Firewire

The **IEEE 1394 interface (Firewire)** is a serial bus port for high speed data transport between computers storage and media devices. The interface is also known by the brand names of **FireWire (Apple)** & **i.LINK (Sony)**. Nearly all digital camcorders have included a four-circuit 1394 interface. Firewire connections can be intermingled (i.e. 4 to 6 pin, 9 to 4 pin. for compatibility, but please remember, transport speed will slow to the lowest common denominator. Firewire remains the primary transfer mechanism for high-end professional audio and video equipment.

The **Universal Serial Bus 2 (USB2)** connection offers a 480 Mbps transport speed, which makes it ideal or high speed data transport. However the protocol (transport language) cannot be interchanged with firewire (i.e. - you cannot use a USB to a firewire port). They don't even make a connector for it. even tough they serve the same function, don't confuse the two connections!


 * [[image:4_pin_firewire.jpg width="176" height="176" caption="4-Pin Firewire (400 Mbps) used to connect computers with harddrives and source decks "]] || [[image:6_pin_firewire.jpg width="177" height="177" caption="6-Pin Firewire (400 Mbps) used to connect computers with harddrives "]] || [[image:9_pin_firewire.jpg width="186" height="180" caption="9-Pin Firewire (800 Mbps) used in newer computers and harddives specifically designed for High def file transport"]] ||
 * [[image:usb_a.jpg width="184" height="184" caption="Standard USB A-Type (480 Mbps) used to connect computer to USB 2.0 equipped Hard Drives (this end connects to the computer)"]] || [[image:5Pin_usb_mini.jpg width="182" height="182" caption="5 Pin USB Mini (480 Mbps) used to connect computers with harddrives (this end connects to the HD)"]] ||   ||