[sdiy] USB (was: Call for opinions: Walsh Module)

[Seb Francis]

[slightly off topic ..]

I half agree with this.  USB has its benefits, but also some pitfalls.  One of the biggest problems is when you have more than 1 device sharing the USB bus.  For example if I run my Akai sampler and 8xMIDI interface on the same bus, I get random lockups in the sampler (ok, this is probably also due to bad software from Akai, but the problem doesn't occur when using a separate USB bus).  The same is even more true if you try and share a USB audio interface with a USB midi interface (or even worse a USB disk drive).

IMO, the less USB devices the better - most modern motherboards have only 2 buses (2 sockets on the back of the board are one bus, and 2 sockets on the mobo itself are the other bus).

I certainly wouldn't use up my USB buses with keyboards and mice which work perfectly well (if not better) using PS2.

Seb



Rude 66 wrote:

> i don't know about usb.. i've noticed my pc with a keyboard and mouse hooked up via usb seemed to slow the machine down. not much, but enough to make a difference sometimes. i've heard this from other people too..(network specialists) hooking everything up through the old fashioned plugs seems to make things run smoother, especially in software like cubase. r./
>
>      ----- Original Message -----
>      From: John Speth
>      To: synth-diy at dropmix.xs4all.nl
>      Sent: Monday, September 09, 2002 5:01 PM
>      Subject: RE: [sdiy] USB (was: Call for opinions: Walsh Module)
>       Here's my 2 cents on USB at the hoobyist level.
>
>      IMO, USB was intended for the mass distribution markets.  You must obtain a VID from the USB org for a pricey fee that repeats every couple of years.  The hardware and software (device and host sides) are relatively major undertakings relative to MIDI or RS232.
>
>      I wonder if there is a hobbyist VID that USB org has allocated?
>
>      John Speth
>      mailto:johns at molectron.com
>