Hooking up gear via USB is usually a pretty painless process, unless you happen to have run out of ports. So, Novation has now come up with a handy-looking box known as the Audiohub 2z4, which puts an audio interface and USB hub into one aluminium box.
This 24-bit/96kHz-capable device has two audio inputs and four "loud" outputs, while the hub delivers three USB 2.0 ports. The device can be bus-powered, though you'll need a power supply if you want to bus-power your USB devices. It can connect to the iPad via a Camera Connection Kit, so could be useful if you want to connect multiple music-making peripherals and supply power to them, lightening the load placed on your tablet's battery.
You can find out more and check out some examples of how you might use the Audiohub 2x4 on the Novation website. It'll be available in October for around £160/$200.
