Dropouts on MacBook with 828 mk3

[Thomas Mannes]

Hi ,

When I use the 828 mk3 with my white MacBook , I recognize Audio Dropouts from time to time.
This is very annoying.
It´s not a buffer thing or a cpu overload , it happens with the largest available buffer size and Ableton Live e.g. shows a cpu activity of 7 %.
I´ve already disabled airport and other stuff like screensaver and energy options an so on , and the internal FX of cuemix are disabled as well.
The same behaviour when I use Logic Pro.

I would appreciate any suggestions.

Thanks , Thomas.

[thescientist13]

what kind of macbook do you have? I'm looking at getting one of the early '08 macbooks and an 828 mk3 but have been concerned about how compatable the firewire chipset is.

[williamm]

Thomas,

Check this post for a workaround for one possible cause of dropouts:

http://www.motunation.com/forum/viewtop ... ts#p265954

I believe that there are at least two classes of dropouts presently affecting MOTU interfaces, those resulting from MOTU software drivers losing input data from the interface (not fatal, but ruins the recording), and those resulting from MOTU software drivers sending bad commands to the interface (fatal, in that recording is ruined and the interface must be powered down to recover). For some reason, MOTU doesn't seem to be too alarmed by this. Most posts on this forum regarding dropouts are for computers far more powerful than my old G4 Cube, which has never had this problem, so it's not a question of memory size or processor bandwidth.

Regards,

[woodshedder]

Mine drops out so often that it makes me nuts! And what makes me more nuts, is the digital feedback aka high pitched beeps in random outputs!!

I bought mine second hand and registering a used Motu is a Bitch. After reading this forum and finding out that the digital feedback plus dropouts, I wish I had never bought this interface! And outrageous that Motu doesn't seem to do anything about it, not even an announcement that this will be fixed!

[rbellevue@aol.com]

i just stated getting the same thing after a fresh system install
have osx 4.11 duel 1.4gig motu 828
using live, reason, and dp 5.13
everthing was fine for a long time maybe i need an older driver
i just would like to come home from a long day at work(news editor)
and not fight with my mac just print a trac or two befor passing out
tia ross b
myspace.com/rossbyronsmusic

[rbellevue@aol.com]

put in a news systeem at osx 10.4.6 will push it tomorow i'll let you know

[you so swayze]

I am currently experiencing this issue of dropouts during recording and playback with a MOTU 8pre / AudioDesk 2.11 and a MacBook Pro (4 gigs RAM, OSX 10.5.6). EXTREMELY frustrating, esp since MOTU is designed to work with Macs (as I understand it). Seriously fatal flaw that has me wishing I never spent the money on the 8pre. To add salt to the wound, tonight I discovered that my MBP isn't even recognizing the 8pre when I start it up, or run the "Restart Audio Driver" command in AudioDesk.

I will say that MOTU Support has been very good at following up with me on this. But beyond their troubleshooting suggestions, they don't seem to have an explanation either.

[peckapope1]

Hi,
What's the troubleshooting from Motu? Could not find any help on the website regarding this.
I have exactly the same issue with a brand new iMac (3 ghz and 4 gb ram) and the 828mkII and 8 pre (solo or as aggregated device doesnt matter).
Best R

[williamm]

Peckapope,

There has been no troubleshooting from MOTU. My TechLinks on this issue (FireWire dropouts and lockups with Intel MacBook Pro) have all expired. I hope they aren't using their TechLink database to flag those of us who want to help improve the product as novices or troublemakers.

Regards,

-Mark

[kassonica]

Try a new FW cable and different ports.

Mac changed the FW chip and it's not as stable or as good with the one it replaced.

[you so swayze]

UPDATE:

MOTU Support did a great job working with me on this issue. I sent my unit back to them, and they've replaced it with a perfectly functioning new one. I've spent the past two nights working with it, no dropouts, great sound that I was expecting when I bought my original unit, couldn't be happier. Thank you MOTU Support!