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The problem is that I use it for audio, and it's a latency thing, that's why i'm nitpicking. TB 2 gets really low latency compared to USB and firewire (which is gone anyway). It's not bandwidth thing, it's a speed thing.

A simple analogy is if your car only can go 50 MPH having ten lanes will not make it go faster. So I have to make sure there's not a degrading of this. I don't think there is, as the Intel site is very clear about just this thing, but the adapter? I have to figure it out, as I have invested into the TB2 thing; you know how that goes......

It actually surprised me a bit that Intel is very clear about this (from the link above). But it's the 3rd party adapters that worry me as this needs to be tested, and they will try to sell you anything. There's that Windows adapter now, that was linked in this thread, that's a good example.

Yeah, the plethora of <made in lowest cost places possible but priced like made in USA or EU> adapters always bugs me, too. I'm not sure if there is a 'TB3-certified' designation or not, but it may well also be the case that if it can negotiate and connect to the <whichever spec> device, then you've essentially got full bandwidth for the device.
 
Does TB3 require a special USB C cable to make use of the TB3 functions? If so then if all 4 ports were TB3/USB 3.1(Gen2) could you use a standard USB C cable to just have USB 3.1 (Gen2) function and only have to buy the better (more $$) cable to use the TB3 functions.
- Thunderbolt 3 requires a Thunderbolt 3 cable, not just a USB-C cable. You can use a standard USB-C cable on a Thunderbolt 3-enabled port to get normal USB functionality.

In order words: Yes to both questions.
 
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