ED now stops working when on powered USB HUB

Building your own? Need help with your designs? You've come to the right place.
Post Reply
bpjacobsen
Posts: 88
Joined: Tue Jul 12, 2022 6:10 pm

ED now stops working when on powered USB HUB

Post by bpjacobsen »

I was just updating some pads and playing and all of a sudden, the sound stuttered and stopped working all together. I turned off the audio interface, closed ED and SD3, rebooted but it continued to not work or show any response to pad hits in ED.

After some trial and error, it appears that when the host is plugged into the powered USB, ED stops working completely. If I remove the host USB from the powered USB Hub, then only the ED unit plugged directly into the PC works. Anyone run into this type of issue? Is this a problem with the powered USB hub? Why would the whole thing not work when the host is plugged into the powered usb but the host ED works when you omit the powered USB? I have only had this powered USB maybe a couple of months.

I am returning the hub and looking for advice on a good powered hub. I'm running 3 ED 8 and 1 ED4. what should I look for wattage wise for this setup? I"m guessing I fried the cheapo $16 one I had. From another forum, Some folks are swearing by the Sabrent brand. But there are various models with different amounts of power. How much power does each ED use when all ports are utilized?

I'm looking mainly at these three. Obviously reliability is more important here but also rather not spend $75 if I don't have to.

https://www.amazon.com/Sabrent-Individu ... hdGY&psc=1


https://www.amazon.com/SABRENT-Charger- ... hdGY&psc=1

https://www.amazon.com/Sabrent-Family-S ... C92&sr=8-5
User avatar
Rob
Site Admin
Posts: 4668
Joined: Sat Aug 01, 2009 2:04 pm

Re: ED now stops working when on powered USB HUB

Post by Rob »

Don't go buying new hardware yet. Start by giving me a clear idea of how things are connected. After reading your post, I cannot make a picture of your setup.

In terms of power consumption...

ED4 uses about 50mA, and each ED8 uses about 100mA, and a typically hub will use 100mA. Assuming you have on ED8 connected to your computer, a hub connected to that ED8's host port, and then 2 ED8s and a ED4 connected to the hub, then you are using about 100+100+100x2+50 = 450mA, which is below the USB 2.0 maximum of 500mA. From the hub's perspective, it's using 100 + 100x2 + 50 = 350.

Assuming you aren't using any super long USB cables, then you shouldn't need a powered USB hub.
bpjacobsen
Posts: 88
Joined: Tue Jul 12, 2022 6:10 pm

Re: ED now stops working when on powered USB HUB

Post by bpjacobsen »

You are correct Rob in the connections you outlined. So the question remains, was this likely a failure in the powered USB hub? Should I try just connecting them all to the hub I have connected directly to the PC? Though not sure if I have enough ports. I need to double check. I have to assume the ED units are fine since the host worked when the powered hub was removed from the equation?
User avatar
Rob
Site Admin
Posts: 4668
Joined: Sat Aug 01, 2009 2:04 pm

Re: ED now stops working when on powered USB HUB

Post by Rob »

I have no idea what caused the failure, Does the hub still work when connected to your PC? And I'll reiterate that you shouldn't need a powered hub for your setup.
bpjacobsen
Posts: 88
Joined: Tue Jul 12, 2022 6:10 pm

Re: ED now stops working when on powered USB HUB

Post by bpjacobsen »

Well, I just tried it out with just a 4 port Anker USB hub connected to the host of one of the ED8 and the other ED connected to the hub (unpowered) seems to work fine now so it has to be something funky with the powered USB hub which at this point has been sent back. I shall see if this has any problems going forward.
bpjacobsen
Posts: 88
Joined: Tue Jul 12, 2022 6:10 pm

Re: ED now stops working when on powered USB HUB

Post by bpjacobsen »

So I had a thread going on the toontrack forum and someone is telling me that they always use a powered USB hub which conflicts with your suggestion Rob. This is what he said: "The reason I say to use a powered USB hub is because you’re not sharing the 500ma from the computer amongst several devices; each device will have it’s own 500ma to draw from. I have never had good luck with passive USB hubs." I guess I will see how things go with the non-powered and switch if I have any issues.
Post Reply