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PHASE X24 (English)
The socket on your PC can have two different forms, with either 4 or 6 conductors.
According to the standard, in the 6-pin version the two extra pins are used to supply 7.5 –
30V / 1.5A per port. Unfortunately, this is often not the case due to the poor quality of
some controllers that are unable to provide a constant operating voltage—despite the
requirements of the specification. So if you'd like to avoid any unexpected failures of the
PHASE X24 FW, please use the included AC adapter—better safe than sorry. If your
computer “only” has a 4-pin port, you must use the AC adapter. To connect the sound
module to your PC in this case, please use the included adapter (6-pin to 4-pin).
Two sockets—continued
Unlike USB, FireWire™ is a bus system. In other words, every FireWire™ device has a
full-featured port for further equipment, so that individual devices can also be connected in
series. OK, it's currently only possible to link 64 devices in practice, but who has that
many peripherals? Hubs—like those used by USB devices—are therefore superfluous as
long as the cable length between the individual devices does not exceed 4.5 meters or a
total of 72 meters, as this would cause problems due to signal attenuation. The connected
devices will still work with one of the intermediate devices is switched off—the rest will still
communicate via the ports. Please ensure that you don't create a loop—at some point you
must have a final device without a further connection.
The PHASE X24 FW also has two connections for this reason. Which of the two ports you
use to connect it to your computer is up to you—the sockets are identical.
Be careful nevertheless, there are a number of potential stumbling blocks. The values
listed above are theoretical. Most camcorders, for example, do not comply with the IEEE
1394 specification and transmit their data without consideration of standards or potential
losses. You should also consider that a complex audio production may use the full bus
width (400 Mbps in theory, but it may be considerably lower in practice). Should you have
problems with additional FireWire™ devices connected to the PHASE X24 FW, please
connect them to a different controller port.
