El Capitan and Track 16 Beta Drivers

[superleccy]

Hi there

Just wondering if anyone else has tried the Track 16 over USB with the Beta drivers (1.6.67918 - released 20th October) with El Capitan (10.11.1).

I find it generally works fine when it works, bit it doesn't seem particularly stable. Sound from the computer tends to cut-out about once an hour, and CueMix crashes from time to time too. Is that everyone else's experience too?

Actually, it cut out on me just now whilst typing this. The trigger appeared to be me clicking on an OS X notification created by Facebook.

Frankly, it's what I expected for a beta, which is fine. I've "had to" upgrade to El Capitan because I've just bought a new Mac. And fortunately I won't be using it in anger for anything serious for a few weeks yet. I hope MOTU can get it sorted out.

Cheers
SL

[MIDI Life Crisis]

I'm wondering (and I'll look it up) if Track 16 is USB 2 or 3? I'm guessing the former and would never trust my audio to USB 2. Just sayin...

[superleccy]

It's USB2. And FW400, but I'm not sure if that will work with the Firewire - Thunderbolt adaptor.

USB3 or Thunderbolt would have been my preference, obviously. I guess I'll find out how exactly if it's good enough before too long.

SL

[MIDI Life Crisis]

It's USB2. And FW400, but I'm not sure if that will work with the Firewire - Thunderbolt adaptor.

USB3 or Thunderbolt would have been my preference, obviously. I guess I'll find out how exactly if it's good enough before too long.

SL

I'm using a Track 16 with a TB to FW 800 adaptor from Apple. Works just fine, but I ALWAYS use the external power supply, otherwise I get pops and clicks.

[superleccy]

That's great to know, thanks!

I'm using USB2 because I've got four devices daisy-chained off my Firewire adaptor. I think my whole arrangement needs a re-think.

Yeah, I wouldn't want to use the Track16 without the power supply, either way. I'm getting a few pops and clicks anyway, though.

Thanks for the help.
SL

[MIDI Life Crisis]

My guess is the USB data stream is too much for the computer, not that the port or the T16 are defective. You could try removing the other stuff to see if that helps, but my experience with USB is 1) it's not fast enough to share data for audio/video use, resulting in pops. clicks, clocking issues, etc., and; 2) "cross-talk" (hearing the data stream thru the device) can be problematic. I haven't seen the latter on the T16, but I have tried it on the USB port and even on my best machine it's is simply NOT ready for prime time. TB to FW is the only way to go. BTW, the T16 should have a FW 800 port, not 400.

[mikehalloran]

It's USB2. And FW400, but I'm not sure if that will work with the Firewire - Thunderbolt adaptor.

USB3 or Thunderbolt would have been my preference, obviously.

SL

No, not obviously.

FW400 at 48K 32bit running 50% efficiency should be able to handle 150 tracks of audio. I'm being quite conservative. Most calculate real world FW400 performance of 256 tracks of 48K 24bit audio before FW becomes the bottleneck. USB 2, being less efficient, is normally rounded down to 200 tracks.

MOTU FW interfaces are FW400.

Before you jump to conclusions, there are many other bottlenecks in the system. CPU, DSP, RAM, HD transfer rate... All will degrade the pipeline before FW or USB 2 speeds are an issue — for that reason, they never are.

Bus speed, likewise, is not an issue with audio. SATA III, PCIe, USB 3, TB and TB II all have the same max transfer rate with a single HD. That's because the platter speed is the limiting factor. SSDs can hit SATA and USB 3 but you need RAID arrays to take full advantage of TB and TB II.

[superleccy]

Thanks all.

Yep, the FW port on the Track16 is clearly labelled FW 400, despite having an 800-style socket. I still haven't tried it; I will do soon.

Cheers
SL

[MIDI Life Crisis]

Well if it ain't speed then I don't know what or why but I do know that performance under USB 2 has sucked on my T16, as does bus powered use. Indeed, it is a FW400 port. The connector I'm using looks like an 800, but it ain't. Mia culpa...

[superleccy]

I have read that the Apple TB-FW adaptor doesn't provide as much power as a "regular" FW port, which could explain the bus-power issue.

SL

[MIDI Life Crisis]

Again, I don't know the 'why' but I get much better and cleaner performance when self-powered. On top of that, I don't have to have the Mac on to run my keyboard into my speakers.

[mikehalloran]

FW spec is 22 Volts (or is it 24V?). Thunderbolt has 7 Volts available for bus power. It can't pass any more than that through the adapter.