Re: Want to start recording... Advise PLZ!?!?!
But balanced is much more important for mic input because the signal is lower, so any noise you pick up has worse signal/noise. You would need very long cables and a very noisy environment to pick up significant noise in a line carrying line level such as the one to the monitors.
Before we start fighting for our own truth inside our skulls let's just say that using a balanced monitor cable will surely save the OP from a lot of unforeseen troubles that you luckily seem to have avoided so far while using unbalanced cables. It just offers more powerful signal transfer with less possible problems. Period.
For a simple test, let's take a cheap used powered / shielded monitor that has both unbalanced and balanced signal inputs. BTW it is not a matter of price, an ample of semi-consumer monitors offer that option. Then let's plie up in a small room a computer, the monitors, the interface and all the guitar amps that are around, a microwave oven or two, a couple of extra anything that has a transformer in it or has a decent electromagnetic noise output and turn everything on. So now that we modelled an average, still not too dense recording environment with a couple of units around that produce some electrically disturbing artifacts and noise that the OP can run into if he gets some outboard gear, multiple amps running, phones around etc etc later and starts recording. That point, just grab a pair of 1m balanced and 1m unbalanced wires and make a simple A / B test between the probably +4dBu (1.2V balanced) and +10dBV (0.3V unbalanced) ready monitor ins. If there is no drastical difference between the clarity and noise of the two then
A: we have successfully set up an electromagnetic zero point accidentally in a real world environment
B: the unbalanced wire accidentally started working as a hyperconductor, don't touch it, let's call the great-grandson of Nicola Tesla
C: the monitors are not working.
I don't think sample rates more than 48 k/sec are called for here, it fits USB 1 just fine. And the reliability of USB is total, utter garbage. Sorry but you just insulted firewire, shouldn't have done that
What is the reason? FW is fine, I read the post you reacted twice, no one insulted anything. Please don't start witch hunting for nothing and derail the OP with a "Coca or Pepsi" debate
USB devices these days are not USB units a decade ago. Although firewire provides a more consistent data flow, there is a serious amount of engineering in present USB interfaces that provide carefully programmed drivers that don't let the OS to f up with the data flow that much. I have some fresh experience of running an RME UFX during a broadcast project running both USB and FW for days in MAC and PC - it doesn't matter, it works either way fine. AVID Eleven Rack USB on MAC / ProTools, recording DI geetars for days, no glitch (I wish that the 'tools worked so fine as this interface). Focusrite Saffire40 FW PC with a $10 noname FW card, editing for days - works fine. Focusrite Scarlet 18i20 USB running in a live band recording setup overnight without a hiccup - no problem. Testing an UAD Satellite Quad DSP unit with FW800 - wow that was like a race car for sure. Settng up a Line6 UX2 for a friend of mine a week ago - he's reported missing since then.
...I tend to think, both USB and FW can be really bad for health and social life these days.
I can insult it if I want to (I'm not, I'm quite happy with it).
