skylightron
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Is USB 3.0 compatible with music gear?
The MOBO I'm currently looking at for my desktop DAW build has a lot of USB 3.0 ports. Does USB 3.0 work well with keyboard controllers, hardware or even regular PS2 keyboards and mouse in general? I know USB 3.0 is backwards compatible but I've read about issues with them and USB audio interfaces.
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Jonbouy
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Re:Is USB 3.0 compatible with music gear?
2012/08/16 10:46:15
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FWIW my USB 2 interface works well on one of my USB 3 ports but many report problems with different interfaces and different mobo USB 3 implementations.
I've tried it to check it out but I only use it on a native USB 2 port. I'd rather run something less essential than my interface using a USB 3 port currently.
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Freddie H
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Re:Is USB 3.0 compatible with music gear?
2012/08/16 11:15:24
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Soon the USb3 audiocard will be the majority on the market. the USB3 external hard drive is already here. 
post edited by Freddie H - 2012/08/16 11:16:32
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Jim Roseberry
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Re:Is USB 3.0 compatible with music gear?
2012/08/17 15:35:42
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Soon the USb3 audiocard will be the majority on the market. Hey Freddie, Don't disagree with the sentiment... but I wouldn't expect this "soon". I've yet to see a single official announcement of a (pro-level) USB3 audio interface. Unless you're using a Z77 chipset motherboard, your USB3 ports are provided via 3rd-party add-on controller. Many current USB2 audio interfaces have slight to major compatibility issues with these controllers. ie: The RME units "work" when connected to one of these USB3 controllers... but you can't run as heavy a load (glitch-free) at the smallest ASIO buffer sizes. The FastTrack Ultra 8R won't work at all... Liken the situation to "rogue" chipset Firewire controllers. I think this is the reason why audio interface manufacturers have been dragging their heels on USB3 units. It would present a tech-support nightmare...
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Goddard
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Re:Is USB 3.0 compatible with music gear?
2012/08/17 20:46:55
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I'm rather hoping for "Thunderbolt" (or "Light Peak"?) audio interfaces instead of USB3, and waiting to see/hear how Apollo does (as I'm sure many AI makers are). 
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Anubis
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Re:Is USB 3.0 compatible with music gear?
2012/08/17 21:43:52
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Jim Roseberry
...USB3 ports are provided via 3rd-party add-on controller. Many current USB2 audio interfaces have slight to major compatibility issues with these controllers. ie: The RME units "work" when connected to one of these USB3 controllers... but you can't run as heavy a load (glitch-free) at the smallest ASIO buffer sizes. The FastTrack Ultra 8R won't work at all...
Add the Komplte Audio 6 to those that don't work. Whilst Focusrite do provide USB 3.0 support with their latest drivers.
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Freddie H
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Re:Is USB 3.0 compatible with music gear?
2012/08/21 15:35:18
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Jim Roseberry
Soon the USb3 audiocard will be the majority on the market.
Hey Freddie,
Don't disagree with the sentiment... but I wouldn't expect this "soon".
I've yet to see a single official announcement of a (pro-level) USB3 audio interface.
Unless you're using a Z77 chipset motherboard, your USB3 ports are provided via 3rd-party add-on controller. Many current USB2 audio interfaces have slight to major compatibility issues with these controllers.
ie: The RME units "work" when connected to one of these USB3 controllers... but you can't run as heavy a load (glitch-free) at the smallest ASIO buffer sizes. The FastTrack Ultra 8R won't work at all...
Liken the situation to "rogue" chipset Firewire controllers.
I think this is the reason why audio interface manufacturers have been dragging their heels on USB3 units.
It would present a tech-support nightmare...
Neither have I...I hope that will happen soon anyway. USB3 is the future! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Usb3 – added a new transfer type called Super Speed or SS – 5 Gbit/s.electrically it is more similar to PCIe Gen2 PCI-Express Card speed! USB 3.0 has transmission speeds of up to 5 Gbit/s, which is 10 times faster than USB 2.0 (480 Mbit/s). USB 3.0 significantly reduces the time required for data transmission, reduces power consumption
post edited by Freddie H - 2012/08/21 15:42:06
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Marcus Curtis
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Re:Is USB 3.0 compatible with music gear?
2012/08/22 03:45:53
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USB 3.0 is supposed to be backwards compatible to USB 2.0 devices. However, incompatibility reports I have read about all seem to involve bus-powered devices. And this is an area in which the USB specification alone doesn’t provide enough certainty to rule out potential problems. Different bus-powered USB devices have different power draws, and may respond differently to power availability.
USB 3.0 offers major forward advancement for hardware ins and outs, with faster throughput (yielding up to ten-fold speed gains over USB2), improved overall performance, and lower power consumption. Some problems seem to be related to driver issues with the 2.0 device. it’s fair to expect that a lot of these issues may be ironed out, since we really are talking about USB2 signals sent over a USB3 bus. Hardware venders may release driver updates but the significant difference may be different power draws.
from what I have read USB 1.0 devices will not work with USB 3.0.
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fireberd
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Re:Is USB 3.0 compatible with music gear?
2012/08/22 06:57:24
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I have a Roland Octa-Capture connected to a USB3.0 port on my new system and its working OK.
The motherboard in my new system is a Gigabyte Z77X-UD5H (Z77 chipset).
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Jim Roseberry
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Re:Is USB 3.0 compatible with music gear?
2012/08/22 16:57:55
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owever, incompatibility reports I have read about all seem to involve bus-powered devices. FastTrack Ultra 8R that I referred to is not bus-powered USB3 controllers (other than Z77 mobos) is not integrated into the Intel chipset. They're all (otherwise) provided via 3rd-party add-on controllers. This opens the door for compatibility issues
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Jim Roseberry
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Re:Is USB 3.0 compatible with music gear?
2012/08/22 16:59:18
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I have a Roland Octa-Capture connected to a USB3.0 port on my new system and its working OK. The motherboard in my new system is a Gigabyte Z77X-UD5H (Z77 chipset). USB3 is integrated into the chipset with Z77 motherboards...
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