Rackmount USB Hub? 16+ Ports?

[Tibbon]

I'm really tired of small 4-8 port usb hubs that each require their own wall wart power supply, and don't really work well in the cabling scheme in my studio.

Is anyone aware of a 16+ port USB 2.0 hub that uses a standard AC plug for power? It doesn't seem to be that hard to make, but I can't find anything like it with Googling (maybe I'm just not seeing it). About 4 ports on the front and 12 on the back would rock.

(If anyone is wondering why I need so many USB ports, just figure that a USB keyboard controller, an AMT 8, Unitor 8, Akai S-5000, XS-key, printer, iLoks, Nord Modulars, etc... take a lot of ports when it comes down to it). Also my current USB hub is constantly running out of power with so many devices. Thank god that Firewire can daisy-chain, although I wouldn't be opposed to seeing a FW400/800 one too.

[octatonic]

I've emailed Belkin and a bunch of other people over the last few years asking for this.
The response, when I get one, is always "too niche".
I'd love a 16 port USB2 and 8 port Firewire 800, 8 port Fw400 combined hub.

That is what I keep requesting.

JR

[Tibbon]

It doesn't seem like it would be THAT hard to build one of these. I haven't ever tried to do such, but it seems that there's probably something in the Digikey or Mouser catalogue that could be built on.

If i made a few dozen of these that worked pretty well, would anyone be interested?

[jdjustice]

Originally Posted by Tibbon

It doesn't seem like it would be THAT hard to build one of these. I haven't ever tried to do such, but it seems that there's probably something in the Digikey or Mouser catalogue that could be built on.

If i made a few dozen of these that worked pretty well, would anyone be interested?

I would be interested if you made them powered. FW daisy-chains well but USB is another story.

[island-dave]

I know this is an older thread, but I've been looking for one of these for a long time. I found one a few months ago on some computer networking company's site but couldn't find any ordering info for it. I even did a google search using the product number but nothing else turned up. The company made some specialized KVM type gear but that's about all I can remember.

With things like control surfaces, iloks, dongles, midi controllers (several!), mouse, cooling pad (I use a powerbook), interfaces etc, all fighting for USB ports it's a pain having to disconnect something to make way for something else, and then having the dreaded USB bus crash and having to power down, power up, replug etc to get it going again.

hopefully, someone else will see this thread and know of a good rackmount usb hub.

Dave-G

[Tibbon]

I still want one of these. Maybe later today I'll research into how to make them. If I make up 50-100 of them, would anyone want to buy them if they are reasonably priced? I'd think around what... $75-100 bucks or so would sound right for a 16-24 port USB powered hub?

[Tibbon]

One major problem seems to be that there aren't m(any?) 16+ port hub controller chipsets. One could always daisy chain a few 4-5 port chipsets, but I'm worried about clocking and stability problems for some of us using MIDI USB gear. Latency couldn't matter a bit for something like an iLok or XSKey, but for an AMT8, i wouldn't want it sitting at the end of a 4th daisy chain.

Anyone know of any chipsets? I'll pull out the mouser catelog later.

[island-dave]

count me in tibbon! I might even need 2 of them (one mobile, one studio) I'm willing to go up to $125 each. It would just be nice to get rid of the clutter and have something rack mounted instead of these desktop hubs, especially for a mobile rig!

Dave-G

[GearGuy]

Switchcraft makes something like this... it's a completely empty and configurable patchbay where you can add USB, Firefire, ADAT lightpipe, etc to the bays... I don't know what the system is called, but you should be able to find on they website. A Switchcraft sales manager had shown it to me about a year ago...

[logiclust]

linky

[thewolfman]

Maybe the Lampy's have the solution...

Try putting 5 of THESE USB Hub - Wholehog III - Controllers - Products - High End Systems

Into 1 of THESE
Widget Rack - Wholehog III - Controllers - Products - High End Systems

You could also include one of THESE if you wanted time code
USB LTC Widget - Wholehog III - Controllers - Products - High End Systems

[chezero]

The Switchcraft product is called the EH Series. You buy a blank 1RU 1x16 panel (QGPK1B440) or a 2RU 2x16 panel (QGPK2B440), then fill it with any of the modular connectors including USB, Firewire, Etc. Here's the link...

Switchcraft

You can have them special ordered at any Guitar Center, or buy them from one of many on-line retailers like Sweetwater, Vintage King, Etc.

[Tibbon]

Originally Posted by chezero

The Switchcraft product is called the EH Series. You buy a blank 1RU 1x16 panel (QGPK1B440) or a 2RU 2x16 panel (QGPK2B440), then fill it with any of the modular connectors including USB, Firewire, Etc. Here's the link...

Switchcraft

You can have them special ordered at any Guitar Center, or buy them from one of many on-line retailers like Sweetwater, Vintage King, Etc.

Only thing begin that these seem to just make repeaters/extension patchbays out of them. I'm thinking about a hub that you could plug 16 devices into, and only one cable out of to your computer. But it's very close kinda

[Tibbon]

Originally Posted by thewolfman

Maybe the Lampy's have the solution...

Try putting 5 of THESE USB Hub - Wholehog III - Controllers - Products - High End Systems

Into 1 of THESE
Widget Rack - Wholehog III - Controllers - Products - High End Systems

You could also include one of THESE if you wanted time code
USB LTC Widget - Wholehog III - Controllers - Products - High End Systems

Only downside here is you have to daisy chain and waste a ton of ports in doing so and it won't really provide more power without wall warts, etc. They look sweet however

[Rob King]

Originally Posted by Tibbon

Only downside here is you have to daisy chain and waste a ton of ports in doing so and it won't really provide more power without wall warts, etc. They look sweet however

And they are only USB 1.1 not 2....

Been looking for this solution for years...Still waiting

[rapfreak]

This seems like something BlackBox would make but I didn't see anything on their website. If you really want to find one you might try calling them and see if they have a solution.

[zmallory]

you can get something like this:

Metal 7-Port USB 2.0 Powered Slim Hub for PC-MAC with Power Adapter USBG-7U2ML $64.99

Then use Middle Atlantic's fully customizable faceplates, which cost about $98 bucks per faceplate, come with a shelf. and if they don't have the piece, they will make it for no extra charge. You can either follow the directions for measuring, or send in the part and they will create a faceplate for it.

They even do multiple parts in one horizontal row for different things as long as they fit on the faceplate next to eachother.

I use this site to order the faceplates, best prices i have found so far
StayOnline.com - Middle Atlantic, Custom Rack Mount Shelves, Rack Shelf, RSH Series

[DanRock101]

Originally Posted by chezero

The Switchcraft product is called the EH Series. You buy a blank 1RU 1x16 panel (QGPK1B440) or a 2RU 2x16 panel (QGPK2B440), then fill it with any of the modular connectors including USB, Firewire, Etc. Here's the link...

Switchcraft

You can have them special ordered at any Guitar Center, or buy them from one of many on-line retailers like Sweetwater, Vintage King, Etc.

Bingo! Thanks for the tip! This is what I need to get my life/studio untangled! Now if they only made em with Firewire 800!!!!

[JustinAiken]

Originally Posted by Tibbon

I still want one of these. Maybe later today I'll research into how to make them. If I make up 50-100 of them, would anyone want to buy them if they are reasonably priced? I'd think around what... $75-100 bucks or so would sound right for a 16-24 port USB powered hub?

Did this ever happen?

[Tibbon]

Nope. I've got some time on my hands now... maybe I can look again into these. There's clearly at least some small demand. I just fear that as soon as I start making them that someone in China will start making them for 1/10th the cost, but such is life.

[networkacid]

+1 for me! I just googled for one and this thread came up LOL

Oh and PS you needn't worry about timing issues with MIDI via USB and/or USB hubs. MIDI data transfer rate is a little under 32kbps and even crappy ole USB 1.1 does 1.5mbps and a USB hub will not slow down data transfer - USB spec creates a direct connection between your USB bus and the device. The hub is essentially transparent as far as data transfer is concerned. You'd get bottleneck lag if you had a whole bunch of USB hard drives hanging off the hub at the same time, but if you do that you're... well, let's just say DON'T DO THAT. You could safely have MIDI clock and CC info going to 450+ devices at once. Or about 15,000 devices with USB 2.0 ee

In theory!

Oh, and if you have a PC or Mac Pro, you can get PCI/PCI-e cards with up to 5 USB ports on them. No help to us iMac suckers however.

[FunkyJive]

Hi all.

Although I am a private musician with a small home studio, my reply to this thread is about the USB-2 hub.

If this is something that musicians are likely to need, with the emergence of ILok and similar dongles, then I believe I could help.

I am a member of a small engineering team, based in Cambridge, that have developed a few niche products such as this. Notably we have successfully designed a 49-port USB-2 hub used for professional/testing applications (images available), though with sufficient demand we could trim the cost-to-channels ratio if there were sufficient demand and justification for it.

EDIT: FYI... A couple of image links:
Due to security restrictions, pleae right-click and save.

http://www.funkyjive.com/usb49/IMG_2036.jpg
http://www.funkyjive.com/usb49/IMG_2076.jpg

As used by a manufacturer to custom program/test their USB dongles. Producing something along similar lines with any number of reduced (or increased) ports wouldn't be an issue, although setup costs and demand would dictate whether it were financially viable, and the final cost to build & supply. Alternative interfaces (e.g. Firewire, ethernet, etc) are all equally possible, though would first need to be properly spec'd out before we could give it serious development time and costings.


All the best,

FunkyJive.

[Antonio Sage]

I too have been wanting something like this for quite some time. Is there any manufacturer that has a fully developed product ready to buy. Do I still have to put it together myself? I rather just buy one.

[matt thomas]

Originally Posted by FunkyJive

though with sufficient demand we could trim the cost-to-channels ratio if there were sufficient demand and justification for it.

I think about 24 connectors would be about right.

Make sure to orient them so that things like iloks have a enough space (probably orient the ports at a right angle to the row of connectors)

I'd buy one at the right price (similar to buying a number of other devices)

narco

[DanRock101]

BUMP! Any developments anyone would like to share?

[Tibbon]

I was talking with a friend the other day that has some project management experience with this type of stuff. He thought it might be easy to get together. I've gotta figure this out....

[PeteJames]

I probably wouldn't need one that big but it seems like you own quite a few. I've just got a D-Link 7 port and it's crap. Not enough power for even 2 bus powered devices when plugged in. Any recommendations?

[joshuarlyon]

Originally Posted by zmallory

you can get something like this:

Metal 7-Port USB 2.0 Powered Slim Hub for PC-MAC with Power Adapter USBG-7U2ML $64.99

Then use Middle Atlantic's fully customizable faceplates, which cost about $98 bucks per faceplate, come with a shelf. and if they don't have the piece, they will make it for no extra charge. You can either follow the directions for measuring, or send in the part and they will create a faceplate for it.

They even do multiple parts in one horizontal row for different things as long as they fit on the faceplate next to eachother.

I use this site to order the faceplates, best prices i have found so far
StayOnline.com - Middle Atlantic, Custom Rack Mount Shelves, Rack Shelf, RSH Series

I checked this website out... Turns out they make a similar product with surge protection. It also comes with it's own rack-mounting kit!!! And a big plus is that all the connections are in the rear... I don't like to see my cables that I never move so being able to hide them will be awesome. I'm buying one.

http://www.qualitycables.com/productdetails1.cfm?sku=USBG-7DU2i&cats=

[shephurd]

..any new/updates on this?

[DeathByMedia]

Well I've got a design I would like to shop around , but till then maybe these will do ....

1. A 10 port power strip type layout :


Welcome to Usb.brando.com
Possible cons : not sure a lot of dongles would fit side by side . Not sure thats enough power for some of these types of devises ?
Pros : Cheap $25.00 . 10 #$&!ng ports !

2. USB Super 16-Port Hub

Welcome to Usb.brando.com
Possible cons : ugly as sin ( who cares ) a/b switch might kill an OS ( not what we want it for though ) .
High price . $140.00 !
Pros : 16 USB ports . Looks like it pulls enough power for what ever you through at it