Stability of Traveler Mk1?

[dtaki]

Hello,

I am using a Traveler MK1 with a Late 2011 MacBook Pro, OSX 10.9.5, 2.5 GHz dual core i5, 8 GB RAM. I use it with various DAWs (Live, Maschine, Reason, Pro Tools 11) and also use it as my main sound card and receiver for a Blu-Ray player. Essentially, it is the hub of my home setup.

I have been experiencing some intermittent audio issues with the unit. The worst one is that, on occasion, the unit will just stop outputting any sound. I will be playing a virtual instrument, and suddenly the sound will just stop. Meters in my DAW will still indicate that I have output, but until I either power cycle the Traveler or unplug the FW cable and plug it back in, the sound is permanently off. This occurs even regardless of sample rate.

I am running the latest MOTU audio driver, and have up-to-date firmware on the Traveler. I have not experienced this issue when using the laptop's built-in audio driver.

I just did a fresh re-install of OSX and of all my audio software, so my best guess is that the Traveler is at fault here.

Does this sound like an issue that could have some fix? Or am I just feeling the effects of using a legacy sound card?

Thanks!

[cuttime]

Try a factory reset - push the Setup knob, turn it all the way to the right and follow the directions on the LCD.

Try a new FW cable. Please, please, PLEASE don't hot-swap your FW cable.

Try the external power supply instead of bus power.

Good luck.

[mikehalloran]

Beat me to the punch.

If that doesn't do the trick, file a Tech Link with MOTU Support. Let them know what driver works and which don't.

[dtaki]

I'll try that factory reset when I get home, and I'll also try a different FW cable. I'll report back with my results.

Would it be worth trying to use older drivers, found at http://www.motu.com/techsupport/technotes/driverlog?

I have always used it with the external power supply - I've never actually done any traveling with it, so it's always been plugged into external power.

[dtaki]

The factory reset seems to have worked! It hasn't exhibited any issues since (well, Pro Tools has, but that's another issue entirely...)

I'll also try to be a little more mindful about "hot-swapping" firewire cables - I didn't realize it was more sensitive than USB.

Thanks!

[cuttime]

[mikehalloran]

I'll also try to be a little more mindful about "hot-swapping" firewire cables - I didn't realize it was more sensitive than USB

Although the spec says it can be done, fried motherboards have been known to happen. Yikes!

Turning the unit on and off while connected is quite ok.