0

I have a Korg ZERO4 mixer which has a two firewire ports (not sure if 400 or 800).

I've been using this mixer via a firewire --> thunderbolt adaptor. Now I'm looking to add a monitor connected via HDMI to this setup.

Can I daisy-chain a monitor via the mixer by using a second firewire --> thunderbolt adapter combined with a thunderbolt --> HDMI adapter?

How would I go about figuring out the maximum supported resolution in this setup?

3
  • 1
    You can't go from Firewire → Thunderbolt; it's not backward compatible. The only way I can see this working is if you can find a Thunderbolt 3 dock with Firewire (I don't know of any). The other option is a Thunderbolt 3 PCIe enclosure and then get Firewire PCIe adapter card. You can connect the monitor to the PCIe enclosure. The problem is, that Korg mixer came out during Windows XP days.
    – Allan
    Mar 24, 2020 at 5:07
  • Thanks for the answer - too bad it's not backward compatible. One question: That specific enclosure wouldn't work for my case, because I only have a Thunderbolt 2 port, right? Or is there a dongle for that too? I guess if I can get a thunderbolt display, I can daisy chain by putting the display first?
    – oksayt
    Mar 24, 2020 at 6:37
  • I just posted a comment in the answer below... the issue is TB2 is also obsolete by about 6 years. Can you get this to work? Possibly as TB I’d backwards compatible. However, the amount of bogging you’d need to do and pieces and parts you’d need to purchase, it may be simpler and cheaper to get an updated mixer that supports TB and can daisy chain other devices like a monitor
    – Allan
    Mar 24, 2020 at 14:05

1 Answer 1

2

You can't daisy-chain the mixer from Firewire up to display since they aren't compatible standards. You can use both devices with a single Thunderbolt 2 port, but you'll need to get a dock. OWC sells one with HDMI and Firewire, so you can plug your monitor and mixer into the dock and then one TB2 cable into your Macbook Air. There are other TB2 docks with a second TB2 port instead of Firewire, so you can use them with your existing Apple Firewire adapter.

The first commenter is incorrect on several parts. You don't need to even consider anything with Thunderbolt 3 because you don't have TB3.

6
  • Thunderbolt 2 has been discontinued a very, very long time and the only docks you’re going to find are on secondary markets and those too are quite rare because TB2 was only on the market for about a year before TB3.
    – Allan
    Mar 24, 2020 at 14:01
  • Thunderbolt 1 is functionally identical to 2 for this purpose, and it was on the market for a long time.
    – user339289
    Mar 24, 2020 at 14:06
  • Still obsolete since 2014 so I’m not sure what your getting on about. The only option at this point is TB3 docks port a TB mixer.
    – Allan
    Mar 24, 2020 at 14:08
  • Write your own answer if you think you're correct.
    – user339289
    Mar 24, 2020 at 14:09
  • Thanks also for the answer. Since posting the question, I've gotten hold of a HP Z27 display, which supports daisy chaining via DisplayPort. AFAIU I should be able to get a (DisplayPort male) --> (MiniDP female) adapter and use that to connect the mixer to the monitor. How can I go about verifying this will work as intended?
    – oksayt
    Apr 8, 2020 at 6:32

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .