Beware Of Problems With Firewire 400 And Firewire 800 Incompatabilities Options

[Meg Robinson]

I just posted a question earlier today about Firewire digital to audio converters and indicated that I was having problems with my M-Audio Firewire 410 working on my Powermac G5, which also has 3 external firewire drives, two of which are using Firewire 800 connections.

I called PreSonus and spoke with a very knowledgeable person there who told me that when you combine Firwire 400 and 800 devices on the same computer, it causes conflicts and would be problematic regardless of the particular digital to audio converter you use. This was extremely helpful to me because after reconnecting my Firewire drives using 400 rather than 800 cables, I reconnected the M-Audio and it seems to be working fine now--al least so far. The Presonus person did point out that the audio quality of their firebox was superior to the M-Audio 410 (check the specs for ranges), which is fair enough, but at least I am now operational.

So if any of you are having problems with your computer systems that may be using 400 and 800 connectors, this may explain why you are having the problem. Just wanted to share what I learned. After all, that's what these forums are all about.

Meg Robinson

[frankELF]

Many use firewire 800 and 400 devices on the same 800 bus. What happens is that the firewire is slowed down to the slowest device's speed - the 400. That should be the only problem, that I have heard of. Check a firewire forum if you still have uncertainty, though!