Computer Audio Asylum

RE: usb controller card-why should we sort it?

76.125.90.218

In Reply to: RE: usb controller card-why should we sort it? posted by fmak on May 05, 2008 at 00:39:20

<<<..1. Why is it promoted in this forum (not some others) as being superior to other interfaces for sound (it is not)?

2. Why is it a responsibility for users to sort it when it is supposed to be a universal interface.

The sad fact for PC 'experts' to ponder is:

Why does the same port not have read write issues when connected to a hard disk or anything else, yet causes no end of problems when transferring a low resources stream of audio. ....>>>>> end quote

My thoughts:

1) Can't answer that one and I'm not promoting one I/F over another. I've used both USB and Firewire. Neither were specifically intended as audio device interfaces. In fact, that discussion does not come up in the USB standard specs at all. This is telling us something.....

2) It is not the interface specs that causing the problems. The audio manufacturers are using a low-cost electrical interface to get the bits from one device to another. The issues are showing up when one I/F has to be shared with other devices and the assumptions and real-time requirements that the driver writers have to contend with in order to implement it. There are very few specs for the drivers themselves - only the electrical interface. The rest of the stuff you read about USB is marketing hype - I know as I used to produce that sort of 'selling the future' high-tech marketing in former career.

The sad fact is that the complexity of audio interface implementations isn't complete. This means that its still the Wild, Wild West when it comes to getting things going. The PC vendors don't help by not addressing this small market segment but that's not really their fault. The audio interface vendors make assumptions - sometimes undocumented - about the use of their drivers. The fact that Microsoft keeps dinking around the audio portion of Windows doesn't help either. Reading through their marketing hype just muddies the water further.

Moving audio packets around in near-real-time isn't the same as pumping bits to a disk drive. Deal with it in that manner.

Cheers,

David

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