USB or FireWire IO Device

I want to get a IO box to put my guitar through, and eventually microphone (so it will need phantom power and mic pre amps) into my powerbook. I will only be using one microphone.

With only one microphone, will there be a significant difference between FireWire and USB ? Can USB mixers / IO devices be powered through the USB port like they can on a FireWire port ?

Thanks is you can help !

Some USB sound cards can be powered through the USB port but it's probably worth checking with the specific model before you buy. I believe FireWire is faster than USB but i doubt that would make much difference. It depends on the quality of the components in the mixer/soundcard - the quality of the pre amps etc. Also, it won't use up one of your USB ports and i personally use my USB ports far more than FireWire. Your budget would also be a consideration as FireWire devices tend to be more expensive than their USB counterparts. check this articel i found it quite useful

Hope this helps.

With audio equipment, most people (at least on the Audio / DJ forums I am on) will tell you to use Firewire. I personally use a MOTU Ultralite, but that is way overkill for what you want to do. If you want something that is relatively cheap, but stil works well, chech out M-Audio, they have a huge line of audio equipment.

yeah Ive had a look at M Audio - Theyre firewire solo model doesnt come wth a preamp, only the fire duo and above models have that. For firewire devices I was thinking of Mackie Onyx Satellite or Tapco Link.firewire, as for USB some sort of mixer, as theyre still cheaper than the firewire lol.

Im currently runnign a 1.67 GHz PowerBook G4 - will that be able to cope with a good external soundcard with sound coming in and out while gaming etc ? Sounds like the firewire has a processor on board so that it can take some of the sound processing instead of the main processor.