This has been done to death...
The TI is only usb2 compatible, which means it will work in usb2 or usb1 slots....wow, cool huh?
It does not run at usb2 speed, though...it is only 12mb.
In fact its not all about the speed, its the medium, interface and actual protocol. Usb2 may well be faster than firewire 1394a (400), but the protocol itself is piss poor. Remember, usb was designed for anal things like mouse's, keyboards, joysticks etc....firewire was designed for highend streaming video, backup hard drives, dv camcorders. Again I stress its not purely about speeds, its about protocol, communication, quality and reliablility...all of which firewire is > than usb buy a LARGE amount.
I wouldnt be at all suprised if the usb implementation is whats causing the delay, being the root of the problems they are having because its actually a bollocks protocol to use for anything audio, especially low latency devices like the TI NEEDS to be. Usb soundcards are reknown for being utter shit, have large latencies, being generally unreliable and basically cheap alternatives......which at the end of the day is what it all boils down to, money. Firewire would of been a costly (a lot? I very much doubt it and the large number of virus purchasers WOULD of paid more for it) to implement and it would of seriously culled the market of the synth.....everyone has usb ports right? especially the shitty ones that run at 12mbs? Huge market there, much more appealing to a company selling a product like this
Only time will tell if that was the right decision or not.... personally with 2 stereo chan outputs (over usb) on a 16 sound multimbral synth in this day and age which the technology we have I seriously doubt it........especially if they cant even get that working
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