How to tell if I've got usb 2.0 or 1.1?

[jonasjar]

thanks for quick feedback steve, I'll definitely check up on the motherboard drivers.

whomper, I havent bought any hardware yet, thus I have no real complains about ua-25 in real life, other than unclear specs.
I would have had an ua-25 today, if my credit card hadn't bounced, but it did, so no buy was made at that point.
So I continue drifting around more or less like a paranoid, favoring a new brand or model almost every day .

For the moment Im contemplating a focusrite saffire 24 DSP, which would break the bank, but also probably solve all head aches about bus speed and future extensibility issues. My local dealer promotes focusrite and he offers me a full refund if I cant get it to work to my satisfaction (as long as I dont install the bundle software that comes with it.) As an added plus, just saw a user review on this model, who couldnt get the firewire working while toshiba-powered, but when switching to either TI or VIA it worked, and VIA is what I have so I guess there's a good chance it would work nicely for me.

Ive thought about tascam us-122 mk2, but is hesitant when I read the big user review discontent with the previous models, and I still fancy the ua-25 which I think look great visually, not mentioning the hefty and very neat-looking 64p user manual accompanying it. Dont know how much it is worth, but I cant help thinking the appearance of the user manual is an interesting quality marker. If the maual is sloppy, why should the hardware be any better?

[whomper]

there are a lot of choices
first figure out what you really need now and future

be careful - most devices won't work without the bundled software
how can you tell if it works without installing all of it ???
be sure whatever you get works on your opsys. many do not have the drivers for vista or 7. or they don't have correct drivers yet.

i am not sure i would judge any by the manual
programmers hardwarehackers and writers
plus management goes into the final box for you to see
do you judge audacity by its documentation?

i would judge them by the reviews
there are *lots* of places to find out about such devices

alternative strategy - buy just enough for now (but *enough*) at the lowest cost -- with the intent to upgrade much later if you need to do more (think lexicon lambda for example)

i have a UA25ex and an EMU 0404 each has some parts better than the other (and i have multiple pcs which is partly why two boxes).

I considered lexicon lamba (cheaper and better imho) but saw too many bad reviews (which may be all FUD to confuse buyers) so went with the others for now.

[jonasjar]

No I dont judge audacity by its documentation, but when its freewhare its slightly different, isnt it? A good manual with nice layout and thick section about troubleshooting, FAQ, and how to install on various platforms, dont you like that too? At least for me it really adds to the user satisfaction when buying new stuff, cant help it.
But the saffire 24 has got good (professional) reviews as well.
But you have a good point about compatibility with the bundled software. I have looked but not found any reference to what kind of drivers are included in the package for windows, and maybe its just a bad feeling but somehow I suspect that a little bit more up-market box like this, will only contain asio support. If that is so, I guess I will have to compile my own audacity executive to have it working (or get it from some one else), and I dont know how easy it is on a windows machine and whether it can be made with gcc or some other proper freeware. Or alternatively, get a commercial audio recorder

[steve]

Standard installations of Audacity 1.3 now include a help file. It is also available on line here: http://manual.audacityteam.org/index.ph ... =Main_Page

There are still a few gaps in the documentation, but overall it is pretty comprehensive. Additional documentation can be found using the links at the top of this page (Find quick answers in our Tips, Tutorials and Documentation!). Experienced users that have time and are willing to help fill in the gaps are always welcome (see the index page of the on-line manual for details of how to get involved).

Most sound cards are supplied with Windows drivers in addition to ASIO drivers, so hopefully if you get this device you will not have to build Audacity yourself. Some ASIO sound cards have pretty poor Windows drivers, but they are usually sufficient to at least play (and usually record mono/stereo) correctly. Building Audacity with ASIO support on Windows is not an easy task unless you already have experience of programming/compiling on Windows. If you want to have a go, you will find instructions here: http://wiki.audacityteam.org/wiki/Developing_On_Windows

If you have problems recording with this device in Audacity, there are other free (but not open source) audio recorders that do support ASIO out of the box, such as Wavosaur http://www.wavosaur.com/
Once you have the raw material recorded you would be able to use whichever program you prefer for editing and processing.

[whomper]

... A good manual with nice layout and thick section about troubleshooting, FAQ, and how to install on various platforms, dont you like that too? At least for me it really adds to the user satisfaction when buying new stuff,

of course i like that
but that does not make the box good or bad
nor mean it will work/fail on a given pc/application

i have had big fat user manuals that were worthless due to the mistakes in them

my satisfaction comes from using a device that works
not thinking about using it and reading about it

if i were going upscale on the hardware i would to that with the software even more so. that said, whatever box you get should be able to record (assuming it claims compatibility with your system) and save a wav file. use audacity to edit and tweak that if you dont want to buy sonar producer or nuendo.

[jonasjar]

Ive had a closer look in the manuals for the focusrite 6 usb and pro 24 models and unfortunately it is as I suspected. The pro 24 has only asio support whereas the cheaper 6 usb model has both asio + wdm support for windows platforms. Thus the pro 24 cant play with audacity unless I can produce an asio-compiled executive. I've done a lot of compiling in my heydays but never on windows. I'm willing to have a go at it (with the risk of having to pester innocent people on this forum) or perhaps trying to beg for copies from other guys I've seen on the forum who have already succeeded in doing this.

@whomper, my satisfaction comes from understanding the functional structure and possibly the underlying philosophy of the device, something I cannot do without a well written and explanatory manual. I also find the on-line manuals very handy when comparing different brands, what they can do and what they cant, since the retailers very rarely can answer detailed technical questions, and since it enables you to pose sharper questions to the retailer.

[jonasjar]

I asked the focusrite tech support about the windows drivers and got the answer that the pro 24 supports both ASIO and WDM (whereas the manual says only ASIO) but if WDM is used only 2 channels in & out is supported, compared to 16 in & 8 out it has with full functionality. I find it a bit odd that the manual doesnt contain such vital information, for a product that was introduced just half a year ago. Its a bit on the expensive side, but its loaded with interesting features.