Ableton Forum

I am wondering what other folks are doing to manage their USB peripherals in the studio.

I was using a USB hub to aggregate some device but there ended up being conflicts between the Keystep and the APC-40 which resulted in the APC-40 not being able to operate the solo buttons in Live. That is all sorted out and working now but looking to the future it seems difficult to provide enough independent USB channels, in my case to an M1 mac mini.

Here is a list of the USB peripherals currently in the studio.
1. Mouse (Keyboard is wireless Bluetooth)
2. Audio Interface
3. SSD data drive
4. Back up disk
5. APC-40
6. Arturia Keystep keyboard
7. MPK keyboard
8. RD-9
9. Phenol
10. Microfreak

Most of the thunderbolt 3 expansion / docking stations I have seen seem to have 3 addition USB ports. There is an OWC with 5 ports. Any suggestions on alternative USB expansion options for thunderbolt 3?

I use the CalDigit TS3+ which has 6 or 7 USB ports spread across USB-A and C options if I remember correctly. Plus it charges my MBP, so I only need one TB cable going to my laptop to control more or less my whole studio.

i don't think there is any way around using multiple hubs with that much gear. the quality of the circuitry in the hubs is important and sometimes also where you connect things in the the USB "tree".

i'm currently using a OWC Thunderbolt 3 dock as my main hub with 2 additional hubs hanging off that (one USB2 and one USB3). my audio interface and external SSD go straight in the dock, other less demanding stuff hangs off the secondary hubs.

like Tarekith i only have a single Thunderbolt cable going to my laptop...

Thanks for the information Tarekith and fishmonkey.

I was unaware of the CalDigit stuff and Amazon presented another device by Plugable with 7 USB ports but I can't find any references to the Plugable device and M1 Mac compatibility.

thanks again!

dsu

FWIW, before going with the CalDigit I used Pluggable stuff for many years with no issues at all. A great alternative for sure!

I use the Plugable USB C Triple 4K with an M1 Mac, 3 monitors and lots of USB devices. No issues other than that my M1 Mac only supports 1 external monitor natively and the Plugable dock needs to run DisplayLink software for the monitors, and there is some slight flickering occasionally, most with video editing.

I've also used CalDigit products and no issues with those, although they don't support the multiple monitors on my M1 Mac.

I also have an Amazon USBC hub which I have had no issues with.

Thanks

Brian

Good to learn that the Plugable is a candidate solution. Thanks again guys!