Manufacturers Better Get Cracking

The Amazing Super Duper High Velocity...ehhh you get the point...USB

Apple must be banking on this since they decided to murder the Firewire protocol. I just hope we can see some higher end interfaces use the technology.

It sounds like they are developing USB 3 with professional media developers in mind. UBS2 is only capable of 1 way communication at a time, which is another reason Firewire, 400 while technically slower, performs better. USB 3 will be capable of 2 way communication, and will also have more power flowing through it, which will make buss powered interfaces more likely. Of course there is the CPU thing, which doesn't look like it will go away, but how many of our CPU's are being strained by our interfaces? How about in a couple years when we all have Intel dual 16 core processors?

The problem with USB2, no one makes good interfaces for it, except Sadie. And I don't think RME, MOTU, Apogee, Prism Sound etc. are going to be making one anytime soon if there will be a faster, supposedly more efficient technology approaching.

The problem with Firewire, Apple is phasing it out. Both 400 and 800. And it doesn't look like they are considering the next generation. Not to mention you have too look long and hard for a suitable PC laptop and TI compliant express card if you go the mobile rout. You might even have trouble with some desktops without a PCI slot firewire card.

Where does that leave us in the coming years?

SuperSpeed USB 3.0. (which seems silly because what are they going to call USB 4? LudicrousSpeed USB? )

ORIGINAL: Doc_Hollingsworth

It may be that we'll left with AES/EBU, ADAT/Lightpipe, SPDIF and a couple of others, which by the way are already here and are quite efficient. Just because Apple has given up on a particular technology does not mean it will die an ignoble death. There are other factors that may keep the technology alive for some time to come, such as Digital video as well as Audio needs.

I don't see computer manufacturers and audio interface manufacturers running to replace their interface designs just because of Apple's business decisions.

BTW ADAT/AES/EBU are all capable of handling multiple channels of audio data at one time. Anywhere between 32 to 128 channels on some of the RME interfaces.

No, those are not the same thing. AES/EBU, ADAT/Lightpipe, SPDIF are all audio only interfaces, single direction only, and non error checking. There is also no way to interface to a computer with those, they are not computer interfaces. What we are talking about here is a way to interface to the computer not just other audio gear.