What do you do when you're running out of USB ports? My laptop has 4, 2 of the USB 3 style and 2 of the old variety.

I have an SSD, my Focusrite interface, a bluetooth mouse, and a Keystep. I want to also use my Tascam Model 12 mixer as a DAW controller. Everything seems to say 'don't use a USB hub'.

I'm sure this is a common problem, given how most laptops don't have a half-dozen USB ports. What, if any, options do I have?

 

USB-hub?!?

 

Everything seems to say 'don't use a USB hub'.

 

Any particular reason to not use the USB hub? I use D-Link and haven't seen any issues.

 

What speaks against a USB hub, from your opinion, personal experience or experiences you've read online?

 

This is especially true for devices that send large amounts of data back and forth quickly.
Two SSDs connected via a hub share the maximum data throughput of the root port.
A hub is no problem at all for slow devices that are less susceptible to interference

So I always have e.g. all the licensers (eLic, iLok...), Midi keyboard, ... on a hub and the hard drives on a poprt directly on the PC.

And there are definitely differences in the quality of USB hubs. The standard for USB3 is not definded very strictly. Even relatively poor hardware gets certified. It's worth trying something out.

Plug it in -> stress it and -> send it back to Amazon if it doesn't work well.

 

Last edited: Feb 1, 2024

For input peripherals (keyboards, mice, pens, controllers, ...), any old $10 USB hub will do just fine, even the crappy no-name supermarket ones. If you need to connect high speed devices like SSDs or if you need to supply power to the device, read up on the hub's specs and check reviews beforehand. Or just use a cheap hub for your input devices and your laptop's dedicated ports for high speed stuff. You're overthinking this.

 

Well, mostly because most pieces of equipment I have say 'don't use one'. As to what I've read, latency issues are a thing, as it's competing for resource allocation. I do know a lot of people use them, as I looked into this, but I'm just curious as to why, given manufacturers say not to.

 

Never had a single latency issue, and I'd be very very surprised if you experience that. The bandwidth requirement for any of your input devices is going to be pretty low. As far as the interface.. CONNECT DIRECTLY. You will have 3 open ports with a USB hub in one. Now, the problems I mentioned in post 8, yes... but again, for me, it was few and far between, generally.. and usually a restart of devices fixed things. You may never experience any of that, but figured I'd mention it.

 

Thanks.

I think I'll give it a try and just experiment. I think if I'm using the Tascam Model 12 as a DAW controller (and not as an actual interface), I can probably throw that on a hub with the mouse and maybe I'll be good to go.

Now I need to do some research on what ones are best for audio, so if anyone has any suggestions, please share.

 

because it's the simple answer for least problems....

1) power limitations:
- if you don't use a hub with its own power brick, you end up with lack of electricity (especially with power hungry devices, it's not a coincidence older HDDs or mid-sized audio interfaces often have dedicated power brick on their own)
- if you do use hub with power brick, you may run into power loop/ground problems, or connected devices getting lost - it depends on design of the hub, some work with computer turned off, or some don't report (or have minimal) power draw at runtime so computer turns them off for eco-saving features not "detecting" anything plugged in
2) controller limitations:
- more port means there's an active element which routes data traffic, featuring own USB controller chip and other stuff - and not all manufacturers (or even various chips from same manufacturer) are equal in terms of quality and performance - which usually isn't a problem with generic devices like mouse, keyboard, usb flash stick - but can be fatal for audio devices, network adapters, optical drives etc...
- total throughput is still limited by computer's port into which hub is connected - again not a big deal for casual usb devices, but may cause undesired/unexpected sudden performance hiccups

as you can see, it's usually a hit or miss situation, frankly it's even possible to get better, more reliable operation from using a good hub instead of plugging things directly into the computer,

my suggestion:
if you need a hub, then USB 3.0 (=3.2 gen1) with 4 ports and dedicated power should give least trouble - and if it'll have removable upstream cable, it will also be easier to replace (for "upgrade" to USB-C from USB-A just buying cable, not whole new hub),
if you need more ports, then you should use more hubs, not hub with more ports,

decide which of your devices requires most "time-critical" operation (usually audio interface used for multitrack recording) and pick whatever USB port or hub works best, then start adding more things - for ex. I got RME UFX interface and Corsair GTX (SSD stick) in same 3.0 hub on MacBook Pro 2012 (which has only two USB 3 ports lolz) and there are no problems because I rarely use both those attached devices simultaneously (either record, or copy and go)

 

Thanks, this is very helpful!

 

Which hub are you using?

 

One addition. Some devices need enough of power to work (more or less) well. If you own such a device use additional power supply for it.

I own an external HDD, it is connected by USB hub and works almost ideally with an additional power supply. Yes, by USB. But it is plugged directly in a power strip (in the hub AND the power strip). No problems during three or four years.

Yes, it's quite complicated and not portable at all. But hope, it will help.

 

Perhaps you need to divide up what needs the most bandwidth and use the usb connections in a matter like the Sheliak Corporate. When they brokered the deal with the Federation they made it clear some usb ports must be for the Sheliak only.

Use a USB hub on the slowest USB port available ( USB2 only if it has it) and your mice and typing keyboard can go there.
Use the other Ports USb3 for the main Midi Keyboard and Audio Interfaces.

This will allow the high bandwidth items to be properly connected to the highest throughput and lower latency connections.

In case if that fails you can use the Grizellas against the Sheliak in a power move to get your USB devices out of the Sheliak Corporate territory within 3 weeks.

 

I'm using 2 powered USB Hubs, Anker I think. These have 12 synths, midi boxes, and an X32 mixer connected.
2 Thunderbolt, that have 6 SSD's and other junk. And 1 cheap USB jobby for iLok keystep.

Only issue I've had was a mouse dongle, odd movement now and again. Swapped cheapo for another cheap, worked. Other than that, be fine for years.

 

this ancient from PremiumCord, very likely out of production by now:

 

Some reasons to avoid hubs :
latency
stability (dongles ...)
power (no problem with a wall plug)
bandwidth (use an high end 3.1 / 3.2 USB hub if you have 3.1 / 3.2 plug on computer)

For any regular device (mouse, keyboard, webcam ...), there is no problem

For MIDI/Audio, some ms latency can be added.

 

I'm interested in this thread. Would y'all kindly post product links for the hubs you're using?