Firewire Cable

[Peter Batah]

Hello all. I recently inherited an i7 PC that I would like to test with my DM. It has an onboard Firewire option. IEEE 1394 - VIA® VT6315N controller supports 2 x 1394a ports (one at mid-board; one at back panel)

I am thinking of ordering this cable online and want to be sure that the Firewire 400 to 400 is the one that I should be selecting.

https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B000067SO4...colid=7XANJ6NUKROW&psc=0&ref_=lv_ov_lig_dp_it

Your assistance is greatly appreciated. Peter

 

[rqstudio]

I have forgotten almost everything I used to know about FW cables 10 years ago but I know I'm passing 32 tracks back and forth on my FW card. I've got several relatively cheep cords and they all work however, I do seem to remember something about length. The shorter the better and no, that's not what she said. Only thing I'm questioning is do you need that fitting on both ends? Most cards and computers have a much smaller input jack, like a small rectangle with a notch on the top?

 

[Peter Batah]

@rqstudio Thanks so much for the prompt reply. Shortly after submitting my original post I located a 3 foot cable that I honestly didn't even know that I possessed. It seems to work just fine except I am sure that it is going to be too short. So I will have to end up purchasing a 6 to 10 foot cable anyway. I was more concerned about the cable speed connection options that the Amazon vendor made available.

By the way, you mentioned:

"Only thing I'm questioning is do you need that fitting on both ends? Most cards and computers have a much smaller input jack, like a small rectangle with a notch on the top?"

I use that cable configuration with both a Windows laptop and my Mac Book Pro. If you notice, many of the PCI or PCIe cards offer the connector that I see on my motherboard.

 

[Arjan P]

I think the cable you showed looks correct, maybe @rqstudio is confusing FW with eSATA? That is more like rectangular with a notch on top. But there are also miniature FW connectors, I'm sure. On your P6T picture the top red connector is what I think of with FW.

BTW, nice mobo, I have the Asus P6TD Deluxe with i7 as well, though my FW chipset is VIA VT6308. Should be great together with the DM.

 

[rqstudio]

No, not confusing FW with eSATA, My 'mini' tower has mini FW and so does my old laptop which I no longer use. I'm just curious what brand your Windows laptop is?

 

[Peter Batah]

@rqstudio HP Compaq nx9420.

 

[Peter Batah]

I think the cable you showed looks correct, maybe @rqstudio is confusing FW with eSATA? That is more like rectangular with a notch on top. But there are also miniature FW connectors, I'm sure. On your P6T picture the top red connector is what I think of with FW.

BTW, nice mobo, I have the Asus P6TD Deluxe with i7 as well, though my FW chipset is VIA VT6308. Should be great together with the DM.

I am in test mode with the PC at the moment. Fresh install of Windows 7 Home Premium / 12G of ram / 2 x 500G HDD, second used to store audio files. I was actually thinking of installing an HP SSD M700 240G as the drive where my OS would reside. Later on perhaps. I downloaded a trial version of Cubase 10 Elements. As I stated earlier I did find a 3' M/M firewire cable while rummaging through my cache of cables. So far, everything appears to be functioning as it should. Somewhat of a change I must say. Especially, given that I have been (am using) Cubase 5.x on another PC. Have a good one @Arjan P and thanks for chiming in. Always appreciate it. Peter

 

[J L Bowie]

Peter, sounds like you found what you needed, but for future reference the smaller FW 400 connector mentioned earlier in this thread is a four pin, distinct from the six pin in that it carries no power, simply DATA. Six pin is obviously what is resident on the mixer, although one could use a six to four pin cable since power is not required for the Tascam FW connection.
Also, you can easily use up to 4.5 meters (About 15 feet) with a single cable, and further using repeaters.
One other aside, do not run any other FW gear via hubs with your mixer. Only use a FW port dedicated to the Tascam.

 

[Peter Batah]

@J L Bowie Thanks for the valuable information. Much appreciated. Looks like I will be purchasing this cable from Tripp Lite. It was either the 6' or 15' configuration, So I have decided to play it safe and go with the 15' length. I am not quite sure where my PC will be in proximity to my DM.

https://www.tripplite.com/firewire-ieee-1394-cable-6pin-male-male-15-ft~F005015

 

[J L Bowie]

Yeah, I would go for the 15' length also. My PCs are in an isolated room, as a result I have been running my DM4800 using a fifteen foot cable, plus a six foot extension with a FW repeater between the two cables for almost ten years now with no issues whatsoever. Very stable connection whether you are using a VIA chipset or Texas Instruments FW card. I've used both over the years, as well as the integrated FW on ASUS and Gigabyte motherboards without issue. Enjoy that console.