HT2178 external speakers suddenly working on and off

After getting a new hard drive installed, I have the problem with my nio 2/4 sound card which looses sound completely (however power light button is still on). 
This problem comes and goes but I need this to be fixed as I make live music and this will be embarrasing if the sound goes off during my set.  Can anyone please help?

A 500 GB hard drive may (?) use more power than the original drive, and perhaps cause an issue with power available on the USB bus.  That does not mean all 500GB hard drives would have this problem.  A higher perforrmance drive (such as 7200 RPM versus 5400 PRM) needs more power.  It's also possible that the new drive generates more heat, and the heat may be causing the issue.
But it could also be coincidental that this problem developed at the same time as the hard drive swap.  The only way to test is to put the original drive back (if it's not faulty and you still have it) to see if the problem recurs.  It may not be helpful to replace the drive with another of the same type, because the drive is probably not faulty (it may just require more power than your MacBook's original drive).  You can also choose a drive that is known to be more power efficient, versus higher performance.
A possible work-around, if the cause is power on the USB bus, is to get a powered USB hub, for example
http://eshop.macsales.com/item/NewerTech/USB2HB7PRO/
If you connect this to one of your MacBook's USB ports and then connect your devices to the hub, the hub would supply the power to the devices, relieving the MacBook's USB bus.  There are many products of this type, but you need to make sure it is powered (has it's own power supply).  Less expensive USB hubs draw power from the USB port, which would defeat the purpose.

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