Matt Ion writes:

I know there's a firewire option available for the HD24, but that's a
relatively hefty extra cost, in addition to needing to add a firewire
card to the PC ($25 for a PCI firewire card, $300+ for the HD24 adapter,
pffft).

There was a promotion running not long ago where the HD24XR (version with
94/24 converters, supposedly also better than the plain HD24 even at 48 &
44.1) included the Fireport for FREE. I missed that one, but the Fireport
was only US$199 when I bought it. It paid for itself rather quickly in
terms of how easily data was moved on and off the computer, and in doing
drive housekeeping with the PC rather than the HD24XR. Yes, you'll pay
more for the XR, but many report that the sonic improvement is worth it.
As an old 2" analog guy, I've been quite pleased with the
price/performance of the XR version.

How old is your computer? Many that are out in the past 12-24 months have
firewire support on the motherboard. Double check; maybe you already have
it (look for one of those half-hidden little connectors labeled with an
inscrutable icon).

Frank
Mobile Audio
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