J Michael Drew Posted October 21, 2020 Share Posted October 21, 2020 Can someone help me find a USB port expander that can be used for studio and live use? Thanks for your help! Michael Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slartabartfast Posted October 22, 2020 Share Posted October 22, 2020 USB expander is something I do not recognize. There are USB hubs that will add additional connections to an existing USB socket using the serial nature of the USB spec to piggy back on the existing hub and controller that serve that socket. These are inexpensive and generally reliable. They come as unpowered hubs or with additional connections to a wall wart power supply in case you need more power than the standard USB socket provides to power the total number of connected devices at a bit higher cost. There are also add-in daughter cards (usually these days they plug in to a free PCIe slot) that will add new USB Root Hub and controller and typically two to four exposed new sockets to your computer. What do you need to do with your "expander?" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J Michael Drew Posted October 22, 2020 Author Share Posted October 22, 2020 A little clumsy on explaining my requirements, thanks for clarifying... "There are USB hubs that will add additional connections to an existing USB socket using the serial nature of the USB spec to piggy back on the existing hub and controller that serve that socket." My laptop only has one USB 3 port I need a studio/gigging powered hub to provide more plug in capability to that port. Audio interface, drives, controllers etc... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter - IK Multimedia Posted October 22, 2020 Share Posted October 22, 2020 (edited) Ah yes you are looking for a USB 3 hub. Likely needing something powered if you want to be sure that drives and similar will work correctly and well. I use a powered USB hub from Amazon Basics (because I'm basic cheap frugal? I learned how to program in BASIC when I was a kid so I'm old if not basic) on my gaming machine which works well and supports an external hard drive and wireless headphones without issue. Edited October 22, 2020 by Peter - IK Multimedia 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cat Schrodinger Posted October 22, 2020 Share Posted October 22, 2020 57 minutes ago, Peter - IK Multimedia said: I learned how to program in BASIC when I was a kid so I'm old if not basic Reads this ↑ *Streisand starts playing in head* "Memories light the corners of my mind . . ." Suddenly I don't feel so young ? Note to self: Dear mind, No Streisand in the morning, plea... *interrupted by more Streisand*"Can it be that it was all so simple then Or has time rewritten every line If we had the chance to do it all again Tell me, would we? Could we?" Hm ? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
balinas Posted October 23, 2020 Share Posted October 23, 2020 https://smile.amazon.com/dp/B07G8CMR18/ref=cm_sw_r_sms_api_i_gXHKFb5C56CKB I use this one, but it might be more ports than you need. It is powered. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abacab Posted October 23, 2020 Share Posted October 23, 2020 That one looks good! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J Michael Drew Posted October 23, 2020 Author Share Posted October 23, 2020 Thx Balinas... that looks like the one! Michael Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter - IK Multimedia Posted October 23, 2020 Share Posted October 23, 2020 Yes, that looks like a great option especially if you plan on attaching USB3 external hard drives. This review seems to sell that for me: Quote I have the 7 port USB 3.0 connected to a USB 3.1 Gen 1 port. I have been able to connect two WD Passports one a 2TB and the other a 4TB. I transferred a 100GB mixed set of files from the 2TB to the 4TB While this transfer was going on at USB 3.0/Hard Drive speeds I also had a Samsung 850 Pro 1 TB in an HDE Clear USB 3.0 Gen 1 external case running a full crystaldiskmark6 benchmark test running. No hiccups at all the benchmark was as expected High 400 Read and Low 400 write. I have no idea how long this will last it appears well made for your basic 7 port USB 3.0. This is what I was looking for in a 7 port hub. So many would just lock up just having the two external hard drive hook up much less transferring 100GB of files. The built-in cable is heavy USB 3.1 Gen 2 type wire so be aware of that if you don't need to use for large data transfers I guess the only con would be the brightness of the blue LED's and they do bleed over to the port next to them but only on the side next to it so you can tell that the port is turned off. I will revisit this review should anything change in the next few months. 2020-05-03 my first on is still working great and I have purchased 2 more. I have never experienced a data transfer failure with any of the three. This is the one if you need to transfer a lot of data over 2 or more external hard drives at the same time. I'm not saying other companies haven't caught up with this unit but they hadn't when I bought the first one. I haven't felt the need to try any others. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
InstrEd Posted October 23, 2020 Share Posted October 23, 2020 15 hours ago, balinas said: https://smile.amazon.com/dp/B07G8CMR18/ref=cm_sw_r_sms_api_i_gXHKFb5C56CKB I use this one, but it might be more ports than you need. It is powered. That looks like a good unit. I think you just cost me some $ 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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