Echo Express SE I

1-slot Desktop Thunderbolt to PCIe Card Expansion System for Computers with Thunderbolt 4 or Thunderbolt 3 Ports

Connect One Full-height, Half-length+ PCIe Card (Plus Daughter Card)

The processing power offered by Mac, Windows, and Linux computers with Thunderbolt™ ports is truly impressive for today’s creative professionals. However, these sleek, thin devices come with a drawback: they lack PCIe expansion slots for adding cards that boost connectivity and processing capabilities. Sonnet offers the ideal solution with the Echo™ Express SE I Thunderbolt Expansion System. This compact, one-slot system allows you to easily connect a single PCIe card to your computer. Using a single Thunderbolt cable, it’s compatible with Apple M series Macs or Intel Macs with Thunderbolt 3 ports, as well as Windows or Linux computers with Thunderbolt 5 or Thunderbolt 4 ports.

The Thunderbolt Interface Connection

Professional Desktop PCIe Card Expansion – when connected to one of your computer’s Thunderbolt ports, Echo Express SE I allows you to connect a single professional PCIe card — such as a video capture device, audio interface, SAS or SATA host bus adapter, Fibre Channel, Ethernet, or RAID controller — along with a daughter card.

Nearly Every Thunderbolt-Compatible, Non-GPU PCIe Card Supported

Designed to accommodate cards up to 7.75 inches long and measuring a compact 5.6 inches wide by 8.6 inches long by 3.5 inches tall, Echo Express SE I has a small footprint, yet it is large enough to support nearly every Thunderbolt compatible PCIe 4.0, 3.0, PCIe 2.0, and PCIe 1.1 card available. Do you have a card in mind but aren’t sure it’s compatible? We’ve put together a compatibility list that identifies cards conforming to Thunderbolt technology requirements, and organized by fit and power compatibility with specific expansion systems.

All Around Smart Design

Aluminum Enclosure. Auto Power On/Off.

One PCIe 3.0 Slot and Space for a Daughter Card

‍Echo Express SE I features an x8 PCIe slot, and supports one half-length+, full-height, single- or double-width PCIe card. Double-width? Some pro video and audio interface cards, such as Blackmagic Design’s DeckLink 4K Extreme, and RME’s HDSPe MADI FX card, include a daughter card that mates with and provides additional external connections to the main card. The daughter card occupies the adjacent space without filling a PCIe slot.

Quiet Please

Echo Express SE I is designed to be ultra-quiet so that it can be comfortably used in noise-sensitive environments. The airflow path within the chassis has been specially designed to enable the temperature-controlled, variable speed fan to quietly and efficiently cool the installed card at all times, even during peak operation.

Secure Connections for High Performance

Thunderbolt Cable and ThunderLok Included

Sonnet includes a Thunderbolt cable that supports Thunderbolt’s maximum bandwidth and is fully compatible with Thunderbolt 5, 4, and 3 computers. Sonnet also provides ThunderLok, a Thunderbolt connector cable lock, that prevents accidental cable disconnections.

Thunderbolt Technology

Fastest External Interface Available

Sonnet Thunderbolt products feature a high-speed Thunderbolt interface that delivers PCIe bandwidth needed to support data transfers at full speed.

Designed for the Fastest Connection to Thunderbolt Computers

Echo Express SE I is purposely designed with a Thunderbolt 3 controller and its four lanes of PCIe (not available in a Thunderbolt 4 peripheral) to achieve maximum simultaneous ingest speeds. Watch this video to learn more about the performance benefits.