Alphatrack problem w/Yosemite - Resolved

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primeevolutionary
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Alphatrack problem w/Yosemite - Resolved

Post by primeevolutionary »

Hello, Alphatrack users,

I'm having a new issue probably related to either Yosemite and/or 8.07 and/or MOTU Universal Audio Installer for Mac OS X 1.6.64208. More likely one or both of the latter two.

DP is responding correctly to Alphatrack, but, Alphatrack is not responding correctly to DP. For example, if I change a fader level with Alphatrack, DP will change with the movement, but, if I then take the mouse and change the fader in DP, Alphatrack will not follow and move with the change. Worse than that, any track I'm changing to is echoing Alphatrack's current position rather than updating Alphatrack to mirror DP's positions.

I was not having this issue with the previous OS or audio installer. Is anyone else having this issue?
Last edited by primeevolutionary on Sun Nov 02, 2014 12:50 pm, edited 2 times in total.
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Re: [SOLVED] Alphatrack problem w/Yosemite

Post by primeevolutionary »

Apparently the problem was Yosemite.

It seems to be okay again after resetting SMC, resetting PRAM and then repairing permissions. It was probably the PRAM rest that fixed it.

I really really love Alphatrack and was afraid I might lose her.
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Re: [unsolved] Alphatrack problem w/Yosemite

Post by primeevolutionary »

I spoke too soon. The Alphatrack is at least following DP, but, when left alone is drifting. If you put the fader at 0.00, after sitting idle for a little while, the Alphatrack gradually drifts a few hundredths of a decibel. If left alone, it will drift some more. Sometimes it's right away. Sometimes it's after a few minutes. In the time that I wrote this post, it drifted from 0.00 to -0.03 to -0.05. You can hear the fader as it's drifting. It's not caused by vibration.

I've also tried recalibrating Alphatrack.

The only workaround I can think of at this point would be to create a dummy track to park your track selection to keep Alphatrack from moving your fader settings (it's only occurring on the currently selected track).

James Steele, I believe I've read that you use Alphatrack and have upgraded to 10.10. Are you having the same issue?
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Re: Alphatrack problem w/Yosemite

Post by James Steele »

Haven't tried it yet. You're scaring me. A few hundredths of a decibel might wreck my mix.
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Re: Alphatrack problem w/Yosemite

Post by primeevolutionary »

I meant to leave it on a track to see if it just keeps going. I need to test it. Alphatrack has been a vital tool to me, but, right now it's not stable enough to use. One other trick I found is to FLIP to an unused send so that the drift only happens on that send volume, but, it's too hard to remember to flip back and forth to use the fader.

I am so bummed.
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Re: Alphatrack problem w/Yosemite

Post by James Steele »

primeevolutionary wrote:I meant to leave it on a track to see if it just keeps going. I need to test it. Alphatrack has been a vital tool to me, but, right now it's not stable enough to use. One other trick I found is to FLIP to an unused send so that the drift only happens on that send volume, but, it's too hard to remember to flip back and forth to use the fader.

I am so bummed.
I have to test it. Really I have to wonder about the "real world" applicability of the problem of it creeping a hundredth of a decibel or so when it's just left sitting there? I mean that's not something you normally do much is it? And if you have any automation in a track, it's going to jump to the automation and follow it, right? And if you click on another track and then click back to the track it was "at rest" on, it will jump back to that track's level I'd assume? Perhaps if it's going to sit for a while, you can use just unassign it? I dont' know if Command +D will do it.

Like I said... I need to find time to investigate and see if it happens on mine. I can't really see how this is a real "deal killer"... especially for someone like me who tends to jump around a lot from track to track while working and if the AT is sitting doing nothing, it's during playback and I'm just working on songs that are 3-4 minutes typically.
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Re: Alphatrack problem w/Yosemite

Post by Shooshie »

James Steele wrote:Really I have to wonder about the "real world" applicability of the problem of it creeping a hundredth of a decibel or so when it's just left sitting there?
Oh, but there's a much greater issue at stake.

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Re: Alphatrack problem w/Yosemite

Post by primeevolutionary »

Indeed, and, what, you can't hear hundredths of a dB?

Upon further testing, the drift gets worse if you leave it. My current experiment has drifted 2.93 dB in around two hours. Also, when you switch from track to track, it corrupts each track. I was watching tracks jump a few dB. Different amounts each move.

It's disheartening to not be able to rely on a piece of equipment that I use heavily.

Anyway, thanks for testing it when you can.
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Re: Alphatrack problem w/Yosemite

Post by James Steele »

Well so if you leave Alpha Track assigned to a track, by then end of your continuous 2 hour long piece of music it will have drifted almost 3db? Again it doesn't seem like it would really affect anything in most real world scenarios. Park it on an empty "parking track" if you're not going to be using it for adjustments. (BTW, it's not supposed to be working at all these days, you know.) :)
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Re: Alphatrack problem w/Yosemite

Post by EMRR »

Hmm, I gotta check this. It's always bumped -0.03 on any track that was previously 0 if I touch the fader, back to DP5/PPC. I may or may not have seen more recent DP8/10.9/64 drifts like you mention. I'm still adjusting to all the new ways you can accidentally grab a fader with the magic mouse and trackpad! Scrolling and swiping is in itself dangerous to a mix in new ways.
Last edited by EMRR on Thu Oct 30, 2014 7:13 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Alphatrack problem w/Yosemite

Post by James Steele »

primeevolutionary wrote:Indeed, and, what, you can't hear hundredths of a dB?
Nope. I'm pretty certain if you nudged a track up in a mix by .01db, it would go right past me. Tin ear, I guess. :)
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Re: Alphatrack problem w/Yosemite

Post by primeevolutionary »

Thanks for checking, Doug. This only started for me after the recent Yosemite and the Universal Audio Installer (1.6.64208) installs.


James, that was a joke. Of course none of us can hear a hundredth of a decibel. However, it is likely for me to walk away and take a call or have to go to the bathroom or eat, or whatever else. Last night it drifted +5.93 decibels. It seems possible that this can be a problem.

I'm not asking you for a solution or whether you think it's significant. I'm just trying to find out if it's happening to you so that I can determine whether it's a hardware or a software problem.

It's possible that my unit is defective and causing this. If you're having the same problem, then, it's probably software.

I am thankful that I've been able to use Alphatrack and jumped on the Syncalavier and Kagi 1.0.2 and paid my money to show that I was appreciative. Alphatrack is very important to my workflow. I stayed at 32 bit prior to 1.0.2 just to keep using it. It's important to me.

There's a malfunction and I'd like to troubleshoot it. If you can help me figure it out , great. If not, okay.
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Re: Alphatrack problem w/Yosemite

Post by James Steele »

To be honest, I wasn't sure if it was a GearSlutz type trick question. There's probably someone who might think they can. I figured you were joking, but I don't always remember the sense of humor of everyone on this board, so forgive me, but I couldn't remember if you were one of those guys who can hear the difference between *power* cables, etc.

I haven't actually had time to check it out yet. I'll try to check it out tonight.
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Re: Alphatrack problem w/Yosemite

Post by primeevolutionary »

No rush. I appreciate your checking it out.
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Re: Alphatrack problem w/Yosemite

Post by James Steele »

Okay... just got home, loaded a DP project and I clicked an Aux track in the DP project. The track shows -9.17db on DP's mixer and I put the AT in "Flip" mode so I can see the volume level display on it's LCD display which shows -9.2db (since AT can't display hundredths). It's 7:33pm PDT. I'll come back in an hour or so and see if there's any drift.
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