issues with Ultralite AVB

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Discussion related to installation, configuration and use of MOTU hardware such as MIDI interfaces, audio interfaces, etc. with Windows
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noou
Posts: 11
Joined: Mon Jan 25, 2016 4:33 am
Primary DAW OS: Windows

issues with Ultralite AVB

Post by noou »

After testing my new MOTU Ultralite AVB for some weeks I found some recurring issues under Windows 7 x64:
Independent of the chosen buffer setting / sample rate, silence gaps and weird noises (like sample rate sync issues) occur in the sound stream every few minutes.
Notice that my machine is optimized for audio use, and I never had problems with other interfaces (firewire and usb) beforehand.
I contacted MOTU, and while they are responsive, they couldn't suggest any solution to my issues.

UPDATE:
I recorded (from my speakers, using a mp3 recorder) the glitches that occur when I use my Ultralite AVB: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/b4gu6rd4e5b3 ... nDpOa?dl=0
You'll hear a quiet arpeggio that I made with a soft synth, and on top of that the following glitches:
- High pitched pulsating tone. Notice how it disappears after a few seconds.
- Gap (silence) which occurred systematically, apparently every 20-30 minutes.
Anybody experienced similar problems?
Last edited by noou on Wed Mar 23, 2016 2:09 am, edited 3 times in total.
doorch
Posts: 1
Joined: Sat Feb 27, 2016 5:42 pm
Primary DAW OS: Windows

Re: issues with Ultralite AVB

Post by doorch »

i have exactly same problem! motu ultralite avb, windows 8.1 64, then windows 10.pc and laptop - same problem, system is optimized for audio, even wifi is disabled. wonder have the mac users have this issue?
noou
Posts: 11
Joined: Mon Jan 25, 2016 4:33 am
Primary DAW OS: Windows

Re: issues with Ultralite AVB

Post by noou »

doorch wrote:i have exactly same problem! motu ultralite avb, windows 8.1 64, then windows 10.pc and laptop - same problem, system is optimized for audio, even wifi is disabled. wonder have the mac users have this issue?
Thanks for reporting this.
What buffer configuration are you using?
Did you also try contacting MOTU support? They recently told me that nobody reported my issue before...

Since I opened my support ticket at MOTU, I've been suggested to try several things, however none of them worked.
I also tested my Ultralite AVB with another computer running Windows 10 Home 32 bit and got the same behavior. However that machine is way less powerful than my main computer.

On my main computer I got the chance to use a RME UCX and that's just impressive: I could play for hours with buffer size set to 48 samples @ 48KHz and even CPU load up to 80% without a single dropout!
Notice that I had also tested a MOTU Audio Express (cheapo), and that performed decently at 96 samples @ 48 KHz without audio corruptions.
So it really looks like the issue is with the Ultralite AVB only.
Last edited by noou on Wed Mar 23, 2016 2:04 am, edited 1 time in total.
noou
Posts: 11
Joined: Mon Jan 25, 2016 4:33 am
Primary DAW OS: Windows

Re: issues with Ultralite AVB

Post by noou »

I updated my first post with recordings of the audio issues I'm experiencing.
noou
Posts: 11
Joined: Mon Jan 25, 2016 4:33 am
Primary DAW OS: Windows

Re: issues with Ultralite AVB

Post by noou »

One more update: I tested the just released firmware (1.25) and drivers (1.6) and found still the same issues :cry:
bpancho86
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Joined: Wed May 18, 2016 4:59 pm
Primary DAW OS: Windows

Re: issues with Ultralite AVB

Post by bpancho86 »

I have exactly the same problem. I tried it on several PCs and the problem still occurs. I have not found any solution yet ... I hope appears some
noou
Posts: 11
Joined: Mon Jan 25, 2016 4:33 am
Primary DAW OS: Windows

Re: issues with Ultralite AVB

Post by noou »

bpancho86 wrote:I have exactly the same problem. I tried it on several PCs and the problem still occurs. I have not found any solution yet ... I hope appears some
Did you already test the new beta driver they just released? http://motu.com/newsitems/motu-announce ... messe-2016
They fixed my issues completely and improved overall performance.
bpancho86
Posts: 2
Joined: Wed May 18, 2016 4:59 pm
Primary DAW OS: Windows

Re: issues with Ultralite AVB

Post by bpancho86 »

noou wrote:
bpancho86 wrote:I have exactly the same problem. I tried it on several PCs and the problem still occurs. I have not found any solution yet ... I hope appears some
Did you already test the new beta driver they just released? http://motu.com/newsitems/motu-announce ... messe-2016
They fixed my issues completely and improved overall performance.
Yes, I have windows 10. Maybe i have to test in another windows, or another pc... What window do you have?? (sory for my english)
noou
Posts: 11
Joined: Mon Jan 25, 2016 4:33 am
Primary DAW OS: Windows

Re: issues with Ultralite AVB

Post by noou »

bpancho86 wrote: Yes, I have windows 10. Maybe i have to test in another windows, or another pc... What window do you have?? (sory for my english)
I tested Windows 7 x64.
I recommend you report your issues to the dedicated email proaudio_beta@motu.com
MOTU support has been very responsive and helpful in my experience.
noou
Posts: 11
Joined: Mon Jan 25, 2016 4:33 am
Primary DAW OS: Windows

Re: issues with Ultralite AVB

Post by noou »

I've been experiencing glitches at low buffer settings (64 and sometimes even 128) using the later versions of the Pro driver (currently v4.0+71271), especially when set at 48KHz. With the earlier beta version I could use other settings such as 96 samples which worked fine, and generally I experienced less glitches for high CPU load.

I contacted MOTU support in this regard (on October 5), and they only reply once with the usual "check your system settings first". After I replied (on October 7) that the beta driver worked better for me, and that I went through all the necessary optimizations several times, they never got back to me. It's almost 20 days already, so this is totally disappointing. I even sent a reminder last week and they are still silent.

Anybody had such bad experience with their support?
noou
Posts: 11
Joined: Mon Jan 25, 2016 4:33 am
Primary DAW OS: Windows

Re: issues with Ultralite AVB

Post by noou »

I have tested my Ultralite AVB with 3 different laptops, all tweaked for audio, and all of them had issues. Notice that a RME UCX worked flawlessly on all systems.
I made a test project in Ableton Live 9, which hits 55% CPU on the mid-range machine.
Here are my findings:

Win7 x64 laptop (actually MacBook Pro via BootCamp) i7 4960HQ, 16 Gb RAM, SSD 512Gb:
Latency: minimum usable setting at 44.1 or 48 KHz is 128 samples, still with sparse dropouts. Host buffer 32, any other value results in crackling.
Other issues: often, especially right after booting, no audio output from the interface. Changing settings such as sample rate or buffer size (and then reverting to the original value) gets the sound back again.

Win 10 x64 laptop i7 7500U, 8Gb RAM, SSD 256Gb:
Latency: minimum usable setting at 44.1 or 48 KHz is 512 samples, with frequent dropouts though.

Win 10 x64 laptop i5 4200U, 4Gb RAM, SSD 128Gb:
Latency: crackling at any settings, including 1024 samples and any host buffer size at 44.1 or 48 KHz

Overall I feel that the host buffer size setting is flawed. I cannot see any change in CPU load for any setting, and as I wrote above 32 samples work better than any other settings, which is weird.

I almost feel like a professional beta tester
but I'm so sick of wasting time to make this thing work... The pro audio driver looked promising, but after all this time I'm going to sell it.
blaqmoss
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Joined: Thu Feb 09, 2017 3:55 am
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Re: issues with Ultralite AVB

Post by blaqmoss »

The same problem with dropouts and noise
fritz_distran
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Joined: Tue Jun 23, 2020 1:46 am
Primary DAW OS: MacOS

Re: issues with Ultralite AVB

Post by fritz_distran »

Hello everyone,

please excuse me for reactivating this old thread, but I think I have a related problem and would like to know how this problem got solved in the end.

I've observed that in the MP3 file posted above, an 8 kHz signal regularly appears. In my case, the signal I play gets modulated by an 8 kHz signal for a short time, in more or less regular intervals. It's as if every 24th sample in the original 192 kHz signal I want to play gets multiplied by a large value.

FYI: I'm using the ALSA driver in Ubuntu 16 and very large buffer sizes (several thousands of samples) as latency is irrelevant in our setup here.

Using the same UltraLite AVB with a Mac (albeit with slightly different settings) does not exhibit the same issues.

Best regards,
Fritz
fritz_distran
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Joined: Tue Jun 23, 2020 1:46 am
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Re: issues with Ultralite AVB

Post by fritz_distran »

Further observations:
1) The "From Computer" channels where my signal appears sometimes jump by multiples of 8. For example, playing a stereo signal from the computer may appear on "From Computer 1" and "From Computer 2" but sometimes it's 9 and 10, or 17 and 18.
2) At times, a signal going to a single channel appears in more than one channel (e.g. I play a stereo pair and "From Computer 9", "From Computer 10", "From Computer 17" and "From Computer 18" light up).
3) The 8 kHz modulation artifacts appear only when there is a multiplication of channels.
TimRideout
Posts: 12
Joined: Wed Oct 14, 2020 4:42 am
Primary DAW OS: Windows

Re: issues with Ultralite AVB

Post by TimRideout »

I have similar issues, however using the 1248. it seems like, once or twice a day, my unit will kind of... randomly start ring modulating or... bit crushing my audio! It's very strange, and I can't seem to track down the source of the problem. It seems totally random, and affects both my ASIO and WDM drivers in Windows.
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