Motu traveller mk1 - no audio at high bitrates

Moderator: James Steele

Forum rules
Discussion related to installation, configuration and use of MOTU hardware such as MIDI interfaces, audio interfaces, etc. for Mac OSX
Post Reply
bleep
Posts: 7
Joined: Sun Mar 12, 2023 1:59 am
Primary DAW OS: MacOS

Motu traveller mk1 - no audio at high bitrates

Post by bleep »

Hi, I have recently purchased a second hand traveller mk1 which I have running on a MacBook via an adapter chain (ending with Thunderbolt 3) (macOS Monterey).

It works fine on 44.1 hz, but when I bump the resolution up to the higher values, the audio just cuts out.

I’m using the drivers listed for the traveller mk3. And have the settings on the machine set to defaults.

This is my first pro grade audio interface, so I have minimal knowledge about this kind of machine.

I’m not sure what’s causing the problem. Could anyone advise?

Cheers
User avatar
mikehalloran
Posts: 15334
Joined: Sun Jan 25, 2009 5:08 pm
Primary DAW OS: MacOS
Location: Sillie Con Valley

Re: Motu traveller mk1 - no audio at high bitrates

Post by mikehalloran »

Not quite enough info to even begin guessing.

What is your MacOS? What is the desired sample rate and how are you setting it? If from your DAW, what is it?

Searching for Sample in the manual shows 197 listings.

https://cdn-data.motu.com/manuals/fire ... al_Mac.pdf
DP 11.31; 828mkII FW, micro lite, M4, MTP/AV USB Firmware 2.0.1
2023 Mac Studio M2 8TB, 192GB RAM, OS Sonoma 14.5 b4, USB4 8TB external, M-Audio AIR 192|14, Mackie ProFxv3 6/10/12; 2012 MBPs Catalina, Mojave
IK-NI-Izotope-PSP-Garritan-Antares, LogicPro X, Finale 27.4, Dorico 5.2, Notion 6, Overture 5, TwistedWave, DSP-Q 5, SmartScore64 Pro, Toast 20 Pro
bleep
Posts: 7
Joined: Sun Mar 12, 2023 1:59 am
Primary DAW OS: MacOS

Re: Motu traveller mk1 - no audio at high bitrates

Post by bleep »

Thanks for your reply and the link. I’ll give it a read.

It’s a head scratcher this one. I was hoping that it was a common problem and people knew about it.

It’s macOS12 Monterey. And I’m selecting the bitrate in the Motu setup app in macOS. It’ll work for 44.1, 48 kHz (maybe one higher) and then the audio will cut when I go higher than that. (And won’t work again till I restart the computer and the sound card). The lights on the front panel of the unit do show the change when it’s triggered.

Ideally I’d like to be able to choose whichever high res bitrate I wish.

Is it possible that there’s a hardware fault?

Could it be that the software on the system crashes the card because system apps and google chrome will not provide bitrates this high?
bleep
Posts: 7
Joined: Sun Mar 12, 2023 1:59 am
Primary DAW OS: MacOS

Re: Motu traveller mk1 - no audio at high bitrates

Post by bleep »

And I’m using Ableton Live.
User avatar
mikehalloran
Posts: 15334
Joined: Sun Jan 25, 2009 5:08 pm
Primary DAW OS: MacOS
Location: Sillie Con Valley

Re: Motu traveller mk1 - no audio at high bitrates

Post by mikehalloran »

Your answer isn’t quite as complete as I would have liked but start with the manual. Searchable PDFs are your friend right now.

If you’ve not reset the unit to factory default yourself, do that first—don’t take someone else’s word that it was done.

You are using external power, yes? The FW bus power spec is 24–27V and one of the Apple adapters passes only 7V.
DP 11.31; 828mkII FW, micro lite, M4, MTP/AV USB Firmware 2.0.1
2023 Mac Studio M2 8TB, 192GB RAM, OS Sonoma 14.5 b4, USB4 8TB external, M-Audio AIR 192|14, Mackie ProFxv3 6/10/12; 2012 MBPs Catalina, Mojave
IK-NI-Izotope-PSP-Garritan-Antares, LogicPro X, Finale 27.4, Dorico 5.2, Notion 6, Overture 5, TwistedWave, DSP-Q 5, SmartScore64 Pro, Toast 20 Pro
User avatar
HCMarkus
Posts: 9799
Joined: Tue Jan 10, 2006 9:01 am
Primary DAW OS: MacOS
Location: Rancho Bohemia, California
Contact:

Re: Motu traveller mk1 - no audio at high bitrates

Post by HCMarkus »

From Sound on Sound:
The Traveler can be powered solely by the Firewire connection to the host computer, but only if a six-pin Firewire connector is used at the computer end — miniature four-pin connectors won't work.
48k is the standard for most these days, broadcast included.

Just sayin'.
HC Markus
M1 Mac Studio Ultra • 64GB RAM • 828es • macOS 13.6.4 • DP 11.31
bleep
Posts: 7
Joined: Sun Mar 12, 2023 1:59 am
Primary DAW OS: MacOS

Re: Motu traveller mk1 - no audio at high bitrates

Post by bleep »

mikehalloran wrote: Fri Apr 07, 2023 11:25 am Your answer isn’t quite as complete as I would have liked but start with the manual. Searchable PDFs are your friend right now.

If you’ve not reset the unit to factory default yourself, do that first—don’t take someone else’s word that it was done.

You are using external power, yes? The FW bus power spec is 24–27V and one of the Apple adapters passes only 7V.
Hi there! External power, check. Factory defaults, check.

I’ll do some more experimenting with it, cheers
bleep
Posts: 7
Joined: Sun Mar 12, 2023 1:59 am
Primary DAW OS: MacOS

Re: Motu traveller mk1 - no audio at high bitrates

Post by bleep »

HCMarkus wrote: Fri Apr 07, 2023 11:40 am From Sound on Sound:
The Traveler can be powered solely by the Firewire connection to the host computer, but only if a six-pin Firewire connector is used at the computer end — miniature four-pin connectors won't work.
48k is the standard for most these days, broadcast included.

Just sayin'.
For the record; I don’t feel too hard done by with this. Just looking to try the higher bitrates if I can.
bleep
Posts: 7
Joined: Sun Mar 12, 2023 1:59 am
Primary DAW OS: MacOS

Re: Motu traveller mk1 - no audio at high bitrates

Post by bleep »

After a sleep, I’ve managed to find a way to get the high res settings to work.

Word Out needs to be set to system clock, and restart the system. Then it seems to work without troubles.
Post Reply