Apogee Rosetta 800 (firewire) vs Symphony Card (Express)

[phildog33]

Ive just begun using the Apogee Rosetta 800 (via firewire card to Logic) and I am happy with the sound quality and stream lined use... Much better than doing Digi002, etc.

The price difference between doing it this way vs going Symphony and Express card is kind of close..

Would you recommend upgrading to the symphony card? Are the gains many and worth it????

Which kind of studios should be using the X-Firewire option, now that the Symphony option is out?? Seems like everyone should go the Express card+Symphony route now.

Please let me know
Thanks
-phillip

[phildog33]

any opinions

[Doc Mixwell]

Well to answer your question, I think both are viable formats. The FW 400 will have less bandwidth than FW 800 and FW 800 will have less bandwidth than PCI and PCI will have less bandwidth than PCIe...etc..etc..
So you see where this is going.
It really depends on what kind of computer you are using.
The Symphony setup is a killer deal considering what it offers.
Symphony Mobile for Mac Book Pro should be shipping in May.
FW is great for laptop based systems and mobile rigs, and simple project studios. The symphony system is a much different animal.

peace
mixwell

[phildog33]

I jsut spoke to Apogee about the Symphony mobile card.
(Shipping late April they said)

Biggest benefit of using Symphony card, over the Firewire, is latency, they said.
He quoted #s of 32 buffer size with the Symphony instead of 512 doing the same test on the Firewire card.... He said LAtency is still there, but unnoticeable now.

Also, squeezing 8 channels of digital audio through the firewire cable with plugins, is straining the system and bottle necking, they said. The Express Card Symphony card alleviates that stress and is the best solution for laptop recording with Apogee.

I asked him who would use the Firewire now that the Symphony is out.. he said.. only Windows XP users or Rosetta 200 users (2 channels vs more)

-p

[TornadoTed]

I guess a lot depends on how many inputs and outputs you need also. I've got the Symphony and 3x Rosetta 800's, hoping to max it out to 4 later in the year.

I'm really impressed with it and so far it seems rock solid.