I have a powerbook that I record to with a firewire audio interface. I like to record @ 96kHz, normally with only 1-2 channels being recorded and about 10-15 being played back (all real audio, no s/w instruments). Because the firewire port is taken by the audio interface I am thinking of getting a USB HDD to record to, but I'm worried about disk latency and speed. I want to avoid dasiy chaining firewire devices for the rare occasion where I want to record 6 channels @ 96kHz.

Is there anybody out there with a similar setup, or experience with one, that can give me some insight as to how well a USB HDD would work for me with this setup?

If you're worried about maxing out a firewire connection, a USB HDD won't be able to deal with that deluge of data. Besides, six 96kHz channels with 24-bit data is only ~1.7MBps, which isn't much.

Take with a grain of salt, and try somewhere like http://hydrogenaudio.org/

BTW, could you elaborate on the "1-2 channels being recorded and about 10-15 being played back" part?

>>2 elaborate on the "1-2 channels being recorded and about 10-15 being played back"

I am just refering to the fact that I will have a few other pre-recorded tracks being played while recording new tracks over the top. Eg. I may have recorded a drum track, bass track and rhythm guitar track and will have these being played while I record a lead guitar track over the top.

http://www.bigbluelounge.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=32075

I found this thread which pretty much had the info I was after.