PoducateMe: Practical Solutions for Podcasting in Education
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USB connectors with icon (left) and FireWire connectors with icon.
Speed is a major factor to consider when choosing between USB and FireWire equipped
products. As you’ll learn a little later, when dealing with the digital recording of audio, a
speedy data transfer rate helps to combat “latency,” a term used to describe a delay in
the audio signal. Table 2 shows data transfer rates for USB and FireWire devices.
Table 2: Data Transfer Rates for USB and FireWire Ports
USB 2 devices will work when connected to a USB 1.1 port, but they may not work very
well due to the significant speed decrease. Devices designed for USB 1.1 will work on
USB 2 ports, but you will not realize an increase in speed. For best results, steer clear of
USB 1.1 altogether when dealing with audio interfaces. Manufacturers can make it
difficult to quickly ascertain which version of USB their product supports, so be prepared
to do some digging. However, if an interface does support USB 2, this fact will usually be
trumpeted in the product literature.
Because FireWire provides a much higher data transfer rate than USB 1.1, it can accept
more simultaneous connections. In addition, FireWire is isosynchronus. This means that
if you plug three devices into a FireWire 400 port, they will each receive 400 Mbps of
bandwidth. If you plug these devices into a USB 2 port, they will have to share 480 Mbps
of bandwidth between them. Connecting more than two FireWire devices that operate on
power from the computer may cause problems, though. If you connect more than two
devices in a daisy-chain, the rest of the devices in the setup should be powered by
separate power adapters.
Another FireWire advantage over USB is that FireWire devices will use significantly less
of your computer’s CPU when transferring data. Like USB, FireWire devices offer
backward compatibility. You can plug a FireWire 400 device into your computer's
Connection Type
Data Transfer Rate in Megabits
Per Second (Mbps)
USB 1.1
12 Mbps
USB 2
480 Mbps
FireWire 400
400 Mbps
FireWire 800
800 Mbps
