USB 1.1 Audio OK?

homerjsim · Post by **homerjsim** » Mon Feb 19, 2007 5:09 pm

Hi
I have a Sony Vaio I love - it's in good shape and fast enough (2.6GHz), but it was one of the last they made with USB 1.1.

I'm thinking of getting the Alesis Photon X25 but I had a bad experience with an Emagic USB before (latency, clicks, pops - a total drag).

So, I'm wondering if anyone's using the Photon X25 with USB 1.1 (the Alesis site mentions USB1.1 but I'm a little gun-shy after my Emagic experience).

thanks!
Brian

motormouth · Post by **motormouth** » Mon Feb 19, 2007 5:38 pm

HELL NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

DO NOT GET THE PHOTON, my friend bought it and had nothing but problems with the drivers, crashing his computer, not working properly most of the time. DOn't get that thing, man. Get an AXIOM or your best bet is a novation.

as far as sound cards/audio I/O goes, NEVER NEVER NEVER USB 1!!!

USB 2 is O.K. for mixing mp3's and basic stuff, go for the EMU 0404 USB or the M-Audio fast track PRO if you are on a budget. But no USB 1.1!!!

edge100 · Post by **edge100** » Mon Feb 19, 2007 6:10 pm

motormouth wrote:HELL NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!![/size]

DO NOT GET THE PHOTON, my friend bought it and had nothing but problems with the drivers, crashing his computer, not working properly most of the time. DOn't get that thing, man. Get an AXIOM or your best bet is a novation.

as far as sound cards/audio I/O goes, NEVER NEVER NEVER USB 1!!!

USB 2 is O.K. for mixing mp3's and basic stuff, go for the EMU 0404 USB or the M-Audio fast track PRO if you are on a budget. But no USB 1.1!!!

This passionate response notwithstanding, you simply cannot ascribe the problems with a specific unit to USB1.1

The Apogee Mini-Me and Mini-DAC use USB1.1 (they just got a FW option) and are excellent interfaces. Saying that USB1.1 isn't suitable for audio, based on one (potentially) bad unit is like saying that FW is crap because the M-Audio FW410 is Firewire, ergo FW sucks. The MH ULN-2 and Apogee Ensemble are also FW, and are incredible interfaces.

The major problem with USB1.1 is bandwidth. You can easily do 4-6 channels (2 or 4 in, 2 or 4 out) of 24/44.1 (or 48) audio. If the drivers are good, you can get reasonably low latency with a modern computer.

That said, I would advise against USB1.1 for audio. Go with PCI, FW, or (if you have to) USB2.0. You'll get much broader bandwidth, allowing you to expand to more i/o if you need it. You'll also get somewhat lower latencies (all other things being equal, like driver quality) on FW and (especially) PCI. But if you really only need 2 i/o, USB1.1 is fine.

Incidentally, the M-Audio unit mentioned above is USB1.1

stinky · Post by **stinky** » Mon Feb 19, 2007 6:11 pm

usb 1.1 blows.. don't bother "dickin around with old shit." For audio production, usb 2.0 is fine. But, for multi-track recording, i would only use firewire/7200rpm. When i get these questions, i explain to people that the extra 50$ or so you're going to spend is worth not having to be put in the situation where you need the extra power/speed, and you don't have it at the moment you need it. That's goes for anything, not just audio production.

edge100 · Post by **edge100** » Mon Feb 19, 2007 6:15 pm

stinky wrote:usb 1.1 blows.. don't bother "dickin around with old shit." For audio production, usb 2.0 is fine. But, for multi-track recording, i would only use firewire/7200rpm. When i get these questions, i explain to people that the extra 50$ or so you're going to spend is worth not having to be put in the situation where you need the extra power/speed, and you don't have it at the moment you need it. That's goes for anything, not just audio production.

I'd gladly take a USB1.1 Apogee Mini-Me.

Heinz Graaf · Post by **Heinz Graaf** » Mon Feb 19, 2007 6:26 pm

motormouth wrote:HELL NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

DO NOT GET THE PHOTON, my friend bought it and had nothing but problems with the drivers, crashing his computer, not working properly most of the time. DOn't get that thing, man. Get an AXIOM or your best bet is a novation.

as far as sound cards/audio I/O goes, NEVER NEVER NEVER USB 1!!!

USB 2 is O.K. for mixing mp3's and basic stuff, go for the EMU 0404 USB or the M-Audio fast track PRO if you are on a budget. But no USB 1.1!!!

i believe the fast track pro is usb 1.1. and the fast track pro is junk as well. live crashed 3 times allready. I had driver installation problems and i cant playback media files with a media player. Logic Platinum clicks all the time and it freezes up my system.

THE FAST TRACK PRO IS JUNK

ANd whats worse.. M-AUIDO IS NOT RESPONDING TO MY E-MAIL!!

ANd for basic audio and midi tracking USB1.1 is just fine. If youre gonna track a lot of channels at the same time, youll need USB2 or FW400. All the mBoxes are USB1.1 or Firewire btw