Hi Dr Tone

Regardless of Intel's views about USB 3,   USB 2  [ & 3 ]   will be the  " everywhere for everybody consumer supported standard "  for at least the next  5 - 7  years.

I suspect  "lightbridge"  will develop over time but I cant see a lightbridge audio interface for several years yet.

In fact, the more I think about my own question, the more I realize how pointless and expensive  - and therefore stupid -  an  " upgrade kit "  would be for RME.

ben

PS: Dont forget also that be it lightbridge or USB 3  or an as yet unknown  " superinterface 15 ", audio latency has a theoretical maximum with current AD /  DA  technology of  around  ~2.0ms  AD-in / DA-out.  ie:  ~1.0ms for AD conversion  +  ~1.0ms  for  DA conversion.  And given that a good  [ current ]  PCI interface can already achieve a  real-world-round-trip-latecny of  ~3.5ms at 32 samples  and be stable at massive loads, then the "new" technolgy would have to allow for sample buffer sizes  [ without the use of saftety sample buffers ]  of 16 samples or  8 samples to see even a " on paper "  gain - for example:-

-> with current AD/DA technology, a 32 sample  in-out  buffer will give you  a real-world-round-trip-latecny of  ~3.50ms
-> with current AD/DA technology, a 16 sample  in-out  buffer will give you  a real-world-round-trip-latecny of  ~2.80ms
-> with current AD/DA technology, an 8 sample  in-out  buffer will give you  a real-world-round-trip-latecny of  ~2.45ms
-> with current AD/DA technology, an 1 sample  in-out  buffer will give you  a real-world-round-trip-latecny of  ~2.00ms

When you look at it like this, its easy to see hwy companies like RME  [ and the other good ones ]  pretty much have absolutely zero need or incentive to latch on to USB 3 or lightbridge from a latecny perspective.

ben