Drink it Down

So, I don't know what the power draw of my new mouse is, or the power draw of my portable amp, but I guess I spoke a little too soon when I said that my equipment was all fine and good.

I encountered some problems with my FiiO E17 (my headphone amp/digital-analog converter) working together with the XL-760H - what would happen is that no audio would come across the line, until I moved the mouse, in which case static sounding slightly like what I was supposed to hear came across. As soon as I jacked the mouse, the audio came back.

What was explained to me, was that the USB controller that I was hooking everything up to just couldn't supply enough power to all three devices. Makes sense, in a slightly disappointing way, so I headed back to Fry's to get a 4-port PCI USB card. For the money I spent, I may've been able to afford a mouse with like 9 programmable buttons (the CoolerMaster Inferno, for those of you wondering), but most my gaming is done on consoles, so I feel like I wouldn't really use them... and even then, I might've run into the same problem.

I honestly don't know if my devices are just kicking back electricity like water, or if my on-board USB controller is just weak... but now that they're hooked up to two different USB controllers, things are working all nice and fine, and I have a grand total of eight back USB ports. Although... when I think about it, Fry's does have a really generous return policy. Maybe I should try an Inferno out.