Outbursts of crackles and digital sounding distortion with 8 pre ES

[devinw1]

Hello friends! I've been trying to get help with an issue with MOTU for a couple of weeks and they seemed to have started ignoring my troubleshooting ticket with their system. Very frustrating. Anyway, I've got a pretty much brand new MacBook Pro 16" with the new M1 silicon connected to a MOTU 8 Pre ES interface and also using a Behringer Ultragain Digital with ADAT connection for 8 more I/O.

When I'm recording in Logic Pro X, I will occasionally get little 2-3 second outbursts of nasty sounding crackles with like funky digital sounding distortion. I have attached an example AIF file to this message. When the crackles happen, it's on ALL the channels, both MOTU and on the Ultragain. I've tried switching the clock for the MOTU to both master and slave (slave with the Behringer clock as the source) and it happens in both cases.

Anybody else see this issue and know what I can do? It's absolutely ruined some good takes of my band recording, so it's a huge bummer. I'm almost at the point of selling the interface and going with something else but I'd like to be able to get this to work. I had a PreSonus FireStudio Pro for like 10 years over 3 different MacBooks and never had a single audio glitch so this is pretty weak sauce for a $1200 interface IMO. But, enough complaining lol!

Many thanks for ANY help/guidance you guys can give. Thanks!

[mikehalloran]

Wny isn't your Mac the clock source?

[devinw1]

Wny isn't your Mac the clock source?

It is. I was saying I also tried letting the Ultragain be the clock and set the MOTU to slave because I read somewhere that clock issues can cause problems like this. But, it didn't change it. Now I am back to the Mac being clock source and the Ultragain is completely disconnected from the MOTU and shut off.

[devinw1]

Well, still nothing. MOTU FINALLY got back to me on my help ticket and was like "update the firmware and driver". So I did, which was a pain because you MUST do it over Ethernet and I had to buy a USB-C to ethernet adapter. But, alas I got it done and am now on the newest firmware and driver and everything is the same. Still the same problem.

I'm kind of surprised nobody else has seen this issue. Doesn't seem like I have a very oddball combo (Macbook M1 16" + Logic Pro X + 8 Pre ES), but maybe this particular unit is just bad and I got very unlucky? I'm just wondering if maybe MOTU doesn't fully have a grasp on dialing their drivers in for the new M1 silicon and don't want to admit it yet or haven't realized it yet.. Maybe not though.

Now I've also engaged Sweetwater tech support now since I bought it from them so we'll see if they can help at all but I'm not holding my breath. This is a major bummer though it's screwing up my recording sessions on the regular.

[devinw1]

Perhaps useful update:

I tried to connect the 8preES with a Apple Thunderbolt 2 cable with Apple Thunderbolt 2 to 4 dongle, and one little issue I had is cured. That is that when connected to 8pre ES with USB cables, if i skip ahead on a Youtube clip, the audio would drop out for 1-2 seconds and the video would kind of jitter and then sound would come back. With the on-board audio, this issue was non existent. Now with 8preES connected with T-bolt instead of USB, the issue is also nonexistent.

I will test some more multitrack recording in Logic to see if this also cured the crackle issue.

[Phil O]

I had my 8pre es hooked up to my old apogee rosetta for a while via light pipe. Seems I had similar issues and it took a lot of fussing to get it to work right. There are some clock settings in the control panel (or whatever it's called). If I recall correctly those settings were critical in the setup. Everything is set up differently now, so I can't check it for you. Sorry, but do check those settings.

Your friendly neighborhood Phil

[chrisdm1978]

I'm having the same issue with Ultralite Mk5 running DP11. Most current everything, driver, firmware and dealing with MOTU. 16 inch m1max. I'm a guitar player. Same distorted dropouts, then random latency. I get none of these issues with my Clarett plus 8pre. I spent a ton of time trouble shooting this issue. Different cables, with dock, without dock, on power, on battery power, it's definitely a driver/hardware issue. I get this problem on none of my other interfaces. Only the Ultralite Mk5. They sent me a 2nd unit, it's worse than the first. The 1st unit only had the odd bitt crushed distortion sound randomly, but this 2nd unit then completely breaks up and losses sync and everything is delayed. I'm not really impressed with this interface despite it's impressive specs on paper. It had everything I wanted in an interface, and I intended to use the focsrite as an adat add on. I could run my high end Millennia and UA pres in without a preamp stage. But now thinking to get a refund and simply add an clarett plus octo pre to my 8pre. At least they are stable..even though I lose the DSP for cue, foldback etc. I actually had to get the first unit used because of no stock anywhere, one popped up on Reverb, and I jumped on it. MOTU were good about it and sent the replacement. But the problems are on going. I didn't get issues with the first unit on my old Mac Pro 5,1 on Mojave. I honestly think it's driver issue with apple silicon Macs. But this second unit just loosing sync altogether does not bode well. I guess we'll see what MOTU says. Sure wasted a lot of time trouble shooting this. I see other threads about this issue. Even my Lynx aurora 8 I sold since buying the ultralite and clarett was stable. I sold the lynx as the routing app was 32 bit and no longer supported for their LT USB. I wanted a modern interface with modern specs without spending 4k CAD. Too much to ask I guess. Probably should have just bought the Lynx Aurora N and been done with it.

[devinw1]

I'm having the same issue with Ultralite Mk5 running DP11. Most current everything, driver, firmware and dealing with MOTU. 16 inch m1max. I'm a guitar player. Same distorted dropouts, then random latency. I get none of these issues with my Clarett plus 8pre. I spent a ton of time trouble shooting this issue. Different cables, with dock, without dock, on power, on battery power, it's definitely a driver/hardware issue. I get this problem on none of my other interfaces. Only the Ultralite Mk5. They sent me a 2nd unit, it's worse than the first. The 1st unit only had the odd bitt crushed distortion sound randomly, but this 2nd unit then completely breaks up and losses sync and everything is delayed. I'm not really impressed with this interface despite it's impressive specs on paper. It had everything I wanted in an interface, and I intended to use the focsrite as an adat add on. I could run my high end Millennia and UA pres in without a preamp stage. But now thinking to get a refund and simply add an clarett plus octo pre to my 8pre. At least they are stable..even though I lose the DSP for cue, foldback etc. I actually had to get the first unit used because of no stock anywhere, one popped up on Reverb, and I jumped on it. MOTU were good about it and sent the replacement. But the problems are on going. I didn't get issues with the first unit on my old Mac Pro 5,1 on Mojave. I honestly think it's driver issue with apple silicon Macs. But this second unit just loosing sync altogether does not bode well. I guess we'll see what MOTU says. Sure wasted a lot of time trouble shooting this. I see other threads about this issue. Even my Lynx aurora 8 I sold since buying the ultralite and clarett was stable. I sold the lynx as the routing app was 32 bit and no longer supported for their LT USB. I wanted a modern interface with modern specs without spending 4k CAD. Too much to ask I guess. Probably should have just bought the Lynx Aurora N and been done with it.

I tend to agree with you. I think it's the drivers and something not playing well with the new Apple silicon. Maybe they will figure it out eventually. It's a ridiculous problem to have though. Nobody recording professionally, or otherwise, can have their sound get all f**d up randomly while recording. That's just completley unacceptable.


BTW, as of today I have yet to have a crackles/bitcrush outburst since hooking it up with the Thunderbolt 2 cable with Tbolt 2 to Tbolt 4 Apple dongle... This might just be the solution.

I wrote back on my help ticket with MOTU last week about my experience changinge from USB to Thunderbolt but they didn't write back yet.

[chrisdm1978]

Interesting, for me Ultralite mk 5 is USB only so, thunderbolt no help here. Yes, right now my unit is useless for client work. Thankfully I have another interface, but I'm thinking if they can't sort this to ask for a refund and move on to another brand.

Another interesting thing...Out of the blue one of my musician friends I had recommended an Ultralite mk5 to when they were first released messaged me yesterday saying he is having issues with inputs on his unit. He's on an M1 Mac mini...this surely points to either drivers with apple silicon, or terrible QC if hardware related. I really want this unit for it's features, but if it's not stable then all those features/specs are irrelevant.

[devinw1]

I just recorded over 1.5 hours of band practice last week with 10 mics in and a bunch of plugins and I have listened back to 100% of it and no crackles.

So it seems running it with Thunderbolt instead of USB might be the fix. While this sucks that interfaces like the Ultralite dont have Tbolt input, this should help pinpoint the issue.

It seems like there is something not right with the USB driver/chipset/firmware/communication with the new M1 Macs that MOTU has not fully understood.

[gsmyth313]

I have a MOTU UltraLite AVB and I've been having the exact same issue.

I was excited to see you had found a solution but since I've only got a USB out from my interface I think I'm out of luck.

This really sucks!

[jeem]

I have the same problem with a Macbook pro M1 14", Motu M2. Exact same distortion sound as in the original clip, that appears occasionally and unpredictably, but largely enough to make it unusable for anything serious (and very frustrating).

I keep trying different permutations of cables, power, etc... no success so far. I guess I can try to add some thunderbolt in there somewhere?!?

Madness.

[EMRR]

I'm having something like this recently, several times it's been really bad, like every couple minutes. The bursts will be across all tracks, actually sounds like 1/2-1 second RF breakthrough, but without the alien landing ping-pong portion of that sound.

It's only on the record side, I've never heard it from any source before it hits the 16A or Monitor 8 inputs. It's the sort of sound that could be from something new on a nearby radio tower, or some new heavy equipment in a nearby business, but I'd expect to hear it across more fronts than just post-input, it'd surely be audible somewhere else if it was one of those.

Didn't have this problem the first 3-5 months with the Studio. Connection is 16A -> TB cable -> apple TB/USB-C adapter.

The first thing I eliminated was a 3rd party induction charger connected to the Studio, no difference.
There are (3) T7 drives connected USB-C, those have been there all along, all new with the Studio.

Maybe maybe not related, the Studio has a vastly harder time staying connected to the 16A, sometimes I can change sample rate from DP hardware setup and lose the 16A, have to reboot. I frequently don't see the 16A at startup, and have to reboot. I frequently lose sound from the master output (Monitor and have to re-sync the Monitor 8 to the 16A, or reboot it, or reboot both. In those cases I still have sound from other outputs. Yes, it's latest firmware, everything....which was it's own saga, problems detailed elsewhere here. I tend to want to suspect the introduction of the apple TB/USB-C adapter in the chain, TB direct to the previous iMac never had problems with these same interfaces and cabling. No evidence yet for that suspicion.

Latest - I swapped in a different apple TB/USB-C adapter, recorded 1-1/2 hours of silence, inputs from 16A, inputs from Monitor 8, and one input from a buss source with no audio present. Nothing. Will continue to monitor. If something pops up again, I'll swap the TB cable next.

[EMRR]

4 days after replacing the Apple adapter, no noise bursts. During inactive periods I’ve put the system into record capturing silence to be sure. I’ll keep recording a test track I can visually monitor while making other recordings for awhile going forward. At some point I’ll swap the first adapter back in to see if it comes back.

[EMRR]

Spoke too soon. Still getting it. Doesn’t show up in the waveforms today, nothing visible in the silent test track, but very audible.

New clue - one instance was a microsecond loss of audio across all tracks - a full mute with accompanying sharp crackly edges.

Swapped the TB cable…..