Ultralite MK3 Audio Dropouts followed by High Pitch Noise

[Hnau]

Hi. I'm Vinnie. I'm new to the forum. I've been reading through different posts about the issue of the audio dropping out on these units and a high pitched sound replacing it momentarily, but all of the reading on how to troubleshoot this problem and jumping around from post to post was hurting my head and just confusing me. Did anyone find the definitive solution to this problem yet? I'm not the most software inclined person, so please use small words . I'm running a Toshiba Satellite A 105 Laptop with whatever version of Windows XP they would have installed two and a half years ago, and it has a good amount of RAM (1 gig), and Intel Core 2 Duo. The instructions said that my computer requires a 250 gig harddrive, and mine only has 150 gigs. I can't see that as being the problem, though, or any problem for that matter. I wonder if there are some steps that I can take to clean up my hard drive and my OS so that the computer will function more efficiently. I'm not familiar with forms of hard drive maintanence beyond defrags. I don't know...if anyone can help to keep this simple, it would be tremendously appreciated, but I guess not too much with computers can be simple, can it?

...It is not too late for me to return this unit, BTW...not by a longshot.

[TheRealRoach]

First off, I assume that your system is configured as per MOTU's recommendations (especially with regards to TI firewire chipsets), and is tweaked/streamlined for audio use.

Next, download Thesycon's DPC Latency checker. http://www.thesycon.de/deu/latency_check.shtml
Start it up and then load up your DAW and typical session that exhibits the audio interruptions you mentioned. If the audio interruptions correspond with a visual spike in the read-out of the DPC Latency Checker, then the cause of your problem is likely a background process or driver that is occasionally hogging the system bus. Report back with your observations and we can take it from there.

Also, you should read up on this http://www.motunation.com/forum/viewtop ... ead#unread. It can also cause the issues that you mention, but is unrelated to any DPC-based issues.

[Hnau]

First off, I assume that your system is configured as per MOTU's recommendations (especially with regards to TI firewire chipsets), and is tweaked/streamlined for audio use.

That's actually one of my issues. I'm not sure if the system is configured in such a way. It seems that the only criteria that my PC did not meet was the hard disk size of at least 250 GB. I have the fire-wire port, more than 256 MB ram (1 GB), Windows XP, and better than the Pentium III processor (Core II Duo).

Thanks for the quick response, BTW.

[TheRealRoach]

There is potentially a lot to go through then. I would start here as it is pretty motu/windows-centric:

http://www.motunation.com/forum/viewtop ... 14&t=29010

Long story short: It's best to reformat the system and fresh install only the most vital software necessary for audio production. The next best thing is creating a dual-boot system in case you still need access to non-audio programs on the same system.

[HotShot]

Hi Hnau:

Welcome to the forum.

Here is a link to some useful articles and guides for optimizing your PC for DAW work:

http://www.audioforums.com/resource_center.php

As already mentioned, try to get a firewire card with a TI (Texas Instrument) chipset. This is what MOTU recommends.

I have a Desktop PC, so I can't speak from personal experience about pcmcia firewire cards, but from reading on the SONAR forum a respected DAW builder made the statement below in a post this Feb 2009 as a reply to a user who was having a problem with his firewire interface using a laptop:

"Laptop's and Firewire audio interfaces:

Ideally, you want a laptop with a good onboard FW/Cardbus controller. Easy to say... hard to find
Adding a TI chipset Express Card FW controller won't circumvent the problem if the Express Card controller is using a crap chipset.
Very few laptops make good DAWs... (very few custom laptops make good DAWs). This is part of the reason why...

If your Express Card controller is problematic, a Firewire interface will never work properly.
In your scenario, you may very well need to use a USB audio interface."

The respected DAW builder is Jim Roseberry. Here's a link to his site if you're interested: http://www.studiocat.com/

Some SONAR users who have MOTU firewire audio interfaces and use laptops have reported that Belkin pcmcia firewire cards works great. Here's a link to one sold on Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Belkin-FireWire-N ... B000ESLEFS

[TheRealRoach]

A good bit of info there regarding the express card chipsets. For what it's worth, Hnau, I've used a Lacie FW800 card for three different laptops now and have always had great results with it. It's probably the most expensive one unfortunately, but it works.
http://www.lacie.com/products/product.htm?pid=10482

However, the first thing you need to do is brush up on tweaking your computer from the articles provided here.

[jpetrou]

hey brother,

i recently purchased a Mk3, and it is doing the same sort of thing.

my pc is very well specced and the ultralite works perfectly fine cubase 5, but when i have the ultralite on in windows, every 5-10 tracks i play, there is a short delay follwed by some high pitched squeeks (similar to the ones when u change the sample rate- by the way is that normal in itself...?) and my channel 7 on the motu lcd rises like it is getting a signal when there is nothing plugged into it. although the channel rise only happens some times, most of the times i just get the squelches and the 2-4 seconds of no sound playing, even though the windows media player is playing the track....

iam gonna try install xp64 and vista64 see if it still does it. other than that, it works flawlessly in cubase 5.

[Hnau]

Well, I quickly returned the unit, because I didn't want to deal with all of the problems associated with using a MOTU unit in Windows. Interestingly enough, however, I downgraded significantly to a Tascam 144 (which has inferior sound quality next to the MOTU, I find) and I'm getting the same audio drop outs, even more frequently. This all happens when I am playing music from iTunes, so I haven't even tried it in Cubase. I figure I don't even want to use it if it doesn't work right in an audio player. Plus, it is clearly an issue that comes from within the computer, because I do not get drop outs when running sound from my mixer to the interface. So, I either have to figure out what to do to tweek my laptop, or I might even look into getting a Mac. $$$$$

Why wasn't any of this happening with my Alesis Photon x25 interface????? And why did it decide to stop working????

[TheRealRoach]

Honestly, it goes back to my first post on this thread about the DPC latency times. What you are describing is the result of an interruption (or "hogging") of the smooth data flow on the system bus. If that flow is interrupted you get a hiccup in the audio playback and/or recording no matter what interface it is.

Any interface does very little aside from convert analog to digital (and vice versa). All processing is done by the computer. The computer has to be in near-perfect working order. My suggestion would be to either reformat your system and follow any of the pro-audio computer setup instructional articles mentioned here, or hire someone to do it for you.

[Hnau]

Honestly, it goes back to my first post on this thread about the DPC latency times. What you are describing is the result of an interruption (or "hogging") of the smooth data flow on the system bus. If that flow is interrupted you get a hiccup in the audio playback and/or recording no matter what interface it is.

Any interface does very little aside from convert analog to digital (and vice versa). All processing is done by the computer. The computer has to be in near-perfect working order. My suggestion would be to either reformat your system and follow any of the pro-audio computer setup instructional articles mentioned here, or hire someone to do it for you.

I'm with you there. The guys at Sound Ideas said that they would help to tweak my computer to get it running properly if I experienced any issues with the new interface, so I am going to take it to them. The article that you directed me to was obviously very informative, but there was so much that he was talking about that I felt clueless to that it would have been very difficult for me to follow it. If I exhaust all efforts to get this computer running well and still have issues, I will look into a new computer altogether (possibly a refurbished Mac), but not without some serious studying.

[TheRealRoach]

It's definitely a wise idea to enlist their help. The whole computers and audio thing can be a pain in the ass, and nowadays it seems most users will have a much more positive overall home-recording experience if they get a seasoned computer & audio tech to configure it and do doctor checkups on it when things go amiss... otherwise its very easy to spend more and more time becoming a computer tech and less time becoming a better musician, artist, writer, etc.

[jpetrou]

just trying to pinpoint the problem so i have been trying a few things on my system which also does the random momentary pauses and high pitched squeels.

like i said previously, my motu works like a dream in cubase. no freezes, no squeeks nothing except what it should be playing (pure bliss loving it) but in windows there is some kind of confliction.

i have worked out that if i have cubase5 loaded (like i left it opened whilst using and minimised it), i can play audio flawlessly in windows. the ultralite doesnt pause or squeek at all. i tried 100 mp3s in a row like this and there was no problem. soon as i closed cubase5, i played 3 mps fine, then the 4th done the pause, squeltch and channel 7 input on the ultralte lcd lit up.

so is there any tech heads out there that can decifer from this where the confliction is?

thanks

[TheRealRoach]

Hmmm, the only thing I can think of is that when Cubase launches is initiates ASIO audio drivers, however when Cubase is closed your operating system may revert back to WDM/MME (less efficient Microsoft protocols) drivers.

What you can try doing is go into the Windows control panel to Sounds/Audio devices. You'll see a recording, playback and hardware tab. Check to see what those are at, and likewise see if there's an option to change it to MOTU ASIO or MOTU Firewire, or at least something that doesn't say WDM or MME.

[HotShot]

Hi:

In the MOTU Audio Console General tab, see if "Use WaveRT for windows audio" has a check mark, if not, check mark it. If it does have a check mark uncheck mark it.

Now see how playing audio with Cubase closed goes.

[jpetrou]

hey guys!

realroach:
when the ultralite is on, it shows "no audio device" in the volume tab and everything else is already set to motu and i still have the problem. is it normal to say "no audio device" or should it show MOTU something there? also i was told to turn off my mobo sound card in the bios. thats beyond my scope of pc knowledge plus i still want the sound card to work when i have the motu off and not using it.... ahhhh dillemas...

hotshot: use WaveRT is not selected, nor can i select it. the box and option is there although it is faded and cannot be selected. is that normal? using driver 3.6.8.1410

also is it normal when you change the sample rate in the motu audio console should it squeek n squeltch as it changes the frequency?

thanks again fellas. yous are alot more helpfull than the tech guys at motu with there ridiculouse tech link support system.