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In Reply to: RE: Yes, there is now a USB 4 protocol standard posted by Feanor on December 09, 2023 at 04:50:18
No.
Part of USB is what is called the device enumeration.
The DAC will tell its properties like supported bit dept and sample rate, etc.
If it is a UAC2 device, the speed of the bus will always be High Speed (480 Mhz).
Older DACs (UAC1) only works with Full Speed (12 Mhz).
It is the USB receiver of the DAC that determines the speed.
The Well Tempered Computer
Follow Ups:
I think the question though is whether all cables can handle the highest speed and the answer to that is also no. Those cheap flimsy cables probably won't, a well made cable from Anker or Apple will, but even then there are all grades and specs of cables from them. And then there is the issue of some cables only carry power and won't work at all.
But you are right in that the limit of the devices is what determines speed.
I agree that cheap cables might not do the job; also many cables sold are intended only for recharging devices, not for carrying data and certainly not a highest speeds.
On the other hand exotic & expensive "audiophile" cables are certainly poor value and might not even be as good quality utility cables.
Recently I bought some of these cables, (see link), from Amazon.ca; not the cheapest cables but specified for USB 3.2 Gen2 transmission and of obvious good quality.
Dmitri Shostakovich
They make a lot of claims but then also have a few disclaimers with that cable. And this is where it all gets so confusing. What exactly does it support? It says Thunderbolt 3, but TB3 has to be certified. 10gbps on USB-A? Well maybe, but how many USB-A devices support that? Charging? Maybe.
I have a USB-C to USB-C cable that is USB 3.2 gen 2 that connects my monitor to my Macbook Air M1 that supports 4k video, audio AND charging simultaneously, plus data to/from the built in hub. That's really nice in that I have just one cable plugged into my computer that does everything.
As I posted elsewhere in this thread, even super hi-res audio is an afterthought at these speeds. I think it worked out to be 19mbps at 24/384, so with overhead maybe 20mbps. That's one thousandth of a 20gbps cable! What in the world do audio people think is so special about it that they buy audiophile USB cables?
It always seemed to me that the audiophile brands needed to instill FUD into everything so they can sell you something.
Of course not. A "printer cable" = USB1 can't handle high bit rates.
That was the fun with the first generation audiophile USB cables. They could handle full speed but failed miserably handling high speed.
Your best bet is to use a certified cable but if it is certified to handle High Speed, you don't need a one handling higher bitrates as your USB DAC won't use it.
The Well Tempered Computer
I've been looking at this over the last few weeks as I consider replacing my iMac, and this is one topic that keeps coming up. The lower end Macs, both Macbook Air and Mac Mini, only have 2 Thunderbolt 4/USB-4 ports and the cables you use matter. If you want Thunderbolt, and I did, almost none of the cables you buy can handle it. Only those specifically for TB can. USB-4 is the same. And TB has to be certified so you can't just buy an off-brand. With USB-4 you are taking the manufacturers word that it'll work with it.
I've said many times to anybody that would listen that the bitrates that music uses, even 24/384 or DSD512, barely uses the capability of the ports and cables. It is a drop in the bucket and can re-transmit as much as necessary to get it right.
... If I'm understanding correctly, the constraint isn't likely to be the cables or connector but rather the connected device.
Dmitri Shostakovich
Indeed.
Of course all components should be able to cope with the speed but the
peripheral device limits the max speed.
The Well Tempered Computer
Basically it all runs at the speed of the slowest device/cable/adapter/interface. There isn't anything that'll really run faster then 10gbps, so that 40gbps Thunderbolt 4 port isn't going to be any faster that the older 20gbps TB2. It only matters if you have multiple devices, and even then I'm not sure you can just split it without significant overhead.
This is an audio forum and none of this matters because even 24/384 audio is a tiny fraction of that at 19mbps, or one thousandth of a Thunderbolt 2 or USB 3.2 port.
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