OT: USB/Firewire Interfaces

David_Kuznicki wrote on 3/4/2004, 12:25 PM

OK, dumb question... but I come from the video side of things, so what do you expect?!

Does a firewire/usb interface (specifically the m-audio 410, in this case) eliminate the need for an internal sound card? I'm a little bit fuzzy on whether or not these can typically drive monitors, etc.

Thanks!
David.

Comments

Cold wrote on 3/4/2004, 4:36 PM

yes.
Steve S.
p.s. be more specific about what you wish to do and I'll give you a longer winded answer. Not directly familiar with the m audio 410, but all of the external interfaces are designed to replace internal sound cards.

cosmo wrote on 3/5/2004, 12:27 PM

I have an M-audio Delta 410. It's not a USB or Firewire interface, it's a PCI card. It works great....2 inputs and 8 outputs + SPDIF. The USB/Firewire unit I haven't tried, but I've read good reviews about it. It all depends on how powerful you want your system to be.

David_Kuznicki wrote on 3/5/2004, 12:42 PM

I guess what I'm curious about is simply: can it be set to feed monitors for all windows apps? I'd like to use it in place of a sound card, if possible, instead of simply supplimenting it.

I guess a better way to put it is as follows-- let's say I were to remove the sound card from my computer, and use the Firewire 410 instead... would I be able to have the exact same functionality in recording and monitoring?

Thanks for your help! Again, I apologize... the video side makes perfect sense to me, but the audio stuff is way out of my league!

David.

cosmo wrote on 3/5/2004, 12:49 PM

yes you should. you can replace the card or simply add the firewire unit. In windows, go start>control panel>sounds and audio devices. From there you can choose which device for windows to use as the primary device.

Definatley worth the step into pro sound. Add a good card like that and you can start doing 5.1 mixes. All you need is a 6 channel receiver. I use a sony stereo receiver with an analog 5.1 input section. Works great.