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Gear / Technical Help => Ask The Tapers => Topic started by: waltflanagansdog on December 18, 2003, 10:00:13 AM
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Can you plug the UA5 into a laptop using a cable other than the USB??
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yep
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Which port can I use, and where can I get the cable?
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I believe you'll need a soundcard-like device to get a digital coax/optical or analog signal (with quality) into your laptop.
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Like a PCMCIA card? I saw a $90 one that goes into the slot.
Can you plug the UA5 into a prt other than the USB or PCMCIA?
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Like a PCMCIA card? I saw a $90 one that goes into the slot.
Can you plug the UA5 into a prt other than the USB or PCMCIA?
If the PCMCIA card supports coax or optical S/PDIF input, then yes, like a PCMCIA card. The key here is the initial input device - whether it's onboard (non-existent today, I believe), an internal PCMCIA card, or an external device - must support coax or optical S/PDIF input.
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Like a PCMCIA card? I saw a $90 one that goes into the slot.
Can you plug the UA5 into a prt other than the USB or PCMCIA?
Nope, unless you have a built-in S/PDIF input on the laptop.
PCMCIA is a much faster and time-accurate bus protocol than USB. I would read some reviews on PCMCIA audio interface cards before buying, though.
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Cool, Thanks
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So, in conclusion, PCMCIA SPDIF connection is preferred over USB, right? Which is the most cost effective solution for a PCMCIA card? I'm not looking to sample in the machine, just feed a lappy my signal from a UA5. Thanks.
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Keep in mind that your UA-5 will have to be D-modded for this thread to really be worth anything. The A>D circuitry in the UA-5 only works if the unit is connected to a PC w/drivers loaded OR if the unit has been modified for standalone.
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Right. Assuming the unit has been modded by Oade, and can go both USB or SPDIF, which is preferable for higher res. recording? Like 24/96? Will the USB be sufficient? I've heard people speak of dropped sample issues, is this an interface problem, or a hardware issue on the side of the laptop?
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Well, a PCMCIA interface will be more stable but then you run into dongle security issues.
There are many people who run 24/48 over USB without major issue, myself included. I haven't tried 24/96, mainly for space issues on my recording laptop, but AFAIK at least BeckyT has done it successfully.
If you decide to go USB, be sure that your controller chip is on Edirol's compatiible hardware list. If it is, then you shouldn't have any problems once you get the drivers set up.
If your laptop doesn't have a USB2 controller in it, you can get a USB2 PCMCIA card and use that. It could be a little more stable than the integrated one in your laptop, just because of the higher theoritical bus speeds...
The dropped samples, at least in my case, were software and hardware related. I needed more RAM in my laptop and had to increase my buffers in WaveLab.
HTH