major issues with DP8.07

[henrod]

HI, all. I have one large project file with several hundred chunks, each one a full song. I perform a solo act - a one man band. I sing and play either guitar or keys on every song. Been doing it with DP since v4.

Back in Sept 2014 I got a new MBP, instantly had problems - everything sounded like the sustain pedal was permanently held down. MOTU tech said with new Macs and USB3.0, some people needed to use a powered USB hub. Got one, solved the problem.

Removed the hub after one of the Yosemite updates - didn't seem to need it. Everything great for a few months until last night on the gig. Everything is ••••ed up - random pitch bends, wrong notes, stuck notes, you name it, it goes wrong. I put the hub back in the chain, didn't help. Friend had a similiar issue - we replaced his Fastlane with an iRig interface - problem solved. I figured my trusty old MIDI Express 128 must have bitten the dust so I drove to NYC from eastern LI to get a new one. Did not solve the problem.

I tried several USB cables, including the one that came with the new MIDI Express. I didn't swap out MIDI cables because they can't have all gone bad at once. In the rack, I have a Roland XV5050, Kurz MicroPiano, TC Helicon Quintet and a MOTU Ultralite Mk3. The Ultralite is not connected to MIDI. My keyboard is a Kurz SP4-7 (same as SP76 MKII).

Now it's intermittent. Works/doesn't work. A few weeks ago I installed a fresh OS because I'd been having heat/fan issues unrelated to DP. I installed MIDI and audio drivers and DP fresh from installers, but did drag over prefs files/folders. Audio MIDI setup is correct.

I have several backups of the file locally and in cloud drives. None work. I also have a copy of my friend's file from when I helped him troubleshoot - his file also screws up, so the issue can't be with my project file.

Any thoughts on what this could be? Literally happened out of the blue. I have gigs this weekend, so I need a fast fix!!!!

Thanks.

Scott

[Killahurts]

HI, all. I have one large project file with several hundred chunks, each one a full song.

Hey Scott, I don't have a whole lot to offer you, except to say that this is asking for trouble.. hundreds of sequences in one file? I have no doubt DP is capable, and that you've been doing it for years, but man! I'm not judging you for your setup, it's what you need it to be.. but couldn't you break it into a few manageable projects? Might help with not maxing out the computer's resources.

[henrod]

HI, all. I have one large project file with several hundred chunks, each one a full song.

Hey Scott, I don't have a whole lot to offer you, except to say that this is asking for trouble.. hundreds of sequences in one file? I have no doubt DP is capable, and that you've been doing it for years, but man! I'm not judging you for your setup, it's what you need it to be.. but couldn't you break it into a few manageable projects? Might help with not maxing out the computer's resources.

Well, it's 99% MIDI with only a bit of audio. The processor barely works at all according to DP's meters. The file is only 18mb.

Thanks for the input.

[Killahurts]

Oh I see, sorry about that. Only thing I can think of, is a hardware problem with your computer (you already said you tried a new MIDI interface). Could be USB, or memory..

Oh, make sure your Kurzweil keyboard is not outputting any MIDI clock sync.. Those tend to send over all the MTP cable inputs, and in my studio it has resulted in MIDI log jam, creating problems similar to the ones you mentioned.

[henrod]

I'm somewhat embarrassed by this, but I did a factory reset on the XV5050 (the main sound generator) and so far, so good... In addition to trying a new 128, I tried using my Ultralite as a MIDI interface, as per MOTU's tech. Things actually got weirder - the XV5050 would only play GM sounds. I called a friend who recommended a factory reset. I dialed up the 'sequencer performance' and everything is working so far. I've rebooted the Mac and powered the XV5050 up and down a few times. I'll do this a bunch more times before Friday's gig. I'm hoping that's all it was.

[mikehalloran]

the XV5050

Does this have a battery to back up the internal memory? The MOTU does.

[Shooshie]

Don't worry about having hundreds of chunks. If it's been working, that's not the problem. DP handles chunks very well. I've never once seen a situation where too many chunks was an issue.

Do you have MIDI Monitor? This could tell you if you've actually got feral MIDI controllers running up and down your cables or interfaces. Seriously, don't diagnose MIDI problems without this app. You'll quickly see exactly where they are coming from and going, in addition to exactly what they are saying.

The rest sounds like a mystery to me. Why would the 5050 do this? What's triggering it to do it? You've got a long line of the usual suspects, but it may not be any of them. You need to find the source of this and root it out of there.

Shooshie

[henrod]

Do you have MIDI Monitor?

Shooshie

I didn't know about this app - thanks. I just downloaded it and will use for troubleshooting.

The XV5050 may have just gotten scrambled - I will look into the internal battery. It must have one, right? The manual is downstairs - too lazy to walk down right now - gotta eat dinner!

Thanks again.

[henrod]

Well, it's not the XV5050. My friend brought his spare over today, along with his iRig MIDI interface. It didn't not solve the problem. Same issue wit Express 128, Ultralite as interface and the iRig, as well as a different XV5050.

No battery in the XV5050. All flash memory.

Spoke with MOTU tech again. They're escalating to senior tech tomorrow AM and will call me back. I'm sweating... 2 gigs this weekend!

[monkey man]

Hope this gets sorted before then, Scott. I feel for you, mate.

Is it at all possible that the MIDI-filter settings on the Express had been altered somehow (perhaps through ClockWorks) or the preset changed, which is effectively altering said settings anyway.

It's just that the symptoms you described sound very much like the sort of thing one might expect to see when filters that were previously on got turned off somehow. Pitch bend, MIDI clock, note, sustain and aftertouch data types are often culprits.

[henrod]

Is it at all possible that the MIDI-filter settings on the Express had been altered somehow (perhaps through ClockWorks) or the preset changed, which is effectively altering said settings anyway.

Hi and thanks for the suggestions. I don't use Clockworks. The MOTU tech walked me through turning off input filters and a few other things. The problem is so random that it's hard to know what works and what doesn't. I was really hoping that swapping out the 128 for a different interface would have worked.

In the meantime, I realized I still have my old 13" MBP which isn't running Yosemite, and DP8 is still installed and running. I'm going to put that setup through it's paces all day today and see what happens. I also bought a spare XV5050 online and will probably swap that into my rig regardless of what else happens.

What a pain in the ass this all is. Ugh.

[henrod]

So... Long story short, it seems that putting the powered USB hub back in the loop has solved the issue. Some other odd issues had also come up, and using a different port in the powered hub seems to have solved that, too. I'm going to get a heavier-duty powered hub this week and hopefully that will take care of everything for good.

Thanks for all of the suggestions.

Scott