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Music servers and other computer based digital audio technologies.

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RE: Serious question

Posted by AbeCollins on July 9, 2017 at 18:07:37:

What noise problems are you referring to? Can you be more specific? What device will your Thunderbolt 3 cable be connected to? What is the speed requirement? Over what distance? Is power delivery greater than 15w a requirement?

First of all fmak's statement that "Thunderbolt uses active cables that introduce another layer of complexity" is not entirely accurate because for many applications you will find that the more commonly available passive Thunderbolt cabling to be fully adequate. Whether such cabling is appropriate and sufficient for your application depends on factors like the required data rate and the cable distance.

Thunderbolt 3 PASSIVE copper cables support:
0.5m (1.65ft) T.B. 3 (40Gbps) USB-C Cable - Thunderbolt 3 and USB-C Compatible
1m (3.3ft) T.B. 3 (20Gbps) USB-C Cable - Thunderbolt 3 and USB-C Compatible
2m (6.6ft) T.B. 3 (20Gbps) USB-C Cable - Thunderbolt 3 and USB-C Compatible

Active cabling is required for Thunderbolt 3 40Gbs data transfer speeds over a distance of 1m or more.

Also, any implication of added noise through the use of active Thunderbolt cables is also inaccurate. Active cables are used to improve S/N ratio.

While fmak's statement below is true but very generic it actually supports the need for active cabling in higher performance applications. That's why I asked you about your application.

fmak:
"From basic principles, all manners of signal transfer require signal integrity thru impedance matching (interface chip, connectors, cable) and are susceptible to power supply noise, rise time, overshoot and asymmetry issues."

Many of the challenges above are overcome through the use of active cabling especially at the higher data rates over distance.

ArsTechnica (in the context of Thunderbolt):
"A source within the telecom industry explained to Ars that active cables are commonly used at data rates above 5Gbps. These cables contain tiny chips at either end that are calibrated to the attenuation and dispersion properties of the wire between them. Compensating for these properties "greatly improves the signal-to-noise ratio" for high-bandwidth data transmission."