Firewire cable question

[BluMunk]

Sorry if this is a dumb question; I can't seem to google myself a straight answer. I've got a Firewire interface, and a Mac with Thunderbolt ports.

 

I'm going to get this thunderbolt to firewire adapter.

 

But then I'm a little confused. I can buy a 9-pin to 6-pin cable like this. Is that all I need?

 

There are also 'Firewire 800 to Firewire 400 adapters' (like this). Do I need this also, or does the 9-to-6 cable accomplish the same thing?

[JB Sherry]

The 9-pin to 6-pin cable is an 800 to 400 cable. It's the same as the adapter but has a cable built-in. The Thunderbolt adapter is Firewire 800 to Thunderbolt. So if you're going to a 400 device you should be able to use the 9-pin to 6-pin cable plus the Thunderbolt adapter.

[BluMunk]

Great, thanks! It's what I thought, but I admit to being a little overwhelmed at the moment keeping the details about a seemingly endless number of ports and protocols straight in my head.

[Steve Force]

Sorry if this is a dumb question; I can't seem to google myself a straight answer. I've got a Firewire interface, and a Mac with Thunderbolt ports.

 

I'm going to get this thunderbolt to firewire adapter.

 

But then I'm a little confused. I can buy a 9-pin to 6-pin cable like this. Is that all I need?

 

There are also 'Firewire 800 to Firewire 400 adapters' (like this). Do I need this also, or does the 9-to-6 cable accomplish the same thing?

 

That is exactly what I use on two mac systems.

[Karl Sutton]

Hey FWIW I had two MOTU 828mkII fail using these cables in this configuration. I discovered it was actually better to hang the interface off of the back of a drive instead of connecting directly to the computer. Not sure if that's true for all firewire interfaces. I've since switched to USB.

[Joe Muscara]

I have a iMac (Retina 5K, 27-inch, 2017) with Thunderbolt 3/USB-C ports, and I still have a bunch of FW 400 drives as well as the original Apogee Duet that ran off FW 400.

 

I have an adapter chain of "Thunderbolt 3 (USB-C) to Thunderbolt 2 Adapter" to "Apple Thunderbolt [2] to FireWire [800] Adapter" to a FW800 to FW400 adapter (that one I've had since 2009 to use with the MBP that was 800 instead of 400).

 

The three adapters together are over 12" long. When I don't need the FW800/400 adapter it's 11.5" long.

 

I don't have any accessories that run TB 3/USB-C but maybe someday.

[Lady Gaia]

I have an adapter chain of "Thunderbolt 3 (USB-C) to Thunderbolt 2 Adapter" to "Apple Thunderbolt [2] to FireWire [800] Adapter" to a FW800 to FW400 adapter (that one I've had since 2009 to use with the MBP that was 800 instead of 400).

 

I used the same chain without issues on a 2017 MacBook Pro with an old Focusrite FireWire interface without any problems at all. It seemed perfectly functional and stable and may be somewhat reassuring that the FW800/400 cable isnt an active adapter, its just a passive cable that uses a different pinout on the two ends.