>> USB 3.0 throughput is said to be 625 MB/s so I must be running up >> against the speed of the disk itself in USB 3.0 mode, correct? > > Processing power of the external USB<->SATA controller chip could also > come into play. But in your case I think you're getting the maximum > speed possible from the drive. Be happy. :)
I'm happy. I just like to know where I stand relative to the spec. > Surely a faster/higher-powered disk and I would guess that USB 3 maybe > has higher latency than the SATA controller on your laptop's > motherboard. I know USB 2.0 has latency problems (and why the audio > nerds* prefer firewire equipment). > > * used as a term of endearment :) For audio playback, USB is now just as good as Firewire thanks to the inception of the asynchronous (as opposed to synchronous or adaptive) USB DAC. In an asynchronous implementation, the clock is in the DAC itself and operates independently of the computer. However, if Firewire has lower latency I can see how it would be better than USB for audio recoding and production. - Grant
