Alternatives to Firewire for Dm

[Ibemarkmedic]

Hello Everyone,

I’m one of the dreaded newbies. I’m not new to recording, having cut my teeth on a Panasonic 8-track (yes, the cartridge type) recorder circa 1972, then onto reel to reel, cassettes, etc, up to and including standalone digital machines and DAW. I have this odd attraction to the TASCAM DM-3200 and have bit the bullet. It’s on the way! But, like many people, I need the coveted Firewire card to be able to utilize the machine to it’s fullest. But, to quote Bob Dylan referring to some old records, “they’re (Firewire card) as rare as hen’s teeth”. So, my question is this: what are the alternatives? I can get by with not being able to use all channels at once. I have three MOTU 828’s sitting around, but I don’t want any more gain stages, etc. I use an iMac with Logic and others. Please point me to previous posts on this if possible. I’ve searched, but, man, there is a TON of info!!
Thanks so much!
Mark

 

[Marvel]

Although I officially left this forum since I sold my DM, I will try you help you anyway, since I started with the DM on an iMac too. You can use the firewire 32x32 without any problems on the iMac, since it is supported natively. How can this be, you ask, since there is apparently no FW port on my iMac? Ah, but you do have Thunderbolt for which you need just a simple adapter, from FW to TB. The Thunderbolt (2 in this case) has the same form factor as the DisplayPort (and they are in fact sharing the port). You should have 2 of those. One can be used for your monitor, the other for FW.
Good luck!

 

[Ibemarkmedic]

Thanks so much Marvel. I have not made many posts in forums, and I was not clear I think. My iMac is several years old and has TB & FW. I don’t have the TASCAM FW card. Those things are hard to find and are $$$$$., approaching the price of a nice DM-3200. I was hoping to find another way to get the digital data to the DAW. Without the card, I’m left with ADAT and another fix to use that. Thanks again!

 

[Peter Batah]

@Ibemarkmedic Hello. I go in / out via TDIF to my external HD recorder which gives me 24 channels. I use in parallel to my Fire Wire connection.

 

[-mjk-]

Although I officially left this forum since I sold my DM

@Marvel you know that no one actually ever leaves the Tascam forums! Thanks for jumping back in and lending a hand.

 

[ddpmusic]

Thank you @Marvel. You help me with the same problem. But I just added my own mistake to it. I forget to install the FW driver. For some reason I was expecting a plug&play situation just adding the TM Companion soft