Why do you always post so much nonsense without fact checking, from the link to the TB3 card:

Note that the motherboard weesch has is not listed anywhere on that list? Because you need a motherboard that has support for TB3 from the FSB chipset, which means a motherboard with a X99 or newer chipset.

 

Oh one mistake on my part, I did not see the page, thanks for the hint.

 

Last edited: Nov 29, 2021

Read the specifications page more carefully, it *NEEDS* the thunderbolt header on the motherboard, because the PCIe lanes have to be managed by the chipset, and that management cannot be initiated over the PCIe lanes themselves. There are 'no' (see note) PCIe thunderbolt expansion cards that work without already having thunderbolt support on the motherboard itself, it simply cannot be done with the way Intel has specified thunderbolt.

Just having a PCIe slot is not enough, you need to have full unfettered control over the 4 PCIe lanes, and that cannot be done in a PCIe 4x slot. It could, theoretically, be done with a PCIe 16x slot, but Intel didn't go that way, and even if someone could work out a way to do it now, it would need chipset level support, and thus only be supported from that theoretical chipset onwards, again no 'add this to make your old system have thunderbolt' card.


note: There is *ONE* PCIe to thunderbolt card, however it achieves this by having a complete separate TB-compatible x86 system on the other end of a PCIe external adapter, and then provides thunderbolt from that host's support, converts the data back to PCIe and then decodes it on the initial host. It also costs 2500€, is not sold or marketed to consumers, and is SLOW because it is merely a support device to enable BASIC thunderbolt protocol support to work on old very-specific servers for telecommunications providers. It would not be reliable enough for audio use. It has lower sustained banwidth than USB3 from what I've gathered and cannot even achieve TB2 speeds constantly.

 

let me share my observations then:

even old good USB 2.0 is just fine for up to 70in/70out, for just recording it's still more than good enough even nowadays,
PCIe offers superior performance for live streaming, since it doesn't use asynchronous data transfers like USB (also reason why professional virtualization platforms basically don't support USB audio interfaces),

it really comes down to what you need,

I got old good USB RME Fireface UFX, recording 28 inputs into my old 2012 MacBook Pro 13" while feeding 5 dedicated stereo headphone AUX mixes, no problems,

I got another old good USB Fireface UFX under my TV just to have another studio in my living room, no problems either, standalone operation is great for controlling volume of my studio monitors with TV receiver hooked via optical SPDIF, even with computer turned off,

I got PCIe RME HDSPe AIO in my desktop mixing/mastering Windows PC workstation, TotalMix with Loopback functionality is really handy,

and recently I got RME ADI-2 DAC hooked to my M1 MacMini MacOS audio workstation, which is also fed by optical SPDIF from aforementioned HDSPe AIO, again no problems and.....daamn the remote control is SOO USEFUL

 

Thanks for the follow-up lesson and learned something again.

What then can you recommend to the user @weech to buy a new mainboard?

 

From a p5 board a new motherboard would mean new CPU and RAM also, so it gets quite pricey. The motherboards with TB3 connectors on the board are around 600€ and up, 900€+ for the 2 or 3 AMD supported boards with TB3 connectors, a board supported by one of these PCIe 'adapters' like the ASUS one you found would be cheaper, 400€ or possibly less, then add the 50€ adapter card. (See, it's all a bit of a scam, they get to say 'TB compatible' on these motherboards, but without paying the license fee for having the TB connector).

By the time that's all specced out, he's probably looking at close to 1500 euros without even considering the audio card.

I personally would probably wait a year or two to see if USB4/TB4 gets better support, possibly buy a mid-range USB2 audio interface in the meantime.

But then, he's running a system based around a p5 board, DDR2 ram, and it's probably slow as treacle right now anyway and needs to be upgraded before then. Even there a bog-standard system with USB2 audio would be cheaper *today*, and probably adequate for several years.

 

He already has a digital mixer Yamaha 01V96 24-channel and Two PCI Creamware pulsar and Scope 14 DSP card.
However, his system is a bit out of date and does not actually meet modern requirements.
Now his question was, because he still had a free PCI slot, what he could connect there.
I think we'll wait and see what he says about it and what he intends to keep or renew.

 

Get an SSL 2+ interface its USB-C, has SSL preamps on the 2 inputs, 4 ouputs so you can have multiple speaker sets, and 2 headphones outputs.

Its an amazing interface for the price, around 250$-300$usd new or you could maybe even find used one cheaper.

When i bought mine it even came with a couple of the SSL plugs for free, but I use the R2R versions cause they load faster and don't need ilok ;)

 

looks like you have
2 Pcie3 x16
2 Pci-X
2 Pci 2.2

https://www.asus.com/us/supportonly/P5WDG2 WS Professional/HelpDesk_Manual/

 

Haven't heard anything about that, it seems a valid concern if true.

Could you explain and expound?

Maybe, point the way to some material that would?

 

Yeah but your phone goes in your pocket, which is full of lint. And it is generally unplugged unless charging, so of course shit gets stuck up there.

USB-C interface stays plugged in, how would dust get in? that would be like saying I dont want to buy XLR cables because dust could get on the tip..

Also idk about you but I dont throw my audio interface around, it generally sits in 1 spot and doesnt move, not the cables nor the interface.

P.S. usb-mini and usb-c is not the same thing. USB-C is much faster than usb-mini

 

I believe it was already explained like 12 times in this thread why this is not true.

 

He must have had a negative experience with a cell phone and it was so annoying
that he only gets into a crisis when he hears UBS-C and his brain switches off.

 

I replaced my RME Multiface II with a Motu M2, The MOTU performs as good and sounds imo even more clear

 

I mean I get the cable isn't the strongest but again if you plan on setting it and not moving it I don't know why this would be such an issue, you can buy really nice braided USB-C cables that shield from noise like an xlr, and it doesn't break the bank to buy a new cable if ever something were to happen. I have never had issues breaking a usb-c port on any device, but maybe im just not rough enough with my gear.

IDK dude it was just a suggestion you can get a pci-e card or whatever studio grade thing you find for 200$ bucks, im happy with my SSL 2+ it sounds great.

 

Right, finally someone who is critical of the matter. It's planned wear and tear.
How else do companies earn their money? If you keep the interface you buy once in your life.
If it breaks 3 times, you buy it three times. This is how profits are made.

A three times high he should live for XLR.