H8000FW: Firewire adapter + Cakewalk Sonar 8

[Blackinfinity]

I bought a computer last week, it is a top of the line motherboard (ASUS P6T6 WS REVOLUTION), unfortunately it does not have Firewire, is there any solution around this, does adapters works ? Like Fireware to eSATA ?

My motherboard support both USB 2.0 and eSATA.

Second question, how will this unit work on Cakewalk Sonar 8 ?

Unfortunately I do not own Pro Tools, so I cannot use the RTAS plugin. 

Do I need this plugin to be able to send/receive/record multiple channels on the H8000FW ? or what is the disadvantages to no use the RTAS plugin ?

The only affordable option would be Pro Tools LE.

But from what I have been reading when comparing Pro Tools LE with Sonar 7, it seems that Sonar is a better choice. I have no idea how it compare with the new version LE 8. 

[IDeangelis]

 This motherboard is really one of a kind as it's probably the only ASUS one without FW. In addition you only have PCI Express slots running from x4 to x16…verylikely intended for video apps.

You can add a FireWire PCI Express card in the lowest socket (white one). This will add FW ports to your PC.

Adpters shouldn't even be considered for these apps.

The limitation you may have is that multiple FW drivers may not be used by your software. I'm not experienced in Cakewalk Sonar.

If you use a FW audio interface and the H8000FW on FW, their 2 drivers may not run together. ProTools and Logic can "aggregate" FW drivers and work fine.

You won't need the plugin to get audio in/out. It only takes FW or any audio interface I/Os.

best

I

[nickrose]

 There are a number of suppliers of FireWire adaptor boards, which usually cost bless than $100. See the notes in the latest H8000FW Manual saying which adaptors are best.

FireWire adaptors are PCI cards, so they do not care about USB or SATA.

The RTAS plugin offers remote control only, it does not pass audio. If you do not have ProTools you don't need it. So, no problem !

Audio to and from the H8000FW is handled by the operating system, and will usually work with any Workstation software. In your case, with a PC, the audio is handled by WDM or ASIO

You will need to read the H8000FW Manual to install drivers and to test the configuration. You will have to refer to the Cakewalk documentation to find out how to communicate with WDM or ASIO.

[Blackinfinity]

*Deleted*

(double post)

[Blackinfinity]

 Yes you are right, it is one of it's kind, this is the first motherboard ever that breaks away from old legacy standard, it includes no standard PCI or Firewirse. These have been replaced by PCIe and eSATA. eSATA I am sure will be the new standard for external devices in a near future since it offers superior performence and allows you to comunicate directely with the chipset, I hope it will be more and more common during this year.

Even though I have seen no official motherboard map for this motherboard, I have been reading that  3 PCIe slots are dedicated to the nf200 chipset, these are mainly for graphiccards. The other three PCIe slots are said to be linked directely with the x58 chipset. I can use these three for soundcards and a Firewirse card.

Why I did decide to buy this motherboard is that PCIe soundcards I am sure will have a big breakthrough soon and it is the new trend, it gets more and more popular, and the new product line from ESI will be PCIe cards (they will be relleased very soon)

 It is good to know that I can atleast run an PCIe Firewire card without any problems or compromises. I was worried that it would not work good…

I really need to look up how FW works in Sonar 8, really must make sure that this will work if I am going to pay this amount of money. I was hoping there would be som Sonar users here, that would be able to share their experiences. 

[Blackinfinity]

Yeah, that would of course be the ideal to use the RTAS Plugin, cause I strongly prefer to control my H8000 from the computer screen, it is many times more flexible and easy. I have been using hardware units before, and they are usually very hard to understand and learn. 

Ok good you told me, I did thought that the RTAS plugin in did process audio also, not only remote control of the unit. If it only does remote control, would it be very hard to program a VST, or atleast and stand alone program for PC that is independent of any other program formats like VST or RTAS.It does not sound like a very complex thing to do if the plugin does no audio processing only send control signlas the H8000.

 

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