USB 3.0 hubs

[CSMR]

I am thinking of getting a USB 3.0 hub based on the Via VL812 Chipset
http://www.via-labs.com/en/products/vl812/

I am looking at 7-port hubs based on this chipset, such as:
http://plugable.com/products/usb3-hub7-81x (topology: http://plugable.com/2013/06/07/troubleshooting-the-usb3-hub-81x7-usb-3-0-7-port-hub )

The peripherals should be:
1 low latency connection for USB 1.1 sound card
2 USB3.0 connections for external backup/archival hard drives
4 connections for keyboard, mouse, webcam, printer

Questions:
- Do you think that using a hub will increase latency on my sound card significantly?
- Does anyone have experience with this or other USB 3.0 hubs?
- Are there likely to be any issues combining USB 3.0, USB 2.0 and USB1.1 peripherals on the same hub?

Thanks!

 

[Cerb]

Are there likely to be any issues combining USB 3.0, USB 2.0 and USB1.1 peripherals on the same hub?

Probably.
"The hub’s one upstream port and seven downstream ports provide USB 3.0 SuperSpeed transfer rates when linking a USB 3.0 host with USB 3.0 devices."
That's a nice marketing way to say, "don't expect USB 3 speeds when you plug old crap in to this thing."

What you want to do is get a USB 2.0 hub, and a USB 3.0 hub. Plug your slow devices that can hub well into the 2.0 hub (I generally use monitors, since it's common for them to have 2-4 port hubs integrated). Then, have the 3.0 hub for fast devices.

Also, just get a USB extension cord for your sound card, and don't hub it at all. USB audio is not low latency anyway, and even with 2.0 speeds, port sharing is just going to increase the chances of skipped samples.

Are there likely to be any issues combining USB 3.0, USB 2.0 and USB1.1 peripherals on the same hub?

Well, should effectively have a bunch of USB 1.1 peripherals, when you do that, and none running at 2.0 or 3.0 speeds...

In theory, you can get around that, and run <=2.0 at <=2.0, without affecting 3.0, but I haven't seen it work, yet, and USB 2.0 hubs are cheap.

 

[metril]

@OP

I have a Kanex 7-port USB 3 hub. I bought it on Amazon about 1.5 years ago. When I bought it, it was originally a 3xUSB 3.0 port + 4x USB 2.0 port hub. It actually houses a controller for USB 3.0 and USB 2.0. At one point, there was a firmware update. And well, all 7 ports are now USB 3.0 and USB 2.0 capable. I have both 2.0 and 3.0 devices plugged in and am using all 7 ports. My USB 3.0 devices are not gimped in speed in any way.

 

[CSMR]

OK well thanks for the opposing viewpoints. I am sure it is not as bad as Cerb says: they would have got a close to 100% return rate if people attached USB1.1 and USB 3.0 devices and everything worked at USB 1.1 speeds. I guess I will try it and see how it goes.