URGENT: Losing audio through Ultralite MK4 (RESOLVED?)

[joelfriedman]

Hi people.

I'm in a BIG pickle. I'm teaching a large online class tomorrow and I'm plagued by losing audio coming through my Ultralite MK4. It just worked flawlessly without the motu interface.Details:
iMac Pro (2017) OS 11.6.3
latest Motu driver Mac 2.0.0+90114
The problem is consistent whether I'm playing audio (or video) through Finder, Safari (e.g. YouTube) or within my Keynote deck.
Since I'm teaching I don't know about DP or Sibelius - that's not an issue. I know it works without the audio face and doesn't (consistency) with it.
Audio usually works the 1st time, but will not work the 2nd time, whether it's the same file or the next one. Whether I click on it in Finder, Keynote, Safari.... I hear little click and then total drop out.
The only way I can get it back is If I click off the file and click on a window, another file, or go to another app and then come back to it, but the same loss repeats.
it' a disaster. I can't teach a class through Zoom tomorrow with constant dropouts
It WILL work without the MK4 interface and driver!!

I have not seen anything anywhere reported as a problem. Has anyone? Is there a solution?

I have:
Restarted
Shut down
Cold restart
Reinstalled the latest Motu driver Mac 2.0.0+90114
Zapped PRAM
Reset SMC

I've been so under-the-gun prepping for class that now I am screwed - MOTU is closed and not open tomorrow.

Any help?

Thanks,

Desperate Joel

[joelfriedman]

Just reinstalled the driver and it again it started working at first. But soon it came back. It's not as consistently bad (yet) since I just reinstalled and restarted, but it's probably heading there. Noticing that I have a bit of a sticky keyboard and that it often happens when I hit the down button to advance to the next build in Keynote I wondered if it was something with my space grey wireless keyboard, so I swapped it out. Nope. Now I'm typing on an old corded USB keyboard and it too sometimes causes the problem.

[Dodo Dinkel]

I have exactly the same problem with my Ultralite MK4. It started after I installed macOS Monterey. Audio cracks, drops out or stutters – especially during streaming as YouTube but also while using apps as FinalCut Pro or Ableton Live.

[joelfriedman]

I had that too, specifically related to YouTube. But it seemed to go away with OS 11x. This I haven’t had. But running sound through the Mac definitely cleared it up and screws me as I need the higher quality output of audio and the use of my N1A mic to do this properly. It has always worked… until the last few weeks. Sadly I’ve been so focused on creating and formation the class and slide deck - and I didn’t run into anyone saying they had the same problem - that I didn’t contact MOTU when I could have. Barely finished today’s presentation. Talked to apple last night and as soon as I ran things through system audio they said “not us, can’t help you.” I’m left with being superstitious and zapping and rebooting and hoping for today. The issue is I have a slides with a complicated builds - multiple images, video, multiple audio - and if the sound doesn’t work I basically have to stop , take Keynote off Play, probably unshare my screen, show all of my details, resume screen sharing … a fookin’ mess and time waster (not to mention distraction that I’m constantly looking over my shoulder expecting…). Ugh


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Dodo Dinkel]

I really hope that someone finds out what the problem might be. It must have to do with thunderbolt management or something like that. I wish you all the best for your presentation. Couldn't you use another system (computer and/or interface)?

[joelfriedman]

I reinstalled the driver, restarted, re-zapped the PRAM, restarted once more and prayed. It held for class yesterday. It's back today. I'm going to draft something to MOTU (Update: just posted to MOTU).

[Dodo Dinkel]

Audio usually works the 1st time, but will not work the 2nd time, whether it's the same file or the next one. Whether I click on it in Finder, Keynote, Safari.... I hear little click and then total drop out.
The only way I can get it back is If I click off the file and click on a window, another file, or go to another app and then come back to it, but the same loss repeats.

It's exactly that!

[mikehalloran]

May be barking up the wrong tree. Zapping the NV RAM and resetting the SMC will not help.

What audio drivers do you have installed besides MOTU? Zoom? Soundflower? Blackhole? Anything else? BTW, Toast still installs Soundflower even though the code is depreciated.

I have the same thing going on when I do screen recording or if I use the Zoom driver (which I try to avoid). I open the System Preferences/Sound control panel and move it to one of my side monitors. There, I watch the MacOS switch drivers on me (to Soundflower) and the sound goes away. Knowing that it will happen, I begin my session, watch it change, then I manually switch back to the one I need. It works through the end of whatever session I have going on. Next session, I do this again.

This behavior is new in Monterey.

I don't know if I have time to do a screen recording today so you can see what I'm seeing.

[joelfriedman]

Hi Mike!

Thanks for the reply. I do have a number of items listed under sound output: my 2nd Dell monitory, yes BlackHole, iMacPro speakers, the UltraLite, and a multi-Output Device. BUT... it never moves from anything but the ultra lite. I always have it open as well, and I have yet to see it ever set to anything else. It has also done most of its "dying" when Zoom is neither open nor active. I'm judging a competition and clicked on an audio sample and... silence. This is within Safari. Of course you're right about zapping, it was probably the restart the re-activated it. I guess I was thinking of "clearing the system out." But, as I said that only lasts for so long. The AMAZING thing is it did not conk out on my while teaching for 90 minutes. THAT'S interesting as Zoom is set to the UltraLite and somehow it worked. Apple, of course, says it's not there problem, and maybe they're right (it seemed to work flawlessly via the iMacPro speakers, not using the MOTO driver). We shall see what Motu says...

Best,

Joel

[joelfriedman]

No resolution

I received a reply from Matt at MOTU 3 days ago. His fix did not work. I've listed a number of detailed responses - what doesn't work, etc. - but have not heard back from him. My next class is Saturday and I'm guessing that I will have to hope and pray that I get through without a technical meltdown. Here's his suggestion (which, again, did not work):

Thanks for connecting with us - I'm sorry to see you're running into this issue. To start, I'd like to remove the MOTU driver from the equation and run the ULmk4 in USB class compliant mode to see if this makes a difference:

Turn off your ULmk4

Open a Finder window and go to Applications. Move "MOTU Pro Audio System Extension" to the Trash. Also, go to Macintosh HD > Library > Extensions. If you have a MOTU Pro Audio.kext file, move that to the Trash as well.

Once you've done that, empty the Trash

Restart your computer

Please let me know what comes of this test.

Best,
Matt - MOTU

[joelfriedman]

The latest is: no conclusion. I think they thought this was more related to (the evil) Spotify, since I mentioned it was a problem and I'm temporarily using it for a specific competition I'm judging. But, they can't duplicate the odd behavior. I went through changing USB cables, ports, putting it directly into the iMac Pro, putting it into the hub (it always *was* directly into the port), trying it on my 13" MBP M1 (but since it's USB through an Anker 6-in-1 hub), etc. etc. I *still* get losing audio when moving between Finder, Apple Music, YouTube, most importantly - my Keynote deck, and Spotify. Usually with use, meaning if the system is up and running for a while it happens more often. I've also noticed 2 other things: 1. it often happens if I click the same link/file more than once (play-stop), 2. When it cuts out rotating to another app/source will often make it responsive, however, if I'm doing something like like typing this I will hear the click in the background as it seems to reset itself all by itself.

My uneducated guess is it's an issue with either the OS or their driver, but what do I know. I reminds me of how 2-3 years ago I had the issue with YouTube that audio was metallic-clipped-distorted. Sometimes it worked with a restart, but it went away with someone updating something (Apple +/or MOTU).

If you are experiencing anything like this PLEASE contact MOTU and ask for Matt Batson.

Best,

Joel

[Dodo Dinkel]

That's bad news. I tried to run the MOTU class compliant as you wrote. And I installed the new Monterey update. But the problem still occurs and MOTU support didn't write back for a week or longer. I don't know what to do. Waiting? Buying another interface?

[joelfriedman]

Matt is hanging in there, but still can't replicate. He's asked me to do some screen caps/movies of the behavior, which I will do once I'm done with my next class.

You might try opening a TechLink, r update yours, and mention Matt and me, so it's not just ME.

[joelfriedman]

MOTU has just released an updated driver yesterday for MOTU Pro Audio gear! No idea if it is connected to my problems, but let's hope it helps!

[joelfriedman]

Realized I never followed up on this. When MOTU released new drivers it *did* sort of solve the issue. I say sort of because it wasn't 100%. But it's been far better. So it does seem like it was an issue with their driver. On the other hand... my older gremlin of audio becoming distorted and metallic *has* sporadically returned with the recent Mac OS update. It's been pretty stable this week, so maybe it's going away, but I also haven't been pushing audio much at all - no Sibelius, no DP as I'm teaching. This audio weirdness has plagued my iMac Pro since I bought it in 2018. Usually after some usage with audio apps it will suddenly appear - kind of a digital/metallic clipping sound. A restart fixes it until it happens again. I've just learned to live with it (likening NotePerformer instead of Sibelius Sounds as SS kept crapping out). Maybe it will all "magically disappear" next year when I get a Mac Studio!

Best,

Joel