Armaegis
Modern Modder Man of Manitoba
HTML... uphill, both ways!
- Joined
- Oct 18, 2009
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I've used ground loop isolators before (both in home and pro audio use) and have not noticed any degredation in sound. Granted I haven't A/B'd it, but I've never noticed any problems while doing my sound checks.
As for removing the usb device, it's really kind of a crapshoot on how to fix it. Buying a different device is no guarantee that the new one will behave better.
Getting an externally powered usb can sometimes alleviate the power issue, but that's assuming the power source for the hub is any better (at any rate, it will *maybe* provide more stable current overall when you have several devices drawing a lot of power). If it's a device noise issue, there's no guarantee that the noise won't work it's way through the hub back into the computer.
You also need to know how your usb ports are handled inside. Some computers may have multiple bus cards to handle all the usb ports (usually if you have a lot of them), while others only have one. Separating noisy devices onto a separate card might work.
Welcome to the happy fun world of computer audio
Really though, usb isn't a bad interface for audio. You might simply have bad luck. If you want to know pain, try hunting for ground loops in a PA system...
As for removing the usb device, it's really kind of a crapshoot on how to fix it. Buying a different device is no guarantee that the new one will behave better.
Getting an externally powered usb can sometimes alleviate the power issue, but that's assuming the power source for the hub is any better (at any rate, it will *maybe* provide more stable current overall when you have several devices drawing a lot of power). If it's a device noise issue, there's no guarantee that the noise won't work it's way through the hub back into the computer.
You also need to know how your usb ports are handled inside. Some computers may have multiple bus cards to handle all the usb ports (usually if you have a lot of them), while others only have one. Separating noisy devices onto a separate card might work.
Welcome to the happy fun world of computer audio
Really though, usb isn't a bad interface for audio. You might simply have bad luck. If you want to know pain, try hunting for ground loops in a PA system...