+ Recommended TI Chipset Based 1394 PCI Card (3 or 4 Port) +

edwardb · Post by **edwardb** » Sat Jan 07, 2006 9:32 am

Please if someone has information as to what particular model ti 1394 pci card with at least 3 firewire ports, 4 if possible (6 pin), that is a recent product say manufactured in the last year or so, can you please direct me to where i can purchase one....I assume ti makes the cards also as opposed to just purchasing another brand name with their chipset, i would rather the ti card..I am frustrated to hell and back trying to get dual 896hd's working under windows xp pro sp1 with sonar 5. If someone out there has dual 896hd's working with xp pro sp1 and sonar 5 i would greatly appreciate your help. Right now i am using a ti based chipset that is integrated into my motherboard and i am having problems with sync @ 896hd # 2...I figure if i disabled the onboard 1394 and installed a pci card i might get better results....who knows...

timpreager · Post by **timpreager** » Sat Jan 07, 2006 1:16 pm

edwardb,

Not sure if TI actually makes their own FW cards or not, I've never seen them before. You can try a Startech or a Belkin. Both are much better than the your cheesy $20 card as these cards go for $50+ (CDN).

I have 2 896 (not HD) and I have the same problem with the syncing issue. I'm also running WinXP SP1 and I have not been able to solve the problem except when I'm running at 16bit/44kHz.

Still trying to sort out the syncing problem as when I got my Startech card it did not help with the problem. So far, I think it might be an incompatibilty with my motherboard as it uses a VIA chipset.

What Motherboard are you running??

Tim

edwardb · Post by **edwardb** » Sat Jan 07, 2006 1:45 pm

timpreager..... my motherboard is asus pc-dl deluxe with dual 3.2 ghz intel xeon processors and 4 gb of ram with intel 875 chipset..and a ti 1394 firewire chipset onboard "believe it or not".....I am astounded at the fact that i cannot get these two 896hd's to sync. A while back i had five echo audio pci interfaces installed and they worked..3 mona 24/96 & 2 Layla 24/96.....
I figured i would upgrade to the motu 896hd and eventually install three of them for 24 simultaneous analog tracks but i am stuck here. Right now i am running one 896hd at 16 bit 44100 and i have disabled the second interface through the motu software panel....I was wondering if the length of the firewire cables has something to do with this problem. I am running standalone synths also and they cause the same sync problems....
I use acid pro 5 and the same results..this loud ticking that occours while the sync led on the second 896hd is blinking.
What length cables are you using ? I use two six foot cables right now...I was thinking about getting a three footer for pc to first 896hd and then a one footer to connect both interfaces. Has motu ever tested dual setups unders windows xp pro i wonder..?
Finally are you using wdm or asio drivers......
I just wish there were more out there like us who might shed some light on this topic..........

Thanks for the reply.........

timpreager · Post by **timpreager** » Sat Jan 07, 2006 2:30 pm

edwardb wrote:timpreager..... my motherboard is asus pc-dl deluxe with dual 3.2 ghz intel xeon processors and 4 gb of ram with intel 875 chipset..and a ti 1394 firewire chipset onboard "believe it or not".....I am astounded at the fact that i cannot get these two 896hd's to sync. A while back i had five echo audio pci interfaces installed and they worked..3 mona 24/96 & 2 Layla 24/96.....
I figured i would upgrade to the motu 896hd and eventually install three of them for 24 simultaneous analog tracks but i am stuck here. Right now i am running one 896hd at 16 bit 44100 and i have disabled the second interface through the motu software panel....I was wondering if the length of the firewire cables has something to do with this problem. I am running standalone synths also and they cause the same sync problems....
I use acid pro 5 and the same results..this loud ticking that occours while the sync led on the second 896hd is blinking.
What length cables are you using ? I use two six foot cables right now...I was thinking about getting a three footer for pc to first 896hd and then a one footer to connect both interfaces. Has motu ever tested dual setups unders windows xp pro i wonder..?
Finally are you using wdm or asio drivers......
I just wish there were more out there like us who might shed some light on this topic..........

Thanks for the reply.........

Hey Edward,

I'm have both the WDM and ASIO drivers installed. I use the ASIO drives for Nuendo 2.2 and the WDM drivers to play CD's through media player and such. Maybe I don't need the WDM drivers to do that, that is something I haven't tried.

As far as the cables go, I'm running 2x3ft cables to/from the units and to the DAW. You can try to get them, if it works it's a cheap solution. I used to be running longer cables and then I got the shorter ones because I thought it would help.....unfortunetly not.

Strange enough, I had these units workin on a Asus P4PE/P4 2.4 GHz/1 GB RAM running winxp pro SP1 for a long time without any problems at all. Seems like when I upgraded to my AMD x2 system is when I started having the sync problems. Not sure what chipset is on the P4PE, could be the intel 875E.. nope, just checked it's an Intel 845PE chipset.

Although, since your having the same problems, I'm reluctant to see if changing my motherboard would even fix it or not.

Can you run at 16/44 without any sync problems??

Tim

edwardb · Post by **edwardb** » Sat Jan 07, 2006 4:16 pm

Tim.....I use both asio and wdm also....I use asio for standalone synths such as native instruments kontakt 2 and battery 2, they are way more efficent using asio.i get 2 Ms latency @ 44100 16 bit, that is of course using only one 896hd. I use wdm for cakewalk products (Sonar 5 PE - Project 5 V2) it enables me to use the latency slider without having to reset the samples per buffer in the motu panel. My motu panel settings for one 896hd are 44100 896hd #1 internal with 96 samples per buffer.....in sonar i use 2.2 Ms latency 44100 with 24 bit for playback and around 18 to 20 Ms for recording, again only one 896Hd.....I am getting more frustrated by the day with this issue.
I like motu products because of the possibilities they claim to have but i am a bit weary as to if they can deliver what they say. I have contacted them several times and did get replys but never got any real answers. I am an electronics technician myself and very computer literate, i know when a driver is installed correctly or if a cable is not seated correctly, at this point i am sure there is some sort of problem with the motu products and how they behave in the windows environment. I would like to know if motu has a test setup in their factory for a windows xp pro based pc that can run dual or even triple 896hd's without problems like we are experiencing. I have tried several different setups to correct the problems i am having but always arrive at the same conclusion, dual 896hd's will not work for me. I have sent tech support emails on this but have not received an answer as of yet. i suspect that i will get a response but i don't know if my questions will be answered. I know motu has issues with microsoft sp2 and their firewire speed, and they mostly deal with mac os but does that mean they will never upgrade their firmware or windows drivers to try and fix problems the users of their products are experiencing. Echo Audio update their drivers on a regular basis as a result of input from their users..

Ahhhhh...That felt good.......thanks for listening....Tim

I really do like motu products but i wish they would work better for me..
Maybe someone from motu will read this and get inspired to fix these problems...

I have only expressed my opinion here, i am not intending to offend anyone who uses this forum.......

Brian

skapegrace · Post by **skapegrace** » Sun Jan 08, 2006 1:12 am

I've founs two so far:

1. Miglia Alchemy FW Card
2. ADS Tech Basic DV Pyro

I think the Adaptec 4300 cards used to have a TI chipset but no longer so be careful.

timpreager · Post by **timpreager** » Sun Jan 08, 2006 10:03 am

edwardb,

I feel your pain too. Well at least we can get them working at 16/44, I haven't tried 24/44, or 24/48, so we can still use them, just not too their full potential, as in if we want to do any DVD audio work. Of course, we could just upsample to 24/96 to get compatible with DVD-A, just not DVD-A quality

I'll let you know when I change my MoBo and see if fixes the issue. Maybe there's an incompatibily with the 875E chipset as well, or maybe it doesn't handle FW very well. Have you tried the PCI Latency tool?? Do a search on it and check it out, you can reduce the latency timers on PCI devices that you don't need to hog the bus, ie. the video card.

Another person in this forum seemed to solve his 2x896's syncing problem when he switched from a PCI video card to an AGP video card. Which are you using? Might be another thing to try...

Tim

edwardb · Post by **edwardb** » Sun Jan 08, 2006 10:51 am

Tim.....I forgot to mention on the last reply...I still clicks and pops with dual 896hd units even at 16 bit 44100...regardless of the samples per buffer settings..I disable the second device and everything clears up.
I have not tried the pci latency tool...i will very shortly..
My video card is agp 8x - 256 mb so i would not expect any problems there.. Just today i borrowed a laptop from a friend of mine, it has 1.6 ghz single processor 1 gig ram and a ti firewire chipset with xp pro sp1....
I installed the motu drivers and it got the same results....ticks and pops from the second firewire device in the chain, does the firmware or the driver need to be updated...I think it does....
Thanks for the info...Brian

pauldogx · Post by **pauldogx** » Mon Jan 09, 2006 10:37 am

I have the ADS tech card and am using a 828M2 with no probs.