eucon artist mix intermittent disconnection

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eucon artist mix intermittent disconnection

Hi everyone,

I'm still on Logic 10.0.7 because of eucon compatibility issues with 10.1 - I will try 10.2 soon, but I'm in the middle of a few projects right now, and I'd rather not introduce further problems.

System details:

Quad Mac Mini late 2012 2.3Ghz i7

16 GB RAM

OSX 10.9.5

2x Euphonix MC Mix units (the old grey ones, not the newer black Avid versions)
Eucon 3.3, firmware up to date (1.5.4.0) on both units

both units have static IPs, and are connected directly to the Mac Mini's ethernet port via a Netgear switch. The mini uses a second ethernet port on a thunderbolt dock to connect to the internet. I've configured all the IP addresses according to the static IP instructions in the documentation for the units.

On to the problems - I'm having seemingly random disconnection issues. I'll be working for awhile, then the surfaces will jump suddenly, and no longer be responsive. They will still display track names, but no faders or knobs or buttons will work in either direction. I have to shut down the surfaces, reconnect them at restart Logic.

This does not happen in Pro Tools, or the Metric Halo MIO Console - the other applications I use Eucon with. In fact, when I lose the surfaces in Logic I can usually switch to the MIO console (which is always running) and control it normally. It really seems to be a Logic issue only. I primarily work in Logic, but I do enough projects in Pro Tools to have logged the hours necessary to claim that this disconnection does not happen in PT. I actually also just mixed an album in Reaper, and while I experienced many other crashes, I didn't notice any Eucon disconnection problems like I do in Logic.

So, I'm a little unsure of how to proceed - I've been sitting on this, and trying to look for repeatable steps to show this, but I can't find any. Usually I'm not touching the faders when this happens, and often times I'm at the other side of the room messing with a synth or something nowhere near the computer.

I thought for awhile it was a conflict with my MIDI keyboard - a Korg Taktile, which can also be used as a Logic Control surface. But I've now switched to an AKAI MPK-61, and I'm experiencing the same problem.

Advice? Anyone running into any of this? Should I upgrade to Logic 10.2? Downgrade to OSX 10.8.5? Scrap the whole thing and go back to Logic 9 and 10.6.8? That's super tempting to be honest :-)

Thanks in advance.

-jonathan

Logic Pro X, OS X Mavericks (10.9.5)

Posted on Sep 4, 2015 12:16 AM

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Answer 1

jonat8han Author

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Sep 5, 2015 4:10 PM in response to jonat8han

I'd even just like hearing from someone who's using EuCon successfully with logic so I can figure out what the differences in systems are and where I might be going wrong ...

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Answer 2

Sep 6, 2015 6:01 PM in response to jonat8han

Not the answer you're looking for but I gave up using Eucon. It's a piece of crap, IMO, built like cheap, plastic junk with poorly written software. Anyone thinking of buying one would do well do look at other options.

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Answer 3

jonat8han Author

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Sep 6, 2015 6:41 PM in response to John Curley

Ha, well - no, that's not particularly helpful but you certainly aren't wrong! There's just not much out there at any kind of reasonable price point.

I would switch to the mackies, but they actually don't fit on my desk. I guess we all just wait for the behringer X-Touch stuff to finally come out ...

It's a shame, because they actually work quite well in Pro Tools.

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Answer 4

Sep 14, 2015 6:22 AM in response to jonat8han

Hi jonat8han!

I encounter the exact same problems - they even got worse after updating to Logic Pro 10.2. First, I'm on the latest Yosemite, using a Mix and a Transport.

They always worked ok with Logic 10.1, no bigger problems except for some plugin-names not showing. Now I have to restart my Eucon every 10-15 minutes, beginning with faders jumping when I touch a channel, names in the display not changing and so forth. I really hope that Avid updates their Eucon protocol to match the latest Logic, but I think in the long run I'd sell the Avid controllers and NEVER buy anything from Avid again. Since we all want to make music and not surfing the forums why this or that is not working anymore. So, I just wanted to chime in, sorry that I could not help.

Regards,

sVendetta

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Answer 5

Sep 14, 2015 8:56 AM in response to John Curley

John Curley wrote:

Not the answer you're looking for but I gave up using Eucon. It's a piece of crap, IMO, built like cheap, plastic junk with poorly written software. Anyone thinking of buying one would do well do look at other options.

Unfortunately, I'd have to agree..

I avoid anything related to Avid/Digidesign because of these sort of experiences...issues and problems that rear their ugly head, over and over again...

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Answer 6

jonat8han Author

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Sep 14, 2015 10:28 PM in response to The Art Of Sound

Thanks for all the replies!

I've introduced a little bit more stability in my system by killing two things. I used to run the Metric Halo MIO Console in the background while using logic. It also took advantage of the Eucon protocol. I've stopped running it entirely, and that seems to have improved performance somewhat.

I also use an application called 'synergy' - http://synergy-project.org/ - to quickly control multiple computers from one keyboard and mouse. I have three machines in my rig - one is my main writing machine with Logic, Pro Tools, etc - one is simply for emails and web browsing and keeping notes, cue sheets, etc, and the third runs my video synced via MTC using Video Slave - http://www.non-lethal-applications.com/products/video-slave-2-0

Synergy allows me to control all three computers without really thinking about it, but it also seems to be introducing stability problems in Logic. I'm not sure why, but if I quit both of these processes, Eucon doesn't crash Logic nearly as often. It still happens, but usually now only when switching projects or applications. I'm able to work for much longer periods of time without crashes. I've also "locked" the entire surface to Logic in the Eucon preferences.

I should note, that of course I can run all of these other processes and Eucon functions beautifully in Pro Tools and Reaper. I do not think this is as much of an Avid problem as it is a Logic problem. These surfaces work beautifully in Pro Tools - it's only in Logic that I have issues.

sVendetta - are you running either the MIO Console or Synergy? Or any other web/network services behind the scenes that might be interfering with your Logic/Eucon setup?

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Answer 7

Sep 14, 2015 11:49 PM in response to jonat8han

Hello!

Yes, I'm using MIO console with a ULN2. Yesterday I tried re-installing Eucon and didn't launch MIO, which used to be on autostart as soon as my Mac boots. It ran without any major hickups for about 3 hours. Had not thought about Eucon conflicting with running Logic and MIO simultaneously. With OSX Mavericks I had zero problems, but the latest Eucon seems to be a little bit more sensitive.. I don't use Pro Tools, so I can only assume that the Artist controllers run smoothly. I tried to download Pro Tools First. It was a disaster... No permission to even start a project. Went on Gearslutz to see what I can do but decided to uninstall everything again. For the Artist themselves I use the network connector with a switch, internet via Airport. the only other network service running is Gobbler.

Greetings,

sVendetta

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Answer 8

jonat8han Author

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Sep 14, 2015 11:50 PM in response to sVendetta

Aha - so it really does seem like it's some sort of Logic/MIO Console problem. Fascinating. I've been communicating on the MIO Mailing list about this as well, so I'll bring this up over there. Maybe Metric Halo has some idea of what's going on. It's very strange to me that it only happens in Logic, though.

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Answer 9

Sep 15, 2015 1:25 AM in response to jonat8han

Yep. Seems to be MIO console. I encountered several crashes of my MH ULN2, but only when MIO and Logic were running together with Eucon. Had to restart my ULN2, but didn't relaunch MIO. For what I'm doing I don't really need MIO running, so I'll keep it off for now. Maybe Eucon will be updated to fix the few flaws remaining, like missing plugins on the Mix display. The erratic jumps of my faders also stopped when just using Logic and Eucon. I'm an update-junkie, don't know why, but I always want everything up-to-date. This often means ruining stable eco-systems, but I like fiddling around ;-)

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Answer 10

Sep 15, 2015 12:07 PM in response to jonat8han

Yeah, MIO list is a great place to ask about this. Very knowledgeable and helpful people on there.

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Answer 11

Sep 15, 2015 12:10 PM in response to sVendetta

AVID makes both the Eucon and ProTools so it's no surprise that both are problematic. At least they are consistent across their product lines. 😉

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Answer 12

jonat8han Author

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Sep 15, 2015 5:11 PM in response to John Curley

maybe you've misunderstood me, I've been saying that ProTools and the Eucon surfaces function perfectly. It's only in Logic that I have these problems. It's easy to blame Avid, but the fact is I *only* see the problems I'm describing in Logic.

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Answer 13

Sep 15, 2015 9:50 PM in response to jonat8han

I've been saying that ProTools and the Eucon surfaces function perfectly.

Unofrtunately, its you that's misunderstanding.....

Yes.. PT and Eucon work together because they have specially designed and written their drivers to do so... These PT drivers apparently bypass the OS X routines they have to use with other DAWs... so they are not affected by OS X updates.

The problem happens when you try and use Eucon with anything else that Avid didn't design.... because in my opinion..., Avid tend to write pretty bad, unstable or flaky drivers.. that seem to break every time OS X and/or Logic is updated... because they don't know how to write correctly for OS X it seems!

So the fact everything works between Eucon and PT is really irrelevant.... and has no bearing on if Eucon should or does work with Logic.. (or any other OS X based DAW...)

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Answer 14

jonat8han Author

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Sep 15, 2015 11:48 PM in response to The Art Of Sound

Sorry, I didn't mean to sound antagonistic.

Eucon also works well in Reaper, which I believe is a third party user-written extension. So it's clearly possible to deal with Eucon in a non-avid environment.

The MIO Console works well also, but not if Logic is running. It's fine running alongside Reaper and Pro Tools. I'm not sure what other applications support Eucon (Cubase?) But I'd be happy to test other configurations. For now, I'm just left without the use of the MIO Console if I want stability in Logic, which is a real drag. I will continue following up with Metric Halo - it's possible they will be able to troubleshoot this problem better than I & possibly come up with a solution if this is affecting all of the Metric Halo & Logic users.

Thanks for your input - it's been most helpful.

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