UltraLite Mk3 Hybrid, no sound

[bombasstard]

Hi all,

first post, first problem

Since today I own an UltraLite Mk3 Hybrid.

It works like a charm on two of my Notebooks (a Lenovo ThinkPad and a Deviltech Hellmachine), but does not on my Asus Zenbook Prime (all machines are installed with Windows 7 64bit).

I've tried some of the hints already said in these forums (checked CueMix, installed latest chipset and USB drivers), but no avail.

I just want to test some playback mp3 with Windows Media Player Classic (simple test case, works on all other machines). On my Asus, I see a signal in Windows' mixer dialog, I see, the signal is assigned to the correct output (Main 1-2).
Also, if I open the "manage audio devices" dialog in control panel, I see the correct outputs selected as default, and the dialogs meter shows signal.
But on the display of the Ultralite (Meter), nothing happens.

Only, if I open MOTU Audio Console, take some extreme setting (44.1 kHz, 64 samples), and then start my mp3, something happens:
I clearly hear the first, let's say, half of a second of the song, then all stops and is replaced by some cruel high frequency whistle. All that is left at that moment, is to restart the device.

So, in this case, signal is clearly passed through the device, but breaks.

Does that sound familiar to you?
What to do now?

Please help ...

Greetings
Bombasstard

[Noods27]

Hi

actually im having a similar problem!!

I am running windows 7 64 bit on a toshiba satilite i7 16GB of RAM.

I can get sound to go straight through with a Mic to the Main outs, but can get no sound either into or out of my PC. Not even a simple mp3

I have intalled all the latest updates from MOTU and have installed the latest USB drivers.

I am trying to use it with Ableton 8, which works fine through the toshiba's internal sound card, but when the ultralite is selected not only can I not get any sound going in or out but Ableton becomes really slow and I can not even get a simple loop to play.

I have reaised a techlink but have not recieved any reply.

I'm sure once I get it going the mk3 will be a briliant piece of kit but I just can not find anything on the net that has helped so far.

So frustrating.

[Noods27]

Hey

Got to the bottom of my problem. Mk3 does not like usb3. My laptop only has usb3 so basically screwed until updates for firmware are available. Was able to test on another laptop with 64 bit windows but had a usb2 port. Worked first time like a charm.
Not sure if is same as ur problem but just a heads up for any one who may purchase a laptop with only usb3 be wary I was unaware of any issues until too late.

[alejandropolo]

I can confirm. My laptop only has USB 3.0 and the MOTU ultralite mk3 hybrid is all over the place. Crackles, crashes, no sound, etc. The same unit works flawless on a USB 2.0 laptop. MOTU, we want new USB 3.0 friendly drivers asap, please.

[RonaldDumsfeld]

It's not going to be as simple as that I'm afraid.

Most decent USB interfaces use something called isochronous transfer mode. Intel USB 3 is only backward compatible with bulk transfer mode.

They maintain isochronous transfer mode is not part of the class compliant USB 2 spec. So they have no plans to update their USB host controller software. They are very unlikely to change their minds either because they are pushing their proprietary Thunderbolt (via PCIe) standard.

Apple have updated their OS software because the audio community is a significant proportion of their customer base. RME have already updated their drivers because they are a very good company.

As far as I know so far no other company has followed suit.

MOTU has been notorious in the past for the quality of their windows software and customer support. There have been signs that this might be changing - so we may live in hope. Although so far they have not even acknowledged they have a problem......

So people have reported that if you uninstall the Intel USB 3 host controller software and either reinstall or default to USB 2 driver you can get your interface to work again.

There is to the best of my knowledge no other work around at this time if you cannot retrofit a firewire or USB 2 card. Which you probably cannot in an ultrabook sized case.

[Agent of Random]

Although so far they have not even acknowledged they have a problem......

What are you basing this on? I've been in touch with them for months in regards to USB3 compatibility and they have both acknowledged the problem and even recently provided fixes for USB3 NEC chipset compatibility for some of there USB interfaces (Intel USB3 chips are still a no go, though).

[RonaldDumsfeld]

I meant publicly.

I can find no reference to the issue on the official MOTU website. Neither can I find anything relevant by searching the tech notes for USB3. I could be wrong though so if so I'd be happy to be corrected.

Since MOTU don't have an official forum and even read and actioned tech links remain private I don't know where else to look. Do you?

The info you supply as regards NEC chipsets is welcome. Thanks. Since MOTU are not in the habit of providing change logs with new driver releases I wouldn't have known that otherwise.

edit: correction. I have just seen that earlier this month MOTU made available firmware updates for Ultralites and 828v2s which do have at least partial update logs and claim to 'Improves Windows USB3 compatibility'. This and my original post appear to have crossed.

People on this site have been suggesting MOTU windows tech support has been improving recently and this would certainly seem to be the case here. Good stuff.

[Scaper7]

I have the same issue (only USB3 ports available).

Has anyone successfully updated to 1.06 firmware? Not being familiar with Firewire, I'm a bit confused with regards ULmk3 update instructions. The instructions say to connect to PC by firewire, then power on while holding a button combination However, the only FW port I have (on XP desktop) powers the unit up as soon as it's connected.

How is it done? Does this firmware update solve the problems people are reporting here?

Likewise, I've submitted a support 'tech link' but I'm not holding my breath waiting for a reply.

" UltraLite-mk3 Hybrid Firmware v1.06
This program updates the UltraLite-mk3 Hybrid firmware to version 1.06. Changes include:
• Adds Windows USB3 compatibility
• Improves stability of volume knob when turning
• Improves standalone MIDI Patch Thru "

[Agent of Random]

I meant publicly.

I spoke with them via phone about this a few months ago, and the implied answer to why there is no info on the website seemed to be that they don't really view it as there fault and hence don't want to say publicly that there product does not work with the format. And I can understand this, because it sounds bad to say the device doesn't work with USB3 when really its the USB3 implementation on the computer itself that is supposed to be backward compatible, not the USB2 device that is supposed to be forward compatible. They're arguably only in the position to work-around someone else's screw up.

Again, this was not said in detail but that's the conclusion I am coming to based on the tone of the conversation.

Case in point, Motu also said all the USB2 stuff should work fine via USB3 on Mac, and this took absolutely no effort on there part simply because Apple's USB3implementation is backwards compatible like it's supposed to be!

[Scaper7]

Correction to my last post. Mk3 updates using USB connection, not FW. My Ultralite Mk3 Is now successfully updated and running on USB3 ports.

[Scaper7]

correction to this previous post (again) ...
firmware update was successfully installed but I still haven't been able get audio running with this setup.

I've been in contact with MOTU support who have no further news other than 'they're working on it' .... meanwhile, months are passing by

[Numbfink]

Spent a few days helping a friend sort this out, so I thought I would share the solution.

Quick reason why it wouldn't work, and is now is that it had to be connected via USB2

Funnily enough, we couldn't update the firmware to 1.06 on the USB3 port, so not sure what people will have to do to update the firmware if they only have USB3, (possible solution which i haven't checked would be to update the firmware on a machine with USB2)

When we discovered the Asus laptop had a USB2 connection, and connected the MOTU via that, we were able to update the firmware to 1.06 no problem at all and then everything went smoothly from there.

Anyway i hope this helps someone else out.

[Scaper7]

I've been able to revert all my USB3 ports to USB2 on my Win7 system by simply uninstalling the USB3 drivers. Win7 reboots using generic USB2 drivers and all has been running smooth as silk on USB2 for a few months now.

[CBasstian]

hello

I've tried everything I read in this forum but still the same trouble.

I use a pc toshiba satellite p755, practically the problem appears when i use the players but in the daw it dosn´t happens.

Thanks.

[CBasstian]

always fail including other computers usb ports 3.0