Just to follow up. I replaced the older 1047_1B with the newer 1047_2B and my device works fine with Unity now. I am able to start and stop the game within the editor frequently and with no problem opening the device channels or with the Unity editor crashing. The problem seems isolated to the older...

I built a proto-type game controller for Unity3D using PhidgetEncoder High Speed 4-Input model 1047_2B. After successfully prototyping I needed to build another controller, however, at the time I placed the follow-up order, 1047_2B was out of stock and only the older 1047_1B devices were available. ...