#1965414 - 07/02/08 10:40 AM
USB powered questions
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musicbysterling
Senior Member
Registered: 03/08/05
Posts: 106
Loc: Seattle, WA
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My main keyboard is a Nord Stage88 and my secondary board is a Novation Remote 37SL. Both have the square USB connectors on them. I know that the USB ends are named A or B, but I'm not sure which end is designated as A or B.
Anyways, I can power the Novation Remote via the USB but only if I use a powered USB hub which I really don't want to do playing live. Nor do I want to power the Novation by batteries either.
My question is are there any USB cables that have the square end (A?,B?) on both ends? My thinking is that I could power the Novation from the USB connector on my Nord. I also have a Roland Fantom XR in my rack that has the identical (A?,B?) USB connector, so conceivably, I could use that one also.
Can anyone enlighten me on my train of thought?
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#1965429 - 07/02/08 11:15 AM
Re: USB powered questions
[Re: musicbysterling]
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MoodyBluesKeys
Senior Member
Registered: 03/27/08
Posts: 55
Loc: North Carolina
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The rectangular connector (like found on USB hubs and on computers) is type A. The square connector is type B. There are cables made A to A, A to A extension, and A to B. I have not been able to find a type B to B cable.
Probable reason is that type B is normally used for peripheral equipment (the USB standard has one area for primary devices - type A; and another area for secondary devices - type B) note: there are also some minaturized connectors for small devices like cell phones.
The USB standard calls for power to be provided (by specification only 100 ma is available, although once connected, the device can negotiate for up to 500 ma if that much current is available) through the type A connector. For this reason, I don't think that the Nord would supply power to the Novation (although I don't have one to use a voltmeter to make a test). I did just use a voltmeter to check the USB port on my Kurzweil PC3X. When not connected to the computer, the port does not have any power on it.
I have an eMu XBoard49 controller that has the type B USB port, and I have used this with a notebook computer. The Xboard runs from three AA size batteries, and can be powered by USB instead. However, it does not draw much power.
Without making an exhaustive search, I looked for any devices designed primarily to supply power to USB devices, without finding any.
Jim Cason
Promised LAN Computing, Inc.
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Kurzweil K2000VP, SP88X (sold), PC2, PC2X, K2661, PC3X HP DAW w/eMu 1820M, ThinkPad DAW w/eMu 1616M web: http://www.promlancomp.com
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