Midi compatible usb hub

Does anyone have a USB hub that supports MIDI?

I bought a powered hub which hasn’t worked well.

Primary connections are between OP-1, RK-005, RK-004, and Keystep.

I thought I’d be able to connect the 005 to the main hub host port and then anything else into the hub.

I’m not usually using pc so anything that requires and active pc connection would be less than ideal.

A hub doesn’t know anything about protocols used on top of USB (in your case the MIDI-over-USB protocol). So the post title is a tautology, because every hub is MIDI compatible.

When a hub doesn’t work well for your usage, then there is something else wrong. In your case I would contact the makers of RK-005 and ask them for suggestions of hubs to use with their device as host (or check their forum).

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RK doesn’t have a forum but I’ll email them.

They offer a hub that they say works with the 005. I don’t want to bother with overseas shipping for something they don’t make so I’ll keep looking.

Maybe I should ask: why do some hubs “work” and others don’t.

Doesn’t Elektron make a MIDI hub?

I use the Quadra Thru which can help in situations like this. It takes a MIDI In and splits it into four MIDI Thru ports. Just makes it like a simpler daisy chain basically, where I don’t need to have the entire chain on to access the last item in the chain which is super annoying to me.

You are not looking for a usb hub.

To do what you are looking to do you need something that is a usb/midi host and also acts as a midi through device. Kenton makes a midi host box I believe. I would start there.

The Kenton box would not require the use of a computer which seem to be one of your main requirements.

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If I read correctly, the RK005 is a USB MIDI Host/Hub and the RK004 is a MIDI router of sorts (merger/thru etc.). It sounds like you have all of the pieces that you need. Could you tell us more about how you’re setup, what you’re trying to achieve, and where you’re having issues?

Could be a cable routing or hardware config issue. I know the Keystep has dip switches on the back that read a bit counter-intuitively. What looks like a switch in one position is actually the opposite. They are set in different positions to use USB, DIN, or CV.

More infos please!

Edit: if you are looking for an actual USB hub that you can hang off of the RK005 so you can support more USB MIDI devices through it, I believe you want to find not only a powered hub but one with MTT (multiple transaction transistors). I bought a powered USB hub so I could connect multiple MIDI devices to my laptop and I find it is finicky at best. I’ve yet to look for another one as it’s not as important but I believe that would be the key to this scenario here.

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The question should be: Which one “works” with the 005 as host?

About MTT (multiple transaction translators - only relevant for USB 2.0 hubs):

Without MTT the complete bandwidth of the hub gets reduced to 12 mbits by a single USB 1.1 device.

That’s really bad for multiple audio connections (like when using Overbridge with older Mk1 devices which only support USB 1.1).

But when only MIDI devices are connected to the hub and nothing else (or only devices with “speak” USB 2.0) then it shouldn’t really matter, because the bandwidth requirements for MIDI are very small.

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Yep. I’ll post details this evening.