Using a USB drive and DAC simultaneously?

[Asr]

I'm running pretty low on space on my laptop due to all the music I've been ripping to FLAC lately, so I'm left with two options: (1) get a new laptop, or (2) get a nice big external HD. (The internal HD is already at maximum possible with my 4-year old laptop - couldn't find any ATA-66 drives that were more than 100GB that were also 7200rpm.)

For cost reasons I'd obviously prefer to get an external HD but that leaves me with a question. Is it feasible to run a USB external HD and a USB DAC at the same time? Should be technically possible I'd think but I was wondering if anyone has actually tried it and if there might any big latency issues that would make it less than ideal.

[oogabooga]

I have a lot of USB devices connected to my Macbook Pro, which has two USB ports. One port is dedicated to a USB display adapter (running at 1680x1050 - i.e. it chews a lot of bandwidth). The second port is split into a hub containing my backup hard drive, Pico DAC/Amp, wireless kb/mouse dongle, and another hub connected to my label maker.

I don't hear any latency issues or any noise, hiss, whatever (not that I would expect to on a digital connection) with my SE530s on the Pico. However, one problem I do have is that every other day the Pico just cuts out for a second or two, then starts back up again.

I'm pretty convinced this is the USB connection crapping out for a second then restarting. The only item that cuts out is the Pico, the HD and kb/mouse stay connected. I have a pretty stressed USB setup, so I don't really think twice about trying to 'fix' it, although I could be wrong and it could be a problem with iTunes/Mac OSX or even the Pico.

Edit: Also worth mentioning is that all my music is on that backup HD, so when I'm listening to iTunes I'm passing data over that USB port (not to mention hourly time machine backups).

Edited December 17, 2009 by oogabooga

[guzziguy]

A third possibility is to replace the internal HD with one that has a larger capacity.

[Asr]

^ I'd do that if I could, but my laptop uses the obsolete ATA-66 spec which limits the pickings (and sizes possible). I'm using a 100GB ATA-66 now, the biggest that I was able to find on eBay that also spun at 7200rpm (5400rpm is too slow for me). Which is kinda why I'm considering a new laptop for the upgrade to SATA.

[zippy2001]

I'm running my Lavry DA11 via USB along with several external HDD to my laptop and it is works fine for me. My laptop is a Compaq NC6400 which is a few years old also.

[Dusty Chalk]

Clean off your hard drive?/Reinstall the OS?

The other thought is, don't run it off the external hard drive, use the internal -- load the files on the internal, then play (swapping out recently used and expected not to use again for a while files).

I.E. Dew et, but do the above if you run into snags.

[oogabooga]

Asr, if it helps you make the switch, getting a SATA SSD gave a giant speed boost to my computer in terms of the UI's responsiveness, although I readily concede the price for large sizes isn't quite there yet (160GB for $600).

However (and this is the enabler in me talking here), if you buy a new laptop now (with a sizeable 7200rpm drive) you'll be all set to pop in an SSD when you have the urge to upgrade in a year or two and SSD prices have settled down. A $20 enclosure then makes your 7200rpm drive an external one.

Another, more frugal option - does your laptop have a PCMCIA slot? You could get a PCMCIA USB or Firewire card (probably cheaply on eBay), thereby placing your hard drive on different bus, should you encounter any USB-related problems.

[blessingx]

I use Libra to swap between iTunes libraries across NAS, USB and internal drives and sometimes with the Pico as a DAC. No problems here with multiple USB devices, though you may be using higher bit files.

[gallimaufry]

I've been using a Pico amp/dac and a Western Digital 500GB My Passport external USB drive on my Asus netbook for several months now, with no problems (also listening to FLAC). I like the WD MyPassports, since they're big (in storage), cheap, and physically small (about the size of an iTouch).

[aardvark baguette]

i like to keep media on a separate drive from the OS, regardless of computer type

[n_maher]

Somewhat off the wall solution: netbook w/ new HD as music server?

You can pick up a refurb 9/10" netbook for ~$200, spend less than $100 on a new 500GB HD and call it a day.

Example* config:

ASUS REFURB EPC900HDB-BLK003X Eee PC intel celeron m 353 / 1gb ram / 160gb hdd / 8.9" wsvga LED display / xp home / 0.3mp webcam (*refurbished product w/3 month warranty) from mwave.com

+

WESTERN DIGITAL WD5000BEVT Scorpio Blue 500GB 5400 RPM 8MB cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 2.5" internal notebook hard drive (Bare Drive) from mwave.com

*Please bear in mind, I didn't really try to put together anything special, just randomly selected two products to give you an idea.

[screaming oranges]

Somewhat off the wall solution: netbook w/ new HD as music server?

You can pick up a refurb 9/10" netbook for ~$200, spend less than $100 on a new 500GB HD and call it a day.

Example* config:

ASUS REFURB EPC900HDB-BLK003X Eee PC intel celeron m 353 / 1gb ram / 160gb hdd / 8.9" wsvga LED display / xp home / 0.3mp webcam (*refurbished product w/3 month warranty) from mwave.com

+

WESTERN DIGITAL WD5000BEVT Scorpio Blue 500GB 5400 RPM 8MB cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 2.5" internal notebook hard drive (Bare Drive) from mwave.com

*Please bear in mind, I didn't really try to put together anything special, just randomly selected two products to give you an idea.

Asr, I ran a similar setup at Mike's meet: Asus Eeepc -> Trends Audio UD10.1 -> AA Prima DAC. The UD10.1 (usb/spdif converter) was connected on one side of the netbook. On the opposite side of the netbook I connected an external HDD and the optical usb mouse.

Everything sounded fine.

Mind you, though, that the external HDD's power was running off wall outlet, not from the netbook, so I do not know if a strictly usb-driven external hdd would affect playback quality in any way. Unfortunately I cannot test this for you as both my externals have dedicated power supply.

[gallimaufry]

Mind you, though, that the external HDD's power was running off wall outlet, not from the netbook, so I do not know if a strictly usb-driven external hdd would affect playback quality in any way. Unfortunately I cannot test this for you as both my externals have dedicated power supply.

My setup (also an Asus eeepc) often runs entirely on battery power. The MyPassport external drive is usb-driven only.

The battery drains more quickly, of course, but I haven't noticed any problems with playback quality or responsiveness.

[Dash]

I use an Asus netbook with a Toshiba USB HD and the Pico DAC without any problems as well.

[jvlgato]

I have an old slow Celeron based laptop w/ a 750 GB external HD and listen to it around the house over my wireless network via a Pico DAC/amp plugged into a USB port on a Dell laptop Core 2 duo over wifi. No problems.

I have also plugged that same external HD directly into my Dell laptop via USB and listened to the Pico DAC/amp off another USB port on the same laptop. No problems.

I brought that exact system to Chiunifi and set up next to you. Unfortunately, I was also 2 1/2 hrs late, and you had a flange stuck in your ear. But I think you would have found my system to have been ok. )

[Asr]

Ok so I completely forgot about a 1TB external HD that I already had that was lying around under a pile of junk.

Naturally I tried it right away with my Pico DAC/amp and it works just like I was hoping it would. Thanks for all the info regardless, much appreciated.