Good info - thanks @Monkey_Man Thats kind of crazy!I'd never actually looked up USB2's "limits" but didn't expect its channel count to be that high tbh. (Honestly, I dont even own enough cables to handle that many channels
) .
To stay on topic, besides an even greater channel count, does anyone know any other specific advantages that an audio interface running USB3 or Thunderbolt would bring over a unit running USB2 ? Curious to know.
Indeed, it is kinda crazy. MOTU said it was past the previously-thought-of limit (24 I/O) when it offered 32 simultaneous I/O with the introduction of the AVB line. It later worked hard at it, and managed to squeeze the new apparently-reliable performance (64 I/O) from USB2 nevertheless.
Regarding your next question, I asked this of MOTU as I was curious as to why it didn't opt for USB3 in the first place. It said that there were no practical advantages barring the maximum-channel count, and that seeing as USB2 is backward-compatible with USB3, and also that many home-recording setups (at the time) didn't yet have USB3 ports (still true), the decision to go with USB2 was a practical one.
Some may be concerned with possible future incompatibility, but IMHO when one considers the ubiquity that USB2 has enjoyed across all platforms including household appliances and all manner of devices, it seems logical to assume that backward compatibility will be around for a long while yet. It's no FireWire 400, in other words.