KVR Audio

wazun · Post by **wazun** » Fri Feb 16, 2007 6:04 pm

Hi!

I'm currently shopping for a mobile audio interface, the motu ultralite or the rme fireface, and I want to use it also with my laptop. Yesterday
someone told me that the firewire port on ALL laptop do not supply bus power, so that I have to use a separate power supply. Is this true?

where02190 · Post by **where02190** » Fri Feb 16, 2007 9:40 pm

Total bullshit. 6 pin FW will happily power any buss powered FW device. 4 pin however will not.

wazun · Post by **wazun** » Fri Feb 16, 2007 9:42 pm

where02190 wrote:Total bullshit. 6 pin FW will happily power any buss powered FW device. 4 pin however will not.

Thanks. I gonna check my laptop out.

Aural Chaos · Post by **Aural Chaos** » Sat Feb 17, 2007 4:08 pm

Maybe this is changing, but most PC laptops so far have had 4 port FW...

pw · Post by pw » Sat Feb 17, 2007 5:56 pm

where02190 wrote:Total bullshit. 6 pin FW will happily power any buss powered FW device. 4 pin however will not.

yes, but try and find a PC laptop with 6-pin firewire...

timobrien · Post by **timobrien** » Sat Feb 17, 2007 11:21 pm

Very very few power their interfaces with their laptops; the drain on the battery will be so much that you will not get much battery life.

Just power the interface separately.

wazun · Post by **wazun** » Sun Feb 18, 2007 1:25 pm

timobrien wrote:Very very few power their interfaces with their laptops; the drain on the battery will be so much that you will not get much battery life.

Just power the interface separately.

But you only need one power supply then, the one for the laptop.

timobrien · Post by **timobrien** » Sun Feb 18, 2007 9:26 pm

Well you can balance an axe on top of a screwdriver so you only have to carry one thing, but that doesn't mean it's a good idea (unless you like trips to the emergency room...)

Saving one plug wont get your music recorded any faster or better...

Sascha Franck · Post by **Sascha Franck** » Sun Feb 18, 2007 9:55 pm

I have a PC laptop (a Samsung R50) which is almost 2 years old, and it has a 6-pin FW connector which is powering my M-Audio FW-410 just fine.
Even if it's still the minority, quite some newer laptops do by now have 6-pin FW connectors.
And yes, I totally agree that it's a lot more comfortable having to connect just one power plug, especially when you're doing things such as touring. Not all backstage rooms come with power outlets galore...

where02190 · Post by **where02190** » Mon Feb 19, 2007 2:49 pm

I was at CompUSA yesterday and saw many PC laptops with 6 pin FW ports.

All Macs have 6 pin FW ports, in fact I've never seen a mac with a 4 pin FW port.

wazun · Post by **wazun** » Wed Feb 21, 2007 8:38 am

timobrien wrote:Well you can balance an axe on top of a screwdriver so you only have to carry one thing, but that doesn't mean it's a good idea (unless you like trips to the emergency room...)

Saving one plug wont get your music recorded any faster or better...

You're right, but I'm a lazy guy that doesn't want to carry around two power supplies

I'm going to buy an IBM laptop and they only have 4pin outs, so I'll have to carry around a second power supply

reeper · Post by **reeper** » Wed Feb 21, 2007 8:42 am

timobrien wrote:Well you can balance an axe on top of a screwdriver so you only have to carry one thing, but that doesn't mean it's a good idea (unless you like trips to the emergency room...)
better...

Mikomi · Post by **Mikomi** » Wed Feb 21, 2007 8:56 am

I know the Macbooks will only provide power over firewire when operating from the power plug, and not when on battery power (or at least, this is the documentation says; I haven't quite been able to fund a firewire interface to test firsthand yet).

I'm not sure if other manufacturers use a similar approach though. In that case, I guess if your powering the laptop by plug you can still save yourself a socket space in the power outlet.

Sascha Franck · Post by **Sascha Franck** » Wed Feb 21, 2007 10:24 am

Mikomi wrote:I know the Macbooks will only provide power over firewire when operating from the power plug, and not when on battery power (or at least, this is the documentation says; I haven't quite been able to fund a firewire interface to test firsthand yet).

It's true. My FW-410 is only working once the Macbook is plugged in.
However, from what I seem to remember, the Macbook Pro might still deliver FW buspower when running on battery. Not too sure about this, though.

I'm not sure if other manufacturers use a similar approach though.

On my PC laptop, the FW-410 is getting buspower in battery mode as well. But uhm, when working with a more or less busy arrangement, I won't get more than 1 hour of battery life (probably even less).

In that case, I guess if your powering the laptop by plug you can still save yourself a socket space in the power outlet.

To me, this is a really nice advance.
I mean, especially when being on the road, you can't always place the interface in an ideal position, so you probably even have to move it around. Having to use just one single cable is certainly helping with this. Heck, I even had to put it under the seat in the band bus, so just the laptop could get power (the bus has a 220V outlet).

lee1983 · Post by **lee1983** » Sat Jan 05, 2008 11:34 pm

Be careful, with a MacBook Pro some cards like RME, Motu, Presonus and Focusrite have some problems of powering....
I have an annoying buzz with my Saffire if I don't power with the PSU the card...

firewire audio interfaces + laptop: POWER SUPPLY?