IEE 1394 & iLink

Question for the digital and new format experts out there..... are IEE 1394 and iLink the same thing, or compatible, or completely different?

If I had a digital player (say a Pioneer universal player like the DVD 868i or Sony SCD-XA9000ES SACD player) with iLink output, will it be able link up as a transport with a DAC with IEE 1394 interface like DCS or somesuch?

thanks in advance.

 

there is *SUPPOSED* to be a standard but there seems to be some confusion over it working across manufacturers. usually the amp can see the player ok (or vice versa) but no sound comes out due to handshaking / encryption problems.
cheers


julian

 

IEE1394, iLink and FireWire are all exactly the same in terms of cable, sockets and the low level interface spec. However, that doesn't mean that there's necessarily any compatability in digital audio data transfer between two devices that use iLink. In fact, I'm pretty sure they are not compatible as all the high level protocols are proprietary

I think it's extremely doubtful that a universal player with iLink output would be able to connect successfully to a dCS DAC.

Michael.

 

Funnily enough I've been sussing this stuff out as I've just bought a LaCie 160GB Firewire 800 / 400 / USB2 external drive to back up both my laptop and desktop PCs. iLink is Sony's proprietary name for Firewire 400 but uses a smaller 4 pin connector that is found on most recent laptops and some AV kit, the standard Firewire 400 / IEE1394 connector is bigger and has six pins. Luckily the LaCie drive came with a multitude of different cables including a 4 to six pin to connect the drive to my iLink equipped Tosh Tecra 9100. Firewire 800 has a different shaped connector again and has more pins, looks like 9 pin to me.

I'm really impressed with XPs Firewire support – the external drive works a treat and needed no additional software to get up and running. Just plug it in, initialise / format it in XP's 'Disk Management' and its away. Damn fast too.

Tony.

 

The main difference of note between 4-pin and 6-pin FireWire is that 4-pin FireWire doesn't transmit power - in low level comms protocol terms they're identical though and there are many 4-pin to 6-pin cables and/or adapters. The "no power" issue with 4-pin FW can sometimes be an issue with small devices like the iPod for instance, which won't recharge the battery off a laptop (4-pin) FireWire connection.

I recently got a Lacie D2 FireWire/USB2 external CD-RW drive for my wife's laptop. Works a treat. Just plug it in and Windows XP does the rest.

Michael.

 

the supposed standard is called A&M (Audio & Music Data) pioneer, sony, dennon and others support it but it's flaky as to whether it works or not. if you are wanting to go the i-link route best to go for stuff from the same manufacturer.
cheers


julian