sustained throughput, as shown above a FireWire external hard drive will provide the best performance. But for convenience and compatibility between multiple computers a USB 2.0 external hard drive would probably be the better choice (since practically every computer has a USB port).

Better yet, get both interfaces. We offer combo FireWire USB 2.0 cards allowing you to connect products with either interface to your computer. And a combo FireWire USB 2.0 External drive gives you best of both worlds...you can have the highest hard drive speed when connected to a FireWire port, and also the broad compatibility of USB.

One product category that USB currently has an advantage in is capturing video tape for DVD. Using hardware MPEG encoders, USB video capture products are able to convert VHS to DVD video.




Copyright 2001 - 2005 USB-WARE.com
URL: http://www.usb-ware.com/firewire-vs-usb.htm

 

[GhostChamberz]

get the firewire 410 or even better get the 1814 hehe, fuck the mbox what the hell u gon do with that? u can still run pro tools on the 410 and it got firewire