Audio Express. Is it me or ... ?

[jschunick]

EVERYONE WHO IS CONSIDERING BUYING THIS UNIT - DO NOT BUY THIS UNTIL THEY RELEASE A FIRMWARE/SOFTWARE FIX. THE BUG DESCRIBED ABOVE HAS A VERY GOOD CHANCE OF BLOWING YOUR STUDIO MONITORS.

I think the members here are smart enough to make their own decisions. Blanket statements like that serve no purpose except to make you feel better about your particular plight. Finding a bug that MOTU has acknowledged and will fix doesn't warrant a blanket boycott. Just your personal boycott will do.

If you find a similarly priced alternative with as many features, please let us know.

Ditto. Some of us have monitor level controllers that would make this not so much of a problem. I don't care for using this board to call for boycotts of MOTU products.

An intermediate controller to control your monitor levels will not fix the bug that MOTU has acknowledged. Lets say your monitors are set comfortably to -30dB. Change the headphone source in CueMix FX, and your main out level will now be at maximum level. You will be unable to change this level until you do a factory reset.

Here is my confusion - why does this bug in CueMix FX change the main out levels (including from the computer) if they have explicitly stated that it is not possible to change main out levels from the computer?

Also, to clarify, I am not saying boycott MOTU in general, I am cautioning users who read this thread not to buy the Audio Express until they release an official firmware and/or software update. Right now I consider this product still in a state that should not have been sold to customers -- especially since it has the potential to destroy thousands of dollars worth of studio equipment.

[jschunick]

Heres an example as to how the bug can destroy your equipment...

Say you are monitoring your main out through your headphones, and during a mix session you feel like changing the source of your headphones to the analog out. You open up CueMix FX, while your audio is still going, and change the source of your headphones.

Suddenly, out of nowhere, your main out volume is now at full blast! You have no way to lower the volume! Adjusting the physical knob on the front has no affect! A few seconds have now passed and you have just stressed your studio monitors with extremely loud sound. The quickest way to stop this from destroying your equipment is probably pulling the AC plug out of the back of the Audio Express.

I am an electrical engineer and have much experience in hardware quality assurance testing; If they had properly put this hardware through the ropes of QA tests, this bug would not have gotten through to us consumers.

[katshinka]

Maybe so. I'd like to use that feature too, but am staying as far away from it as possible for thé time being. I agree with you that this us potentially a very hazardous bug, but as long as people are aware that this can happen, they can still use the AE without risking their gear. Or wait for a fix before buying it.

Btw, bug was confirmed on my side too, by a Guy who previously and very firmly stated that the problem was NOT THE DRIVERS. Gotta love blind confidence.

[katshinka]

Hi gents,

I recently got a reply to my techlink with new updated beta drivers. Will let you know how it goes. (Gotta plug in the usb, )

[MIDI Life Crisis]

Does the beta driver allow control of the Mac audio level?

[nick danger]

Looks like Motu made this firmware update available today.


Audio Express Firmware v1.03 Update

http://www.motu.com/download/download_m ... duct_id=14" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[James Steele]

Also, to clarify, I am not saying boycott MOTU in general, I am cautioning users who read this thread not to buy the Audio Express until they release an official firmware and/or software update. Right now I consider this product still in a state that should not have been sold to customers -- especially since it has the potential to destroy thousands of dollars worth of studio equipment.

Read what I wrote. I said "boycott of MOTU products" not "boycott of MOTU." If you wish to campaign on this forum for the boycott of the Audio Express and convince people they shouldn't buy it, don't expect me to stand up and salute your flag. Cool? Or do you think I've run this site for over a decade so you could show up and tell people they shouldn't buy a MOTU interface because of something you feel has the "potential" to do this or that? Sorry... I'm not comfortable with even a "targeted" boycott.

[katshinka]

Alright here I go. I am sorry I haven't kept you guys posted when the situation evolved, but ,you know, IRL's a b****.

Anyways, I got the 1.03 beta drivers before they were made public and the problem with the Phones Assign is solved. I've had some time to make some music with my new gear, including the AE, and although I did not get a chance to try it all out, as I have only one hardware synth in my studio, so no preamp tries or whatever...

Despite that, I gotta say, I'm loving this little black piece of plastic and metal a bit more every day.

This whole experience taught me what a sound engineer friend of mine said perfectly : "don't buy gear that's been released less than 6 months ago"

[katshinka]

Does the beta driver allow control of the Mac audio level?

That's still no ! But I do find it manageable. The sound coming from different apps mays be at different levels, for instance a youtube vid or a dvd, but it's often not loud enough rather than the opposite. A few turns on the phones knob is enough to have a decent volume, and I'm ok with that.

[SpeakEZ]

Man, This AE almost made me blow my speakers twice. I am not sure what kind of damage it may have done though. I installed 1.03 firmware. This is a real bummer. Has any fixes been made for this volume issue? Does anyone know if they are going to fix it or what? I'm afraid to play the thing. FIrst a video on youtube now a preview in GarageBand might have fried my studio monitors. This is really ridiculous for a new piece. I'm ready to send it back if they can't fix it like ASAP. I am really pissed now reading through all these posts about this issue and its still not fixed.

[mrbillet]

I'm wondering if these extreme level issues are a matter of gain structure or perception. If this MOTU device, which by the way I have never used, is putting out levels that are too high, what does that mean measurement-wise? If the input to the amps isn't clipping and has a fair amount of headroom before clipping then I don't see how there can be a problem with levels at this point.

Where I see a problem is if you have two or more 130Watt amps in a near-field position in a small room, a common scenario. It may be that the equipment is working at the levels it's designed for and you find those levels to be uncomfortable. When this situation happens to me I have to choose between using smaller amps at their full potential, or compromising proper gain structure by inserting some type of attenuation.

Large jumps in level can be startling, but if your gear allows the SPL to go so loud that it will blow your speakers, you probably have a gain structure issue. That Master Fader should be able to go to whatever its default unity gain setting is without blowing up anything. If it does, your amps are under-powered for the speakers they're driving, or it's your ears that are blowing and that means you have amps that are too big for your setup; then you need an extra attenuator to compensate.

I had level problems while setting up a MOTU 896mkIII and I had to turn my 8" powered monitors way down to around 9 o'clock maximum to aviod damaging my ears. I was used to keeping them at 12 noon, still hardly utilizing their power. I had too many occasions where the MOTU Master Fader got reset to full due to my errors, creating an extremely unpleasant blast. That's when I realized I was working with way more near-field Wattage on my desktop than I needed.

This is not to say that software glitches should have a place to live. They need to be rooted out and smashed. I just think that in this case the software glitch may be revealing other issues in studio configuration as well.

-Ian

[EmRoy]

I wasn't going to take the time to register and comment on this topic but I thought it was important enough take the time and back this product up.

I had the same problem with the Audio Express and I almost had a heart attack when I routed my iTunes through the interface and the volume almost shaved my entire body clean!!! Long story short I called MOTU directly and I spoke to wonderful service representative named Joel and he informed me that there is a simple fix as it is a Firmware issue. Go to MOTU.com, take the time to register, go to the DOWNLOAD PAGE-->FIREWIRE/USB-->Audio Express Firmware.... then download the zip. You'll download the ZIP as well as a link as to how the procedure is executed. Take the time to read the instructions as it is detailed, yet simple enough to follow.

Hope this helps. I am no "techy" but I do love this unit so to anyone who slams MOTU, do some research and allow for fixes to become available. From what Joel said, this fix has been available, free of charge, since the problem surfaced.

Be blessed all.

EmRoy

[Andrey]

Sorry, im bad speak in inglish, because from Russia

Hi, friends.
I have some problems on my card. Its my first professional sound card. I cant change level of signals on main outs.

CUEMixFx:
I cant change level of signals on main out and line out.
Front panel:
I cant change level of signals on main out, but im change level in phones out. Phones - mirrow - main out, and signal on phones im contol!
Mac OS, Win XP - the result is the same. After install update 1.03 - result = 0
Help me, please.

Thank you.

Ohhhhh. im translating all this posts...... Its no good

[Andrey]

WORK!
1- Turn on device
2- Press VOl+Phones 3 second
3 - On front panel 3-2-1 and..... Preference reset
On my card work! Main outs current on front panel