Ongoing Ultralite mk 5 issues digital noise on M1max

[James Steele]

*UPDATE*
So MOTU gave me some beta firmware and driver to test. Unit behaved for quite a while, didn't get the bit crushed distorted sound. But after longer testing unit dropped out momentarily and then everything was way delayed like the before. Plus once I had the display not register any changes I was making on the front panel controls, though they were controlling cue mix. I guess I'll try this beta firmware without extension and see what happens....back to the drawing board. Still on Monterey by the way, not Ventura.

That's too bad. I'm glad to see though that they're obviously on the case and working on a solution. I'm using an 828es and don't have any problems other than I have to turn my 828es (connected via TB) off prior to shutting down my Mac Studio or it will frequently restart itself. Turning OFF the 828es before shut down always does the trick. I've reported this to them, so maybe they will have either a firmware or driver update that fixes that.

[chrisdm1978]

*UPDATE*
So MOTU gave me some beta firmware and driver to test. Unit behaved for quite a while, didn't get the bit crushed distorted sound. But after longer testing unit dropped out momentarily and then everything was way delayed like the before. Plus once I had the display not register any changes I was making on the front panel controls, though they were controlling cue mix. I guess I'll try this beta firmware without extension and see what happens....back to the drawing board. Still on Monterey by the way, not Ventura.

That's too bad. I'm glad to see though that they're obviously on the case and working on a solution. I'm using an 828es and don't have any problems other than I have to turn my 828es (connected via TB) off prior to shutting down my Mac Studio or it will frequently restart itself. Turning OFF the 828es before shut down always does the trick. I've reported this to them, so maybe they will have either a firmware or driver update that fixes that.

Thanks for the comment James, yeah it sucks because this unit on paper stood out as the perfect fit for my use case. We’ve been working on it since May, I gave up for a while in the fall, but some users here and elsewhere had reached out to me with same issues. Some of their observations gave me some renewed hope. I hope they solve it…I’d really love to use this unit..but I as of yet I still can’t trust it on a live show, or recording a live show, or with paying clients in studio. I had been using Lynx Aurora 8 for many years with my outboard gear with my old maxed out Mac Pro 5,1. But when apple silicon came around, it was finally time to make a move. I keep the old Pro as a backup server. The M1max kills it especially for 4k workflows with the codecs I typically work with off my Sony A7s3. Thankfully my Focusrite clarett plus 8pre has been rock solid over USB with the M1max and allowed me to keep working, but I had really hoped to use it as an ADAT add on with the ultralite for 16 ins. Though if a buyer for my Ultralite mk5 came along I’d probably move on and just get a Clarett plus octo pre ADAT box to go with the 8pre USB and be done with the whole thing. It’s too bad, the Ultralite sounds great when it works. Converters in the Clarett plus are great too, but I wanted basic DSP for headphone cues. The ultralite could also be quite useful with my iPad Pro on live shows with cubasis running some stems…if I could trust it……

[chrisdm1978]

*UPDATE*
MOTU Released new Driver January 10. Did not solve my problem. Eventually ultralite glitches and everything is delayed. Problem is now I can't remove the driver extension by simply removing it from applications folder like I could before. Spent time messing around in recovery mode using terminal to force delete it out of MacintoshHD/Library/SystemExtensions...could not get it removed. Every time I restart back into Mac OS and fire up the ultralite, in activity monitor you can see the .dext extension running and the that directory and file still exist in Library....what a time suck....all this ridiculous testing and futzing about. Ready to throw the thing across the room lol. Probably work better as a skeet target than as an audio interface.

[chrisdm1978]

*Further update*
Was finally able to get the extension deleted in recovery mode using terminal (PITA) and back to class compliant mode. Played guitar through sim for an hour and a half…no issues. So Jan 10 driver looks like a no go in Monterey anyway. I’m documenting this for anyone else having issues.

[Airbusjoerg]

Bummer. Only good that I have not even updated.

[chrisdm1978]

UPDATE....

Installed newest firmware, (released Jan 17, hopefully this fixes random display issues on the unit like freezing, appearing upside down lol) plus some beta drivers MOTU just sent me they say address latency issues. I installed with the driver extension. Eventually I still get the random delayed audio issue. Looks like I'll be deleting the driver extension again. It had been working well without it but I figured I'd try these latest beta drivers. No dice, not stable for me on M1max.

[jeem]

FYI I had EXACTLY the same problem on Mac M1 14", Motu M2.

Uninstalling the drivers completely (as per viewtopic.php?p=598648#p598648) seems to have fixed the problem indeed.

You really must do the "advanced" driver uninstall or it won't work (don't just uninstall the apps like any other app).

However, I now seem the M2 as "Audio Out" in my audio output drop down in both MacOS and Ableton Live. Not a major issue, but was nicer seeing "M2" in the list. Also seem to lose the ability to control volume from the mac's built-in volume controls, which was a nice feature but I guess that requires drivers.

[jeem]

and thanks @chris for doing all these tests, keen to know if this gets fixed so I will check in here as you seem to be our representative on this matter

[chrisdm1978]

FYI I had EXACTLY the same problem on Mac M1 14", Motu M2.

Uninstalling the drivers completely (as per viewtopic.php?p=598648#p598648) seems to have fixed the problem indeed.

You really must do the "advanced" driver uninstall or it won't work (don't just uninstall the apps like any other app).

However, I now seem the M2 as "Audio Out" in my audio output drop down in both MacOS and Ableton Live. Not a major issue, but was nicer seeing "M2" in the list. Also seem to lose the ability to control volume from the mac's built-in volume controls, which was a nice feature but I guess that requires drivers.

Thanks for the comment. Yes I did have to kill the the previous driver the hard way using terminal in recovery mode. With this most recent driver I was able to just move the extension in applications to the trash and do a restart. Then look in those library folders and they are indeed removed by that action. But The driver before I had to kill it using terminal. So far I've been using the ultralite successfully with extension removed again. MOTU are still looking into it. What a ride.

[niharsavala]

FYI I had EXACTLY the same problem on Mac M1 14", Motu M2.

Uninstalling the drivers completely (as per https://www.motunation.com/forum/viewto ... 48#p598648) seems to have fixed the problem indeed.

You really must do the "advanced" driver uninstall or it won't work (don't just uninstall the apps like any other app).

However, I now seem the M2 as "Audio Out" in my audio output drop down in both MacOS and Ableton Live. Not a major issue, but was nicer seeing "M2" in the list. Also seem to lose the ability to control volume from the mac's built-in volume controls, which was a nice feature but I guess that requires drivers.

Thanks for the comment. Yes I did have to kill the the previous driver the hard way using terminal in recovery mode. With this most recent driver I was able to just move the extension in applications to the trash and do a restart. Then look in those library folders and they are indeed removed by that action. But The driver before I had to kill it using terminal. So far I've been using the ultralite successfully with extension removed again. MOTU are still looking into it. What a ride.

Hi Chris,

Am planning to buy the mk5 to go along with the MacStudio M1 Ultra, did you get your issue solved ? I was wondering if the issue still persists, i should look for another interface.

Nihar.

[VitcoMusic]

After experiencing identical problems with my new Ultralite mk5 & Mac Studio Ultra (Monterey), I deleted the MOTU Gen 5 System Extension from the applications folder. I can now record a stereo audio track (via inputs 3&4) without the 300 ms playback delay. Previously, audio I/O timing had to be set anywhere from 8500 to 8900 samples, and always fluctuated. Madness.

Lost now is the ability to select SPDF as a recording source for an audio track in DP. I can live with that.

So far so good. Now working in 'class compliant' mode.

Will report more in detail in a few days.

Dan V.

[Airbusjoerg]

Has there been an improvement here in the meantime? I still don't dare to install the latest drivers and currently use the device in class compliant mode.

[mikehalloran]

Has there been an improvement here in the meantime? I still don't dare to install the latest drivers and currently use the device in class compliant mode.

Ya have to check in now and then. Although the Firmware is unchanged since January, there's a new Mac driver as of June 6, '23.

Besides adding Loopback functionality, CueMix GUI and slightly lowering RTL (round trip latency), I have no idea what the drivers do. The difference in RTL between the MOTU drivers and Core Audio is about the same as moving your head closer to your monitor speakers around 14" or so — do the math using the speed of sound.

Driver Supports
MOTU Gen 5 Installer
Mac v93305 | June 6, 2023
macOS 13, macOS 12, macOS 11, macOS 10.15, macOS 10.14

…

Firmware Supports
UltraLite-mk5 Firmware
1.2.0+2467 | Jan. 17, 2023
For all supported platforms

[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 : glitches and/or half a second delay (depending on the drivers), only while using the inputs.
Asi it is, the unit is not usable as a recording unit. It's stable as a playback unit (I use it like that on stage and I'm using the 10 outputs).

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)

[VitcoMusic]

Ever since I sent the MOTU audio driver to the trash, my Ultralite Mk 5 has been working beautifully in class compliant mode (Mac Studio Ultra/Monterey).

I'm leaving it alone.

Dan V.