Extremely unhappy with the state of Motu and MIDI

[chrispick]

Originally posted by chrispick:

Originally posted by studiostuff:

Originally posted by chrispick:

Actually, I thought your response was presumptuous, condescending and kind of mean-spirited.
That doesn't make the situation any better.

Chris... Good eye! I wasn't trying to make it better.

Most of the folks I work for don't want to know why they can't have what they are paying me for.

They also don't want to know what kind of day I am having.

I don't come here and berate you all for being so nice and patient... why find fault with me when I treat him like I would treat any other pro?

He really is going to be SO FIRED if he can't play the notes on the page after the leader says, "One, Two, Ready? Play!"

Why raise his expectations?

I'd be happy to hear what the actual manifistation of the problem appears to be and what gear he has and what he has tried to fix the problems...

But if he's gonna ask to be treated like a pro... then, I'm happy to treat him like a pro.

Can't fix it? Can't deliver? You're fired! How's that for pro?

I don't think it's helping him with his many problems to say;

"Wow... that's too bad and I'm sorry you can't fix it. Tough break. It's unlucky for you that I need this work I had hired you to provide me... I'm really upset on a personal level to have to say this to you, you seem like a nice guy... But I am going to have to hire someone else to do your work. And it's unlikely that I will have an opportunity to use your services in the future, since I too am under serious deadline pressure. I really hope you understand... Have a nice day!"

Is a little pat on the ass like that what you soft spoken types had in mind for him?

No. Just courtesy. That's a professional trait. For someone who keeps citing "pro" acumen, you continue to display so very little of it yourself (is this how you talk to and treat colleagues on the job?)

Whatever. Free country. Post what you like. In the end, it's all vapor-text. If it's the low road you want to take, your prerogative.

I offered what little help I could to bradswan. I'm cool with that.

<small>[ April 22, 2005, 01:50 PM: Message edited by: chrispick ]</small>

[Timeline]

Maybe these will help you flamers

http://www.under-tec.com/index.php

[sdfalk]

Just for the heck of it I decided to try and duplicate the stuck
note problem I keep hearing about on this forum.
My basic equipment is listed.
I usually just plug my M-Audio Keystation Pro directly into
its' own USB port.
I have no MIDI problems to speak of.
No dropped or stuck notes, no timing problems, nothing.
I decided to grab my Motu Micro Express USB MIDI interface
and throw that into the mix as well as a Yamaha CS2X I have
not used in a while.
The MicorExpress went into Port 1 of my 4 port hub.
Both the Yamaha CS2X and The M-Audio Keyboard went into the
MicroExpress.
No problems so far.
I plugged in my Ipod Shuffle into a free port..still no troubles.
Plugged in my M-Box and ..stuck notes and crappy timing
abound.
Pulled the M-Box out of the equation and everything had still
gone to hell.
Quit and restarted DP, still problems.
Rebooted the computer, and everything was back to normal.
It certainly seems USB bandwidth is an issue..(as unscientific as
this test was)
I was easily able to repeat this.
Pros blame their tools all the time (except it seems for
studiostuff)
However they also take a deep breath and try to logically track
down the problem with their tools.
Whether that be cables, software, plugins or whatever.
I realize that's not always possible to do with software but with
a decent plugin manager, and taking some time say the day
before the gig, you might be able to establish what plugins/VIs
you need (for a specific job) and disable the rest.
Same thing with extraneous hardware that might take up
precious bandwidth.
If this all appears to be fairly obvious, my apologies.
When frustrated I know I've passed over the obvious before.
You should consider listing your setup though.

Good luck

[bradswan]

My apologies to everyone for not posting set up.
G4 dual 1ghz, DP 4.52, MTP-AV, stylus, Mach V.
Meant no offense to anyone, especially Motu.
Thanks

[sdfalk]

I don't think you offended anyone.
It can be frustrating, no question.

[bradswan]

My intial post sounds more over the top than I meant and quite frankly I'm not that angry. I will try not to incite so much ire with my future posts. I have tried all of the work arounds and fixes with no results. I do appreciate more ideas an input...I'm going to have to resolve this one way or the other.

Thanks

[melodesiac420]

Hey Brad...

My setup is similar to yours and I can not get my MIDI working correctly as well.

1.2 GHz G4, MTP AV (usb), E-Mu Proteus 2000, Roland JP-8000, Stylus RMX, Yamaha 03D, M-Audio Firewire Solo

Since upgrading to DP 4.5, then 4.52, my MIDI has not worked correctly. I have tried everything from uninstalling and re-installing DP, rerunning all my MIDI cables, checking all my MIDI settings in my audio/MIDI setup, checking all the MIDI settings in the JP-8000 and so on and so forth. To my avail, nothing has worked! I've got thousands of dollars worth of MIDI devices that are pretty much rendered useless. I AM VERY FRUSTRATED!

I hope MOTU is feverishly working on this matter. (I'm sure they are.) I have always been one of MOTU's biggest fans and supporters, however, learning new software seems to be almost unavoidable for me. If there's not a patch within the next week or two, I'm going to ante up and start learning some new software.

I feel as if I've purchased a brand new car and the engine blew up pulling out of the dealership! And now the dealership doesn't know how to fix it! What gives?? What gives??

[amplidood]

Brad, your initial post was fine. There is no problem in being frustrated with something that has worked great for a loooong time and now all of a sudden doesn't. I have the exact same setup as you, but the only problem I've been having is going back and forth between 9 and X. I use 9 for programming, X for mixing. Is there any way you could get your hands on a Fastlane or some other MIDI interface? My suspicions kindof point me in that direction, since all the other elements are a bit more proven.

I use 9 for programming since it gives me half my CPU power back. I get sick of printing every part to audio as I go, ESPECIALLY when working on songwriter demos or with extremely picky artists.

And yes, I can believe you are a pro even tho you are experiencing frustrating problems. My experience tells me that the vast majority of people who attack your professionalism are no pros themselves. It just makes them feel as though they are.

[bradswan]

Hey melodesiac420 thanks for chiming in, you expressed what I have been feeling perfectly. And ampldood great suggestion. I do have another MIDI device I can try. That is something I havn't ruled out yet. I will report back ASAP with my results.

Thanks again for everyone's input.

[bradswan]

Hey melodesiac420 thanks for chiming in, you expressed what I have been feeling perfectly. And ampldood great suggestion. I do have another MIDI device I can try. That is something I havn't ruled out yet. I will report back ASAP with my results.

Thanks again for everyone's input.

[cwhite]

Hey Brad,

I thought your post was fine--frustrated, but without going totally ballistic. I actually chuckled. Been there myself.

My setup is identical to yours (down to the G4 dual-gig), and I have the same problem. You don't happen to have HUI selected as a control surface, do you? I found that removing it solved my MIDI problems (but I was left without a control surface). I concluded that just selecting the HUI in DP launched too much MIDI spice down the USB chute (technical terms, to be sure). I could actually make MIDI notes stall at will by hitting bank-select on the HUI repeatedly (apparently launching copious amounts of MIDI data down said USB chute).

It didn't solve the problem to remove the actual HUI from the MTP-AV. I had to de-select it in DP.

Best of luck.

[Kevin Kliesch]

bradswan - If you live in the Los Angeles area, I have the name of a MOTU rep who will come to your house.

[jimjacobsen]

Not sure why, but I just read this whole thread. Original post had little to do with all the heat generated. Unsual flamery for Unicornation. I tend to come down on the let's be polite and help one another out side of the argument. What's the pt. of berating someone? We have all had our undies abundle over some tech probs at one time or another; a little empathy is not "unprofessional".

[m2]

Wow, this got mean FAST!
Well I have had a host of problems more with audio and DP not seeing audio interfaces with out rebooting yadda yadda. But my first serious bout of "bad" MIDI - stuck notes, notes not playing back etc. has just cropped up big time. After doing the whole sussing it out deal it turns out - and this has been known by other studios out there using the same setup- that the MOTU MIDI interfaces [oddly the one type of hardware that they started with all those years ago] is the known problem in the rig.
I have one ExpressXT interface from the G5 that works fine[most of the time]. BUT, I have another new Express XT that is connected to a PC for the sole purpose of handling MIDI to GIGAStudio3. That, as it turns out is a kluge-fest . The folks at Tascam tell me they have had lots of problems in that config with the MOTU interfaces. They said the bullet fix is to get a midiman piece for the PC. Who knew? Another MIDI interface might be a solution to our friends problems. Regardless of his standing in the music community, a bad day in the studio is a bad day. So maybe this will be of some help.

[bradswan]

Kevin, yes I do live in the LA area . Can you tell me how to contact him.
thanks.