At work we are massively upgrading our recording studio, and the sound guy wants to keep all computer equipment sealed away in a sound-proof room, so he hears only the music. His method of doing this was to add a closet at the back of the room with racks for audio equipment and computers, as well as a few desktop computers. The problem is, he also needs to have access to USB and Firewire ports in the editing room. The location of where things need to be plugged in is going to be roughly 25' from the computer itself. So how can we best access the following ports from 25' away without introducing any extra noise in the room, or 'noise' on the line? 3 USB 2.0 Ports 2 Firewire 400 Ports 2 DVI ports for a couple of macintosh monitors Also, if we were to use a Firewire Hub or USB 2.0 Hub, would we loose any performance at all? Even if we lose just a tiny bit that isn't really noticable, then we'll just run separate cables, perhaps with repeaters. Any tips?
USB should be fine, i'm not sure about firewire and DVI. firewire might be ok but you'll find it hard to get DVI that distance. could you not just design a virtualy silent computer and put it in a cabinet the same side of the room? www.silentpcreview.com should be able to help with that
http://www.computercablestore.com/SearchResult.aspx?CategoryID=1183 http://www.digitalconnection.com/products/cables/kddvid30.asp http://www.expansys.com/product.asp?code=106114 these are all example cables, so its possible, you just may need to start spending some cash.
Well, I've found a 33 foot (10 Meter) Firewire Cable for about $30, and a USB 2.0 16' (5 Meter) extender for about $30. So it looks like we can easily duplicate those cables. The video cables are another story... I've found a 20' Dual-Link DVI Cable for $40, but I'm not sure if that will be long enough, and I'm not sure if that will work with Apple computers.... do apple computers use a special form-factor for their monitors? Or will a Dual link DVI cable work? As for a quiet PC on the same side of the room as the mixer, it seems the audio guy doesn't want to change the shape of the room enough to set a big box on the floor, and they are up against an external wall so he can't add a closet. Thanks for the posts guys! Now just a quick question: If I simply get a high quality Firewire Hub and USB 2.0 Hub, will I loose speed and quality by plugging in 3 USB 2.0 items at once, and 3 Firewire 400 items at once?
You shouldn't loose any performance so long as your using powered USB 2 Hubs, I was running my iPod on my PC on a USB extenesion cable and wondering why it didn't work. It didn't like the USB extension cable, plugging it into my Dad's powered USB 2 Hub got it going. So long as your firewire hub and USB hub are powered I don't see it being a problem.
Apple have used regular DVI since they moved to the new style aluminium cinema displays. http://www.apple.com/displays/digital.html Bottom right of the page should alleviate any worries.
True. Prior to upgrading to Nikon D2X cameras, we used a tethered system made my Horseman, and we used 10m firewire cables with no problems. DVI will be your problem, not USB and IEEE1394, both of which can use a 10m cable with no problems.
I guess my problem then is that we will be using 2 16' USB Extension Cables to go from the PC to the desk, then using a powered USB 2.0 HDD. The USB 2.0 Extension Cable that I'm looking at claims to "repeat" the signal (although it isn't powered by anything other than the USB port) up to 75', so I'm hoping to buy 2 of those then throw a powered USB 2.0 port at the end. I may still use dedicated Firewire just because those are insanely important to have running full-speed (according to the sound tech) One more question, Will a 6 port powered Firewire port be any slower than plugging devices straight into the computer? EDIT: Would something like this be just as fast as running 4 separate USB extension and 3 separate Firewire extensions?
please use the edit button instead of making a new post to as another question. Just keeps things tidy.. thanks.
Linkage About a quarter down from the top " 10 Meter (32 Ft. 6 In.) DVI-D Male To DVI-D Male Dual Link Digital Cable" sound about right? Moriquendi
