# Firewire to USB



## PaulS (Feb 27, 2006)

Anyone have any expierence with converting firewire to USB? We have a new laptop we wish to use with our recording board. The problem is the laptop does not have firewire ports only USB. The recording board is only firewire out. Is there a converter available? USB is a host controller and firewire is a peer to peer connection but both serial connections. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.


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## shoretyus (Jan 6, 2007)

http://www.monoprice.com/products/p...d=10314&cs_id=1031402&p_id=360&seq=1&format=2


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## hummingway (Aug 4, 2011)

Have you looked into getting a firewire pcmia card?


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## PaulS (Feb 27, 2006)

Tried one of those Pat, didn't work. As for the PCMIA card most new laptops don't have them. Ran in to that problem at work, the new laptops they were going to get us had no PCMIA card slots. I have seen a hub advertised for sale that combines the two but I need to research it more.


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## Electraglide (Jan 24, 2010)

http://www.nextag.com/Tripp-Lite-USB-2-55147716/prices-html
Something like this should work, tho you might have to get an adapter for your recording board depending on the size of the firewire out on the board.


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## Dr.StephanHeimer (May 1, 2006)

I've never seen a product that could covert USB to firewire. If there were such a beast it would be more than a simple cable as the protocols are very different. 

Out of curiousity what kind of board do you have?


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## PaulS (Feb 27, 2006)

The board is a Presonus 16.0.2 which has the firewire out. I agree that it is much more than a simple cable, they are two different style controllers and I can see why the recording standard seems to be firewire. Knew we should have bought a Mac. The new PC laptops only come with memory card reader port and USB. I have been researching other methods like express cards and PCMIA cards with USB interface but most will only run USB based cards. What gets me is all the places out there selling these USB to FIREWIRE adapters, is this false advertising or is there a way to make it work.


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## Dr.StephanHeimer (May 1, 2006)

PaulS said:


> What gets me is all the places out there selling these USB to FIREWIRE adapters, is this false advertising or is there a way to make it work.


I wouldn't say false advertising, the monoprice one is just a firewire adapter but the path "HOME* > *USB & FIREWIRE* > *USB / IEEE-1394 Firewire Adapters* > *IEEE-1394 Firewire Adapters" could be a little confusing. The trip lite ad is a little misleading but considering the price it seems more like an oversight.


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## PaulS (Feb 27, 2006)

Well it's been deemed as impossible at the present time. Next step is to sell laptop and buy one with firewire. We have a desktop setup with firewire so we can still work. I would prefer to go to a Mac but the others still would like the Windows based system.


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## the-patient (May 19, 2009)

Well, 

Just a word of warning, 90% of windows laptops with FireWire use a Ricoh chipset. These chipsets dont work with audio interfaces. You need something with a TI interface. 

I learned this the hard way with an HP dv7 - it just wouldnt work. 

Basically you need something like an adk audio laptop, or a Mac to use a FireWire interface. Personally, I have a windows desktop and a Mac laptop both running reaper and pro tools...

Anyway, hope you don't make the same mistakes I did.


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## hollowbody (Jan 15, 2008)

the-patient said:


> Well,
> 
> Just a word of warning, 90% of windows laptops with FireWire use a Ricoh chipset. These chipsets dont work with audio interfaces. You need something with a TI interface.
> 
> ...


Crazy, I didn't know that! Well, I knew there was more than one chipset, but I didn't know that some didn't work for audio.

I have an HP desktop that's 3 or 4 years old now that I use my M-Audio Firewire 410 with and fortunately it works great!


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## PaulS (Feb 27, 2006)

Thanks for the info, I have read about the compatibility issues with firewire and yes most recommend the TI chipset. Is that what Mac uses?


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## the-patient (May 19, 2009)

It's not branded TI but is apparently manufactured by them. Either way, the Mac FireWire drivers are killer and I've never had any issues with any of the interfaces I've used. (digi, motu, and presonus)

And FYI, you can find a good card for a desktop for about $30 that should run without a problem! I'll post a link tomorrow when I get home.


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