Guido, thanks for pointing out the Thunderbolt capability of the Weiss 202 DAC. That capability, however, appears to be provided by means of an external Thunderbolt-to-Firewire adapter, which would connect to a Firewire port on the rear of the DAC. And based on a quick look at their website I'm not at all certain that they are even marketing such an adapter themselves, or are simply claiming Thunderbolt compatibility by virtue of the fact that Apple sells Thunderbolt-to-Firewire adapters.
Also, I would feel safe in assuming that their motivation in proclaiming Thunderbolt compatibility derives from the fact that Firewire has been superseded by Thunderbolt on Apple computers. (As I understand it Thunderbolt is only available on non-Apple computers and separately purchasable motherboards to a very limited extent at this time, primarily on high-end workstations, in part because it is considerably more expensive than USB3).
As to whether or not connection of a DAC via a Thunderbolt-to-Firewire adapter would provide any inherent advantage in comparison with the direct Firewire connection that would be possible on older Macs and on other computers having Firewire interfaces, I'd expect that to have to be determined empirically. And I'm not sure how or if that determination could be performed without a great many extraneous hardware-dependent variables also being in play.
Those are my thoughts on the subject, anyway. We'll see if Steve or Alex have anything to add. Best regards,
-- Al
