What Is FireWire to USB and How to Convert FireWire to USB - MiniTool (2024)

FAQs

Is there a way to convert FireWire to USB? ›

No, it is not possible to connect a FireWire interface to your computer's USB port via a FireWire to USB adapter, since this connection is not sufficient to run a FireWire audio interface.

Technical Differences between USB and FireWire

USB and FireWire had different design goals when they were first developed. USB was designed for simplicity and low cost, while FireWire was designed for high performance, particularly in time-sensitive applications such as audio and video.

FireWire and Instrumentation

With FireWire, products such as digitizers, arbitrary function generators, digital pattern generators and other instruments that need to transfer large amounts of data will be able to do so without saturating the bus. FireWire can also be used to create peer-to-peer networks.

Along with USB, Firewire (also called IEEE 1394) is another popular connector for adding peripherals to your computer. Firewire is most often used to connect digital camcorders, external hard drives, and other devices that can benefit from the high transfer rates (up to 480 Mbps) supported by the Firewire connection.

To connect your Firewire device to a Mac with Thunderbolt 3/USB-C ports, you need TWO adapters and a special firewire cable: Apple's Thunderbolt 3 (USB-C) to Thunderbolt 2 adapter. Apple's Thunderbolt 2 to Firewire 800 adapter. A Firewire cable with the 800 port on one end and 400 port on the other.

Moreover, the need for FireWire was dispelled as USB grew to be more powerful. When the standard was first introduced, it supported 400 megabits per second compared to USB's 12 megabits per second. Now, the USB4 standard supports 40 gigabits per second, and FireWire just couldn't keep up.

USB is a small and medium bandwidth connection for telephony products, digital still cameras, monitors, keyboards, mice, and other similar I/O devices. In contrast, IEEE 1394 is a high-speed bus designed for digital video cameras, DVD players, mass storage devices, and other peripherals that require greater bandwidth.

FireWire, which is also called IEEE 1394, is a connecting device used primarily for adding peripherals to a computer. FireWire is often used for connecting external hard drives and digital camcorders that benefit from a high transfer rate. These transfer rates are often up to 800 Mbps.

FireWire is plug-and-play, so if you connect a new FireWire device to your computer, the operating system auto-detects it and asks for the driver disc. If you've already installed the device, the computer activates it and starts talking to it.

IEEE 1394, commonly known as FireWire, is a standard connection type for many electronic devices such as digital video cameras, printers and scanners, external hard drives, and other peripherals.

What are the 2 types of FireWire? ›

FireWire cable is lightweight, flexible, and inexpensive—a vast improvement over bulky and expensive SCSI cables. And, unlike many older interfaces, you never need device IDs, jumpers, DIP switches, screws, latches, or terminators. There are two types of FireWire connectors: 6-pin and 4-pin.

Whether connecting game consoles, personal video recorders, home stereo equipment, digital TVs, hard drives, CD/DVD-RW drives, printers, scanners, tape drives or other digital hardware equipment, FireWire is well-suited to handle all these various requirements.

FireWire and USB (Universal Serial Bus) are two independent high-speed bus technologies that allow multiple devices to be connected to the computer. The two technologies are not integrated, which means that USB devices cannot be connected directly to the FireWire port.

FireWire streams data rather than packets data. This results in more stable synchronization and performance. A FireWire device can stream data in both directions at the same time, while USB requires the sent packets of data to finish transmission before the device can receive more data.

Apple's last products with FireWire, the Thunderbolt Display and 2012 13-inch MacBook Pro, were discontinued in 2016. Apple previously sold a Thunderbolt to FireWire Adapter, which provided one FireWire 800 port.

FireWire is a transfer protocol designed to accommodate the large file sizes of digital video. If your work computer only features a USB port and your camera only has FireWire, you can still download the video to your hard drive by using an adapter cable.

The primary, and for the most part only way to add a supported firewire connection to a laptop is with a firewire expresscard adapter. In most cases, to find a laptop with an expresscard expansion slot, you'll need to look at the "Business" class laptops from the major manufacturers.

In macOS 13 Ventura, Apple removed support for Core Audio over firewire so the Orpheus and a multitude of other firewire devices will no longer work.

In general, FireWire devices support a higher bandwidth than USB 2.0, and therefore can send more data faster. This results in the ability to utilize more inputs and outputs, as well as increased performance and stability.