Arturia Forums
Controllers => KeyLab MkII => KeyLab MkII - General Discussions => Topic started by: Wotto on June 03, 2021, 02:15:04 pm
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Hey all
They say not to use a USB hub to connect a Keylab to a Laptop ( PC etc ) - is it a connection/ dropout issue - or is it a power issue?
Cheers
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I use my KeyLab 61 MkII with a standard USB 3.0 hub. Attached to the hub are the KeyLab (USB powered), my Scarlett 8i6 (own PS) and a Kurzweil Forte SE (self powered...).
No problems at all.
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Thankyou for the reply and info.
Appreciated.
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I suspect that the main concern is about the power supply. With too many devices connected to one port, you could draw more amperage that can be supplied. In apeter's example it sounds like the Keylab is the only device drawing power from the computer.
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@mharry you are right: you have to keep an eye on your power budget! On my hub the Keylab is indeed the only power drawing device...
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I have two KeyLabs (MKI and MKII) running on one hub, drawing power via USB. It's a passive hub drawing power from it's host (iConnectAudio4+). Works amazingly well,... but.... Get the right USB hub. What's stated on the package is no promise it will work. I got my hubs from Transcend. Did a lot of trail and error. These Hubs work.
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The reason they tell you not to use a hub is you have to aim overall advice at those with the lowest amount of common sense. Tell people they can use a hub, and some idiot somewhere will overload a passive hub with half a dozen high powered devices and complain at the manufacturer for saying it's ok to use a hub. That's the reality we live in. It's the same reason why in my office at work we are technically not allowed to plug anything into the power-strips built into our desks except the office PCs / monitors. The strips have 5A fuses, and every winter people kept blowing their desk by plugging 2kW electric heaters into the desks. So the official line is 'don't plug anything in except the office PCs' (but I have my phone charger plugged into mine with - of course - no issues).
Every time you make something idiot-proof, they make a better idiot. So it's best to issue all-enveloping 'do not' advice in the hope the dumb ones will just follow it blindly and the smarter ones will read into it.