Sudden high pitch distorted sound: Why is my new interface doing this?

[James Steele]

Sounds like a clocking issue if I were to guess. I hope they solve it.

[adamcluck]

Contacted Motu support, and they're not very helpful.

In two days, all they've asked/told me is this:

• Is the device connected directly to my computer?

• Is it connected using a USB hub?

• What computer do I have and OS (even though this info is already on the Techlink ticket)?

• Try connecting the device to a USB hub.

Ok, so basically I'm going nowhere with Motu support, so I'm just going to return the unit. What a shame.

[Dezem]

Pretty much the same distorted tinny electronic sounds yes, mine sounded a little more aggressive in areas like data pile ups.

[Dezem]

Just had My m4 replaced which looks like a new batch, as it's packaged slightly different with side sponge rather that top bottom sponge. And I'm sure the nobs are grippy now with a diamond pattern.

Anyway, The new replacement M4 has been soak testing this afternoon with the MacBook Pro M1 pro and it's been flawless so far and that's with using the cables that failed on the previous unit, so it does look like the previous Unit was faulty rather than the various cables I tested.
Even the supplied USB A-C cable worked using a (USB A to C) adapter...

I did some record ins on 3 & 4 inputs with the Akai force and so far so good with regards to low latency and no audio high pitched tin glitches.

Fingers crossed as I continue to use the M4 in the coming weeks.

[adamcluck]

Just had My m4 replaced which looks like a new batch, as it's packaged slightly different with side sponge rather that top bottom sponge. And I'm sure the nobs are grippy now with a diamond pattern.

Anyway, The new replacement M4 has been soak testing this afternoon with the MacBook Pro M1 pro and it's been flawless so far and that's with using the cables that failed on the previous unit, so it does look like the previous Unit was faulty rather than the various cables I tested.
Even the supplied USB A-C cable worked using a (USB A to C) adapter...

I did some record ins on 3 & 4 inputs with the Akai force and so far so good with regards to low latency and no audio high pitched tin glitches.

Fingers crossed as I continue to use the M4 in the coming weeks.

Glad you got it sorted out!

Maybe that's what I should have done, too! I was going to today, but the salesperson convinced me that it was an issue with my computer, rather than the interface itself. They even tested the interface on two of their computers, and there didn't seem to be an issue. One of their iMacs was even the same as mine (same model and OS). Although, now that I think of it, maybe we didn't listen to each audio clip long enough. I don't know....

Anyway, one of the sales guys there said that problem sounded like a clock issue, as James Steele had mentioned. Curious: how does one fix this? I'm not running the audio through a DAW, just through the iMac's settings, which has the M2's clock source set to "Default". That default can't be changed, btw.

Where else should I be looking? Can other programs be causing the issue?

[Dezem]

Curious: how does one fix this? I'm not running the audio through a DAW, just through the iMac's settings, which has the M2's clock source set to "Default". That default can't be changed, btw.

Where else should I be looking? Can other programs be causing the issue?

I also ran the M4 at OS level without drivers (as m2/m4 are usb compliant) and it still glitched so I don't think it's DAW related. I also ran the faulty one on my PC with longer leads and it glitched just like it did on the M1 Mac. It doesn't do that with the new unit at all what ever leads I use.

My conclusion is that I just had a previous faulty unit that failed to accept data/power correctly, and different cables increased decreased the affects of reliability.

Remember in my earlier posts that I mentioned that a 16cm lead worked with the faulty unit, but it made the unit difficult to work with. It almost feels like a different chipset on the new one as the levels feel lower (less sensitive) than the older M4.

[adamcluck]

Just exchanged mine for another one.

This one works!!! Yay!

[Dezem]

Just exchanged mine for another one.

This one works!!! Yay!

Good to hear!
Looks like a possible hardware issue after all...

[chrisdm1978]

I've been having this issue on my 16inch m1max MacBook Pro when I plug a guitar in live. Never hear it on playback. Tried different USB cables...no fix. I decided to try the ultralite mk 5 plugged into my Kensington thunderbolt 4 dock instead of directly into the computer...I haven't heard the sound since...though it is random and I've only been testing today. But so far so good. But what about when I want to use this interface live or on a mobile gig undocked? Non of my other audio interfaces display this issue. Focusrite plus 8 pre, no issues, Zoom H6, no issues, my legacy lynx aurora 8 which I just sold (bought the Motu and Focusrite to replace it) no issues. This points to issues with the ultralite itself, or drivers. I will do further testing on my old 5,1 Mac Pro. But I can't imagine it's the new computer...it's practically brand new, and I only have issues with the ultralite. Have put tech link into MOTU.

Chris.

[chrisdm1978]

Ok Scratch my last response, just had the issue through my dock as well...on to testing with my old Mac Pro 5,1 on Mojave..

Chris.

[Calaverasgrande]

I was having the same issue with my brand new M4.
I was about to return it then it went away.
Before it 'got better' I tried everything.
Switched headphones (B&H sent some free Saramonic cans with the order)
I switched out the USBC cable and changed to different ports on my 14" MBP.
Weird thing is that it sounded fine using a USB A to USB C cable, connected with an Apple USB A to C adapter.
Then the next day I had no distortion set up with any of the previous cables and ports that were giving me trouble?
It's almost like it had to get knocked down to USB 2.0 to recognize the device and deliver the proper amount of current for the amps to drive the headphones without clipping. Though I did check in the sytem report and it shows 500MA both times.
Still a mystery.
But I do like the sound of the M4. Though I wish it had more juice on the heaphones.
My 55 ohm AKG K240 need the knob up to 90% when I'm in Logic.
I'm sure when I get my DT770s which are 250 ohm they will be a non starter.

It is kinda weird that MOTU supplies an A/C cable instead of a C/C cable. Wonder what is up with that.

[mikehalloran]

But I do like the sound of the M4. Though I wish it had more juice on the heaphones.
My 55 ohm AKG K240 need the knob up to 90% when I'm in Logic.
I'm sure when I get my DT770s which are 250 ohm they will be a non starter.

No problem here with various Sony headphones but some cans do require more output than others. This is my favorite small, inexpensive headphone amplifier for solving such problems — nothing fancy, up to 4 pairs, each with a volume control. Extremely quiet, too (unlike others I have owned)
https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detai ... -amplifier

It is kinda weird that MOTU supplies an A/C cable instead of a C/C cable. Wonder what is up with that.

?!?! Can’t say I’ve seen that. Are in the USA or do you buy from one of MOTU’s foreign distributors?

[Joachip]

Brand new MOTU UltraLite mk5 works perfectly… until it does not. All of a sudden, the sound gets crazy with high pitch distorted peaks. I change the sample rate from 96K to 44K and the audio becomes normal again. Then switch back to 96K and the audio remains normal. (It does not seem to the be a problem with the actual rate that is used.)

Just chiming in to say that I have the exact same problem here with a Motu 16A on a Windows 10 pro 64bit install. (My machine should be adequate, I would believe: AMD 5900X, 32 GB ram, RTX 3070 gfx card.)

I sort of doubt that this is due to a faulty USB cable, considering that changing the sample rate or buffer size always fixes it. My suspicion is that if there's some sort of spike in CPU usage, the computer and audio interface come out of sync, causing the metallic distorted result... until we change sample rate or buffer size, which then apparently forces the driver to resynchronize.

Considering that we hear exactly the same thing, and we do exactly the same thing to resolve it, it seems that this problem exists on both Mac and Windows.

I've just updated my driver from 4.0.8.9612 to 4.0.9.0067, and will report back if the problem goes away. There was no new firmware update for my interface.

[Joachip]

.... And i'm back with bad news. It just glitched out again. This time while playing youtube in firefox.

I guess the new driver didn't do the trick. The change-log didn't mention anything relevant, so I'm not that surprised.

I have a suspicion that on Windows it happens mostly if WaveOut/MME is involved, not if you stick to ASIO only. But I'm not sure. And obviously things will be different for you Mac users. Such a shame because apart from this sporadic problem I really like the 16A card a lot.

[Calagan]

Hi there

Any update regarding the issue ?

I have similar issues with my Ultralite since I started to use it on my M1 pro macbook, more than one year ago.

After almost one year of discussion with the MOTU support, I finally sent it back, but the MOTU technical team didn't find any problem with the interface.
I don't have more details, but my laptop is working fine with pretty much anything else, so I suspect an issue with some Motu interfaces and the ARM Apple machines... There's too much people having the same issues with the same computers.

I'd be glad to have some update about all the cases here, to see if anybody did find a fix...

My specs : M1 pro 16 inches macbook pro (2021 model) / OS 12.6.8 / Ableton Live 11.3.2
Driver Version: 93305 (last version at the date of this post)
Firmware version: 1.2 (last version at the date of this post)