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I've been optimistic about USB-C, but now I'm not so sure anymore. Manufacturers are creating a consumer headache and don't really seem interested throwing us a bone.

 

It used to be you get cable, stick port in cable - do your thing :whistle: but now USB-C is supposed to be one cable that rules them all, except when it doesn't. USB-C cables sometimes may or may not support certain functions, they may do things at full speed or maybe not - and they need smart circuitry to work properly as ... wait for it ... a cable. Now add in the same mayhem from the USB-C ports and it's just issues and baby-sitting galore waiting to happen.

 

And we're left guessing through trial and error which port does what with which cable - perhaps at full speed, perhaps not - hoping the manufacturer supplied cable doesn't fail or we'll have to buy the damn US$20-40 cable just for the privilege or risk accidentally frying our devices (thank you Amazon for outlawing some of those cables).

 

Which brings up another a point that bugs me - USB-C is supposed to be the one cable that rules them all - but it doesn't actually mean the consumers want one port. Sure take away my headphone port, but give me a USB-C port to replace it. We still want multiple ports built-in to our devices because dongles/adapters are not, never were, and never will be cool or better than just having multiple built-in ports to plug into.

 

Here's the article that got me all riled up (that and trying to get my new iPad Pro working properly in my studio)

State of USB-C 2019 - https://www.androidauthority.com/state-of-usb-c-870996/

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A couple years ago I got a new rack mount DAW from Sweetwater and the extra $40 I spent for USB C was the best $40 I have ever spent. I was not aware of these issues as I only use the cable that came with my external drive. What brand of cables fully support all features of USB C?

This post edited for speling.

My Sweetwater Gear Exchange Page

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With some reservation - that I'd have to get a bunch of new cables and spread them around the house, shop, studio, and tote bag - I bought a new phone that had USB-C. After a month or so, the USB connector came loose, so I sent it back to the US distributor and they replaced the little circuit board that the connector was mounted on under the warranty. Apparently that was a common failure because, after looking up the part number on the Web (it was on the the return shipping invoice) I saw several people selling that board on eBay, apparently for DIY fixers. Then a few months later the power button became intermittent, and since it was still under warranty, I returned it for repair again, and this time they said they didn't have the parts to fix it and sent me a replacement phone that was a newer model. It had a plain old micro USB connector, so now I have a handful of USB-C cables. Best thing I liked about them was that I didn't have to look to see which side of the plug was "up" when plugging it in.

 

The next CES after I got the replacement phone with the old micro USB connector, I was looking around at phone accessories and saw all sorts of cool things that you could connect to a phone via USB-C like an HDMI video monitor and a Cat-5 Ethernet cable for networking, but absolutely nothing new for micro USB except fancy styled cables.

 

Incidentally, when I travel, I carry a "charging" USB cable that only has the power pins connected end-to-end so I wouldn't risk my phone getting cooties by plugging it into one of those public charging stations in airports or hotels. And I have a TomTom GPS that has what looks and feels like a standard micro USB connector. A standard cable will work to power and charge it, but the only cable I have that will let it talk to a computer (for updates) is the one that came along with it. Apparently some manufacturers who want you to use their special cable put a resistor between a couple of unused pins on the plug, and the phone looks for the presence of that resistor before it will turn on certain features.

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I've been optimistic about USB-C, but now I'm not so sure anymore. Manufacturers are creating a consumer headache and don't really seem interested throwing us a bone.

 

It used to be you get cable, stick port in cable - do your thing :whistle: but now USB-C is supposed to be one cable that rules them all, except when it doesn't. USB-C cables sometimes may or may not support certain functions, they may do things at full speed or maybe not - and they need smart circuitry to work properly as ... wait for it ... a cable. Now add in the same mayhem from the USB-C ports and it's just issues and baby-sitting galore waiting to happen.

 

And we're left guessing through trial and error which port does what with which cable - perhaps at full speed, perhaps not - hoping the manufacturer supplied cable doesn't fail or we'll have to buy the damn US$20-40 cable just for the privilege or risk accidentally frying our devices (thank you Amazon for outlawing some of those cables).

 

Which brings up another a point that bugs me - USB-C is supposed to be the one cable that rules them all - but it doesn't actually mean the consumers want one port. Sure take away my headphone port, but give me a USB-C port to replace it. We still want multiple ports built-in to our devices because dongles/adapters are not, never were, and never will be cool or better than just having multiple built-in ports to plug into.

 

Here's the article that got me all riled up (that and trying to get my new iPad Pro working properly in my studio)

State of USB-C 2019 - https://www.androidauthority.com/state-of-usb-c-870996/

 

That is an excellent article. I wrote an article about USB-C and Thunderbolt for inSync during USB-C's infancy, and although it was about what the connector was promising, even back then there were issues that cropped up (especially regarding power and charging). It's also important to remember, which the Android-related article didn't reference, that the USB-C connector is the same connector used with the current generation Thunderbolt devices. Cool, eh? Except that Thunderbolt ports are probably compatible with USB-C devices, but USB-C ports are not compatible with Thunderbolt.

 

Well, I guess we're still better off than we were with SCSI. But this proliferation of "standards" that aren't standard ("God must love standards, he made so many of them") is self-defeating.

 

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