USB hub

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chlo_edwards
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Joined: Tue Nov 03, 2015 8:45 pm

USB hub

Post by chlo_edwards » Sat Feb 04, 2017 2:48 am

I have a macbook pro with 2 ports, however I want to run a Focusrite 2i4 interface, launch control and launch pad. Can anyone suggest a USB hub please? I will be using it for live performance, thank you.

Tarekith
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Re: USB hub

Post by Tarekith » Sat Feb 04, 2017 3:12 am

I've been using Plugable brand USB3 hubs for years with my MBP and never had a single issue.
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TomKern
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Re: USB hub

Post by TomKern » Sat Feb 04, 2017 12:56 pm

I'm using the powered USB 2 hubs from Belkin (4 and 7 ports)
I even plugged them into each other for a total of 10 ports.
No issues. But I only use them for the controllers. MIDI is really not that bandwidth hungry. So USB 2 is plenty.

But the sound card goes directly to a USB port on the computer. (also MBPro)

Stromkraft
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Re: USB hub

Post by Stromkraft » Sat Feb 04, 2017 2:34 pm

chlo_edwards wrote:I have a macbook pro with 2 ports, however I want to run a Focusrite 2i4 interface, launch control and launch pad. Can anyone suggest a USB hub please? I will be using it for live performance, thank you.
You have Thunderbolt ports? I'd get a Hub going to that.

What amazes me are people I know making music with MBPs and it never enters their head that they could use the Thunderbolt ports to add USB ports while keeping the built-in ones. And they keep moving around USB cables…

Something like the following, though I'd like to make sure the USB-3 ports really work with audio interfaces that tends to have USB-2 still. USB-3 is backwards compatible, but I'd ask any seller to guarantee this (Though you could just use the internal USB-ports for audio)
12[10, really] Ports of phenomenal flexibility, all united to your Mac with just one lightning-fast Thunderbolt 2 cable.
  • 5 Fully-Powered USB 3.0 ports (That'd be 7 in total you can use)
  • 1 FireWire 800 port
  • 2 Thunderbolt 2 ports
  • 1 Gigabit Ethernet for network audio
  • 1 HDMI and 4K for external displays
  • Additional audio i/o (quite uninteresting in most cases)
https://eshop.macsales.com/shop/Thunder ... olt2-Dock/
Make some music!

TomKern
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Re: USB hub

Post by TomKern » Sat Feb 04, 2017 7:30 pm

Stromkraft wrote:
chlo_edwards wrote:I have a macbook pro with 2 ports, however I want to run a Focusrite 2i4 interface, launch control and launch pad. Can anyone suggest a USB hub please? I will be using it for live performance, thank you.
You have Thunderbolt ports? I'd get a Hub going to that.

What amazes me are people I know making music with MBPs and it never enters their head that they could use the Thunderbolt ports to add USB ports while keeping the built-in ones. And they keep moving around USB cables…
:lol:
The 217 USD price tag might have something to do with it :wink:

(full disclosure I paid for the two Belkin hubs I mentioned above about a tenth of that price.)

Stromkraft
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Re: USB hub

Post by Stromkraft » Sat Feb 04, 2017 8:02 pm

TomKern wrote:
Stromkraft wrote:
chlo_edwards wrote:I have a macbook pro with 2 ports, however I want to run a Focusrite 2i4 interface, launch control and launch pad. Can anyone suggest a USB hub please? I will be using it for live performance, thank you.
You have Thunderbolt ports? I'd get a Hub going to that.

What amazes me are people I know making music with MBPs and it never enters their head that they could use the Thunderbolt ports to add USB ports while keeping the built-in ones. And they keep moving around USB cables…
:lol:
The 217 USD price tag might have something to do with it :wink:

(full disclosure I paid for the two Belkin hubs I mentioned above about a tenth of that price.)
I have not the greatest wage, have debts to pay and I can afford that. You're a student or something? You cannot put an audio interface, a disk, a display and 4 MIDI controllers trough one USB-B port. With this you can as it's not connected to a USB-port upstream. And you think that's expensive? :roll:

Of course if you don't need more, then get something else. But you sound as if alternatives are bad. As if my suggestion was an attack on your suggestion. What's that about?
Make some music!

TomKern
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Re: USB hub

Post by TomKern » Sat Feb 04, 2017 8:53 pm

Nah, no attack intended. I just found your amazement that people don't use the 217 USD product when the 15USD product does the job as well (even if not as perfectly in some cases) a bit funny.

Money doesn't grow on trees you know and for musicians even less so. But I'm glad you are doing well for yourself 8)
You cannot put an audio interface, a disk, a display and 4 MIDI controllers trough one USB-B port
No you can't, but that's only because of the interface, the display and the disk. the MIDI controllers on the other hand don't mind at all. As I mentioned above I had 8 MIDI controllers connected on one USB 2 port before without a hitch.

Since he had been asking about live performances I somehow assumed he wouldn't bring an external display and had his files on the internal disk. The interface can still go onto the second USB port on his MBPro.

Stromkraft
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Re: USB hub

Post by Stromkraft » Sat Feb 04, 2017 11:10 pm

TomKern wrote:Nah, no attack intended. I just found your amazement that people don't use the 217 USD product when the 15USD product does the job as well (even if not as perfectly in some cases) a bit funny.

To be perfectly clear this was about people I know, right? That's why I wrote "What amazes me are people I know"! I was not referring to the OP.

And I just put forward the first product of reputable quality I could find that illustrated my point and said "Something like the following", right? It wasn't about this particular product per se necessarily, but about the Thunderbolt ports just sitting there, OK? You think there are no lower priced Thunderbolt to USB adapters out there? You know, with like just 4 USB-ports or something.

I suggested one product as an example, not as the end all. Why do I have to research every product on the market? I don't! I already have a powered USB Hub and no Thunderbolts and I'm envious of people that have and don't use them!
Last edited by Stromkraft on Wed Feb 08, 2017 11:19 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Stromkraft
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Re: USB hub

Post by Stromkraft » Sat Feb 04, 2017 11:15 pm

TomKern wrote: The interface can still go onto the second USB port on his MBPro.
Yeah, but that's not always so for everyone else interested in the subject. When I write something I also think of other people reading this now or in the future that might have an expanded problem of the same type to solve. Like for example my mentioned friends that have this issue right now.
Make some music!

TomKern
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Re: USB hub

Post by TomKern » Sun Feb 05, 2017 8:45 am

Fair enough 8)
You think there are no lower priced Thunderbolt to USB adapters out there? You know, with like just 4 USB-ports or something.
I think the problem with Thunderbolt is the high chipset costs and/or licensing. I have not found anything at a good price when I once looked for such a Thunderbolt to USB hub.

Stromkraft
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Re: USB hub

Post by Stromkraft » Sun Feb 05, 2017 10:59 am

TomKern wrote:Fair enough 8)
You think there are no lower priced Thunderbolt to USB adapters out there? You know, with like just 4 USB-ports or something.
I think the problem with Thunderbolt is the high chipset costs and/or licensing. I have not found anything at a good price when I once looked for such a Thunderbolt to USB hub.
OK. But a 4 port or even 6 port USB hub shouldn't be as much as the product I mentioned. I see plenty of such products, at least with USB-3.
I don't mind paying for quality though. The hub I have now sometimes goes and unmounts connected drives. I got it for like nothing. It's great when it works as I can keep my Push and Alphatracker and any synth with USB I want to use connected at the same time. It powers all of them and any drives.
Make some music!

chlo_edwards
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Joined: Tue Nov 03, 2015 8:45 pm

Re: USB hub

Post by chlo_edwards » Tue Feb 07, 2017 7:57 pm

Thank you everyone. I went for the Belkin. The thunderbolt looks great, I will get that once i'm not on a student budget haha.

brainturner
Posts: 11
Joined: Wed Aug 22, 2012 8:45 am

Re: USB hub

Post by brainturner » Mon Apr 10, 2017 9:23 am

Stromkraft wrote:
TomKern wrote:Fair enough 8)
You think there are no lower priced Thunderbolt to USB adapters out there? You know, with like just 4 USB-ports or something.
I think the problem with Thunderbolt is the high chipset costs and/or licensing. I have not found anything at a good price when I once looked for such a Thunderbolt to USB hub.
OK. But a 4 port or even 6 port USB hub shouldn't be as much as the product I mentioned. I see plenty of such products, at least with USB-3.
I don't mind paying for quality though. The hub I have now sometimes goes and unmounts connected drives. I got it for like nothing. It's great when it works as I can keep my Push and Alphatracker and any synth with USB I want to use connected at the same time. It powers all of them and any drives.


Hi Stromkraft,

I'm interested in your experience with Thunderbolt Ports.

I have an old MBP 2012, one Thunderbolt port. I was looking at this Belkin dock so that I can connect a T2 audio interface and a monitor at the same time.
I also have a Babyface (original) and I have always kept this on a separate USB port and I have a Belkin D-Link that I connect my Push, MIDI keyboard and external drives to.

This is a small upgrade as I need to buy a T2 interface first but your discussion on this T2 dock has made me think twice about going down the Thunderbolt interface route just now
but not sure of best option. I need more I/O thats a given but not sure where to go?

Its difficult moving from RME to Focusrite. Not because Focusrite are rubbish as I have several Novation products, but just because RME, like Apple, seem to do the job. I think twice about giving up that security.

Hope ya have some knowledge bro.

B

hyperscientist
Posts: 71
Joined: Mon Feb 16, 2015 9:37 pm

Re: USB hub

Post by hyperscientist » Wed Apr 12, 2017 3:39 pm

Sadly I wasn't as lucky as some people above and I went through 3 increasingly more expensive USB hubs and all started causing problems immediately or after a while. In the end I bought an Elektron Overhub which unfortunately is rather costly for what it is, but since then I forgot about it. And I have some hungry devices connected to it… Seaboard, Push 2, audio interface, Minitaur synth, keyboard controllers… all at the same time and no problems for the last 6 months since I bought it.

Stromkraft
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Re: USB hub

Post by Stromkraft » Wed Apr 12, 2017 5:26 pm

hyperscientist wrote:Sadly I wasn't as lucky as some people above and I went through 3 increasingly more expensive USB hubs and all started causing problems immediately or after a while. In the end I bought an Elektron Overhub
Their cables are so good looking.
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