Run Out of USB Ports

Excuse me for being thick, but I use my Apple Mac purely for music production with Logic Pro X and want to purchase a powerful plugin that will operate from an external hard drive (Hollywood Strings Diamond). However, all usb ports are utilised for the audio interface, iLock Licence, midi controller and a further hard drive to store my projects.

 

Any ideas of how I can get around this?

 

Thanks

Hi

 

By a (Powered) USB hub

 

 

CCT

Note - the audio interface should have its own port.

 

Plug everything else into the hub.

 

You can free up an actual physical port by using a firewire audio interface or even a thunderbolt interface - and you can thunderbolt docking stations. This would only be necessary if the HUB solution is not powerful enough.

am right there with you. frustrating that my macbook has only 2 usb 3.0 ports. so i got this:

 

http://smile.amazon.com/AVLT-Power-4-Port-Ultra-Slim-Rotatable-USB/dp/B0185MKPT0?ie=UTF8&psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_search_detailpage

 

i have it on the right side of my macbook pro, connected to an elicenser (usb dongle), and a (powered) usb hub with my keyboard controller, and 2 (AC-powered) hard drives. on the left usb port: audio interface. the hub is usb 3.0, is unobtrusive (enough), and works flawlessly (so far). plus i can plug in a flashdrive, or my iphone into the hub when needed. really, perfect for my needs...

Many thanks for the suggestions.

Yes I imagine the audio interface should have it's own port.

It's just so annoying that there's alway addition expense i.e. iLock etc and now either a thunderbolt interface or a usb hub.

Where's my tape machine ....................

fwiw, that hub i linked to is only about $13...

Many thanks, that's probably going to be my first option, with the audio interface on a separate port.

Thanks again.

You need a POWERED USB3 port, like this.....

 

https://www.amazon.ca/Anker-Uspeed-7-Port-Adapter-Chipset/dp/B006TT91TW

 

I use one, along with a powered hard drive on my MacBook Pro and it is solid. I run Hollywood Strings as well, but once you get into larger templates your Mac will struggle if you don't have adequate RAM; for those scenarios I run Hollywood Strings from a slave PC via VEPro.

 

Andy, how much RAM do you have? You will need to run HS Diamond from a SSD.

HooToo USB3.0 hub. Expensive and solid. - John

For what it's worth, I swear by "powered hubs" for everything ... USB, FireWire ... because even the slightest voltage-drop can have bizzare(!) consequences ("which can't be reliably reproduced"). Don't rely upon your computer to provide voltage for more than one device (that expects to consume 'real power' from the bus). "The hair you save will be your own."

HooToo USB3.0 hub. Powered.

Many thanks for the advise !

i've got 2 external drives and my keyboard controller plugged into a powered hub, then plugged into the hub i linked to above (on amazon). in that hub, i also have an elicenser, and sometimes a flash drive...or 2. everything works, every day. just mentioning...

Thanks Fisherking.