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Isolating USB

ilansgroove

ilansgroove

Jan 24, 2012
997
874
paris, france
www.ilanonbass.com
#1
does anyone here have any experience with isolating USB hubs ?

my DAW is plugged directly to my macbook pro ... but there's USB hub that is plugged to the second USB port, and unless i unplug it , there's a lot of noise .... i was thinking about a USB isolator , something like this Amazon.com: HifimeDIY USB Isolator. ADUM4160 5000V signal isolation: Musical Instruments .

anyone use this kind of gadget? does it work? should i be using it to ISOLATE the hub or the DAW?>

any input will be appreciated :)

thanks
 
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#2
USB cables are a nuisance. Period. If they made them right from the start on, it wouldn't be a problem. I still swear by old FireWire 800 technique because of that. USB cables plugged in, even gives additional stripes all over my TV set, and that one is a modern flat LCD one. I thought I had bad receiving for most of the channels one day, but discovered that it was a USB cable plugged into my laptop SOMEWHERE ELSE in my apartment, not even plugged into the same jacket. Not even in the vincinity.

Not even those thick ones with a shielded dongle to it will do. When I connect my KORG Pandora PX5D unit though USB to a computer and KORGS editing app, the noise produced in the speakers is unbelievable. I used earthed lines everywhere, good cable but that one...just like buzzing, when you have your cell phone close by a speaker and a phone call is appearing. Static "bumble bee" noise. FireWire? Nada problems regardless of cheap cables.

A caveat if someone should plunge into USB 3.0 cables, not related to music but it will give you some hint of what it puts out in the surrounding air:


"USB 3.0 devices and cables may Invalid Link Removed with wireless devices operating in the 2.4 GHz ISM band. This may result in a drop in throughput or complete loss of response with Bluetooth and Wi-Fi devices.[44] Various strategies can be applied to resolve the problem, ranging from simple solutions such as increasing the distance of USB 3.0 devices from Wi-Fi routers and Bluetooth devices, to applying additional shielding around internal computer components.[45]"

USB 3.0 - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Or using that gadget of yours. I eschew USB whenever I can, just using a memory stick like USB from time to time.
 
#6
What kind of audio interface are we talking about here (make/model)? Any decent A/D-D/A really shouldn't let USB noise through. And when you say the source of the noise is actually connected to another port of the Mac, this sounds really strange. Either the hub is broken (quite likely) or you have some other issue with ground loops or similar in your set-up.

Can you describe the sound - high pitch whistling, random crickets, low freq mains hum...?
 

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