In Reply to: Does Thunderbolt really affect SQ? posted by Dynobot on July 8, 2012 at 21:12:39:
The real advantage of Thunderbolt is speed. This is useful in some cases with audio, e.g. when copying an album or backing up a library, but for real time playback the other interconnects are more than adequately fast.
"Does Thunderbolt affect sound?" This is an ill formed question that can be asked by someone who doesn't understand the technology, isn't thinking logically, is being careless, or is peddling something. The correct question is, "How does the combination of Thunderbolt and these other components sound, compared to an alternate configuration?"
It may be that Thunderbolt plus an external drive is better than some alternative, e.g. an internal SATA drive, an external ESATA drive, an external USB drive, etc. But if that is so, it is because that alternative is affecting the sound quality. All computer audio systems use a significant amount of RAM memory for playback. This means that at least several seconds worth of audio can be played back without the use of any mass storage device as a base line to see whether any storage device or combination of devices "affects" sound quality. (I am assuming that devices that are powered down and not connected in any way to an audio system and which may have been removed from the listening room do not affect sound quality.)
Even when a storage device affects sound quality it can do so only indirectly (unless it is way too slow or gets a data error). The effect is through other parts of the system designed to produce sound on the basis of the bits taken off of mass storage. If these devices work well then none of the storage devices would affect sound in any way. Since they generally don't do so well there might be changes in sound quality, but these will be characteristic of an interaction between the storage device or storage cabling and the audio components.
Tony Lauck
"Diversity is the law of nature; no two entities in this universe are uniform." - P.R. Sarkar
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Follow Ups
- An ill-formed question - Tony Lauck 06:31:21 07/09/12 (60)
- RE: An ill-formed question - Mercman 11:51:28 07/09/12 (3)
- RE: An ill-formed question - Tony Lauck 14:19:02 07/09/12 (1)
- RE: An ill-formed question - Mercman 16:50:29 07/09/12 (0)
- each individual will have to try these things to really know if there is a difference in his system. - Dynobot 12:11:50 07/09/12 (0)
- Everything effects sound qualtiy... - Tromatic 09:51:56 07/09/12 (6)
- IOW, the entire audio industry is FOS....nah they are just Capitalists - Dynobot 10:13:21 07/09/12 (0)
- FOS !! Yes, especially on this forum ;-) - AbeCollins 10:02:56 07/09/12 (4)
- Fish Odor Syndrome: Yes, - a ton of it here!! -t - Sordidman 14:39:29 07/09/12 (0)
- RE: FOS !! Yes, especially on this forum ;-) - J.Mac 14:37:03 07/09/12 (2)
- I'm pretty sure sound-reflecting propeties of different paint finishes are different. - carcass93 09:03:45 07/10/12 (0)
- RE: FOS !! Yes, especially on this forum ;-) - AbeCollins 15:33:21 07/09/12 (0)
- So - fmak 09:47:39 07/09/12 (33)
- RE: So - Tony Lauck 14:16:07 07/09/12 (32)
- RE: Just so!! - mr.bear 11:22:30 07/10/12 (0)
- Simplistic - fmak 15:24:00 07/09/12 (1)
- RE: Simplistic - Tony Lauck 16:29:38 07/09/12 (0)
- "differences here should be small, minute ..." - in a fantasy world, yes. - carcass93 15:24:00 07/09/12 (28)
- RE: "differences here should be small, minute ..." - in a fantasy world, yes. - fmak 23:22:35 07/09/12 (3)
- bits are bits - this is used for convenience - Dynobot 11:38:21 07/10/12 (2)
- RE: bits are bits - this is used for convenience - Tony Lauck 15:41:16 07/10/12 (0)
- it is easily proven that bits are bits - bwb 14:31:57 07/10/12 (0)
- RE: "differences here should be small, minute ..." - in a fantasy world, yes. - Tony Lauck 16:43:32 07/09/12 (7)
- Your 1st paragraph - yes, I've heard that before. - carcass93 08:51:36 07/10/12 (0)
- They are the result of some combination of poor or defective equipment, cabling, or system setup. - Sordidman 08:49:53 07/10/12 (4)
- RE: They are the result of some combination of poor or defective equipment, cabling, or system setup. - Tony Lauck 09:24:28 07/10/12 (3)
- System setup, different goals, different music types and rooms - Sordidman 13:17:49 07/10/12 (2)
- Absolutely! My amp, for instance, favors these things heavily: - carcass93 14:08:03 07/10/12 (1)
- Ha!! Killing me man, Killing me!! :-) -t - Sordidman 14:53:24 07/10/12 (0)
- You - fmak 23:24:47 07/09/12 (0)
- RE: "differences here should be small, minute ..." - in a fantasy world, yes. - AbeCollins 15:46:24 07/09/12 (15)
- I have to Agree With Fmak and Carcass - Dynobot 05:01:45 07/10/12 (14)
- RE: I have to Agree With Fmak and Carcass - Tony Lauck 08:51:20 07/10/12 (11)
- RE: I have to Agree With Fmak and Carcass - Dynobot 09:33:45 07/10/12 (10)
- RE: I have to Agree With Fmak and Carcass - Tony Lauck 11:04:15 07/10/12 (9)
- RE: I have to Agree With Fmak and Carcass - Dynobot 11:24:29 07/10/12 (8)
- RE: I have to Agree With Fmak and Carcass - Tony Lauck 12:19:43 07/10/12 (7)
- RE: I have to Agree With Fmak and Carcass - mschneider 10:40:24 07/11/12 (1)
- RE: I have to Agree With Fmak and Carcass - Tony Lauck 11:20:23 07/11/12 (0)
- RE: I have to Agree With Fmak and Carcass - Dynobot 13:33:49 07/10/12 (4)
- RE: I have to Agree With Fmak and Carcass - Tony Lauck 15:15:18 07/10/12 (3)
- Linux Not Bit-Perfect .....HUH??!??!?! - Dynobot 17:15:20 07/10/12 (2)
- please clarify how your tests prove bit perfect - bwb 17:57:33 07/10/12 (1)
- I hear Dynobot rapping....... - AbeCollins 19:17:48 07/10/12 (0)
- RE: I have to Agree With Fmak and Carcass - AbeCollins 08:23:39 07/10/12 (1)
- RE: I have to Agree With Fmak and Carcass - Dynobot 08:57:06 07/10/12 (0)
- RE: An ill-formed question - Dynobot 06:44:30 07/09/12 (14)
- RE: An ill-formed question - Tony Lauck 13:58:04 07/09/12 (0)
- Some uses for Thunderbolt - AbeCollins 09:27:24 07/09/12 (12)
- How does this apply to audio ??? - EmailTim 19:23:13 07/10/12 (1)
- RE: How does this apply to audio ??? - AbeCollins 08:15:29 07/11/12 (0)
- $20-50 for the chip but don't forget the cable... $50 to $850 /nt - bwb 12:08:04 07/09/12 (9)
- "Thunderbolt very robust—signal is cleaned up by the cable" - AbeCollins 12:57:03 07/09/12 (8)
- signal is cleaned up by the cable - fmak 08:07:15 07/10/12 (5)
- RE: signal is cleaned up by the cable - Mercman 09:40:11 07/10/12 (4)
- PRECISELY - Some folks should do less gum flapping & more reading........ - AbeCollins 14:35:47 07/10/12 (0)
- RE: signal is cleaned up by the cable - fmak 10:22:08 07/10/12 (2)
- RE: signal is cleaned up by the cable - Tony Lauck 11:41:50 07/10/12 (1)
- Why? - fmak 12:48:09 07/10/12 (0)
- Money to be made here.... - Tromatic 20:20:48 07/09/12 (1)
- I dunno... - AbeCollins 21:47:14 07/09/12 (0)