express card to usb 2.0 chipset compatibility?

[kenbahn]

anybody know about any express34 card to usb 2.0 converter chipset compatibility issues with common audio interfaces?

or any guides to audio ineterface compatibility guides for different OS, chipsets, etc.?

or any resources (or knowledgeable people) to consult on these topics?

thanks.

 

ben.

[Anderton]

I don't have any direct experience with ExpressCard to USB, but have used Firewire ExpressCard adapters successfully with various audio interfaces. Given that USB 2.0 seems overall less temperamental, I'd assume you wouldn't have any problems...anyone else actually worked with these?

[MikeRivers]

 

Given that USB 2.0 seems overall less temperamental, I'd assume you wouldn't have any problems...anyone else actually worked with these?

 

 

I wonder if USB 2 is really less temperamental than Firewire. I have only one USB 2 experience so far and that's with the Focusrite Scarlett interfaces and just plain computer USB ports.. They work fine on my desktop Dell Pentium 4s, fine on my Thinkpad T42 as long as I don't have another busy USB device like a disk drive connected, and they only worked worth a very small hill of beans on my netbook, which is my newest computer. Sometimes they recorded OK, sometimes they crackled, sometimes on playback they'd grind to a halt after just a couple of seconds.

 

There's no card slot in the netbook, of course, so I couldn't partition the problem between the USB port and something in the computer that just didn't like it.

[WRGKMC]

Set the latency and buffers high and use direct monitoring would be the key if the CPU has

enough mojo to stream without too many interruptions to the flow.

[MikeRivers]

 

Set the latency and buffers high and use direct monitoring would be the key if the CPU has enough mojo to stream without too many interruptions to the flow.

 

 

It's either the CPU not having enough steam or the OS isn't happy with the driver. The latency setting doesn't make recording any better. When it decides to be in click mode, it's going to click no matter how big the buffer. It's almost like a clocking error, but all I have as an indication is the "USB" light on the front panel and the "Locked" display on the control application. There are some DPC latency spikes that I haven't found a way to get rid of yet, but they're only at about 30 second intervals. If it putzed once every 30 seconds, I could blame whatever is grabbing the CPU at those intervals, but that's not the case.

 

I'm going to try to get my hands on a TASCAM or PreSonus USB 2 interface to see if it gives similar results.

[ggm1960]

I've been using an expresscard34 to 4 port USB adapter with my MBP's for quite a while. It's actually a cheapo one from Hong Kong that I bought on eBay. I've never used it with an audio interface however, I may have plugged a music keyboard into it a time or two for recording midi but I've mostly used it for flash drives.

 

I don't have any USB audio interfaces except for the Line 6 KB37 and I've always plugged it into the laptops own USB ports. It's powered by USB so I don't know if the adapter would be capable of that, I've never felt the need to try it.