AVB Interfaces Losing Sync with Browser Mixer

[oneway]

I’ve been generally happy about my two AVB interfaces I’ve had over the last year. An 828es with my Intel Mac Pro and an 8A with my Mac Studio M1 Ultra. I’ve noticed both of them exhibited an issue:

I don’t power down my studio computers. If I leave the interface on and my computer on for days at a time, eventually the browser mixer stops showing activity in meters and none of the buttons/sliders work (in the browser mixer only). The routing page shows the correct activity but it doesn’t help me mute/unmute things and change channel strip settings.

Now here’s the weird thing: if I leave a web browser open on the mixer page- I can leave my computer on for weeks and it never de-synchronizes.

Firmware is the latest, it doesn’t matter what browser I use (Firefox, Safari, Chrome, etc) and all the usual stuff was checked by support. Disks aren’t sleeping, my computer isn’t going idle, etc. Unfortunately when we drilled down towards the real issue, support stopped responding to my ticket. I’m presuming they had to escalate it and are waiting on someone else’s thoughts.

Has anyone seen this before?

[EMRR]

I’ve always seen variations, far more since moving the the Studio last year. I vary rarely see meters for instance. More common now to have it freeze and not show some changes, while showing others. I’m finding a need to close it and reopen in a new browser window to discover mysterious behaviors.

[oneway]

Interesting. Well, something you can try is having a second desktop open with the macOS Spaces feature and just leaving the Pro Audio Control mixer on it open in Firefox or something that's not your normal browser so you never accidentally close it.

It's still odd that support told me they were unaware of any issues with the Pro Audio Control mixer, since it sounds like you're mentioning the same issue.

[HCMarkus]

During sessions, I run the AVB Mixer on an iPad, so focus is never an issue. I can make immediate/simultanous adjustments on the iPad and DAW.

I had issues with AVB Meters missing, but the last firmware update (some time back) took care of that for me IIRC.

I re-boot and shut down daily. After re-boot, the iPad usually needs to re-find the AVB Mixer; on rare occasions, my 828es' IP Address doesn't change, and we're rolling immediately on the iPad.

[oneway]

That’s probably the way they test these things HCMarkus. It’s good to know, but it doesn’t make for a compelling reason to change the way my studio runs. Hopefully support will respond and I’ll just leave the Pro Audio Control window open on another screen in the meantime.

[HCMarkus]

I’ll just leave the Pro Audio Control window open on another screen in the meantime.

Sounds like a fairly painless workaround... glad you found it.

[oneway]

Also another note that hints at whatever the true cause is-

Even I turn my computer off, if I leave the interface running for a while and then start my computer up the Pro Audio Control mixer will be unable to communicate changes with it.

In the absence of constant contact with the Pro Audio Control mixer, the issue seems to be more about the interface staying on than the computer.

[HCMarkus]

One thought: after the interface is powered off, it usually gets a new IP Address when powered back on.

[oneway]

One thought: after the interface is powered off, it usually gets a new IP Address when powered back on.

Not in my experience. I have my Pro Audio Control bookmarked as its IP address and it always finds it.

So far MOTU support/engineering has been helping but they're stumped and we're mostly going in circles. ("What firmware version are you on", "Does a different browser help", "Is it ventilated", "Is it plugged in")

Anybody else seen something like this aside from me and EMRR?

[EMRR]

Those who work for MOTU have lost track of the fact they basically replaced my several year old 16A and Monitor 8 over misbehaviors related to this back around 2017-2108. At the time they guessed it was something to do with them being the earliest units having started with the earliest firmware version, and it did get a bit better, but it’s been whackado again since I moved to the Mac Studio…..which works much better via USB, extremely hit or miss with every TB cable and TB/USBC adapter I’ve tried….TB frequently has audio glitches, yet I can put the same units and cables back on the TB native iMac and it runs fine.

I can hit mutes or move faders in the mixer sometimes with no apparent effect. Close the browser, request a new one from Discovery, and finally see a visual update of how it’s actually set. Recover the ability to make perceived changes. I think it’s actually been many months since I’ve seen the level meters in the mixer. I have not exhaustively compared browsers in awhile, should do that again.

I do shutdown completely. I’d guess 70% of the time the browser windows come back up with functionality, but i always look for lack of responsiveness right away, and cycle the windows if needed. Sometimes they just don’t load, or report an incorrect address.

[James Steele]

This may neither be here nor there, but there's a browser called Pipper I discovered that can be useful with working with the AVB Mixer. It will stay on top if you set it that way.

https://www.motunation.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=72632

That said, I ended up getting an iPad specifically for my studio that I use with Avid Control and also the MOTU AVBDiscovery iOS app. The latter seems to be more robust than using a generic web browser.

[oneway]

Thanks for the recommendation of Pipper! The mixer on an alternate desktop seems good enough for the amount of adjustments I make during a session but it's good to know this is out there.

The iPad AVB app is rather old and hasn't seen an update in a while. I tried using it for a while and found it rather unstable and buggy.

[James Steele]

The iPad AVB app is rather old and hasn't seen an update in a while. I tried using it for a while and found it rather unstable and buggy.

Hmmm... I guess it depends what you're using it for. I mostly use it to mute/unmute analog inputs on my 24Ai for external synth modules and works well enough. This seems to illustrate the ever increasing influence of the YMMV (Your Mileage May Vary) factor. I have few issues at all with the MOTU AVB Discovery app, although yes, it is long in tooth. Five years.

https://apps.apple.com/us/app/motu-avb- ... d892558414

[oneway]

I thought I would post back here with an update. After more troubleshooting with MOTU, the issue occurs:

• on multiple Macs (Intel and Apple Silicon)
• in multiple browsers (Safari and Firefox)
• with multiple protocols (Thunderbolt and USB)
• using multiple interfaces (8A and two 828es units)
• in both mixer pages (Mixer and Touch Console)

MOTU said given the evidence they'll begin trying to test this in-house by leaving some interfaces on for a few days.

[oneway]

Also, when one of my three interfaces stops communicating with Pro Audio Control, it also stops communicating with the AVB Mixer on iOS as well.

Are me and EMRR the only people this happens to?