audiobox USB Help! usb cables

J

Joao

New member
I recently moved my computer to the other side of my room, to avoid problems with noise during recording,
but now I do not know how to connect the AudioBox USB to the computer.

the question is! : can I connect the interface to the computer with a usb 4 meters (13 ft) cable? (without losing quality or speed, of course)
 
Joao said:
I recently moved my computer to the other side of my room, to avoid problems with noise during recording,
but now I do not know how to connect the AudioBox USB to the computer.

the question is! : can I connect the interface to the computer with a usb 4 meters (13 ft) cable? (without losing quality or speed, of course)
Click to expand...

yes
 
Maybe. I have had bad luck with USB cables over 10'. A 20' one would lose connection. I have heard you can extend it with some type of boost in between, but I have never needed to try.
 
I am curious, why not move the Audiobox to where the computer is? You can run as many feet of XLR or TRS cable as you desire.

And please, only post the question in one forum at a time. :)
 
5m USB 2.0 Cable - Type A to B, Black | LINDY UK

They, ^ have a good name for USB cables at sensible prices.

Five mtrs is the design limit for a USB 2.0 cable and certainly my NI KA6 interface confirms this.

I have two 5mtr USB leads and only one of them will lock the KA6 when used with a 3.0G P4 running XP Home. A W7/64 PC however will run it with either cable. I have a motley collection of shorter A to B leads and they will run the KA on anything and some of those cables are "Pound Shop" jobbies!

The repeater cables I have not tried bit I suspect that though they might be fine for many USB devices, audio is picky!
Then, the booster takes some USB power (I think?) and if the AI is bus powered it might be on the limit of USB 2's 500mA to begin with? The KA6 is one such interface.

Dave.
 
The maximum cable run for USB2 is 5 metres as has been said. This was set by developers based on cable reflection specs--so the type of cable can cause this to vary if it's the wrong spec.

The other thing to consider is that five metres is the spec for USB2. USB1 was only meant to travel up to 3 metres. All recent Audioboxes are USB2 but I believe some of the very early ones were USB1.1 so it's worth double checking that. This may also be something for others who've had issues with USB cable length in the past.
 
jimmys69 said:
I am curious, why not move the Audiobox to where the computer is? You can run as many feet of XLR or TRS cable as you desire.

And please, only post the question in one forum at a time. :)
Click to expand...


i thought on that, but my xlr cables are just 9' , not enough :cc
 
A longer XLR would likely be cheaper than a decent quality long USB cable. However, if you're recording yourself I can see it being easier to have the gain controls to hand rather than across the room.
 
Bobbsy said:
The maximum cable run for USB2 is 5 metres as has been said. This was set by developers based on cable reflection specs--so the type of cable can cause this to vary if it's the wrong spec.

The other thing to consider is that five metres is the spec for USB2. USB1 was only meant to travel up to 3 metres. All recent Audioboxes are USB2 but I believe some of the very early ones were USB1.1 so it's worth double checking that. This may also be something for others who've had issues with USB cable length in the past.
Click to expand...

Hi Bobbs'
Did not know of the 3mtr restriction for USB 1.1but is that not for the port? The OP will surely only be using modern USB2 ports and I can't see how the interface would "know or care"? I could understand a problem going the other way.

But then MUCH that is digital confuses this old valve jockey!

Dave.
 
Well, as I understand it (and I'm not a mega USB expert either) there's a couple of things that cause the cable length specs to be as they are.

I should start by saying that the length restriction for USB 1.1 changes with between "low speed mode" and "high speed mode". Counter-intuitively, it's the low speed mode that has the tighter length restriction.

First, the cable length was limited by a cable delay spec of 26ns to allow for reflections to settle at the transmitter before the next bit was sent. Since USB uses source termination and voltage-mode drivers, this has to be the case, otherwise reflections can pile up and blow the driver. This does not mean the line voltage has fully settled by the end of the bit; with worst-case undertermination. However, there's been enough damping by the end of the bit that the reflection amplitude has been reduced to manageable levels. The low speed cable length was limited to 18ns to keep transmission line effects from impacting low speed signals.

Second, USB is twitchy regarding data timing. I'm not sure about USB1.1 but for USB2 the maximum allowed round-trip delay of about 1.5 μs. If USB host commands are unanswered by the USB device within the allowed time, the host considers the command lost.

To get to these numbers, USB sets down some pretty detailed specs for the type of cable to be used--I read them once but since most of my USB system design is grabbing a cable and plugging it in, I promptly forgot them all.
 
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