interfaces:usb or pci?

[J.Mctaw]

if this has been posted before please delete it. i just wanna know which one would be better? is there a difference in sound quality or what? get back to me.

 

[misscc803]

PCI in my book is better cause USB can be a pain in the ass at times and the speeds vary. To me i'd choose PCI ova USB but if i have a laptop i'd choose firewire ova USB also. USB jus can act up at times. But if u using a USB 2.0 product then the results are different and the speed is faster. Thats in my opinion.

 

[Formant024]

PCI or PCMCIA, some FireWire devices are dope though, but nothing under a 1000bucks.

 

[Sanova]

i have a m audio mobile pre usb interface. I have no complaints its actually better quality and more efficient than most stuff I've been workin with in the past. It would seem like pci would be better, cuz if you dont got usb 2.0 or ur usb cord aint long enough it could have latency issues, unfixable noise, or both.

 

[Equality 7-2521]

i always advise against PCI concidering the inside of a computer is a place very prone to interference. external is the way to go. firewire is better than usb but even usb 1.1 is sufficient for recording 32 tracks.

 

[konceptG]

i always advise against PCI concidering the inside of a computer is a place very prone to interference. external is the way to go. firewire is better than usb but even usb 1.1 is sufficient for recording 32 tracks.

Huh???!!! I've been recording audio with a PC for almost 10 years now and I have yet to experience any interference with any audio cards. I sold interfaces for a number of years and never had one complaint from my customers regarding interference/noise.

Latency with FW and PCI interfaces is going to be better than with USB1.1. I don't know about USB2.0, I have yet to try a 2.0 based interface out.

 

[samuelock]

i have a presonus firebox, and i must say that the sound quality is amazing, but i'd get a pci, because it's probably faster in response.

 

[pancakebunnny]

Huh???!!! I've been recording audio with a PC for almost 10 years now and I have yet to experience any interference with any audio cards. I sold interfaces for a number of years and never had one complaint from my customers regarding interference/noise.

Latency with FW and PCI interfaces is going to be better than with USB1.1. I don't know about USB2.0, I have yet to try a 2.0 based interface out.

I dunno about that homie. If you got like a big-daddy video card parked right next door to that sound card, you're bound to get some kind of interference. You might be lucky and your recording software will do all that adjusting the dc bias and whatever else, but I've definately noticed some slight interference in my experience with it.

 

[konceptG]

I dunno about that homie. If you got like a big-daddy video card parked right next door to that sound card, you're bound to get some kind of interference. You might be lucky and your recording software will do all that adjusting the dc bias and whatever else, but I've definately noticed some slight interference in my experience with it.

So you don't put the card right next to a video card, which is good practice anyways because the PCI slot closest to the AGP slot usually shares the AGP slot's IRQ.

For what it's worth, my old all purpose rig was eqipped with an Oxygen GVX210 (https://secure.pcauthority.com.au/review.aspx?CIaRID=288) and a very obscure but great AudioTrak Maya 44+ audio card (http://www.digit-life.com/articles/audiotrakmaya44/). The GVX210 was a monster board for its time, and I had no problems running it and the Maya in the same PC.

 

[Formant024]

Firewire can also be subjected to interference of all sorts, look at the Powerbook PSU issues for example.

 

[KurtisRich]

PCI is the way to go becuz it's internal and it provides less latency issues.

 

[J-ReZyN]

So you don't put the card right next to a video card, which is good practice anyways because the PCI slot closest to the AGP slot usually shares the AGP slot's IRQ.

I gotta agree with konceptG. I've been using PCI interfaces for many years myself and from my experience, if it's in a slot away from the video card I've never had any interference. And with better cards that have a breakout box with the I/O's outside the computer there is even less chance of audible interferance. I also prefer PCI over USB for speed and stability.

 

[stjoeben]

man i've used both pci and fire wire, few more issues with f/w than pci but it had more to do with chipset than interface. are u in a standard (will not be moving) location, pci. Strapped for room or space, USB (i'd recomemd firewire). depends on what u need to be able to do, your setup, futher abilities (to expand or upgrade), budget, blah , blah , blah.

 

[deStructuralize]

i have a m audio mobile pre usb interface. I have no complaints its actually better quality and more efficient than most stuff I've been workin with in the past. It would seem like pci would be better, cuz if you dont got usb 2.0 or ur usb cord aint long enough it could have latency issues, unfixable noise, or both.

I've been looking into USB interfaces for a while. Out of all the ones I've really looked into so far, the Mobile Pre looks best for its cost...approximately $150 (discounted) and provides a decent variety of I/O with good functionality. Were the other interfaces you've worked with USB and in the same price range? Sounds like you're more satisfied with the Mobile Pre than your previous equipment, which is a good sign. Also, does it work well enough as a preamp on its own, or is it necessary to get an external pre before your audio starts to sound good? I was planning on hooking my turntable's RCAs up to a stereo converter and using that 1/8" input to start sampling off of vinyl.

It's too inconvenient for me to go PCI...working off of a laptop.