Blue Yeti and iPad errors

[pwnified]

I had the same problem of not being able to use the Blue Yeti with the current OS. However, when I insert the Belkin 4 port USB desk hub into the chain, everything works fine, EVEN WITHOUT PLUGGING THE POWER ADAPTER INTO THE DESK HUB. Huh?

I just got done filing another bug report with Apple, about the power maximums, which might explain this. I did some tests on the maximum current draw by hooking up a current meter and increasing the draw until the power warning pops up. Interesting it pops up at about 150ma, which is higher than expected (it's 100ma according to Apple).

So the behavior in 4.2.1 can be explained by this power surge (which happens when plugging in a device), and this sudden spike is above the threshold and trigger the warning. The USB hub in this case is probably acting as a power "buffer" and reducing the spike, so this is further evidence to this theory.

It's good to know that we might be able to get portable again with the Yeti. But for how long is anyones guess (Apple has said that devices should not draw ANY power from the USB port, which seems a bit impossible for some devices like card readers or even flash drives)

[Greenpea]

Don, i'd like to try your Belkin 4-port usb fix which allows for yeti to power on iPad running 4.2; can you share a link to the exact device (USB) you're using or perhaps a belkin product # or sku? Thank you.

[Don]

http://www.amazon.com/Belkin-F4U016-4-P ... B002YWNXE2

[DavePDX]

Don,

Thanks for the tip on that Belkin hub. Sure enough, it brought the USB Camera kit/audio connection back to life under iOS 4.2.1 (even WITHOUT POWER)! The Yeti works quite well again, even with some other audio apps that it formerly failed with under OS 3.x. This is great news, because my conversations with the Fruity Overlord have been less than encouraging, and I thought I might be stuck on OS 3.2.x forever, just to keep high quality audio functioning.

In case anyone's interested, I also tested the M-Audio Mobile-Pre, and the Zoom H4n and both work fine with the Belkin hub inserted.

Of course, I'd prefer to eliminate the extra piece of hardware, but it's small enough that it's not a major inconvenience. Thanks again for letting us know!

One small footnote. The very first time I tried this, it didn't work-- the Blue Yeti didn't turn on. I had to power up the hub one time, and after that it worked every time without power. I have no explanation for this (capacitance maybe?), but I thought I'd mention it in case it wasn't just an anomaly.

[beyond]

That's very interesting news that it even works *unpowered* after an initial power up. But do you need to power it up initially each time you connect it? An interesting find, nonetheless.

[DavePDX]

So far it only required power the very first time I used it. Since then, I've used it many times without having to supply power again.

[pwnified]

Yeah, this is very cool. I've now tried a bunch of different hubs and some work to clamp the voltage spike.

These hubs work:
Belkin USB 2.0 4-Port Hub, White
Worked fine with the Yeti, even on a cold start. Works just as before this whole fiasco started. (plugging in headphones to the Yeti while live can still trigger the power warning)
(This hub is recommended)

Connectland CL-U2MNHUB-4B 4 Ports USB V2.0 Mini Hub (Black)
I had the power warning with the Yeti on a cold start, but I tried a couple more times and it started working (probably a capacitor in the Yeti needs to be charged up).
(use the on/off switches to power up the port)

Belkin F4U016 4-Port Desktop USB Hub with Power Supply
See previous posts about this unit.


Doesn't work:
Belkin USB 2.0 4-Port Ultra Mini Hub F5U407 (fails to clamp voltage peaks)
Staples 7-Port Square USB 2.0 Hub (just doesn't work)
Dynex 4 Port USB 2.0 Powered Hub - DX-H420P (just doesn't work)
Belkin High-Speed USB 2.0 7-Port Hub (just doesn't work)


Thanks Don for posting about this. The crazy thing is that I had tried this before, on a hunch, a while ago but none of my hubs worked without power, so I just gave up at the time.

[beyond]

Yeah, this is pretty amazing. I picked up a powered hub from Radio Shack and it seems to work in this same way. Cool.

[Wrecks]

Thanks for the great info on this thead. I couldn't wait for the stores to open so I rummeged through my closet and found a mini usb hub (APC THUB 4) and a USB battery pack (APC UPB 10). I plugged the hub into the iPad camera adapter and the battery and the Yeti into the hub. The Yeti powered up so I plugged the camera adapter into the iPad and bingo! it worked great! I then tried unplugging the battery after everything was working but the iPad didn't seem to like that. So as long as the Yeti is externally powered all is good!

[beyond]

I had my Yeti hooked up over the weekend via the powered hub (unplugged). Then I noticed that when I plugged my headphones into the Yeti to monitor, I got the "too much power" message and the mic shut off, then I had to power the hub.

Lesson: have your headphones plugged into the Yeti monitoring jack *before* you plug in the cam conn kit!