We all know we should not use them, but we all do i.e. having USB hubs between our studio devices and the DAW.
 
What's the best way to handle that necessary evil? Using only those with external power supply is probably a good idea, but any other thoughts, suggestions? What's definitely to avoid or which types/brands did not work or which are particularly good for studio use?
 
(I'm about to swap one because I have my A-PRO disconnecting/reconnecting occasionally in Sonar and I see the device often "flicker" in win10 "connected devices")
 
 

You have six USB 2.0 sockets on the back and eight more available on the board plus 5 PCI or PCIe slots and you still need a hub?
 
google USB slot plate adapter or USB PCI add in card

I added a USB pci card and use it exclusively for my audio equipment (interface and midi controllers).  If for some reason you have to use a hub, use it for things like keyboard, mouse, printer and external (non-audio) hard drives.

Rob[atSound-Rehab]
We all know we should not use them, but we all do i.e. having USB hubs between our studio devices and the DAW.
 
What's the best way to handle that necessary evil? Using only those with external power supply is probably a good idea, but any other thoughts, suggestions? What's definitely to avoid or which types/brands did not work or which are particularly good for studio use?
 
(I'm about to swap one because I have my A-PRO disconnecting/reconnecting occasionally in Sonar and I see the device often "flicker" in win10 "connected devices")

Your Asus MB supports up to 8 additional USB 2.0 ports and 2 USB 3.0 ports via internal connectors.
 
Best $4.99 solution: 4-Port USB2.0 Motherboard Rear Panel Expansion Bracket Host Adapter
http://www.ebay.com/itm/4...8af:g:ygUAAOSwMstYQ3IQ

I use a 10 slot hub w/external power but mostly for peripherals shared between 2 computers (printers, dvd drive, midi interface, etc.). I've gotten in the habit of plugging the audio interface directly into the computer to alleviate any issues.

slartabartfast
You have six USB 2.0 sockets on the back and eight more available on the board plus 5 PCI or PCIe slots and you still need a hub?

poor me got the machine in a different room to have no computer fan distraction in the control room. so every extra cable needs to go thru 2 walls and insulation. hence, the hubs and also USB extenders (Lindy which work fine BTW). on the mobile DAW there is only one USB port, so there needs to be a hub ...
 
so back to the original question - are there any differences in the hubs they sell ya? or is it the same chinese inside just with different plastic and price on outside?
 

Rob[atSound-Rehab]

slartabartfast
You have six USB 2.0 sockets on the back and eight more available on the board plus 5 PCI or PCIe slots and you still need a hub?

poor me got the machine in a different room to have no computer fan distraction in the control room. so every extra cable needs to go thru 2 walls and insulation. hence, the hubs and also USB extenders (Lindy which work fine BTW). on the mobile DAW there is only one USB port, so there needs to be a hub ...
 
so back to the original question - are there any differences in the hubs they sell ya? or is it the same chinese inside just with different plastic and price on outside?
 

Be careful!  According to USB specs, cables longer than 5 meters would cause a too large signal propagation delay to work.  The primary reason for this limit is the maximum allowed round-trip delay of about 1.5 μs. If USB host commands are unanswered by the USB device within the allowed time, the host considers the command lost.
 
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USB#Cabling

Rob(at)Sound-Rehab
... so back to the original question - are there any differences in the hubs they sell ya? or is it the same chinese inside just with different plastic and price on outside?

That would be my guess tho some brands may have better quality control than others. Almost nothing sold in the US is made in the US or any other European land mass anymore. Most things seem to work OK but the weakest link in Asian made electronics seems to be internal/external hard drive enclosure circuit boards (docking enclosures). I've had several of them fail for no reason.But then my WD Passport USB3 2TB drive has worked perfectly without a hitch.

abacab
Be careful!  According to USB specs, cables longer than 5 meters would cause a too large signal propagation delay to work.  The primary reason for this limit is the maximum allowed round-trip delay of about 1.5 μs. If USB host commands are unanswered by the USB device within the allowed time, the host considers the command lost.
 
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USB#Cabling

is there any way to measure/benchmark this?

USB hubs are fine for lower bandwidth peripherals.
If possible, I'd avoid using them for an audio interface or external HD.
 
In particular, USB hubs are great for dongles.
Modern motherboards have so many USB ports (and headers to add more via inexpensive USB brackets)... that you'll likely not need a USB hub.
 
In general, I'd recommend self-powered USB hubs.
If you just want to connect several dongles, a passive hub will work fine.