Midas MR18 over USB: Loud crackling driving me mad

[DeeEll]

Hi folks. I got a new Mac Studio and have spent the last month moving all my stuff onto it.
Very laborious as I have so many plug-ins

I previously was on a MacMini i7 using a Firewire 828 Mk2, but as the new Mac Studio doesn’t have FW I have now connected a Midas MR18 via USB.

Now I am at my wits end as I am getting really loud crackling on the audio. Not just in DP but also when playing any audio from websites etc. Firefox or Safari, makes no difference.

I have googled this and have tried disconnecting all other peripherals etc but nothing worked until I discovered that I had an upgrade available from Ventura 13.6.5 to 13.6.6.
I installed that and my problem was solved, or so I thought.

Sadly, a day later, the crackling is back.
This is only happening with the Mac’s audio output set to use my Midas MR-18 over USB.
When I set the sound o/p to headphones the problem is not there and the audio is fine.

I am pretty sure that this is not anything wrong with the Midas box, and online I've seen some reference to audio problems with Ventura. Worryingly, I've seen a lot of other mentions of audio problems with Apple Silicon machines.

Should I upgrade to Sonoma? Will that help?
Should I buy a new MOTU USB interface?

I hope you can help me with this as it is making my new £3k computer unusable.

Long time DP user - currently running DP 11.23 on Mac Studio M2 Ultra 1TB 64 GB RAM and OS Ventura 13.6.6

Any help greatly appreciated, thanks.

Cheers, Dave

[stubbsonic]

Try a different USB cable? Check sample rate settings? Increase buffer size? I'm just guessing.

[DeeEll]

Hi, thanks for replying.

I've tried different USB cables and different configurations of all my USB connections hubs etc.
Sample rate on the Mac and the Midas are the same.
Buffer size I dont think is too relevant as the dreadful crackling is happening with both DP and Logic,
and also with DSP Quattro - audio is playing but all I can hear is the crackling.

Trying to play a video on a website is hopeless - the audio is drowned out by loud crackling.
This includes You Tube videos and, like I said previously it happens in Firefox and in Safari.

Here is where it gets really weird: If I open Kontakt standalone or other standalone VI and load up a piano or other instrument, everything is fine.
If I open an instance of Kontakt or any other VI within DP everything is fine, until i press play that is.
That's when it starts to crackle.

I've used Macs, MOTU interfaces and DP for many years, and I've never been as baffled as I am now

Also, the problem is a bit intermittent, at least in DP, but I dont have to wait long before the horrendous crackling rears its ugly head.

Another very strange thing is that even with the volume of my speakers turned right down, when I normally wouldn't hear anything, I can still hear the crackles faintly.

I dont know what to do now. Upgrade to Sonoma? New MOTU interface? Go back to my old MacMini?
Maybe just get drunk

Thanks.

Cheers, Dave

[DeeEll]

More experimenting shows me that some embedded video in websites crackles always, but on some other sites video is playing perfectly and no crackles. WTF is going on? I wish I could get to the bottom of this.
I suppose it's not the end of the world and I can always use my Mac's headphone output, but this situation is far from ideal.
I'm pretty sure the problem is not with the Midas MR18 either, although I guess it could be. I think it is something to do with the Mac's audio over USB.

[mikehalloran]

Core Audio requires a USB 2 cable. Many cables no longer support the protocol. A "USB Printer Cable" is limited to USB 2. In fact, Yamaha recommends these specifically. I would order one from Amazon and see if that fixes you up—you can always return it if it doesn't. This is the usual problem and the most common solution.

I would make sure that your Midas firmware and audio drivers are up to date. I see no drivers past 2021.

https://www.midasconsoles.com/downloads.html

Unless there's a hardware problem, your 828mkII will work with your Studio—I and others have ours working. You need a couple of Apple Adapters and a FW400–800 adapter or cable plus the latest MOTU Audio Installer (found on the 828mk3 Hybrid page). Many threads on this. Cables and adapters can be found on Amazon and I can post links this evening if need be.

There are many current interfaces that do not require drivers on a Mac but none that I know with more than 8 simultaneous analog inputs/outputs over USB. My M•Audio AIR 192|14, for example, is one that can record 4 mic/instrument/line + 2 Instrument + 2 Line + MIDI simultaneously.

[DeeEll]

Hi, thanks very much for replying.
That is indeed good news if I can get my 828 Mk2 to work.
I had just assumed that it wouldn't be possible.
I'd be most grateful if you could point me to the adapters I would need.
Regarding the USB cable I have tried several including some very old printer cables which I am sure are USB2.
I already bought a new one too (can't figure out how to insert a link) but all are giving the same result.
When I first encountered the crackling problem I updated the Midas firmware but that made no difference unfortunately.
Don't think I need a driver for MR18 with a Mac do I ? Coudn't see one on Midas website apart from for Windows.
Maybe the MR18 is just not compatible as it has too many ins and outs.
Anyway thanks again for the info and if you could show me later what I will need to get my 828 working I'll be a happy man.

Cheers, Dave

[HCMarkus]

https://www.apple.com/shop/product/MMEL ... e0ed228fd0

https://www.apple.com/sg_smb_5200/shop/ ... re-adapter

https://www.amazon.com/CERRXIAN-FireWir ... hdGY&psc=1

Now for the bad news: The Firewire to TB adaptor is sold out at Apple.com, unavailable at Amazon, and Ebay sellers are asking well over $100 for it.

Somewhat good news: MOTU has a lovely new version of the 828 that runs via USB and is considerably more feature-rich than the mkII. But it is about $1k.

[DeeEll]

Hello HCMarkus,

Thanks for your reply.

Huh, typical Apple, I can't see the TB to FW adapter on the Apple UK site, just not listed. I guess it is discontinued.

There are some on eBay in UK but they are outrageously expensive although there is one for only £29.99 but without a buy it now option. I'm just looking at some others, there is one for £80 so I might go for that.

While it would be great to have a new 828, they are a bit pricey and it would be good to get some more mileage out of my Mk2. An alternative could be an M6 I suppose, I could get one of those for around £400.

Anyway thanks again for helping.

Cheers, Dave

UPDATE: I successfully bidded on one of these on eBay UK and won it for approx £85, hooray!!

[James Steele]

Now for the bad news: The Firewire to TB adaptor is sold out at Apple.com, unavailable at Amazon, and Ebay sellers are asking well over $100 for it.

Reminds me of years ago when I was trying to find an Apple VESA adapter for my 24" DVI Cinema Display. They were impossible to find and some guy was trying to sell his on eBay for over $250. I wrote to him and said that he must have added an extra zero by mistake. Nope. He wrote me back that it was no mistake and if people wanted one they'd pay it. For a hunk of machined aluminum? I eventually bought an entire monitor at a reasonable price that included the adapter. People will do all sorts of stuff to try and capitalize on a shortage like that.

[stubbsonic]

People will do all sorts of stuff to try and capitalize on a shortage like that.

Yea, supply & demand. I was going to suggest the Yamaha BC-3 as an example, but looked on eBay and it appears that fever has broken.

[mikehalloran]

Huh, typical Apple, I can't see the TB to FW adapter on the Apple UK site, just not listed. I guess it is discontinued.

Although discontinued, many resellers still stock it in the US. A search on eBay shows 82 for sale currently. No idea where to find one in the UK, however.

[DeeEll]

I’m happy to say that I’m now up and running with my 828 Mk2.

I got the TB to FW adapter from eBay UK - it must be made of solid gold considering it cost me around £87 ($109) and the other adapter TB3 to TB2 I got from Apple for “only” £49 ($62).
So that’s total of £137 ($171) for two small adapters. These are the most expensive bits of cable I have ever bought
Still, it is worth it to be able to keep using my 828 Mk2 and not have to buy a new interface.

While I was waiting for the two Apple adapters to arrive, as you can imagine I’ve been thinking a lot about why my Midas MR-18 was crackling so badly, and not useable.
It had occurred to me that I have previously used my old MacMini computer with a Midas M32 Mixer and recorded and played back multitrack audio over USB. Worked perfectly with DP, no crackling, no problems.

So why was it not working with the MR-18? Was it faulty? Hmm.

Then I had a sudden idea. I remembered that there’s a practically invisible Reset Button on the MR-18, just a small unmarked hole on the front panel. So I pressed it and also initialised from with in the M-Air App.
Well, to my delight, after that it worked perfectly without any crackling.
Sadly though, that was only temporary and the dreaded noise soon reappeared.
I’m can’t be totally sure, but it seems to be related to using the M-Air App.
Anyway it is unreliable so I am happy to get back to the 828’s solid performance.

I’m not giving up entirely on the MR-18 and will experiment with it connected to my MacMini to see I can get it to work. Or I might just keep it for live PA work.

All this has certainly been a learning experience, and I am so grateful to you all at Motunation for your help and advice.
I have been reading the Motunation forums for years, but this is the first time I have asked for help and you sorted me out when I was at my wits end with the problem I was having. Motunation is an invaluable resource and a friendly place as well. Thanks very much to James for his hard work and to everyone who contributes to the site.

Cheers, Dave

[mikehalloran]

You are certainly welcome. Thanks for reporting back!

A couple of suggestions: You should update the title (edit your first post) with the piece of gear giving you grief. Then, if you ever do crack that nut, add the word Resolved to the title—but not before it is, of course—and tell us the solution.

These threads show up in Google searches and this will help other users.

[DeeEll]

Many thanks for your help Mike.
I've amended the thread title as you suggested, and if I ever do find a solution I'll update it again.
Cheers !!

[daniel.sneed]

Sorry to hear about your problem, Dave. I hope you get it sorted out soon.
Not real help here, but I must say I use a X-32 rack over usb, for years now.
Connection to my Mac is thru a very cheap short usb cable.
Firmware update and mac update as usual. Coreaudio and no driver.
It has been extremely reliable and effective on High Sierra, and now on Monterey.