First post - I’m getting desperate!

I’ve recently been trying to use the FireWire interface on my XF8 and toiling with the way Cubase does things to try and get the midi and audio to go in the right direction - boy is it dense - or maybe it’s just me.

Seems like there are fewer and fewer options to interface with FireWire and I need a new laptop/powerful tablet, so what to do?

If I abandon FW what do I lose. I have the choice of a couple of good audio interfaces to bring in other instruments and mics so that’s not a problem.

Should I just record each of the XF tracks as Midi or what about recording track by track as stereo audio.

Recommended workflow suggestions would be very welcome - I’d either carry on with Cubase or go black to my Sonar X2.

Thanks for replies!

You didn’t provide information about your computer type and OS.
There are different story and also issues if you have a laptop with FireWire interface, like chipset type and compatibility with Yamaha. Mac users have less issues with hardware, but nowadays Cubase is more oriented to Windows. In order to help you please be detail in your computer type, OS version and also diver that you have installed.

Alex

So, currently I have tried my ancient laptop, Windows 10 with a mini FW port, and my studio pc, also Windows 10 which has a full sized FW400 interface.

I’m using all the latest drivers - SYFW and Motif VST editor.

However… I need to replace my laptop - partly because when I plug in either the FW cable or the USB it sounds like I’m in a snowstorm!  Doing the same with my studio PC doesn’t produce the same problem.

It looks to me that to retain a FW setup using a reasonably new i7 laptop I’d need to convert to a MacBook as the Windows world has abandoned FW.  So - what do I lose by using say a Dell xps or even a surface 4.

Thanks for your reply, and interest.

Cheers

ps - maybe I should just divert from the workstation keyboard idea and go Montage!? Let the ‘puter take the strain…

If you have a problem both with FireWire and USB, than it is not due to the FireWire interface. Did you connect audio outputs at the same time when your laptop is connected? If yes, then you should buy device for eliminating hum. I’m using Behringer HD400. It is simple and cheap and you should try something like that before you decide to leave laptop.
For instance, I have HP Elitebook with built in FireWire (4pin connector) and Windows 7 SP1.
Since I have two hard disks (one SSD and one HDD), I made dual boot to have both 64bit Win7 for Yamaha Steinberg driver and the other 32bit Win7 for mLAN driver. In that case I could record in Cubase my Rack XS with FW16 and Motif ES with mLAN. I know that it couldn’t be at the same time, but good thing is that it is on the same computer.
I forgot to ask you have you checked which chipset is installed in your FireWire? There are some listed on Yamaha website (under download section for fw driver) that are not supported.

Alex

Montage has the advantage of carrying audio as well as MIDI over USB which is a big advantage for Windows users. If you are going to sequence inside a DAW anyway (as opposed to using the XF sequencer) then the lack of a sequencer in Montgage is a non-issue.

If you stick with the XF but lose Firewire, recording audio into the DAW is restricted to either two channels digitally (using the SPDIF out) or 4 channels analog. If you need to isolate each of the 16 parts of the XF to it’s own audio track, then it requires multiple recording passes. Keep in mind that the FW16e is 16 mono channels, so if you need all 16 parts to record in stereo you need to make multiple passes as well. Montage will support 16 stereo channels so you will always be able to record in a single pass.

Hope this helps.

Hi - just rounding this up - I’ve no idea about the FW chip in my laptop and don’t know how to find out. I’m going to update the laptop so I’m not really concerned - thanks.

Looking forward - I guess it’s a question ultimately about Mac or Windows (oh that one again) as my audio goes via a Focusrite Scarlett which gives me multiple inputs - and yes - to record a number of tracks I’m recording them one by one, I guess the FW extension is a bit redundant - that’s really my question.  In practice does FW give me a heap of benefits - if so I’m headed for a mac with a converter (only older PCs can offer a FW or expresscard interface) - and in the process ditching Sonar…

Finally - anyone using a Surface Pro 3 or 4???

Thanks all…

Benefits of the FW16e:

1. Single cable between DAW and XF, no need for a separate audio or MIDI interface in many cases.

2. Keeping the speakers connected to the XF rather than an audio interface so you can play the XF without turning on the computer.

3. Being able to route 16 mono audio channels into the DAW in a single pass.

4. Return three stereo streams from the DAW: first goes to main L&R;, second goes to assignable outs 1&2;, third is looped back into the XF internal mixer to access effects or sample audio from the computer.

I’ll be honest, for me it’s really just #1 and #2.

Convincing!

And it looks, from your profile, that you’re doing this with a Mac of some sort?

Cheers
AC

Yes, Mac. If I was running Windows I wouldn’t even bother.