MOTUnation.com

Hi everybody,
I bought my 828mk3 last weekend and was blown away at first. However, now I'm getting a very annoying issue:

I have my 828mk3 connected only to my computer, to my amp (via Optical Bank A - TOS link) and to power. No other cables are connected. When I play audio from my computer (Quicktime, Reason 4, Cubase 4, iTunes, or any other application), it plays fine at first, but after some time (between 5 minutes and 1 hour) the audio drops (no more sound) and a high pitch tone comes out of the speakers. There is no routing to SPDIF, but there is a loud signal on the SPDIF Output, which also comes out of the TOS link. All mixer faders are at -inf, plus all tracks are muted. All inputs are set to "0 Trim" or "-96 Trim".. All EQs and the reverb are off. Dynamics is turned on, but disabled on each track. Leveler is off.

I can solve the problem temporarily by switching the sample buffer settings to something other than currently selected. However, this just solves the problem temporarily...

Any ideas?

Toby

I have a similar problem. However, it is only the occasional high pitch squeal that seems to come out across every output.
I've located the problem to me wireless internet software/hardware. Every time the computer tries to connect to the internet it puts a burst of noise through the audio system. Try temporarily disabling any network connections you may have.

I have the same exact problem of NOPAX, but mine is an 828mk2 (bought new 2 months ago)!! i don't think the problem is due to internet connection, cause when i use the device i disable all the antivirus and internet connection...

To temporaly solve the problem, exactly as nopax, i change the buffer..but then the problem reappear

It is correct to install the driver for vista and xp compatible if i have xp pro 32bit? I install this 'cause the driver only for xp are updated to 2006, while the first are updated to 2008!

Advices? It could be the driver?

OK, I got mine fixed... (yay & nay)

Motu Support: "Our firewire interfaces are known to work well with firewire adapters that have Texas Instruments or Lucent controller chipsets. We have experienced problems with chipsets from other manufacturers, such as NEC, Ricoh, and VIA. ."

I had my 828mk3 connected to my mainboard firewire connector - VIA chipset....

...so I bought a new firewire card. This time a real good one (SIIG FireWire 800 3-Port PCIe - part#: NN-E38012-S2 ) for $95 at amazon.com. Windows comes with standard firewire drivers, but the manual for the card said that if you want full performance, you should install the drivers from the CD. I did - no sound! It appears that only the windows drivers work with the 828mk3. My cam and my Yamaha G046 work with both drivers. Fortunately, the card comes with a software to switch the drivers with the click of a button. While I was searching the internet for answers to my "no sound" problem, I also found two firewire updates/patches from microsoft (google for KB885222 and KB904412 to find them).

I'm working with my 828mk3 since 3pm (now it's about midnight) with no drop outs or high pitch noise. The new firewire card and the patches did it. If I were you, I would try the patches first and see if it works without the purchase of a new card. I had to get my project done and didn't have much time, so I ordered the card, too.

Bottom line.. ..yay, my problem is gone.. ..nay, I spent another 100 bucks...

Hope this helps.

Toby

I am still experiencing this horrible issue still. I am running xp sp2 on my mac po through bootcamp. the mac pros are equipped with texas instruments firewire adapters, so i don't think replacing it is an answer. On top of that, the drop outs , clicks and high pitch noises don't happen when in mac osx, which leads me to believe its the drivers for XP, i've tried every setting and idea i can think of. Someone please help, 2 days and no solution, i am losing my mind.

nick

Ok, after a prior suggestion, i disabled my wireless internet card and absolutely no issues. Sweet. But surfing the net and not listening to music without squealing and drop outs from my sound card is a low blow, especially for the price of the mk3. And again surfing the net in os x with the same wireless card has no issues. SO the question now is why is my wireless n card causing this surge in the firewire port to my audio card when accessing the net?

help is a must, thanks
nick

Timmytubby nailed this one I think. At least for me. I was also having problems with a random high-pitched squeal that was driving me nuts. I disabled my WIFI and it hasn't occurred since.

The problem is likely that your Windows wireless card drivers spend too much time on so called "Deferred Procedure Calls" (DPC). This is a known problem in Windows DAWs.

You can check this by downloading and running dpclat.exe from http://www.thesycon.de/deu/latency_check.shtml. With the wireless card enabled you should see spikes in the yellow or even red area, but when disabled everything should be all green.

I would appreciate to see some results from this tool on a Mac-bootcamp-windows installation! I am looking for a new laptop for use with Win XP SP2 / Cakewalk Sonar and I am actually thinking about an iMac and an iLugger bag... This would give me the opportunity to try out Mac OS for the first time and possibly also Logic Pro.

(See e.g. http://www.soundonsound.com/forum/favli ... Post595433 for a survey using the dpclat.exe tool. A contribution from a Mac user would be interesting.)[/url]

As suspected my WLAN 802.11g mini-PCI adapter will consistently spike for 4000 micro seconds or longer, but occasionally for 8000 micro seconds. With the card disabled everything is well under 500 micro seconds.

A great utility to assist in finding problematic drivers. Thank you. Sorry I can't help you with Mac feedback.

Adding my voice to this thread, that after updating the Wireless LAN Driver in Windows the issue all but disappeared. Disabling the Wireless LAN during recording makes it go away completely.

See prior posting on DPC Latency Checker. It was a critical tool in trouble-shooting this problem. Truly highlighted the poor performing driver.

http://www.thesycon.de/eng/free_download.shtml

MOTU just informed me that this is a known issue that will be fixed in a future driverupdate. Quite a few updates now... My mk3 is almost useless at is is know and I really wished they had tested it better before releasing it to customers

Hi. I've tried pretty much every solution that I can find for this problem for my mk2.

Checked the DPC latency with that tool (very useful, everyone should try this)
SP2 installed, so I used the KB885222 hotfix
Checked the firewire on my motherboard and am using a TI chip
Reset my optical inputs/outputs

I'm not sure yet, since I'm only about 20 minutes in without a glitch, but I think what it ultimately came down to was that the firewire cable wasn't connected properly. Some of the other cords were pushing it and it wasn't quite in all the way.

With further testing (pulling it out a little myself), I could reproduce that high-pitched glitch sound, so it's definitely worth checking if you're out of ideas.

The problems I faced were caused by the abscense of the two MS patches and the VIA chipset on my FW card. I'm not using a wireless card in my workstation, so that was not my problem. Somehow it seems as if all problems result in the high-pitch glitch...

However, I fixed mine and I'm very happy with how the MK3 performs. Love the internal DSP!

There is presently a firmware update for the 828mk3 on the MOTU"s D/L page that was posted on 4/10. I haven't installed it yet, but will this weekend.

Greetings,
I found the v1.05 update posted on April 10th. Downloaded the file and unzipped the package. Found the 'MOTU FX Update 32' file. When clicking to run it the pop-up window says, "There are no devices in the update state. Please Turn on the device while holding down the Page knob".

Ok ... done that .... no effect, am I missing something or does MOTU have the worst Tech Support? How do you send out a Firmware update with no instructions how to install.

Any help is appreciated, thanks,
....Gary