FirewireDirect offers a complete line of high quality and high performance cables.
All are manufactured to the highest quality specs available, able to deliver reliable bandwidth while transferring data in real time, keeping your time critical data from being lost or corrupted.
designated standards and will work flawlessly with all FireWire 400 and 800Mbps devices and peripherals.
Answers to Frequently Asked Questions about FireWire / 1394
and FireWire 800 / 1394b Cables and Adapters
Q: Is there a difference between FireWire 800 and 1394b?
A: Only in vocabulary. those are two different ways identifying the new second FireWire standard, as defined by the IEEE and bringing FireWire to a whole new level beginning in Summer of 2003. The new faster 800Mbps standard is called 1394b, FireWire 800 or just FireWire B, depending on who you talk to. Macintosh computer users tend to call it "FireWire" (Since Apple invented it), while Windows users and others think "1394". Our cables are popular with FireWire users on every platform, so we speak both languages.
Q: When will you have FireWire 800 cables and what’s the difference between those and regular FireWire / 1394a cables?
We have them now! FirewireDirect proud to be out front again with the first FireWire 800 products, including both bilingual and beta 800Mbps cables.
FireWire 800 standard cables promise a much higher total data speed, 800Mpbs, twice that of the original FireWire standard. They use a special 9-pin connector, compliant with the IEEE 1394b standard, and in addition to speed increases have some new features that improve reliability of data. You will use these cables with new, faster 800Mbps products. Click here to see some additional info about FireWire 800 and the FirewireDirect 800Mbps products that are already taking advantage of the new standard.
We have two different lines - our regular FirewireDirect 800Mbps Professional Series cables, and the new NitroDV cables.
Q: If FireWire 800 is backwards compatible, does it matter which cables I use?
Yes, definitely. In this sense, backwards compatible means if you plug a FireWire 800 device, say a hard drive, into a FireWire 400 (or 1394a) port it will still work. But it will not give you 800 performance unless you use 800Mbps cables and connect to an 800Mbps FireWire port.
Furthermore, 800 devices have 9pin ports where 400 devices have 6-pin ports (and then there’s iLink connectors with their own 4-pin connections). So depending on your computer and your FireWire device, there are a few possibilities. Of course you can get them all here, but with all these different connections and “beta” and “bilingual” cables, you might be still ask….
Q: What are beta and bilingual cables? Which connectors do I need?
“Beta cables” refers to the true FireWire 800 cable, intended for connecting a 1394b device with a 1394b port on your personal computer. Both ends will have a 9-pin connector, compliant with the 800 standard, and are designed to get all the speed of FireWire 800.
“Bilingual cables” refer to those that have a 9-pin connector on one end, for a 800Mpbs device or port, and an “A” connector, either 6-pin or 4-pin, on the other. FireWire 800 is backwards compatible so if you have a FireWire 800 device but your computer is still FireWire 400, you can still plug and play, although you’ll need one of these special cables and you’ll miss out on some of the speed of FireWire 800. There are two types of bilingual cables available for mixing 800 and 400 devices:
9-pin to 6-pin - For connecting a standard FireWire device or computer to an 800Mbps connector. Example: connecting any legacy device (hard drives, DVD drives) to a new faster FireWire 800 port on your personal computer.
9-pin to 4-pin - For connecting an 800Mbps device or computer port to a 4-pin “I.link” connector, like those used on video cameras and some Windows computers. Example: Connecting your video recorder to a computer equipped with the new 800Mbps ports.
Q: What is the difference between ProSeries and GoldX cables?
A: The ProSeries line of Firewire Cables is the long established, professional grade Firewire cable we debuted years ago. These cables have shown themselves to be reliable, top quality Firewire cables, and are fully compliant with the 1394 standard. These cables have been used by digital video and digital audio producers, and in every type of high performance data application imaginable. They are the cables we ship with our Firewire hard drives, CDRW and DVD products, and for any purpose you can imagine these are fantastic cables.
Available in selected lengths and types, The GoldX Cables Series offers just a little more, and FirewireDirect is proud to make these cables available when we are able to. GoldX Cables have special 24K plated ends, and have design patents on the shape of the cable connectors - meaning no other manufacturer can make a cable like this. We have found these GoldX Cables perform extremely well because of their extra special design features, and we believe when you have a choice you should choose a GoldX Cable option.
Check out the GoldX Cables 3-in-1 QuickConnect Professional FireWire/1394a/iLink Cable with Interchangeable Connectors, a complete Firewire Cable system (pictured above) that comes with a carrying case and allows you quickly snap on interchangeable ends, changing the nature of your Firewire cables and connectors as the need arises. There is no other cable product like this in Firewire.
Q: Why are some FireWire "A"cables 4-pin and others 6-pin?
A: The 6-pin cable carries data and draws power from the FireWire bus. The 4-pin cable is used to carry data only, it does not draw power from the FireWire bus. It's also called iLink. The diagram below is a brief summary of the differences in available FirewireDirect cables.
 | 6-pin to 6-pin cable. This cable supplies power to the FireWire bus for devices like small hard drives that cam run on bus power. Most commonly Firewire/1394 devices such as FireWire Hard Drives, FireWire CDRW, DVD and other common 1394 computer peripherals use this kind of cable connector, and most computers and PCI cards have the same standard 6-pin connector. FirewireDirect products that ship with cables ship with these "standard" cables unless otherwise indicated.
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 | 6-pin to 4-pin cable. This cable does NOT supply power to the FireWire bus and is usually used to connect to DV Cameras or other self powered devices to a standard 6-pin computer connection. Some Windows computers will have a 4pin "I.Link" connector, especially on certain laptops, and if so you need a 6/4 cable to connect standard Firewire devices to this type of computer.
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 | 4pin-4pin cable. Used to connect 4pin iLink devices (almost always video cameras) to other iLink devices or to computers (Sony and a few other Windows computers) using the 4pin iLINK ports. |
Q: What is the maximum length a FireWire (A) cable can be?
A: The maximum cable length for connecting device to device with a 400Mbps cable is 4.5-meters (14.85ft). The Firewire specification calls for 10 meter (32ft) cables that may be used in conjunction with a repeater when it is necessary to extend FireWire cables over long distances. FirewireDirect does not offer these cables at this time because tests have shown them to be unreliable in some situations. We suggest using 4.5 meter cables and hubs when needing to extend to greater distances and don't recommend 10 meter cables (if you can find them) to our customers.
