Members Anderton Posted December 26, 2015 Members Posted December 26, 2015 I received a TASCAM US-20x20 audio interface for testing...it's my first experience with a USB 3.0 interface, and it's niiiiiiice. 64 samples with complex projects, and about 9 ms roundtrip latency. Granted that doesn't hit the 4 ms roundtrip I got with Thunderbolt on a MacBook Pro, but still, there's no discernible latency when playing amp sims and virtual instruments, which is why I wanted something faster than USB 2 or FireWire. However my motherboard is, uh, "vintage" and its USB 3.0 ports work with some USB 3 devices (hard drives) but not others (Blu-Ray disc burner, touch monitor). I found a PCIe USB 3.0 port card at Best Buy for $30...problem solved. Since it looks unlikely Thunderbolt will ever reach the mainstream with Windows, it's good to know there's an alternative.
CMS Author MikeRivers Posted December 28, 2015 CMS Author Posted December 28, 2015 Are they still making computers with enough motherboard expansion slots? It's hard to find a plain ol' PCI slot any more, and the couple I have with PCIe slots have one single channel and one 16 channel slot, and that's it.
Members Anderton Posted December 28, 2015 Author Members Posted December 28, 2015 Are they still making computers with enough motherboard expansion slots? Yes, but you have to look for them. OTOH if it's a newer mobo that doesn't have slots, the USB 3.0 port is probably up to spec anyway...but this is one reason why it would be helpful if Thunderbolt took off on Windows, because you can get adapters for everything from PCI cards to FireWire, and you don't have to open up your computer. Then again, those adapters are $$$, which seems to be the Way of the Thunderbolt.
CMS Author MikeRivers Posted December 29, 2015 CMS Author Posted December 29, 2015 You probably know the correct terminology (and I'm unsure) but I recall from a USB 3 webinar that the upcoming USB3 C connector would support both USB 3 and Thunderbolt (with appropriate drivers, I assume), and you could get to Firewire from there. I wonder if Windows (and Apple, too) will continue providing a Firewire flavored driver for the hardware, or if, when the port first detects a Firewire adapter connected to its Thunderbolt "path," of the USB 3C port, a piggy bank pops up on screen and you have to put money into it to pay for the license to support the Firewire "card" driver.
Members WRGKMC Posted December 30, 2015 Members Posted December 30, 2015 I received a TASCAM US-20x20 audio interface for testing...it's my first experience with a USB 3.0 interface, and it's niiiiiiice. 64 samples with complex projects, and about 9 ms roundtrip latency. Granted that doesn't hit the 4 ms roundtrip I got with Thunderbolt on a MacBook Pro, but still, there's no discernible latency when playing amp sims and virtual instruments, which is why I wanted something faster than USB 2 or FireWire. However my motherboard is, uh, "vintage" and its USB 3.0 ports work with some USB 3 devices (hard drives) but not others (Blu-Ray disc burner, touch monitor). I found a PCIe USB 3.0 port card at Best Buy for $30...problem solved. Since it looks unlikely Thunderbolt will ever reach the mainstream with Windows, it's good to know there's an alternative. It's beginning to. May take a little time to become mainstream. My better half brought home a New HP laptop for testing. Its supposed to be released the beginning of the year. Besides its SS drive with a 5 second boot time and quad processors, its got Thunderbolt. Its the fastest friggin laptop I've ever used before. Most laptops run a good 30% slower then a desktop with the same specs mainly because of power consumption issues. This thing just plain smokes though. No boot up time at all with that SS drive plus you can install two additional internal drives. Must be a 17" wide screen too. I may have to snag that one from her as soon as her evaluation period is over.
Members Anderton Posted December 30, 2015 Author Members Posted December 30, 2015 One of the problems with Thunderbolt is that both Apple and Intel have to approve the drivers. According to at least company with whom I've discussed the situation, then implied that Apple is dragging its feet on Windows drivers. Gee...I wonder why?
Members bookumdano4 Posted December 30, 2015 Members Posted December 30, 2015 Well I don't get that at all. I thought that Intel gave Apple a break on the original licensing of copper Thunderbolt but certainly didn't give them a partnership. Although Apple thought up the word "Thunderbolt" and convinced Intel to use that name instead of (imo the MUCH better) Lightpeak, I can't imagine that Apple gets a say on the spec itself or who becomes approved.... much less that Apple has any yay/nay to Microsoft's currently-wrapping-up of supporting the spec. I can see HP etc dragging their feet a little on widespread adoption because they're waiting for MS to officially support.... but I can't get my head around Apple being in this equation. But I've been known to be wrong. Didn't Apple pretty much invent/adopt firewire too?.... I don't remember they had/have any say on firewire implementation outside of their fortress.
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