Kalle Rantaaho
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Will a small USB-hub help me out?
My intended travelling recording setup is:
Laptop with three USB-connections.
Two of those are occupied by a LaCie Rugged HDD that uses the other USB for power.
One USB goes to Zoom H2 used as an interface.
I'd need one more USB for Korg NanoKey. If I add a two-input USB-hub
in Zooms input, will it work?
Whatever I buy, it needs to be small.
SONAR PE 8.5.3, Asus P5B, 2,4 Ghz Dual Core, 4 Gb RAM, GF 7300, EMU 1820, Bluetube Pre - Kontakt4, Ozone, Addictive Drums, PSP Mixpack2, Melda Creative Pack, Melodyne Plugin etc. The benefit of being a middle aged amateur is the low number of years of frustration ahead of you.
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Beagle
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Re:Will a small USB-hub help me out?
2010/11/01 08:52:31
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the hard drive might not work in the USB hub, I have one similar to that and it only works in the back of the tower with both USB plugs used (won't work in the front where the voltage is probably lower due to longer runs).
but I don't know about the zoom, I just thought I'd throw that bit of info out there for you in case you thought of trying to hook up the HD on the hub.
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ohhey
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Re:Will a small USB-hub help me out?
2010/11/01 11:00:29
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Kalle Rantaaho
My intended travelling recording setup is:
Laptop with three USB-connections.
Two of those are occupied by a LaCie Rugged HDD that uses the other USB for power.
One USB goes to Zoom H2 used as an interface.
I'd need one more USB for Korg NanoKey. If I add a two-input USB-hub
in Zooms input, will it work?
Whatever I buy, it needs to be small.
You really shouldn't have the hard drive hooked up while doing audio work. I would unplug it when working in DAW software and use the internal drive for the project you are working on. Another option would be to get the AC adapter for the LaCie so it can use just one USB plug for data.
post edited by ohhey - 2010/11/01 11:02:22
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Guitarhacker
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Re:Will a small USB-hub help me out?
2010/11/01 11:47:38
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i've heard the USB hubs are not ideal for adding audio stuff. They work fine for printers and other usb devices like mice.
I think the issue with usb devices on a hub is that all the devices on the hub are sharing ONE usb port and you can easily run into bandwidth issues. Just my guess.
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johnnyV
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Re:Will a small USB-hub help me out?
2010/11/01 12:03:13
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I have a USB hub and it did not work with my M Audio interface. It was a powered hub made by Belkin. It worked fine for my external drives and card readers and anything else but my interface would go off line all the time. My idea was I could grab my laptop and run around town with it and return to studio and just have to plug in one thing. I think if a USB device has it's own power it will not interfere with you audio streaming but passive stuff seems to drag down the small amount of current available. After all, it's all coming through the laptops battery or wall wart. I think Guitar hacker is right about the bandwidth issue. Makes sense.
post edited by johnnyV - 2010/11/01 12:05:13
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jimmyrage
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Re:Will a small USB-hub help me out?
2010/11/01 12:47:21
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If your laptop has a place for a PCI card, that may be a good option for a USB card.
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bvideo
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Re:Will a small USB-hub help me out?
2010/11/01 13:42:41
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Seems like a hub (powered) would be a good place to put the extra LaCie USB connector and the new Korg. Or instead of a hub, maybe you can find a USB power supply for the LaCie.
Bill B
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ohhey
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Re:Will a small USB-hub help me out?
2010/11/01 16:24:01
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Kalle Rantaaho
My intended travelling recording setup is:
Laptop with three USB-connections.
Two of those are occupied by a LaCie Rugged HDD that uses the other USB for power.
One USB goes to Zoom H2 used as an interface.
I'd need one more USB for Korg NanoKey. If I add a two-input USB-hub
in Zooms input, will it work?
Whatever I buy, it needs to be small.
I didn't find a reference to the AC adapter on the LaCie site but I did a google and it looks like it's the LaCie part number 712999KUA. With that you should only need one USB plug. Should be about the same price as a USB hub.
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RogerS
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Re:Will a small USB-hub help me out?
2010/11/01 16:33:37
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When I had an external drive connected to the same hub as a MIDI controller, and the drive became corrupted, and the USB connector on the contoller failed.
I was able to reformat the drive, and I could use the normal MIDI ports on the controller, but my subsequent research on the matter confirmed that it's a bad idea to have a HD and audio/midi devices on the same hub. BTW. I was using a quality Belkin active hub.
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jimmyrage
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Re:Will a small USB-hub help me out?
2010/11/01 17:59:37
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Another thing to think about is that there are different types of USB controller chips. I've heard that a non-nVIDIA USB2.o card is recommended for optimum performance, for streaming audio.
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Fog
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Re:Will a small USB-hub help me out?
2010/11/01 22:41:51
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i have 2 hubs.. 1 4 port the other 7... both use a small PSU, but as long as it's plugged into the hub it seems ok.. doesn't even have to be plugged into the mains. BUT if you overload the hub, you get "Power exceeded" message. I use one to save wear / tear on the ports also. I would avoid using a HD on a hub unless it's a powered hub, but even then.. anything else like midi or scanners etc.. fine
post edited by Fog - 2010/11/01 22:42:57
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Kalle Rantaaho
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Re:Will a small USB-hub help me out?
2010/11/02 05:27:09
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Looks like my best (only?) option is to get a power supply for the LaCie.
Ohhey, you say I shouldn't have the HD hooked up doing audio work.
Why? Isn't it the very normal practice to have, say, Kontakts libraries
on an external HD?
I've already tested it using Kontakts keyboard with a mouse, and it works OK.
HEY..just a second..I could do the composing using TTS-1 or whatever,
and do the "sound-searching" and tweaking with NanoKey unplugged and plug the HD in only if I want to try Kontakts sounds..
OR...I could move only some of Kontakts .nki-files to the laptops internal HD..
I think I'm OK..Thanks to everyone!
SONAR PE 8.5.3, Asus P5B, 2,4 Ghz Dual Core, 4 Gb RAM, GF 7300, EMU 1820, Bluetube Pre - Kontakt4, Ozone, Addictive Drums, PSP Mixpack2, Melda Creative Pack, Melodyne Plugin etc. The benefit of being a middle aged amateur is the low number of years of frustration ahead of you.
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ohhey
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Re:Will a small USB-hub help me out?
2010/11/02 10:52:45
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Kalle Rantaaho
Looks like my best (only?) option is to get a power supply for the LaCie.
Ohhey, you say I shouldn't have the HD hooked up doing audio work.
Why? Isn't it the very normal practice to have, say, Kontakts libraries
on an external HD?
I've already tested it using Kontakts keyboard with a mouse, and it works OK.
HEY..just a second..I could do the composing using TTS-1 or whatever,
and do the "sound-searching" and tweaking with NanoKey unplugged and plug the HD in only if I want to try Kontakts sounds..
OR...I could move only some of Kontakts .nki-files to the laptops internal HD..
I think I'm OK..Thanks to everyone!
USB drives use up CPU resources and are slower then internal drives so it's really best to have everything you need on the internal drive. And in this case it uses up your USB ports. The USB drive is good for backups and archiving. The TTS-1 makes a good stand in while tracking and then you can pull in your top end sounds during the final mix. But in some cases the MIDI is not right because of patch response like decay etc. So I would just move the files needed to the internal drive.
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