Firewire DACs?


I know these are allegedly fairly common - so I have read - within the professional recording industry. Are there any consumer (normal ole Joe's like me) Firewire-based DACs?
128x128Ag insider logo xs@2xoldmandave
Just get a firewire to spdif converter and you can get any dac you want. No limitations.
The short answer is "no." And the reason is that, unlike USB, Firewire computer interfaces all need custom drivers written for them. If you buy a Firewire DAC or Firewire - SPDIF converter, you will need to install drivers on your computer and probably futz with them a bit. It's not necessarily hard, but USB interfaces require nothing of the sort.

If you want to go Firewire, I would go with a true Firewire DAC, such as the Weiss DAC2 or their new DAC202, rather than a Firewire-SPDIF converter into another DAC. The latter approach can yield good results, but you'll still have to deal with drivers and you are adding another clock into the chain. In my experience, you would do just as well as a Firewire - SPDIF converter by going with a good USB-SPIDF converter (ART, Bel Canto, Empirical Audio, Wavelength) or, better still, a good USB DAC, such as the Ayre or one of the Wavelegths.
Apogee has a couple firewire DACs if you don't want to drop $2500 on a Weiss. Their MiniDac sells for $750 and the Duet goes for $500. I've seen good comments about both.

Ryan