KVR Audio

stikygum · Post by **stikygum** » Fri Feb 20, 2015 11:43 pm

I've been thinking about how this works. I just don't like having a USB key plugged into my laptop. Has anyone hooked up their USB keys via a wifi USB hub? Does it have issues with loosing connection from time to time? I'm guessing this won't work well and cause signal interference if you are also accessing internet via Wifi at the same time.

coquillo · Post by **coquillo** » Sat Feb 21, 2015 9:45 am

I use a cheap Trust hub which works for the limited use I make of it.

stikygum · Post by **stikygum** » Wed Feb 25, 2015 10:32 am

Is yours wireless? Do you have to plug a usb stick into your computer to communicate to the wireless hub? I was hoping there was a way without plugging anything into your computer.

coquillo · Post by **coquillo** » Wed Feb 25, 2015 12:12 pm

It's not wireless. I didn't know there were wireless (bluetooth?) hubs.

blaubär · Post by **blaubär** » Wed Feb 25, 2015 12:53 pm

I believe that wireless USB hubs are usb servers which means it would be like plugging your dongle into another computer which is connected via Wifi. I cannot image that this works. But maybe i am wrong.

stikygum · Post by **stikygum** » Thu Feb 26, 2015 12:36 am

Yeah me neither... The best I can come up with is a wireless USB hub that uses a USB key plugged into my laptop.

I guess there is no way around this besides petitioning for these companies to use a hard drive eLicenser.

UltimateOutsider · Post by **UltimateOutsider** » Thu Feb 26, 2015 1:06 am

I didn't know these things existed until seeing this thread. It looks like there are some true wireless "usb sharing" devices that make your PC think the USB device is physically connected. It's hard to tell for sure, but sounds like at least some of them only work for specific kinds of devices, so that could be a show-stopper, since iLok/eLicenser aren't typical USB storage devices.

Another problem though appears to be that these things seem to drop their connections a lot, and that could be a serious problem for iLok/eLicenser. (QUESTION: Are iLok/eLicenser active protection, or are they only checked at application startup? Like what would happen if you unplugged your iLok while running Pro Tools?)

I'm also curious if anyone has tried one of these things with a dongle licenser. Might make it easier to switch between computers.

stikygum · Post by **stikygum** » Thu Feb 26, 2015 6:00 pm

What happens when you unplug it.... good question. I can tell you that I loaded up a song in my DAW that used a USB key for Groove Agent and once the song loaded, the most horrid extreme distorted volume made me rip off my headphones. Never do that again. I wish DAWs would bypass that track automatically if no eLicenser is recognized. Anyways, that motivated me to look into a wifi solution, but it seems not many have tried this route.

I was thinking about the wifi dropping the signal also. So it will all depend whether it's a one off eLicenser check or if it's dependent that the eLicenser be plugged in all the time. I suppose if it's the later, then the wifi USB hub wouldn't work well. Would hate to get any more deafening volume spikes.

UltimateOutsider · Post by **UltimateOutsider** » Thu Feb 26, 2015 6:23 pm

stikygum wrote:I was thinking about the wifi dropping the signal also. So it will all depend whether it's a one off eLicenser check or if it's dependent that the eLicenser be plugged in all the time. I suppose if it's the later, then the wifi USB hub wouldn't work well. Would hate to get any more deafening volume spikes.

But there's also the question of whether a proprietary device like iLok or eLicenser would be supported at all. I can't tell from what I've seen whether these things only support a certain set of common device classes.

Definitely worth some investigation, I think. But I am skeptical at the moment.

EDIT: Last year there was a bug in Waldorf Lector where at random points if you were running it under Cubase it would emit a sustained 0db noise blast. It blew the tweeter out of one of my studio monitors and left my ears ringing for a couple days afterward (I'd had both the monitors and my headphones on at the moment). Not cool. (They have fixed the bug though.)

stikygum · Post by **stikygum** » Fri Feb 27, 2015 7:44 pm

UltimateOutsider wrote:
EDIT: Last year there was a bug in Waldorf Lector where at random points if you were running it under Cubase it would emit a sustained 0db noise blast. It blew the tweeter out of one of my studio monitors and left my ears ringing for a couple days afterward (I'd had both the monitors and my headphones on at the moment). Not cool. (They have fixed the bug though.)

That sounds terrible. Can we sue if we loose our hearing?

The eLicenser should be made to not have crazy volume buzzsaws blast on the speakers if there isn't one. It should just simply not work with no audible sound. Someone needs to fix that. I feel like it's going to take some suing to change this.

But anyways, I guess we'll have to go through a trial and error to figure this wifi solution out. I was just thinking if I have my USB mini keyboard plugged into my laptop, it will defeat the point of having a USB key on wifi.

The first thing that brought this up is because I fear somehow one day of hitting the USB key the wrong way and it jacks up my laptop USB port or the key itself. I've been wanting to avoid this and thought that a wifi solution would take away the risk.

UltimateOutsider · Post by **UltimateOutsider** » Fri Feb 27, 2015 8:40 pm

stikygum wrote:The first thing that brought this up is because I fear somehow one day of hitting the USB key the wrong way and it jacks up my laptop USB port or the key itself. I've been wanting to avoid this and thought that a wifi solution would take away the risk.

All of my dongles are on little 6" USB extension cables for this reason. Still probably not ideal for mobile use, but I've tried to make sure I never need to bring dongles with me when traveling; I'll just use non-iLok/eLicenser tools when I'm away from home.

Anyone use a Wifi USB hub for their iLok keys?