Thunderbolt...worth the upgrade?

[sana48]

Share some knowledge, those of you that have Thunderbolt Interfaces..

I am looking to upgrade my interface for better performance and I was curious about about the quality of Thunderbolt.
I can add a Thunderbolt PCIE card to my PC for relatively cheap..

I do not plan on any daisy-chaining or other adding peripherals to the card- so I am curious how much I will benefit from thunderbolt.

I was looking at possibly getting a mid/low range thunderbolt interface with the thoughts that it will provide better performance than my Presonus audiobox i2..

Maybe I just have g.a.s. but lower latency would be nice! Is Thunderbolt a game-changer?


Any thoughts?


edit: the more I look around the more it seems that a PCIe Audio Interface may be the best option....hm...


thanks

[frankswift]

I too am looking into Thunderbolt Audio Interfaces, more specifically the Focusrite Clarett range.

I currently have a Focusrite Scarlett 6i6, which does everything i want it to and the sound is good, however the latency times aren't the greatest.

Thats why i'm looking into Thunderbolt devices hoping they will have less latency.


Anyone one got any opinions on this Audio Interface?

[fishmonkey]

the Claretts have good reviews so far, and i'm considering getting one to replace my old Firewire interface. the only thing holding me back is that i've heard that Focusrite doesn't have a great reliability record, and i need a rock solid unit...

[PHY6]

If you need rock solid, go for RME.

[fishmonkey]

If you need rock solid, go for RME.

i know RME is rock solid. the UC or UCX are options but i would prefer to use a Thunderbolt port if possible so that i can avoid using a USB hub in my setup. also the UC/UCX use breakout cables for MIDI. breakout cables suck.

being able to bus power if necessary would be a plus too, but this is getting harder to find (none of the Clarett range nor the UC/UCX will bus power).

i'm hoping the Clarett range is built to higher standards than the Scarletts, however only time will tell...

[Da hand]

...I am looking to upgrade my interface for better performance and I was curious about about the quality of Thunderbolt.
I can add a Thunderbolt PCIE card to my PC for relatively cheap....

edit: the more I look around the more it seems that a PCIe Audio Interface may be the best option....hm...

I was about to suggest that - especially for your scenario. I always go PCI/PCIE for my production towers - the cards really give an excellent performance.

[ifPthenQ]

what about the RME babyface pro? it doesn't have breakout cables, it's bus powered, it has optimized USB drivers, and it has latency figures that are competitive with TB interfaces.

http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/ ... aQod3FwJiw

just so you know, I don't have any RME products, but I know how reliable and stable they are -- even with USB

[PHY6]

...I am looking to upgrade my interface for better performance and I was curious about about the quality of Thunderbolt.
I can add a Thunderbolt PCIE card to my PC for relatively cheap....

edit: the more I look around the more it seems that a PCIe Audio Interface may be the best option....hm...

I was about to suggest that - especially for your scenario. I always go PCI/PCIE for my production towers - the cards really give an excellent performance.

It's a breeze... If you have a spare slot...spend it on a PCIe HDSP card from RME wit a breakoutbox of your choice.

[sana48]

...I am looking to upgrade my interface for better performance and I was curious about about the quality of Thunderbolt.
I can add a Thunderbolt PCIE card to my PC for relatively cheap....

edit: the more I look around the more it seems that a PCIe Audio Interface may be the best option....hm...

I was about to suggest that - especially for your scenario. I always go PCI/PCIE for my production towers - the cards really give an excellent performance.

It's a breeze... If you have a spare slot...spend it on a PCIe HDSP card from RME wit a breakoutbox of your choice.

This appears the obvious choice.... maybe I can find a used one :\

[kitekrazy]

It may appear Thunderbolt may be out the door in favor of USB 3.1
I saw that some TB interfaces from Resident Audio drop 50%. That is a red flag to me.
There are no Windows drivers for the Clarett.

Audio interfaces are always late when new platforms are out. Case in point is how many manufacturers for lower end pro audio cards ever came out with a PCIE interface? I would have thought M-Audio or Echo would have despite the Audiophile series were top sellers.

Whatever happened to FW800?

I would think a RME Babyface is a good investment. RME is not in the habit of creating doorstops. They even support legacy devices.

[doghouse]

For an audio interface, Thunderbolt is not going to matter unless you are going to aggregate dozens (hundreds?) of audio channels.

Thunderbolt and USB C are going to converge soon so expect even more turmoil in the interface world.



https://thunderbolttechnology.net/blog/ ... oes-it-all
http://www.wired.com/2015/06/thunderbolt-3-usb-c/
http://www.macrumors.com/2015/06/02/int ... yport-1-2/

[dsu]

If you need rock solid, go for RME.

i know RME is rock solid. the UC or UCX are options but i would prefer to use a Thunderbolt port if possible so that i can avoid using a USB hub in my setup. also the UC/UCX use breakout cables for MIDI. breakout cables suck.

being able to bus power if necessary would be a plus too, but this is getting harder to find (none of the Clarett range nor the UC/UCX will bus power).

i'm hoping the Clarett range is built to higher standards than the Scarletts, however only time will tell...

I went with a RME UC and got a PCIe UB card. The UC is on its own USB controller separated from the USB keyboards and controllers. Much cheaper and much better supported than Thunderbolt in Windows at the time I purchased.

Don't remember which one of these I got.
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/ProductLis ... isNodeId=1

[fishmonkey]

what about the RME babyface pro? it doesn't have breakout cables

almost all the Babyface connections are on a breakout cable...

[ifPthenQ]

almost all the Babyface connections are on a breakout cable...

Yes, almost all. the one I mentioned, the babyface pro, does not.

[fishmonkey]

almost all the Babyface connections are on a breakout cable...

Yes, almost all. the one I mentioned, the babyface pro, does not.

right, the Pro. the MIDI I/O is still on a breakout cable though. and i need at least 4 analog outputs (not interested in running unbalanced Y-cables from a headphone out)...