Quote Originally Posted by noddin0ff
USB 3.0 is supposed to offer 4.8Gbit/sec data rates. USB 2.0 offers up to 480Mbit/sec. So USB 3.0 will be ~10X faster. (USB1.0 transfers 1.5Mbit/sec).

The USB3.0 standard is supposed to be backward compatible with 2.0 devices. I think most everything is 2.0 now. So I'm not too worried about updating any of my DACs.

Actually, as I suggested in a previous pappachubby post, a lot of DACs and audio devices that use the USB interface don't support anything beyond CD resolution 16bit, 44.1Khz. This is because a USB standard was adopted for CD resolution audio back when USB 1.0 was the only option. That's pretty much where USB 1.0 maxes out.

The take home message is that for CD quality audio, USB 1.0 was perfectly adequate for transfer of data to a DAC. USB 2.0 is overkill, but you tend to get fewer drop outs. -- USB 3.0 will be way overkill for audio. Even high-res, multi-channel.

I don't think USB 3.0 offers any must-have technology for audio. I use optical myself for getting things out of my computer to my DAC. High res is supported there on each end. As far as I can tell it's all the other components in the chain that could stand improvement to support formats beyond CD res if you wanted to use any USB.

Correct me if I'm wrong, please.

cheers
Thanks for sharing nod-doggy. Great insight. I also use optical to my DAC and think that the results vs. coax are audibly noticable. I guess the 3.0 will be good for transfer of files to portable, I don't mind that at all since I load my MP3 player every second day or so.