1 Topic by GrabtharsHammer (edited by GrabtharsHammer 2024-01-23 08:51:04)

  • Registered: 2016-10-13
  • Posts: 10

Topic: Do Apple M1 USB performance issues affect audio interfaces?

Hello everyone, as has been known for some time, the first Apple Silicon chipsets (M1) have USB performance problems (see https://www.owc.com/blog/a-note-about- … on-m1-macs), which are probably mainly due to the lack of support for UASP. I have an M1 iMac and am currently considering replacing my current Thunderbolt audio interface with an RME UCX II, but am somewhat unsettled by the problems mentioned above.
Hence my question: Do the reduced USB data transfer rates of the M1 devices have a negative effect on the performance of audio interfaces, or is it basically only external SSDs that are affected?
Thank you in advance for your comments.

2 Reply by ramses (edited by ramses 2024-01-23 09:24:34)

  • ramses
  • DAW Mastermind
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  • Registered: 2012-10-14
  • Posts: 13,197

Re: Do Apple M1 USB performance issues affect audio interfaces?

UASP is only implemented in USB3 for faster and more efficient data transfer and to reduce CPU utilization.

So this is not applicable for UCX II which uses USB2!

AFAIK for audio transport between PC and recording interfaces with USB3, other USB transfer modes without need/implementation of UASP are being used.

Furthermore, for Windows PC, you have to look closely whether USB3 HW/driver supports UASP.
AFAIK, this is normally not supported in USB3 coming from Intel/AMD chipset, but this could have changed.
But I know that only a few USB3 PCIe cards (with USB3 3rd party controller) support UASP.

To sum up, I see no requirement for UASP for audio.
If there should be any USB related issues, then it doesn't have to do with UASP and in this case definitively not, as UASP has not been implemented for USB2 as mentioned above. So this is not applicable for your UCX II.

BR Ramses - UFX III, 12Mic, XTC, ADI-2 Pro FS R BE, RayDAT, X10SRi-F, E5-1680v4, Win10Pro22H2, Cub14