Questions & Answers

Can Quantum be connected to a Thunderbolt 4 port ?

+5 votes
4,523 views
asked Apr 26, 2021 in Thunderbolt - Quantum by sellone (260 points)
Hi guys.

I am about to get my new Windows PC, which is based upon an AMD Ryzen 9 5950x and the motherboard ASUS ProArt B550-Creator which provides natively Thunderbold 4 connectivity via Type-C connectors.

I am also in the process of selecting my new audio interface and I was looking at the Presonus Quantum. I know that it provides Thunderbold 2 connectivity and I was wondering if it can be connected to the Thunderbolt 4 port of the motherboard without issues and which cable I should use.

Thanks.

13 Answers

0 votes
answered Aug 12, 2021 by AlexTinsley (925,070 points)
 
Best answer
Thanks to this Answers article and feedback from the user community we have researched a solution with Intel and Gigabyte to finally answer this question.

We have posted a knowledge base article about it here:

https://support.presonus.com/hc/en-us/articles/4406516070541-Thunderbolt-4-Crashing-Issues-with-Windows-Systems
+1 vote
answered May 5, 2021 by johnhenry15 (190 points)
I have a March built intel pc, with  the ASUS ex4 thunderbolt card.  I am also trying to connect the quantum 2626 interface, but I've only managed to get the blue flashing light. UC won't recognize quantum.
0 votes
answered Jun 22, 2021 by radar23 (1,940 points)
I hope so.. just bought a Asus laptop with TB4... testing tonight... fingers crossed.. since I had previously good fortune with TB3 to TB2 to FW400  I'm making a big presumption Tb4 will good backwards via the apple TB3 to tb2 adapter...

will post my result asap..

ps if it doesn't work the laptop is going back to the shop..
+1 vote
answered Jun 22, 2021 by sellone (260 points)

Hi everyone. A quick update on my side. I have been able to successfully use the Presonus Quantum2626 with a Thunderbolt 4 connection on my Windows PC. The motherboard ASUS ProArt B550-Creator works as expected. The only issue is that I have to have the Quantum turned on BEFORE I switch on the PC, otherwise it doesn’t get recognized. In other words I cannot do a hot plug and play, but apart from that it works with a very low latency.

0 votes
answered Jun 24, 2021 by radar23 (1,940 points)

Update... To my horror my new laptop did not even let me plug in a Thunderbolt device without hitting the BSOD....  took a while .. but found a newer driver on station-drivers  

Anyway... no more BSOD with this driver and the Quantum come ups nicely in UC and S1, no pops or clicks... working perfectly so far..

0 votes
answered Jun 28, 2021 by gross115 (180 points)
Hey radar23 - what driver did you end up getting that solved your issue?  I'm having a ton of issues with my Gigabyte Aero 17 with TB4 and my Quantum.  When I connect through the StarTech adapter directly to the TB4 port on my laptop I get nothing, no acknowledgement of a connection at all.  Then, after connecting a TB3 dock and trying to connect the Quantum to an extra TB3 port on the dock I get instant BSOD, restart, instant BSOD, on a loop.  

Hoping support can figure out a solution, my return window is closing, and I really don't want to go through setting up yet another PC so soon.
0 votes
answered Jul 2, 2021 by gross115 (180 points)
Figured I'd plop this here and make it easy to find for the internet since I had so much trouble, and hopefully some one else will benefit from my findings.

If your Thunderbolt 2 Presonus Quantum won't connect to your Thunderbolt 4 PC (in my case a Gigabyte Aero 17 HDR XD) check your driver version for your Thunderbolt port (open Thunderbolt Control Center, click About in the menu and look for controller driver version).  I had version 1.41.1094.0 and my device was either not recognized at all when connected to the TB4 port via a StarTech TB3 to TB2 adapter, or when the StarTech was connected to a TB3 dock that was connected to my TB4 port, I would loop in BSOD over and over.

After find driver version 1.41.1134.0 on station-drivers.com and updating through Device Manager, the Quantum would FINALLY connect - but only through the TB3 dock.  Still nothing happens when connected directly to the TB4 port on my PC.

Hope that helps some of you.

Ryan
0 votes
answered Sep 28, 2021 by giorgostsitsias (180 points)

I am on a Dell Latitude 7520 with thunderbolt 4 and I have connected it to a quantum 2632 via a startech thunderbolt 3 to thunderbolt 2 adapter (No thunderbolt dock!) . I followed this procedure https://support.presonus.com/hc/en-us/articles/4406516070541-Thunderbolt-4-Crashing-Issues-with-Windows-Systems for the thunderbolt drivers and the latest drivers are  1.41.1193. If the dell is not lying about latitude 7520 having a thunderbolt 4, it might be a case of new drivers....

asked Oct 4, 2021 in Thunderbolt - Quantum by giorgostsitsias (180 points) Thunderbolt 4 feedback
0 votes
answered Jan 9, 2022 by synthkeys (140 points)

Will my Presonus 4848 work with Thunderbolt 4 pci card?


Hello,
I am thinking of assembling a new pc.

Will my Quantum 4848 work with this thunderbolt 4 pci card? Or do I need Thunderbolt 2 / 3 pci interfaces?



ASUS ThunderboltEX 4
€ 127,95


Thank you in advance!



Some of the parts:

Intel Core i7-12700K Boxed
€ 428,99

ASUS PRIME Z690-P WIFI D4
€ 244,90

ASUS ThunderboltEX 4
€ 127,95

be quiet! Pure Base 500 Zwart
€ 71,86

Noctua NH-U12S redux
€ 49,90

Patriot Memory Viper Steel PVS464G360C8K
€ 254,90

Fractal Design ION+ 560W Platinum
€ 76,90

0 votes
answered Mar 13, 2022 by michaelbridges3 (240 points)
After reading this thread I was ready to install custom drivers to make my Quantum 2 work on my new laptop. None of that was necessary. I just connected my Apple Thunderbolt 3 to Thunderbolt 2 adapter, connected the Quantum 2 to that, and everything worked.

Maybe Intel's current drivers have improved since the time these posts were written.

HP Spectre x360 Convertible 14t-ea100 - 2.9 GHz (5.0 Max Turbo) i7-1195G7 32GB RAM, OLED 3k x 2k, Iris Xe Onboard Graphics
0 votes
answered Jun 15, 2022 by lafardlahn (160 points)
You just need a thunderbolt 4 compatible line to connect you device and computer. This is the fastest way, but you need to pay more money on it.
0 votes
answered Feb 24, 2023 by andrewmacaulay (140 points)

Just a heads up about ThunderBolt 4 connectivity - the support article works, although I found that for the Asus ThunderBoltEX 4 card that the Apple Thunderbolt 3 to Thunderbolt 2 adapter was the only option that worked.

PLUS you need to make sure that the NVM firmware on the ThunderBoltEX 4 card is not greater than NVM 31... any later and the ThunderBolt 2 compatibility is explicitly stopped, and you can never connect to a Quantum or Quantum 4848!

+1 vote
answered Apr 12, 2023 by (160 points)

Just now I tried this approach, and found that my laptop, Lenovo ThinkBook 14 G5+ IAP (with Intel Core i5-13500H), refuse to update the driver. I'm afraid this only work for 10th & 11th gen Intel mobile processors (12th gen may also work, I cannot test).

--------------

I've been spending weeks to get my laptop and my desktop (Asus Proart Z690 Creator Wifi) work with my Focusrite Clarett 2Pre Thunderbolt. I think my experience would be helpful for many guys. So here is a quick review.

Although compatibility can be achieved techinically, Intel has officially announced that Thunderbolt 4 is not supporting thunderbolt 1&2. Although some of the Thunderbolt 4 device do support Thunderbolt 1&2, Intel is intentionally removing these compatibility:

  • For Intel mobile CPU devices (10th gen and later), they have no dedicated Thunderbolt controllers, the corresponding parts are intergrated into CPU (except those 12th&13th gen -HX processors, which are basically direct copy of desktop processors). For these devices, if the method shown in the previous answer does not work, then there's no solution as far as I know.
  • For Intel desktop CPU (11th gen or later) & -HX CPU devices & Thunderbolt 4 expansion cards, they requires dedicated Thunderbolt controller (JHL-8540 commonly). With controller firmware NVM31 (can be checked in Thunderbolt Control Center), Thunderbolt 1&2 would work without hot-plugh (and these device would not show up in Intel Thunderbolt Control Center). A Thunderbolt 3 dock is suggested (otherwise my Clarett requires cold boot, power off my power supply, after plugh in physically; my Clarett would also show correctly in device manager with my dock) but not strictlky required. However, all firmwares newer than NVM31 would drop support of Thunderbolt 1&2 devices, and cause several issues under macOS (if desktop used as Hackintosh).

For my ASUS Proart Z690 motherboard, Thunderbolt controller firmware does not downgrade with BIOS downgrade, even by flashing SM-BIOS chip with SPI-flasher, as the firmware is stored seperately. Luckly, ASUS provided a customized BIOS to downgrade TB firmware after I asked for help, and I found ways to downgrade BIOS if motherboard refuses to downgrade (because of BIOS Lock). Details can be seen on my posts on tonymacx86 (#2896): 

Asus Z690 ProArt Creator WiFi (Thunderbolt 4) + i7-12700K + AMD RX 6800 XT | tonymacx86.com

some comments if you want to use Thunderbolt 1&2 devices with (latest) PC:

  • For desktop users, the safest way is to use a Thunderbolt 3 (Titan Ridge) Expansion cards. If your motherboard supports TB3 or TB4 expansion cards, go for a TB3 expansion card of the same brand as your motherboard (different brands have different internal cable headers). If no, then a Gigabyte Titan Ridge card has high probability to work, but reqiures techniques (various case reported the card is still functional even with AMD 400&500 series motherboards, by putting the card to the first PCIe slot, which connect to the CPU rather than going through chipset).
  • For Z690 motherboard with Thunderbolt 4 intergrated, they would work under controller firmware NVM31 or previous.
  • For Z790 motherboard with Thunderbol 4 intergrated, and some X670e motherboards which realize intergrated USB4 with Intel controller (for example, ASUS Proart X670e Creator Wifi, with JHL 8540), there is basically no chance (as the first edition of BIOS provided would have TB firmware newer than NVM31).
  • For 10th&11th gen Intel laptop users, follow the previous answer.
  • For 12th&13th gen Intel laptop users, there is basically no chance.

There are still questions remaining:

  • There remains chanse for USB4 AMD devices. 6000&7000 series AMD laptops (some with USB4) and most X670e motherboards with USB4 intergrated uses AsMedia controllers. As TB 1&2 compatibility is dropped by Intel intentionally, USB4 has a high chance to support TB 1&2. However, the stability of new-developed AsMedia controllers is a little bit worrying (some issues reported).  For now, I have not seen anybody who has tried this approach.
  • Inspired by the Titan Ridge card with AMD 400&500 series motherboard case, I'm planning to test Titan Ridge expansion card to my laptop through M2 slots (my laptop has 2, 1 go to CPU directly). This approach would not be helpful for most people, as it requireds to remove or modify shell of laptop.

Hope these informations would be helpful to some people. Good luck.

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