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Use of multipe usb devices

post #1 of 7
5/2/07 at 8:40pm
Thread Starter 
Will the use of multiple USb devices (such as a wireless keyboard, mouse, and scanner) affect the performance of a USB DAC??? I'm sure this question has come up before but I couldn't find an answer in the forums. Thanks
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post #2 of 7
5/3/07 at 10:59am
no,

Is there are particular area of conern? like power supplied? or interference? or...
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post #3 of 7
5/3/07 at 11:54am
not that i know of...or that i can notice.... my PC has 4 USB slots at the back and its hooked up to a Fubar II USB DAC, USB keyboard, USB Mouse (MX518) and a Bluetooth Dongle.

the front 2 USB ports are used to connect my notebook HDD In external enclosure.

so even with ALL the USB ports taken up...everything works perfectly...even if im gaming (i use the USB DAC for sound)
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post #4 of 7
5/3/07 at 12:33pm
Thread Starter 
great thats good news, Just wanted to confirm this before I ordered a new keyboard and mouse. I was worried that using all of those devices at once might cause some problems. Thanks
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post #5 of 7
5/3/07 at 2:38pm
When I asked this question of the Benchmark tech, he (Rory) recommended that the DAC be connected directly to the computer. Other devices could be connected through a hub.

So, I have the Benchmark DAC1-USB connected to one of the laptop's two USB ports. The other port connects to a Belkin powered hub, and then the music hard disk, the Griffin Powermate, the Griffin Imic for my headset connect to the hub with one port open for a flash drive. Amazingly enough it all works.
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post #6 of 7
5/4/07 at 1:06am
2X what Lord Chaos said.
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post #7 of 7
5/4/07 at 1:32am
Often each individual USB port on the back of the computer will have its own host controller. That means that every port can get the full effective bandwidth out of any connected devices. Older machines often have each set of two ports on their own controller instead. Even if you were connecting external hubs and the like, USB HID devices like keyboards and mice hardly use any bandwidth at all, though putting them on a powered hub instead might isolate any noise they generate on the USB power lines.

And personally I'd recommend the opposite if the DAC is USB powered. Getting it on a cheap powered hub with a linear supply will probably be a much cleaner power source. If it's not powered by USB I'd say it doesn't matter as long as you're not connecting it on the same host controller as a high bandwidth device like a hard drive or something.
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