External Audio works with e-Sata, not with USB

[JayThomas]

Hi!

I've encountered a very strange problem. I recently bought a M-audio Fast Track Ultra which I apparently installed, having connected it to the e-Sata port. Last week I bought a e-Sata cabinet with a sata-disk which I connected to the Vaio I use. As the e-Sata is occupied with the external disk, I connected the Fast Track device to the std USB ports on the right hand side of the Laptop. Unfortunately it totally fails to add the device. I've tried to reinstall the drivers, after a complete removal, I've tried the trick to disconnect the battery for at least 20 seconds, nothing works. The last thing I tried was to remove the external sata disk and connect the audio device to the e-Sata port, and IT WORKS? As I really need the external disk to be connected to the e-Sata port instead of USB, I'd really like to know and understand the difference between the std USB ports and the USB/e-Sata one. I've powered the Audio device separately, just to ensure that I dont drain the USB. I'm out of ideas and would really appreciate some help!

The gear I'm using is a Sony Vaio VPCF13S0E, 6 Gb RAM, Windows 7 Ultimate 64-edition.

[JayThomas]

Well, mystery solved. It turns out that this is an incompatibility issue with the USB 3.0 ports on the VAIO and the Audio gear. Hopefully the guys at M-Audio will be able to fix this in a soon...

[LloydTwoscoops]

Hi Jay

Believe it or not, I have exactly the same Laptop and exactly the same problem - my audio interface is a Tascam US-800 - it works perfectly in the eSata/USB2 port but not in the USB 3.0 ports.  I posted on here at the time (a couple of months ago) without any replies and also contacted Sony but eventually got round the issue by picking up a fast (7200rpm) USB 3.0 LaCie Rugged Portable Hard Drive to free up the eSata port which is great for audio (running Cubase 6)

I've now also got hold of a USB 2.0 Express Card which the Tascam also works fine through - I'm worried about bottlenecks in the USB 3.0 bus if I try to run too many VSTi s or too many audio tracks so may try an eSata external drive in the future if this becomes an issue (no problems with the LaCie at the moment, though and in theory the data transfer rates of USB 3.0 and eSata should be comparable)

It was only trial & error that led me to the conclusion that the Tascam driver/firmware was unable to work with USB 3.0 which is meant to be fully backwards compatible but obviously isn't!

Cheers

Mike

[JayThomas]

Hi Mike!

Actually I've also been thinking of buying a USB 3.0 external disc cabinet, in order to use the e-Sata for the audio gear. Been using the disk, which has both e-Sata and USB, with USB this weekend but the performance is not what I wanted nor expected.

As I also use Cubase 6, it's still good knowing why the audio gear doesn't work with USB 3.0 ports. I found this in the M-Audio forums and once again, you have to out the query correct to get the "best" answers.

Cheers,

Jay T.

[LloydTwoscoops]

Hi Jay

Interesting stuff!

USB 2.0 is a nightmare for audio because it doesn't provide data streaming in both directions at the same time (as both USB 3.0 and eSata do) - I've used a USB 2.0 external drive for sample libraries but nothing else and even that was a bit glitchy.

You won't be disappointed with USB 3.0 for audio, though - it seems to work fine for me, even running some very greedy projects.

Might be worth getting an Express Card with a couple of extra USB 2.0 ports on it first - you might find this saves you having to shell out for a USB 3.0 enclosure if the M-Audio interface works ok with it.  If it doesn't then at least you've then got some extra USB ports (Sony are a bit tight when it comes to USB ports - I couldn't believe it when I realised that my Vaio only had 2, plus the eSata one!  - my first purchase was a 10 port hub!

Having said that, this laptop is fantastic - now all I need to do is take the RAM up to 8Gb to max out on its capabilities

The Tascam US-800 is a bit unreliable - I got it because it has a lot of inputs, plus onboard midi I/O for my Mackie Control but the bloody thing has a habit of going off for a tea break if I close a big project and want to open another one in a hurry.  Hopefully they'll sort out the firmware soon and deal with the USB 3.0 problem at the same time

Cheers

Mike