# [MINI REVIEW] LAVA STS-3U : 3-port USB Hub for Samsung Galaxy Tablets - Charging



## CZ Eddie (Feb 26, 2012)

I can't find my DAC to test right now, but I bought these items and they are working to provide my rooted TouchWiz KitKat 4.4.4 Samsung Galaxy Tab S 8.4" T705 Tablet with a charge and ~nine port USB OTG at the same time.

It's not a FAST charge. I've seen up to 687 mAh with testing over the last ten minutes. 
But the mouse and USB stick I've plugged in all seem to work fine.

Tab S 8.4" T705 to Lava hub to Plugable hub. This should give me at least nine powered/usable USB ports while still providing a slow charge to the tablet.


*LAVA STS-3U : 3-port USB Hub for Samsung Galaxy Tablets*
STS-3U : 3-port USB Hub for Samsung Galaxy Tablets [STS-3U] - $78.95 : Zen Cart!, The Art of E-commerce


*Plugable® 7-Port USB 3.0 SuperSpeed Hub with 25W Power Adapter and Two Charging Ports*
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B008ZGKWQI/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1


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## CZ Eddie (Feb 26, 2012)

Tested this setup today with an ORICO 2588US3 USB 3.0 hard drive carrier:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00B0RD2RA?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00

Used a 500GB platter drive, 5200 RPM formatted to ExFat.
My Tab S tablet running CyanogenMOD 12.1 recognized and played the FLAC songs on the drive without any issue.
This is with the drive carrier plugged into both the STS-3U as well as trying it plugged into the Pluggable USB hub. 

Good stuff.


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## CZ Eddie (Feb 26, 2012)

Finally got the important test done.
I connected the $30 Behringer UCA 202 USB DAC (with optical output) and it works great and the phone still charges.
Works off the USB hub too.

*Behringer USB DAC:*
Amazon.com: Behringer UCA202 Audio Interface: Musical Instruments

I think that successfully wraps up the testing of the USB-OTG charger/hub. 
Now I just need to find the time to install everything in my car!

Charging rate with USB devices connected is only like 500-700mAh but it's enough to keep the phone from losing a charge so far.
I gained a 3% charge in 15 minutes with screen-on, Google Maps and GPS running while also playing MP3's the whole time.


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## CZ Eddie (Feb 26, 2012)

CZ Eddie said:


> Used a 500GB platter drive, 5200 RPM formatted to ExFat.
> My Tab S tablet running CyanogenMOD 12.1 recognized and played the FLAC songs on the drive without any issue.


An important note here is that many media players will not see external storage. Like my favorite player, Rocket Player, does not see the hard drive. It only sees local storage and MicroSD.

You can supposedly setup a symlink to point to the external storage which would resolve this issue. But I haven't tried that yet.
I'm on the lookout for a quality media player that recognizes external storage.


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## audiopluscny (Mar 27, 2014)

CZ Eddie said:


> An important note here is that many media players will not see external storage. Like my favorite player, Rocket Player, does not see the hard drive. It only sees local storage and MicroSD.
> 
> You can supposedly setup a symlink to point to the external storage which would resolve this issue. But I haven't tried that yet.
> I'm on the lookout for a quality media player that recognizes external storage.


If you have a tab s the stock samsung music player is great it will recognize ext storage and even read music from any nearby samsung or wifi direct devices. Plus for the tab s there is a ported tab a music player with a really nice interface over at xda plays flac also. As for the lava unit I think we can pull a faster charge with some kernel tweaks my old tab pro would pull 1000mah and charge decently fast.


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## pcpete (Jan 24, 2009)

Thanks CZ Eddie for this write up! 

I've been itching to upgrade from my Toshiba Excite 7.7 to the Tab S 8.4, but the lack of being able to charge and provide multiple usb ports has been a major pain in the butt. 

My Toshiba was a rare animal , as it had a landscape dock that provided power, multiple usb , aux out and hdmi out. Nothing has come to the market since with those kinda features.

Already pickup up a Tab S 8.4, fortunately I live 20min away from Lava Links HQ, so I'll be picking up the STS-3U directly from them tomorrow...thanks again.


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## CZ Eddie (Feb 26, 2012)

pcpete said:


> Thanks CZ Eddie for this write up!


Glad this was helpful!
I have not had the chance to do the full install yet, so my testing has been limited but successful so far.


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## FLYONWALL9 (Nov 8, 2009)

I'm pretty ignorant when it comes to using my 8.4 and also what all is
needed to make it into a audio/media player in a car. I get that you are
using the LAVA to provide power and Plugable for multi usb. What I am
wondering is what you are using for signal, rca, toslink? If toslink how?

I'm trying to figure out how to run it toslink to my old XES system. I can
do it fairly easy with an IPOD, so it shouldn't be all that difficult for the 8.4?
Granted for an IPOD all I would need is an PURE I20....


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## audiopluscny (Mar 27, 2014)

FLYONWALL9 said:


> I'm pretty ignorant when it comes to using my 8.4 and also what all is
> needed to make it into a audio/media player in a car. I get that you are
> using the LAVA to provide power and Plugable for multi usb. What I am
> wondering is what you are using for signal, rca, toslink? If toslink how?
> ...


all you need is a usb to spdif converter. Be aware samsung 5.0.2 roms do not support many dac. behringer uac202 is a 30$ basic dac with toslink out for 30$ and works great with 5.0.2. Peachtree x-1 is great also 24 192k (150)but u will need to downgrade to 4.4.2.


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## pcpete (Jan 24, 2009)

I finally got my SMSL x-usb XMOS based converter to work. 

Originally had a galaxy tab s 8.4 ....wouldn't work natively at all, only through uapp . Tried out of the box kitkat, lollipop 5.02, custom roms....nada.

Bought a galaxy tab s2 8.0 ,running lollipop 5.1.1, and it works awesome natively and with uapp! All the way up-to 192/24bit!

My DSP is PPI DSP 88R, and it accepts optical at 192kHz as long as i keep my optical cable under 3ft long.

Also works great with the sts-3u. 


Sent from my SM-N910W8 using Tapatalk


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