Members 6Imzadi Posted May 13, 2011 Members Share Posted May 13, 2011 IF it works reliably. I have seen issues with 2 so far, incompatability with one flavor of firewire (don't know which end was at fault), and the other was a hardware incompatability, worked fine with a different laptop. I am finding that after a couple of problems with the recording software turning itself off that setting the sample size larger helps. I am still using the factory supplied firewire cable. I haven't had issues with the cable (knock HEAVILY on wood). I would recommend one buy a better quality cable and use the factory cable as a spare. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members abzurd Posted May 13, 2011 Members Share Posted May 13, 2011 Computer connections were spotty for me for the last 2 yrs. 75% of the time worked with my old XP Dell. 0% of the time for my Toshiba running Vista. A few months ago I bought a Macbook Pro and it's been rock solid. Admittedly an expensive fix, but a fix none the less. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members bnelly428 Posted May 13, 2011 Members Share Posted May 13, 2011 Computer connections were spotty for me for the last 2 yrs. 75% of the time worked with my old XP Dell. 0% of the time for my Toshiba running Vista. A few months ago I bought a Macbook Pro and it's been rock solid. Admittedly an expensive fix, but a fix none the less. I had reliability with my vista machine and firewire. Just bought a new macbook pro with firewire 800 and got a new cable 800-400 and haven't had any reliablility issues with it yet. Wasn't a fix I necessarily wanted to do but I'm happy I spent the money. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members agedhorse Posted May 13, 2011 Author Members Share Posted May 13, 2011 I simply mute the send for the particular efx I need muted. Like between songs and the lead wants to talk to the audience. I find this really convienent and as effective as muting an efx return on an analog mixer. It also mutes any efx into monitors you may have routed. That's fine much of the time, but usually I want to mute (or fader down) returns rather than sends because say somebody's starting a song and after the first couple of words (false start) talks, muting the send will allow the verb tail to continue which can be an annoying "glitch" that's obvious to the audience (at least those listening, and since I do sit down concert type events, folks who pay $50 for a ticket tend to be better listeners ) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members srp72ee Posted May 13, 2011 Members Share Posted May 13, 2011 I have a Lenovo T510 with an i7 processor running Windows 7-64, 8 gigs of RAM, 500 Gig HD. The problem is this laptop has ALL of the bells and whistles - built in web cam, fingerprint scanner, mobile broadband, built in firewire, etc. All of these devices draw from system resources even if not actively used. If I disable the unused devices in the device manager, everything records fine. The built in firewire is a Ricoh chipset which is incompatible - it's always disabled and I use a PCI Express card with an approved chipset. I've also had better luck using the 800 speed port vs. the 400 on the express card. Factory cable seems to work fine too. I've already experimented and recorded several 30+ minute sessions using 26 tracks. Don't rush trying to record after starting up or re-booting a windows machine. Try waiting at least 5 to 10 minutes after the wallpaper is displayed, this allows all of the startup processes to complete. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members abzurd Posted May 13, 2011 Members Share Posted May 13, 2011 The weak link is certainly firewire compatibility and Presonsus is not alone as far as dealing with myriad technical glitches caused by firewire issues. Most audio stuff works best with TI chipsets (and XP drivers if using windows). Apple uses TI chipsets but, to my knowledge, no other major manufacturer does as it's not "the cheapest thing". To compound the problem, firewire is on the way out so there are fewer options all the time. I've also noticed in the last few months that Xpress cards, which used to be standard fare in laptops, are being omitted more and more. Firewire is clearly superior to USB2 for this application as there is often large amounts of data moving in both directions. USB2 only moves data one direction at a time so the signal is constantly alternating, which isn't very efficient. Once USB3 becomes the standard then all this nonsense should go away as there will be a very quick, bi-directional and prolific solution. Of course USB3 doesn't help owners of the SL's. I bet we'll see a lot more prosumer boards hit the market when USB3 gets a foot hold. It's tough to sink too much into a dying firewire platform. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members twostone Posted May 16, 2011 Members Share Posted May 16, 2011 The weak link is certainly firewire compatibility and Presonsus is not alone as far as dealing with myriad technical glitches caused by firewire issues. Most audio stuff works best with TI chipsets (and XP drivers if using windows). Apple uses TI chipsets but, to my knowledge, no other major manufacturer does as it's not "the cheapest thing". To compound the problem, firewire is on the way out so there are fewer options all the time. I've also noticed in the last few months that Xpress cards, which used to be standard fare in laptops, are being omitted more and more.Firewire is clearly superior to USB2 for this application as there is often large amounts of data moving in both directions. USB2 only moves data one direction at a time so the signal is constantly alternating, which isn't very efficient. Once USB3 becomes the standard then all this nonsense should go away as there will be a very quick, bi-directional and prolific solution. Of course USB3 doesn't help owners of the SL's. I bet we'll see a lot more prosumer boards hit the market when USB3 gets a foot hold. It's tough to sink too much into a dying firewire platform. I think both USB and Firewire technology will be obsolete in the future because of this http://www.tested.com/news/intels-light-peak-technology-vs-usb-30/160/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members agedhorse Posted May 16, 2011 Author Members Share Posted May 16, 2011 Interesting that about 1/2 the comments were bemoning the lack of a standard standard! No {censored}! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members abzurd Posted May 16, 2011 Members Share Posted May 16, 2011 I think both USB and Firewire technology will be obsolete in the future because of this http://www.tested.com/news/intels-light-peak-technology-vs-usb-30/160/ Unfortunately the best technology isn't always the one adopted (Beta vs VHS anyone?). Firewire was around when USB originated. Even USB2 doesn't fare as well in the real world as Firewire. Still, Firewire never really caught on and has always been a niche player mainly found in audio/video hardware and is probably only around now because Apple wouldn't let it die. The fact USB3 ports will be backward compatible and very fast compared to anything widely used today will give it a good chance of being "the next standard". FWIW, my macbook pro has "light peak" in it. It's branded as "thunderbolt". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members twostone Posted May 17, 2011 Members Share Posted May 17, 2011 Unfortunately the best technology isn't always the one adopted (Beta vs VHS anyone?). Firewire was around when USB originated. Even USB2 doesn't fare as well in the real world as Firewire. Still, Firewire never really caught on and has always been a niche player mainly found in audio/video hardware and is probably only around now because Apple wouldn't let it die. The fact USB3 ports will be backward compatible and very fast compared to anything widely used today will give it a good chance of being "the next standard".FWIW, my macbook pro has "light peak" in it. It's branded as "thunderbolt". Yea the USB3 might be the latest and greatest standard but for how long ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members abzurd Posted May 17, 2011 Members Share Posted May 17, 2011 Yea the USB3 might be the latest and greatest standard but for how long ? Until USB4 is released Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members RoadRanger Posted May 17, 2011 Members Share Posted May 17, 2011 Until USB4 is released I'm not gonna buy anything until they get the bugs out of quantum entanglement comm - that will give us infinite wireless transfer speeds and maybe even negative delay capability . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members srp72ee Posted May 18, 2011 Members Share Posted May 18, 2011 ...negative delay capability . Is that like negative latency? :poke: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members agedhorse Posted May 19, 2011 Author Members Share Posted May 19, 2011 A little off-topic but worked a show the other day where the media tracks were being mixed (and sent to me) via a laptop/iPAD and once, he had an oops and had to appologize with a "sorry guys, my bad" comment. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members StratGuy22 Posted June 6, 2011 Members Share Posted June 6, 2011 Yea the USB3 might be the latest and greatest standard but for how long ? Until USB5 comes, then USB6 etc. There's always something to wait for.... or get in there and start using the gear now! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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