jb101
I have just moved from Firewire to USB.
 
I am getting these figures with my new Soundcraft 12MTK
 

That's definitely a good round trip!
 
Good to know!  Thanks for the feedback!

fireberd
My MOTU 896mk3 Hybrid (USB 2.0) with a 64 sample setting gets Input 2.7msec, Output 3.3msec total roundtrip 6.1ms.  
 
I also have a Roland Octa-Capture (USB 2.0) and it is Input 4.8msec, Output 2.8ms, Total roundtrip 7.6ms. 
 
This is much better than I did with a Focusrite Saffire Pro 40 and Firewire.  Best I could do (reliably) was Input 11.4 ms (don't remember output or total).
 
The MOTU gets the same latency on both Windows 10 and Windows 7 (I have a dual boot system) with the same hardware.  However, the Octa-Capture is slightly better on Win 10.  On Win 7 I get Input 6.2 msec (reliably).
 
I tried a Presonus Studio 192, which is USB 3.0 interface and at 64 samples it was about the same as the Octa-Capture.  I only had it two days.  The first day it worked OK, the second day it developed a problem (would not power off) and was sent back and replaced with the MOTU (both the same price at B&H).
 

Those MOTU and Roland numbers look good!
 
The impression I'm getting is that the higher end stuff USB gets the job done.  I'm just wondering now how they compare to the lower end mobile units?
 
Thanks!

abacab
Is anybody seeing numbers like this using ASIO with USB2?
 

 
I have a 10 year old Firewire 410 that still works well on my newest desktop with an add-on firewire card.  My old laptop had a firewire port, but my new laptop only has USB2 & USB3.
 
So if I was going to get a USB2 audio interface, is there any chance could I get the same buffer setting to work on the laptop?

I get those exact numbers with both my Fractal Audio Systems rack unit interface and my Midas M-32 console interface. I have no issues running down that low even with a decent amount of tracks and VST's. Both are USB.
 
-Danny

Danny Danzi

abacab
Is anybody seeing numbers like this using ASIO with USB2?
 

 
I have a 10 year old Firewire 410 that still works well on my newest desktop with an add-on firewire card.  My old laptop had a firewire port, but my new laptop only has USB2 & USB3.
 
So if I was going to get a USB2 audio interface, is there any chance could I get the same buffer setting to work on the laptop?

I get those exact numbers with both my Fractal Audio Systems rack unit interface and my Midas M-32 console interface. I have no issues running down that low even with a decent amount of tracks and VST's. Both are USB.
 
-Danny

Wow, that's some serious hardware there!  Good to know you can run that with USB2.  I will now assume that it's not that USB that is the limiting factor, rather the quality of the drivers, and how they interact with the OS and hardware that determines the latency!
 
Thanks!

Using a loopback test, my portable 2 channel presonus USB is 1 MS FASTER than my M-Audio Firewire interface.
 
Can't wait for more Thunderbolt PC options which we should see in the upcoming months.

gprokap
Using a loopback test, my portable 2 channel presonus USB is 1 MS FASTER than my M-Audio Firewire interface.
 
Can't wait for more Thunderbolt PC options which we should see in the upcoming months.

Cool!  Either that, or more USB3 interface options, which would be cheaper.  Most PC's are being equipped with USB3 SuperSpeed, fully backward compatible USB connectors and cables as standard equipment now ... ;-)

abacab
....  Most PC's are being equipped with USB3 SuperSpeed, fully backward compatible USB connectors and cables as standard equipment now ... ;-)

I wouldn't rely on all USB3 ports being fully backward-compatible just yet.  Yes, theoretically they are, but in reality, lots of folks have found flaky behavior using USB2 devices in USB3 ports.  You can certainly try it, but  I wouldn't risk purchasing a USB2 interface if I my laptop only had USB3 ports (Well, not without a generous store return policy).

JonD

abacab
....  Most PC's are being equipped with USB3 SuperSpeed, fully backward compatible USB connectors and cables as standard equipment now ... ;-)

I wouldn't rely on all USB3 ports being fully backward-compatible just yet.  Yes, theoretically they are, but in reality, lots of folks have found flaky behavior using USB2 devices in USB3 ports.  You can certainly try it, but  I wouldn't risk purchasing a USB2 interface if I my laptop only had USB3 ports (Well, not without a generous store return policy).

Well I have both USB2 & USB3 ports integrated on both my Asus Intel Ivy Bridge desktop mobo and Acer Intel Haswell laptop.  So i can use either type of interface as needed.  :-)
 
My thoughts are that with more choices in the pipeline for USB3 audio interfaces that can take advantage of the free USB3 ports on modern mobos and laptops are a plus.
 
My latest interest is either with the USB3 devices or the hybid approach that MOTU has with dual interfaces for USB2 and FireWire.  I am not sure that USB3 is really needed yet, but it does build in some future compatibility.  Perhaps a properly engineered USB2 interface with good drivers can equal or exceed the latency numbers for a FireWire interface.

Firewire is on the way out I think. RME have recently discontinued my model of UFX (USB and firewire interface) in favour of a new version that at a glance seems pretty much the same thing only with a Thunderbolt socket instead of Firewire 400.

Which makes sense. Firewire has always been problematic on Windows PCs (the well known chipset and driver issues) so most would be using USB, and Apple want a silly amount of money for a Thunderbolt->firewire convertor cable. Though firewire over TB does work very well, which is useful as no Macbook has more than two USB sockets.

As for the original UFX, performance under USB on Windows and OS X is very similar, as is firewire on OS X. There's no real advantage in latency terms to using firewire if a USB socket is available and the USB bus isn't loaded with other things that shift a lot of data such as external drives.

There's no advantage to USB3 over USB2 either as far as audio interfaces are concerned. USB2 has ample bandwidth for most interface purposes and by the time your inputs and outputs produce more data than it can handle you'd probably be looking at a PCIe card, a similar TB setup or aPCIe card in a TB adaptor capable of handling dozens of channels.

tlw
Firewire is on the way out I think. RME have recently discontinued my model of UFX (USB and firewire interface) in favour of a new version that at a glance seems pretty much the same thing only with a Thunderbolt socket instead of Firewire 400.

Which makes sense. Firewire has always been problematic on Windows PCs (the well known chipset and driver issues) so most would be using USB, and Apple want a silly amount of money for a Thunderbolt->firewire convertor cable. Though firewire over TB does work very well, which is useful as no Macbook has more than two USB sockets.

As for the original UFX, performance under USB on Windows and OS X is very similar, as is firewire on OS X. There's no real advantage in latency terms to using firewire if a USB socket is available and the USB bus isn't loaded with other things that shift a lot of data such as external drives.

There's no advantage to USB3 over USB2 either as far as audio interfaces are concerned. USB2 has ample bandwidth for most interface purposes and by the time your inputs and outputs produce more data than it can handle you'd probably be looking at a PCIe card, a similar TB setup or aPCIe card in a TB adaptor capable of handling dozens of channels.

 
Not much recent news about Thunderbolt making progress in the PC arena, except for a few high end products:
 
Here's an older article discussing it's fate as USB3 is favored by OEM's for the mainstream due to cost:
 
http://www.zdnet.com/arti...relevant-to-pc-oems/#!
"For the average user USB, especially USB 3.0 – which currently has a max theoretical data transfer rate of 5Gbps, but this is going to be bumped up to 10Gbps – is more than adequate. What's more, USB 3.0 is backward-compatible with every other USB-compatible device made. Finally, USB hardware is significantly cheaper and more ubiquitous than Thunderbolt peripherals.
Thunderbolt suffers from the same problem as faced by the FireWire interface, in that it's a premium product that offers performance that goes way beyond what most people want or need – or certainly more than they are willing to pay for. FireWire 400 was far superior to USB, but it was USB that became the mainstream standard, mostly because it was cheaper, in terms of both the interface itself and the devices. FireWire 800 was far superior to USB 2.0, but it was USB 2.0 that went mainstream, mostly down to cost factors. Thunderbolt is far superior to USB 3.0, but it will be USB 3.0 that goes mainstream, again, down mostly to cost.
It's also interesting to note that Apple adopted FireWire, only recently dropping it from high-end systems such as the MacBook Pro in favour of Thunderbolt.
Now that PC OEMs have the option to use USB 3.0, I don't see much of a future for Thunderbolt outside of specific professional solutions. "
 
And then, from earlier this year:
http://arstechnica.com/ga...-some-traction-in-pcs/