I was hoping I can find some updated information. I have a late 2013 (bought April 2014) MacBook Pro 15" retina display. I am using a kontrol S4 mk2 and have recently added an F1. I normally have the S4 connected to 1 USB port and an external hard drive (Western Digital my passport for Mac USB 3.0) connected to the other. I know I need a powered usb hub, but is there a recommended one to use? I do know that the S4 needs to be connected to the computer, but I use a different audio interface (MOTU 828) connected by thunderbolt. So my questions are…
What’s the best powered usb hub to use? Should I get a 3.0 hub?
Since I am using a different audio interface connected by thunderbolt, is it still necessary to keep the S4 plugged directly to the computer?
Sounds like a little trial and error are in order. I know that some of my gear has a problem with the USB 3.0 ports in it so I picked up a cheap 12 dollar powered USB 2.0 hub to step it down to 2.0 and it works beautifully with everything I own. What’s wrong with the built in sound-card in the S4? In my experience the less you have to carry with you the better. I really don’t think there is a “best powered usb hub” It’s just repeating a signal on 4 devices and providing enough power to juice up all 4. It’s prob not necessary to keep it plugged directly in but you’re just adding another fail point if you plug it in farther back. Good luck!
There are def some total shite powered USB hubs out there. In short you get what you pay for bruv. Watch out for any deal that seams too good to be true. There is nothing worse than buying a powered USB hub just to find out that every port is only powered at 1 amp.
Thanks for the info… I guess I still have more research to do. The built in sound card works just fine. However, I feel it is not powerful enough, so I added in a recording studio grade sound card a MOTU 828. The difference in sound quality is amazing.
You are thinking of the data stream bruv. The power down stream of a USB 2 or 3 port is in range from .9 to 2.1 at 5 volts. For example, most thumb drives only require 1 amp whereas my wd passports require at least 1.5 (which causes issues on the xdj… dan you pioneer).
I thought the general rule of thumb was keep your sound card plugged into its own port then connect all your controllers to a powered port? I thought that was said to give you the least amount of latency or problems. Since your bypassing the s4 soundcard I wouuuuld…
Motu direct into thuderbolt
external hdd direct into usb
all other controllers into a powered hub.
If I had to choose between latency of files on a hdd and latency of button presses on a controller I would choose latency on the controller.
I do believe this will give you the best performance.
This is all my opinion of course. Which is right below whale shit on the totem of life…
I have an '10 mbp and have an apogee duet plugged direct into one usb and then my ohm rgb and a few midi fighters plugged into a powered hub by d link and have zero latency issues with ableton live.
I use a Plugable USB3 hub in my studio, all my controllers, external HDs, the s8, and my soundcard are connected to it with no issues at all. Amazon has them fairly cheap.
To thoroughly answer your question… MOST… If not ALL midi controllers, from my understanding, are usb 2.0 compliant and many resources I’ve read have suggested staying away from USB 3.0 Hubs. Even though they are backward compatible.
I’m currently using a Belkin AC-powered 7-port USB Hub and couldn’t be happier with it! I’ve used it in combination with my Vestax vci-400EG, Traktor F1, Audio 6, Ableton Push, Traktor s4 mk1 and additional hard drives connected. Not all at the same time, of course. But, vci and f1 or audio 6 and push,.. So on and so forth. I haven’t had A SINGLE issues with audio drop-outs, latency, ETC. I should add that aside from not having the I7 processor.. I did upgrade my Mid-2012 Macbook Pro to 16gb of ram and a 250gb internal 840 EVO SSD. Didn’t want to take the chance of future issues. So as long as you are running your gear on a machine that is more… “current”. The Belkin is the way to go. At least in my opinion.
