"Dear inSync, not too long ago I was reading about a new way to connect musical equipment together using FireWire. I haven't heard much about this recently, however. What is this, exactly, and has there been any progress made recently? When will I begin to see gear with FireWire on it?"

To answer your last question first - some would say you already have seen gear with FireWire on it. MOTU, for instance, has used a variation of FireWire (that they call AudioWire) for their audio interfaces like the 2408 and the 1296. These interfaces connect to a MOTU PCI card using a regular FireWire cable, although they're technically not FireWire devices [the MOTU 828, on the other hand, IS an actual FireWire device].

But what it sounds like you're referring to is mLAN, a specification for pro audio put forth by Yamaha. The potential for mLAN is indeed great, and Yamaha has begun to get some other manufacturers to sign on and begin developing products for mLAN use. Yamaha has already shown mLAN-equipped models of their gear at AES and NAMM conventions; Korg has as well. Others to sign on to developing roles include Otari and Apple.

Apple, by the way, owns the trademark for FireWire. It is a spec they developed, which makes the fact that they have committed to the mLAN "sub"-spec for audio via FireWire significant. Apple plans to support mLAN in its development of OS X.

You can expect to see the growth of not only mLAN, but also FireWire implementation in many professional and consumer digital products in the relatively near future.