UltraLite Mk3 and CueMix FX Problems (other than squeals)

[Dr. Rockzo]

So... I have had my UltraLite for a few weeks (spent one week waiting on TI fw card) and am having some unusual problems. First off I'm using a brand new PC, this UltraLite MK3 is basically the first thing installed on it. I did everything the way I should have. I installed the software first then connected the hardware and everything seemed fine... at first.

I plugged in my guitar to the back, had signal, sounded nice, clean and direct. Looked like I could trim the level back a bit, so I turned the knob on the UltraLite counterclockwise and realized that I can't turn it down from there. Hmm. Ok, no biggie that's why I have CueMix. I pull up CueMix and try from there and my audio goes away. What the heck? I turn it back to 0 and it comes back. I sweep the trim down again and it crackles and pops and no audio. It seems you can find a place where you can get audio below 0 but it is way louder than at 0. What's that about? Anything above 0 works fine.

I think to myself, maybe I could use the PAD to lower the volume then adjust the trim back up to get the level where I want it. I flip the PAD up one notch to the middle position and it didn't do anything. Great. Up one more notch and still at the same volume. It says in the UltraLite maual the XLR/TRS combo jack are able to use the PADS, but it seems they don't work.

Honestly, after seeing all these posts about the problems people are going through with these things, I am not sure I even want to keep the UltraLite. I know these things are a little screwy with Windows but the front panel should at least work. I can't adjust the level lower at all. I haven't even tried the XLR jack yet to see if the 48V works. Am I so stupid that I am missing something?

Any comments would be helpful.

Thanks

[esc8man]

Although the MOTU support has been helpful to me, I too have problems with my Ulttralite mk3. No audio on the PC side. I also have an original Ultralite that runs fine on Windows XP, so it seems specific to the mk3. After driving down to San Jose to replace my new unit with one that had been returned by someone else, I still have the same problems. No audio at all under Windows. After spending 3 days daily with MOTU support, I have tried everything from re-installing the drivers, removing the drivers, swapping FireWire cables, daisy chaining the two units together to editing my registry file. The last comment made to me by support was to try this unit on a new PC. Still, the fact that the original Ultralite (v1.1.5 firmware) runs fine on this machine should mean that the mk3 should also run fine. Bad Quality Assurance? Too quick to rush this unit to market? I'm frustrated, but also have heard nothing from support about any fixes. I hate to return this unit since I had such an awesome time with the original Ultralite. But, at some point this is just a brick...

[Dr. Rockzo]

I am in the same boat. My sales rep said MOTU would be giving me a call sometime today (I am not holding my breath). If they can't help me easily then it's going back ASAP. I still can't believe that you can't adjust the signal lower on the box. It's the things that they don't tell you I guess.

[Dr. Rockzo]

After talking to MOTU, it turns out their manual is wrong and the PAD switch is not usable for the TRS input of the combo jack. As for the gain/trim adjustment you can't go below 0. Even though it looks like you should be able to in Cuemix FX you just can't. If you need to get a lower gain for your input you have to turn down the source. It's to bad they didn't say that on their site or in their ads (I guess they have to sell these things somehow). That is just not going to work for me. As for the squeals everyone seems to be getting they recommended disabling any other sound cards that may be installed on the computer. I hope this info helps someone.