I have 2 working USB ports on my laptop, but I want to use about 5. I figure “hey, that’s what a USB hub is for!” and get one. Not so. Running 2xDenon SC2000 + Hercules RMX, the power flickers on and off intermittently. I bought another that was beefier, from one of the reputable brands which I forget now. The same issue happened there. So I went online and found one on amazon which had a ton of great reviews, but it seems none of them tested it with DJ gear because even that one fails me.
So I come to you folks. Can somebody point me in the direction of something which can power/provide plugs for all of the following:
2 x SC2000
2 x Audio 2 soundcard
1 x NOX606 or similar (no power needed but return channel for recording mixes)
maybe lpd8 or something
You have to have used it yourself, please. I’ve gotten too many throwaway “yeah this should work” recommendations to find it wasn’t so.
You might just need to change the power adaptor to a higher MA, I’ve seen some hubs ship with 1MA adaptors which probably would not provide enough power for that many devices (Hercules RMX was pulling 300MA alone).
Also found some hubs would crap out on USB2.0 mode and only provide USB1.1 when I added more devices.
Now i’m using a piece of crap hub that someone left behind in my old apt for the past 3+ years (it was already pretty beat up when i found it) it’s currently got an unpowered 8ch sound card, APC40, Mouse plugged in and charging my Iphone - all unpowered too!
That’s where multi-TT comes in, which is a rare but precious feature. Most hubs will only run at 1.1 speeds on all devices if any one of them is a 1.1 device.
I have no choice for the soundcards, I only have 2 USB ports on my laptop so I have to run them from a hub. I haven’t bought them yet but the intention is to have 4 channels running to a 4-channel analog mixer.
Every hub since the first one have been powered.
I’ll take a look at a multi-tt device from the thread and see if that resolves my issue.
I’m sorry dude but running 2 x Audio 2 soundcards off 2 powered hubs is simply asking for problems.
Am i missing something with your setup requirements cus it dont make sense to me.
If im missing something then please let me know?
Get a decent 4 channel soundcard and dont scrimp on money buying 2 soundcards that will just end up causing you to spend even more money down the line.
The intention is to have 4 channels to the NOX606 plus 1 return channel via USB on the 606.
This is not at all an argument. Why is a 2 channel soundcard inferior to a 4 channel soundcard? Why would they produce one with a lower quality sound signal?
I would rather just get a USB hub that works instead of getting a more expensive soundcard that offers me no other benefits (all I need are 4 stereo output channels), hence me asking about it here.
running 2 separate audio interfaces through a hub is going to give you latency problems at the least. It’s strongly recommended by us and all interface manufacturers that you plug them directly into the computer. Get a good quality powered hub, ideally multi-TT, and a 4 channel audio interface which you plug into your other USB port.
We’re not trying to make you spend more than you need to, we just know from experience that you’re more than likely to have latency issues with your suggested setup.
Because they don’t make a unit in that price range which does it in one soundcard without trying to stuff a ton of other unnecessary features in and jack the price up. If you have one I will gladly hear your suggestion, but otherwise this is the only solution on the market. I’m not looking to pay $200 extra to gain exactly zero usability :-/
[quote]The point you are missing is that using 2 soundcards is stupid if you can simply use one.[/quote] Which again, isn’t an argument. (or a viewpoint. Or a stance. Or whichever word makes you feel happy about it.) Do you have an actual reason to not using 2 soundcards? Why would their be latency? USB can handle 8 channels of uncompressed audio no problem. Why would it be different just because the signal is sent through one port vs another? Have you actually used two of the same soundcard?
And the reason I’ve posted a forum thread rather than just google it is because I don’t just want a business’ recommendation. I want the word of somebody who has actually done it so I can be sure that I’m not just being sold something that doesn’t actually resolve the issue.
Thats still 3 sound cards The Nox IS a sound card.
As mentioned latency + stability issues most likely will arise no matter what hub is in place.
Ideally you should have a sound card that provides 4xstereo outputs + 1 x stereo input (you don’t need the Nox USB then)
Audio 8 or similar is really Warranted to maximize your setup size and reliability.
USB 2.0 yes it can handle 480mbps per USB port MAXIMUM, thats dependent on a lot of factors.
When you add a hub into the equation that 480 maximum is split between the 4 or 5 devices you are connecting.
Its been shown before that the theoretical max USB speed is rarely achievable on devices (almost half in some cases) depending on the chipset and the devices in use, power consumptiuon etc.
What on earth is everyone going on about? There is zero reason why you can’t use 2 separate soundcards together, it makes ZERO difference providing you have a software system (such as core audio or ASIO4ALL) that allows you to combine sound cards. Even with all the channels on the audio 2 blazing that’s half the amount of data as with the audio 8 and no difference in power since the hub is powered (just like the audio10 is). Hell often your computer will see each input/output of your soundcard as an individual soundcard…
Latency with the NOX isn’t an issues either since recording DOES NOT require real time priority. You whack the buffer AS LARGE AS POSSIBLE in order to reduce strain on your system. You don’t combine it with other cards as there is no reason to.
There’s no reason to buy the audio 10 here. You’re paying an insane amount of extra money for some inputs that won’t get used. The idea solution is either one card with 4 stereo outputs or multiple cards that add up to 4 stereo outputs.
Middleware always decreases reliability and stability sure there’s no need for an audio 10, but an 8/2 sound card would certainly make much more sense in the long term.
3 separate sound cards + 2 x Powered midi controllers on a single hub is just asking for trouble IMHO.
At least I’d look at getting at least your non-critical stuff e.g midi controllers/recording card though one powered hub and the playing sound cards on a separate USB port altogether (that should not need to be powered though).
Tell you what OP, you’ve been recommended a fair few hubs now, D-Link 4-Port Hub DUB-H4 being the one that NI recommends (You did say that didn’t you Karlos? )
Just go ahead and do it. At the end of the day maybe you’re right.
If it were me, and I was playing out in front of a crowd and being paid money for a gig, I’d want the most “reliable” option.
What’s recommended and what many of us have found out through experience is running one sound-card directly from one one of the usb ports on your computer is the most stable. Then running all other midi devices through the hub.
So you have asked and the advice has been given. Not many of us will have experience of what you’re doing because it’s not really the “done thing”.
But you’ve been recommended the best hub to get, so go ahead.
Pls report back and let us know how that works out for you.
- all unpowered too! 
)