Re: Soliciting opinions on digital recorders...Options

On Fri, 13 Nov 2009 13:59:56 -0800 (PST), Merely my opinion
<lafaexaminer@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:

On Nov 12, 8:44 pm, McGarnagle <mcgarna...@xxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
On Thu, 12 Nov 2009 20:15:26 -0800 (PST), Merely my opinion





<lafaexami...@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
On Nov 12, 4:37 pm, McGarnagle <mcgarna...@xxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
On Thu, 12 Nov 2009 12:43:55 -0800 (PST), Merely my opinion

<lafaexami...@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
On Nov 12, 12:07 pm, RS <R...@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
On Thu, 12 Nov 2009 08:49:34 -0800 (PST), Chuck <cclawso...@xxxxxxxxx>
wrote:

Usually Firewire beats USB 2 in real world situations.

McBarnacle jumps into a music-related thread. That's odd.

That's been my experience too.

The absolute throughput ratings on both protocols are similar, but
Firewire/IEEE 1394 is designed for streaming and file system support.
It also imposes less load on a CPU. USB usually has simpler hardware,
and requires more CPU time spent on driver-level tasks.

But for portable use, you may need to power an external audio
interface. USB can do that. So can the larger Firewire connector. But
most laptops will have only the smaller 4-pin Firewire connector (if
they have Firewire at all). So that's something to be aware of if
you're considering recording with a laptop + external interface.

Good post. It seems that USB 2 is somewhat more ubiquitous
than firewire-- not that that's any big deal (Microsoft and clones
have always been far more numerous than Mac, and though
I've been using Windows for decades I liked Mac). Otherwise,
USB 2 and FW seem pretty close.

It may be a lot closer today, but when USB products were first coming
out, they didn't always work as advertised. It seems the drivers may
have matured some since. It use to be the USB drivers used more
resources than firewire.

I use firewire for video and external hard drives with no probs.

And yes, as the other guy pointed out, in some situations, the USB
cable can provide power. Lots of neat USB gimmicks out there.- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Pretty cool-

I would like to enter that whole high speed realm
next time I upgrade! Currently, I actually
use MIDI to transfer patch information (fixed
effect parameters) between my PC and now
admittedly ancient Zoom GFX-8. I'm OK
w/ the results still, but I'm pretty conscious of
having techno-peaked out in another century,
ha ha. :-)

I started off with a Tascam 4 track cassette porta studio. I hated how
the signal would degrade the more you used it. It was synced to an
Atari computer for Midi.

Then moved on to a Tascam 8 track cassette. That was the bomb back in
the day. In 96 when the first digital recorders came out, I bought a
VS-880. It was a bitch to use. Every button had like ten different
functions, but computers weren't quite up to speed for digital audio
yet.

Then a few years later, computer Daws became reality. The stuff I read
about in magazines ten years before was finally happening. You can do
things ten times quicker and better on a computer than those Porta
studios, even the latest ones. They are good though if you need the
portability or a backing band if you're a solo act.- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

No doubt- the thing is, it's all relative to what you want to
accomplish.

In my case, merely improving my ability at a hobby sufficed. Take
virtually any input, vinyl, CD, PC radio, cassette and play along with
it, recording into the mix. It's harmless and fun, taught me my
self-imposed limits as an electric guitar junkie, but helped me
improve
all the same. The nature of the instrument (for me at least) requires
other instruments to be playing and recording is a sure-fire way to
learn / teach yourself about ITS complexity as well listen back to
yourself and make judgements, consciously and unconsciously
improving your technique, tone, etc. You make TONS of errors and
mistakes, but you learn a great deal in the process. Kids have NO
idea what a luxury school is for finding other people interested in
playing music. As everyone knows, job geo-mobility, life, getting
older,
it becomes almost impossible to find other older guys interested in
jamming, etc. People have other responsibilities, grow out of it, OR
it's their living, they're professionals at it and have no time/
interest in
some older hobbyist-- they need gig $$$. I found the entire bar sit-in
scene to be fun for a while, but at the same time, it's got a ton of
alcoholic, drug, sad old guys mixed with completely delusional
(they don't know any better yet) kids. So in closing McG, for my
silly purposes, the Boss BR and CD / upload thing is just fine.
To each his own! :-)


Oh yes, there is definitely a spot for the Porta recorders. That's why
there are a gazillion of them out there now. There are some things I
like about them - mainly being an all in one piece. Kind of
convenient.

Recording on cassette tape was not fun though.
.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: Soliciting opinions on digital recorders...Options
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