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MOTU FireWire audio interfaces and PCI/PCMCIA FireWire card chip sets

MOTU recommends using strictly FireWire PCI/PCMCIA cards based on the Texas Instrument chipset.

There's an incompatibility between the NEC chip found in some FireWire cards and the MOTU FireWire line of interface.

If the FireWire installer warns you that you're running a FireWire card with the NEC chip, you should replace said card with a card that uses the TI (Texas Instruments) or LSI (formerly Lucent/Agere) chip.

Keyspan, Sonnet, Miglia, and ADS are a few of the many brands using the TI or LSI FireWire chips. Note that not all cards by a given manufacturer use the same chipset, so please check with the manufacturer of the FireWire card before purchasing it to ensure it has a TI or LSI chip. Many combo USB/FireWire cards do not a use TI or LSI chip, so a dedicated FireWire card is recommended.

For additional considerations about FireWire cards when using the Traveler or UltraLite, please see this tech note.