• Registered: 2010-07-12
  • Posts: 7

Topic: Daisy Chaining: New MBP i7 17" > Glyph FW 800 > FF400

Hi All.

I just purchased a new MBP i7 with the standard 4 gig of ram and 17" screen.  Love it so far but now want to upgrade my sound card.  I have settled on the FF400 after much deliberation.  I was thinking about the BabyFace but I think the FF400 will be more flexible for me because of the greater number of I/O's.  Also the buss powered was a big plus which eliminated the FFUC.
I hope the latency is great with the FF400 or I just might have to compromise on the I/O and get the BabyFace.

But my question is this and I have scoured the forums for an answer and don't seem to ever seen anyone confirm or deny any issues.  Since the MBP only has one FireWire port, I would have to daisy chain each device.  From what i have read on here, it is best to first have the external hard drive first in the chain and then add the FF400 to the end of the chain.  Has anyone actually done this with the FF400 and a new MBP along with a Glyph drive (I'm thinking of getting the Glyph GT 050Q 500GB).  Has their been any issues with compatibility or latency?  Is this the correct order of devices to avoid problems such as latency and compatibility, other?

I do understand that I could also add an ExpressCard on the MBP which could add a separate firewire port.  I would like to avoid this if at all possible due to cost and potential for other compatibility issues I have read on here with certain chipsets, etc.

Thank you for your anticipated assistance.

Damian

  • Registered: 2010-07-12
  • Posts: 7

Re: Daisy Chaining: New MBP i7 17" > Glyph FW 800 > FF400

Hmmmmm.  No takers yet on this??  I would have thought this one would be very simple to answer even in this short time period.  HeadScratch

  • Jeff
  • Jeff
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  • Registered: 2007-05-21
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Re: Daisy Chaining: New MBP i7 17" > Glyph FW 800 > FF400

Yes, the way you show it in the post title is generally the best way.

Regards,
Jeff Petersen
Synthax Inc.

Jeff's Website

  • Registered: 2010-07-12
  • Posts: 7

Re: Daisy Chaining: New MBP i7 17" > Glyph FW 800 > FF400

Jeff,

Thank you for your response.

Anyone else have any comments regarding compatibility of the equipment mentioned?  Has anyone had any experience using this same setup or very similar and can comment on latency values?   How low were your latency?  Anyone one with any experiences to share on this?

Thanks again,

Damian

  • Registered: 2010-07-12
  • Posts: 7

Re: Daisy Chaining: New MBP i7 17" > Glyph FW 800 > FF400

Bumb.  I know this is not a very "sexy" post/question but it would be very hopefully if someone else with similar setup could make comments on the above questions.  1299.00 dollars is not a small chunk of change for me.  It would be very helpfull for me to see if others have been having a good experience with the FF400 and recent MBP and what latency's I might be able to expect.  I promise to post my own experiences once I have purchased and tested to help others in the same purchase limbo situation.  Otherwise I  just hope who ever I buy the FF400 from has a liberal return policy.

  • Registered: 2008-01-01
  • Posts: 3,025

Re: Daisy Chaining: New MBP i7 17" > Glyph FW 800 > FF400

No experience with a "Glyph" drive, but if these drive implement FW properly you should not experience any problems with chaining them (just make sure that all FW800 devices are chained together and put the FW400 devices at the end of the chain).

Besides, the older Macbooks didn't have 2 real FW ports either, the FW400 port was just "chained" to the FW800 one internally.

7 Reply by StefanBF (edited by StefanBF 2010-07-23 12:00:51)

  • Registered: 2010-07-21
  • Posts: 6

Re: Daisy Chaining: New MBP i7 17" > Glyph FW 800 > FF400

I don't have any experience with the Glyph either but this is the way I connect my studio rig. iMac FW 800-LaCie HD-Focusrite Liquid Saffire 56. Works great. At home and on the road, I use a Macbook and a Fireface 400 and when I need an external HD, I connect a LaCie the same way. The myths and facts surrounding Firewire 400/800 and mixing them on the same bus... that's an issue I don't know much about really. But from what I've understood, to have a FW 800 device as your first device in the chain, keeps the FW 800 transfer intact. That, plus the fact that the content on the HD is important and should be considered your priority, makes this set up the best alternative.

You shouln't have to use an extra card.. but actually - have you thought about the option to get a e-sata card and use that for HD instead of using a FW Glyph? This is what I'd do if I had the 17" MBP!

  • Registered: 2010-07-12
  • Posts: 7

Re: Daisy Chaining: New MBP i7 17" > Glyph FW 800 > FF400

Timur and Stefan,

Thank you both.  I feel more much more at ease with my decision to purchase a FF400.

@Stefan - I had heard about e-sata card but what are the advantages of doing it that way?  Why would you do it that way?  I'm guessing better performance??  Any other advantages (i.e. don't need a seperate power cord for the e-sata drive, etc)?

Slightly off topic, I have been checking all the on line stores for the FF400 and nobody has it in stock.  The all have a waiting time until about August 8th, 2010.   I wonder what is going on with not only the FF400 but all RME products.  It looks like most of the RME products are not available until August.

  • Registered: 2010-07-21
  • Posts: 6

Re: Daisy Chaining: New MBP i7 17" > Glyph FW 800 > FF400

E-sata for the sake of performance and no issues with bad chipsets, afaik.

Interesting! I wonder if there is something new on the horizon... Fireface line is coming of age..

  • Knut
  • Knut
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Re: Daisy Chaining: New MBP i7 17" > Glyph FW 800 > FF400

I have been checking all the on line stores for the FF400 and nobody has it in stock.  The all have a waiting time until about August 8th, 2010.   I wonder what is going on with not only the FF400 but all RME products.  It looks like most of the RME products are not available until August.

Don?t worry. Too much interest in RME products ...

Fireface line is coming of age ...

Fireface UC is just one year old. Like the other Firefaces (still) the best interface of its class, so don?t worry about the age.

best regards
Knut

  • Registered: 2010-07-21
  • Posts: 6

Re: Daisy Chaining: New MBP i7 17" > Glyph FW 800 > FF400

Thanks for the input Knut!

Please don't misinterpret my post.. I'm not critizising. smile
I was thinking about the FW Firefaces - Fireface 800 was released in 2004..right? Great, great interface and frankly, in my own opinion not really in any need of an update, ever. But given how the commercial side of things work, it needs to updated at SOME point and after six years.. let's just say it's not spanking fresh anymore. I'd like to think that RME is planning some future development of this product line by now.

I just thought it was interesting that news about the unavailablity of Firefaces popped up at the same time info on the new Firewire standard in the about-to-be-released new iMacs/Mac Pro's starts to seriously emerge... wink