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Sansa Clip Zip: Wow!

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superboyac:
Thanks Edvard!  I appreciate the research.

Yes, I've been eying the RME stuff lately.  Maybe I'll just break down and get it, it'll cost me over $1000.

I like Echo.  I've used their brilliant laptop card, the Indigo IO, for years now.  It's a beautiful product, simple, small, it just works.  But they haven't really updated much at all recently.  However, they definitely are one of those if it aint broke don't fix it type of companies.

That Maya one is new to me, looks interesting.  It's also relatively old (~2-3 years) but at least it's PCI-e.  Drivers support Win7 64, that's good.  Still, I'm tempted to just go RME at this point.  I've used the cheap stuff for years, maybe it's time to get serious?  I'll have to think about it.  Can't beat German quality.

Edvard:
Oof! I forgot how expensive RME stuff can get  :o but I do agree with German engineering.  :Thmbsup:

More Firewire options:
Presonus Firebox - http://www.presonus.com/products/detail.aspx?productid=4
Edirol FA-66 - http://www.roland.com/products/en/FA-66/

Can't find the Maya44e ANYWHERE.
It's either sold out or unavailable, even on ebay.
That must mean it's good  :tellme:

superboyac:
How is Firewire on the PC?  I know people say it's great on the Macs, but I've also heard to stay away from it on the PC, since Windows drivers for firewire tend to be not very good.  But I really don't know.

40hz:
FWIW I've used a dirt cheap dual-plug Starlogic firewire card in a cardbus slot (tells you how old it is) without any bad surprises under Windows XP. Looks like this:



Bought it new at CompUSA (when they were still around) for about $35. I still have it. It still works, and probably will as long as that Compaq junker it's plugged into continues to boot.
 ;D

My take is unless you have an immediate need for a 1394 plug, you'd do better with USB 3.0 since that's where most of this is going anyway. I don't know if the pro market is still in love with firewire. (Don't even see it used in Apple Mac shops that much any more.) But AFAIK, there's no longer a clear and compelling technical argument for it unless you have a device that either requires it, or only offers USB 1.0 as the alternative.

Edvard:
Looking up Firewire, it looks like the technology is expensive, both to manufacture and to license.
It costs 25 cents per device manufactured payable to the MPEG LA group, and the hardware itself costs $1-$2 per connector  :o .
No idea if that's physical costs or if it includes licensing; either way, it's a barrier to widespread adoption, and Apple gets a free ride because it was their idea, and so probably own or control many of the patents.

It's faster and more stable than USB2.0, so that's probably why it's still being used as an interface, as well as the fact that a lot of multimedia stuff is still being done on Macs.
Just a fact, no bias there...

USB3.0 is just now being finalized and supported, with Intel dragging their feet implementing it (supposedly in favor of the Thunderbolt interface) so it may be a while before we start seeing that.
See the last paragraph of USB_3.0#Availabilityw (kinda depressing, actually...).
When it DOES get implemented, USB3.0 is essentially a PCI-e interface over USB wires, so speed should be comparable and then the only deciding factor will be portability.

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