SwingDJs

Mr Awesomer wrote:

Cyrano de Maniac wrote:However, I noticed in the System Profiler that the Mac internal Bluetooth adapter is on the same USB bus as the left-hand external USB port, where I had the Turtle Beach plugged in that ill-fated night. In some limited testing with the coworker's audio device on the right-hand USB port, which is not shared with the Bluetooth adapter, I have not yet experienced any audio drop-outs.

A little testing last night confirms this for me as well. Left side USB port = issues. Right side USB port = no problems. Hopefully this is addressed in a system update sometime soon.

That doesn't sound like a software issue, sounds like a hardware problem with the mac. I'm not familiar with them, but it's possible each side is on a different USB bus.

GemZombie wrote:That doesn't sound like a software issue, sounds like a hardware problem with the mac. I'm not familiar with them, but it's possible each side is on a different USB bus.

Yes they are.

I was also using a Bluetooth mouse when I was having most of the problems. I didn't realize until Monday that the Bluetooth transceiver in the computer was on the same (left-hand) USB bus as the sound device.

Thankfully the problem is solved. I'll attach USB audio devices only to the right-hand bus in the future.

I'll still likely end up with a Firewire solution at some point, but that's motivated primary by non-DJ considerations, the benefit (getting off of a bus that's likely to be shared with various devices) to DJing is just a fortunate side-effect.

Brent

Cyrano de Maniac wrote:Thankfully the problem is solved. I'll attach USB audio devices only to the right-hand bus in the future.

Is it though? That seems like solving a toothache by chewing on the other side of your mouth. There is no excuse for a USB port on a high end laptop to not work anything but perfectly. I certainly hope you take it up with Apple Support like I will be.

Mr Awesomer wrote:

Cyrano de Maniac wrote:Thankfully the problem is solved. I'll attach USB audio devices only to the right-hand bus in the future.

Is it though? That seems like solving a toothache by chewing on the other side of your mouth. There is no excuse for a USB port on a high end laptop to not work anything but perfectly. I certainly hope you take it up with Apple Support like I will be.

Not likely to do any good, though one should complain. I'd say with some certainty what you are experiencing is either a hardware problem, or a limitation in the physical implementation of USB on those laptops. Basically the USB bus is not sharing nicely between devices...

While I don't have this problem with my current setup, I have, in the past, seen similar problems on the PC when I connect two high bandwidth usb devices to the same bus... this was especially true with USB 1.x.

I haven't had the problem with my new system, where I regularly connect an external hard drive and external sound device to the same bus, and use them at the same time. I think it is correct to assume that a proper system should be able to handle the situation, and I would at least complain to Apple so that they fix the problem for future laptops.

After more web research, the consensus seems to be that the problem is related to the current draw of the USB device from the port in question. The left-hand USB port on the MacBook Pros supplies the bare minimum that the USB spec requires, and not a whole lot more. The right-hand port, and all the ports on most other laptops, are capable of supplying a fair amount more current than the minimum USB requirements.

So it seems Apple obeyed the letter of the law, but not so much the spirit of it. *sigh* Yeah, it kind of sucks, but at least there's a work around for my purposes.

I'll have to try out my new MacBook Pro though, to see if the new generation (the ones with the multitouch trackpad) has the same problem. Long story short: what was just slightly more serious than a cosmetic blemish resulted in Apple pretty much insisting on replacing my newly purchased refurb laptop with an actually new higher-spec laptop. Backing up and restoring all my data and iTunes ratings/BPM info was a small chore, but getting a bigger hard drive out of the deal more than made up for the lost evening.

Brent

Thanks for the update Brent. I guess that's what happens when Apple lets Intel design the innards of their gear.

I just picked up a Turtle Beach Advantage Micro while I as in Vancouver for Lindy Bout. I'm impressed that it Just Worked(tm). The only thing I found was that it tended to be a little weak in the middle frequencies. I compared it to both the internal sound card and my external Sound Blaster on my laptop through my Sennheiser HD457 headphones.

Also, one of the other DJ's that weekend borrowed it, the mids also sounded a little weak coming out of a pair of Mackie SRM450's. I'm sure only audiophiles and some DJs would have noticed.

Toon Town Dave wrote:Thanks for the update Brent. I guess that's what happens when Apple lets Intel design the innards of their gear.

I just picked up a Turtle Beach Advantage Micro while I as in Vancouver for Lindy Bout. I'm impressed that it Just Worked(tm). The only thing I found was that it tended to be a little weak in the middle frequencies. I compared it to both the internal sound card and my external Sound Blaster on my laptop through my Sennheiser HD457 headphones.

Also, one of the other DJ's that weekend borrowed it, the mids also sounded a little weak coming out of a pair of Mackie SRM450's. I'm sure only audiophiles and some DJs would have noticed.

Yes, that is probably a fair asessment. But for DJ purposes, the enhanced "loudness" effect of subtly boosting highs and lows actually is an asset for Swing DJs given the typically-underpowered sound systems we use and the typically-larger spaces we need to fill. (Highs and lows tend to get lost more easily in a big spaces.) A large part of the Turtle Beach thumb-card's attractiveness is the price and size given the decent (albeit not audiophile) sound quality.

Moreover, true audiophiles would not even consider purchasing anything in the sub-$100 range, whereas most Swing DJs would not consider purchasing an external sound card over $100. I have actually been looking into "audiophile-quality" options for linking my digital, hard-drive-based music to my stereo, and most of them start at over $1000.

I got this off ebay a couple weeks ago for about $135: http://www.m-audio.com/products/en_us/F ... -main.html

Kind of an expensive impulse buy on my part since it's geared more for input rather than output, but the sound is nice and the guy selling was local so I didn't have to pay for shipping. Unfortunately, I didn't realize until afterwards that I didn't have the proper firewire connection to provide power (4 pin vs 6 pin), so I have to use the AC adapter which is annoying.

Echo sales rep just told me its Indigo DJ Express Card is entering final stage production and should hit the markets in about 3-4 weeks.

I guess we'll find out if its vaporware pretty soon.

wspeid wrote:Echo sales rep just told me its Indigo DJ Express Card is entering final stage production and should hit the markets in about 3-4 weeks.

I guess we'll find out if its vaporware pretty soon.

Express Card 54 or 34?

I wonder how much it'll be.

I was asking about the 54, but the contact on the phone said they'd be supporting both (apparently the only difference is the extra surface area to allow for better dissipation of heat build up, or so I've heard... a techie may know better.).

Definitely keep us posted on this! And any price info too. I am in the market for one.

I've had a look through this thread and found that the answers I'm looking for aren't there (or I just don't understand what I'm reading... which is entirely likely) or are out of date.

I'm not a hardcore tech-head, so please play nice with your answers: sarcasm will probably make me cry, seeing as it's the marking time end of semester.

I want to buy a new soundcard.

I use a mac (powerbook, a little older, but not completely crapped out) and a combination of itunes and DJ1800. Neither of those software options is super-wonderful, but that's where I'm at right now. I also use headphones for previewing.

I'm currently using a Geffen imic as my external soundcard, but I'd like to get into some sort of firewire action. I know just about nothing about this, but my computer nerd partner assures me I'll get better sound from a firewire soundcard.


What are other people using, firewire-wise?

Can anyone make any recommendations?

I'm prepared to pay to about $200, as it's something I'll use for more than just DJing.
I'm also based in Australia, which can make some products a non-option.

Ta in advance.

I currently have an M-Audio Firewire Solo. It's rather big and clunky (about the size of an external hard drive), and it needs an external power supply (unless you have a 6-pin connector on your computer), but it sounds nice and clean. It has balanced line outs, spdif out, and inputs too if you want to do recording or whatnot.

It's not really that great for dj'ing since it's not portable, but I got it off ebay and it was a local seller, so it was cheap.