MOTU Ultralite Mk3 Hybrid Freezing & High Pitched Noises

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MOTU Ultralite Mk3 Hybrid Freezing & High Pitched Noises

Hi all -

I bought a MPB 2015 13" pro retina with 16gb RAM and a 2.9ghz i5 processor, El Capitan in December and have been trying to get it to work with my MOTU Ultralite Mk3.

I have installed the latest drivers and firmware from MOTU and have kept OS X up to date, but I keep running into strange problems when the CPU is under load. When I have a critical mass of VSTIII or AU plugins loaded in Mainstage / Presonus Studio One 2 (CPU around 40%), the interface suddenly freezes and emits a high pitched whine; the meters on the front start to pulsate at random. The host programs continue to work fine (if I switch to the internal sound output), but the only way to get the interface back up and running is to power cycle it and restart the program. I got it to do the same by simply switching the DAW between 32 and 64 bit processing; the CPU spiked briefly and the interface froze. The issues happen via USB and Firewire (via the Thunderbolt>Firewire adapter).

Initially thought it could be a problem with the MOTU unit, so I tried it with my old PC laptop in Studio One 2 (same version). The CPU (i5 2.6ghz) was running at 100% and the audio went choppy, but the unit stayed online and didn't freeze whatever I tried.

I'm aware of issues with El Capitan & FW audio, but it doesn't explain why it occurs with USB as well.

Any ideas how I can stop this from happening?

Thanks,

Matt

MacBook Pro with Retina display, OS X El Capitan (10.11.2)

Posted on Feb 15, 2016 2:59 PM

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Answer 1

Feb 15, 2016 3:05 PM in response to MattCrum85

According to their web site, MOTU Ultralite Mk3 is only supported up through OS X 10.8

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Answer 2

Feb 15, 2016 3:19 PM in response to MattCrum85

Have you seen this page? It lists what you need to run that interface with 10.11...

http://www.motu.com/newsitems/motu-and-os-x-el-capitan/view?searchterm=capitan

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Answer 3

MattCrum85 Author

Level 1

5 points

Feb 16, 2016 3:09 PM in response to cheekypaul

Yeah I've installed the latest driver (the one recommended by MOTU support) but that hasn't helped. Presonus support haven't got any ideas either - I've read various things about CPU core parking, USB 3.0 incompatibility (not applicable to me as I'm using FW), issues with Firewire interfaces over Thunderbolt, but nothing seems to pinpoint the issue.

Where's the best place to get this diagnosed? What logs would be useful? The console output shows firewall / audio errors - I guess this would be a good place to start...

Matt

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Answer 4

Feb 17, 2016 2:51 AM in response to MattCrum85

I don't know this hardware or software personally. Your best bet is to be methodical about it. Always methodical with computers.

A few things to try, if you haven't already...

try without any 3rd party plugins

try getting the thing to fall over NOT using Mainstage or Presonus

try using a hub instead

try using different USB ports

In terms of the console, meh. Since when has sending a crash log/report to ANY software company at ANY TIME ever resulted in a concrete answer...?

Some more code-advanced readers may feel differently.

Good luck...

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Answer 5

MattCrum85 Author

Level 1

5 points

Feb 19, 2016 2:07 AM in response to cheekypaul

Hi - thanks for your response - comments on your points above.

1: I'll try removing 3rd party plugins, but the problem occurred before I had installed anything apart from Mainstage (which is made by Apple)... good idea though.

2: I have tried several other programs but haven't got it to fail yet (iTunes, GarageBand, HTML5 video) - MOTU are suggesting I try downloading their Digital Performer product and thrashing that - if it fails there, they'll be able to check some logs / diagnose what is happening.

3/4 - I'm not using USB, I've connected it via FW and a Thunderbolt to FW connector. Connecting via USB caused the same issue, but I've found FW to be slightly more reliable thus far.

Any other ideas anyone?

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Answer 6

MattCrum85 Author

Level 1

5 points

Apr 11, 2016 1:59 PM in response to MattCrum85

I have tried a load of other things on this and still no luck in getting Studio One or MainStage to behave correctly with an external audio device.

Things that I have tried:

- MOTU unit on another Mac (2014 model, El Capitan, same version of Studio One 2) - no issues at all

- Another USB interface on my Mac with Studio One 2 and Mainstage - interface freezes same as the MOTU unit

- Both interfaces on my Windows machine - no issues at all

- Digital Performer 9, VLC, Youtube, iTunes on my Mac - no issues at all

- Created a new user on my Mac and repeated the steps above - same issue

This squarely points it at my Mac and external USB / Firewire devices, potentially something hardware based? I'm really at a loss here - any ideas?

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Answer 7

Jul 29, 2016 6:22 AM in response to MattCrum85

I have a very similar setup and have the problem you describe.

Early 2015 13-inch MBP ; 3.1Ghz i7 16GB memory ; Motu Ultralite MK3 Hybrid connected using the Apple Thunderbolt/Firewire cable. Periodically a high pitched noise is emitted.

The problem DOES NOT occur on:

Mid 2012 15-inch MBP ; 2.3GHz i7 8GB memory

or

Early 2015 13-inch 2.7GHz i5 ; 16 GB memory

The problem occurs when using Logic Pro X (10.11.6) or MainStage (3.2.4)

Latest Motu firmware and drivers are installed

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Answer 8

Oct 25, 2016 10:55 AM in response to MattCrum85

I've given up with my Ultralite Mk3 - it basically doesn't work with my iMac full stop. I've tried all the latest drivers, etc. but in use the MOTU is solely responsible for video not playing properly, sound not working. I've unplugged it and none of these issues now occur.

I'm thinking of buying the Focusrite 6i6

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Answer 9

Aug 5, 2017 5:56 PM in response to PredicamentsJB

I have the same problem

how did you go with the Focusrite6i6

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