Presonus Quantum Interfaces

[TheSteven]

Interesting article on Thunderbolt 4, not relevant to this interface conversation but does tie in with USB/thunderbolt part of conversation.
https://www.pcmag.com/how-to/what-is-thunderbolt-4-why-this-new-interface-will-matter-in-pcs-in-2021

[Jim Roseberry]

Current TB Audio Interfaces are Thunderbolt-3.

Thunderbolt controllers have been Thunderbolt-4 for a good while.

No bandwidth difference between TB3 and TB4.

Differences between TB3 and TB4 (Intel site):

https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/architecture-and-technology/thunderbolt/thunderbolt-3-vs-4.html

[ALC]

According to a comment in this video …

| Latency on these is roughly 3ms at 96k, 32 samples.

So, not as good as the legacy Quantum models (as expected).

Still waiting for the actual numbers.

[Starship Krupa]

1 hour ago, ALC said:

Latency on these is roughly 3ms at 96k, 32 samples.

So, not as good as the legacy Quantum models (as expected).

Still waiting for the actual numbers.

This would seem to indicate that port speed does matter, which makes me wonder why interface manufacturers have been so slow to adopt USB 3. I can't remember the last time I saw a PC with no USB 3 ports. A dozen years or more, and I am a run-the-wheels-off type of computer user.

USB 3 has so much over USB 2 in regard to audio use. Other than the speed, it can also do full-duplex like Firewire. So incoming data (recording) and outgoing data (playback and monitoring) don't have to wait for each other.

I've always wondered if that could have an effect on jitter (and therefore sound quality).

Have PreSonus said anything about why they took this seemingly backward step? My only guess is lack of Thunderbolt ports on older Windows computers, especially ones with AMD processors, which were blocked from using it until 2019.

I'd love to have a Thunderbolt Quantum, but the only computer in the house that could talk to it would be my Dell laptop.

[Robert Bone]

On 5/10/2024 at 10:35 AM, kitekrazy said:

I was thinking maybe it's not mature on a Windows PC compared to Apple.  Plus it doesn't seem to be priced for the average consumer. 

In 2018, I bought an Intel-based Windows 10 Dell Alienware laptop with a Thunderbolt 3 port, and just last year built a desktop running Windows 11 that has two Thunderbolt 4 (a more advanced spec than USB 4). I have 2 Thunderbolt 3 audio interfaces. They are rock-solid for studio use. However, I do not rely on using them for playing out live. They work fine, but the USB-C sized ports Thunderbolt 3 and 4 use are a bit wobbly and it's easy to knock the cable out of either computer, which means at least a relaunch of the VST hosting software, or possibly a full computer reboot. But in the studio, the Thunderbolt 3 and 4 devices work great.

Bob Bone