• Registered: 2024-06-15
  • Posts: 11

Topic: Madiface XT ii audio glitches when recording - USB errors

Hello,

I'm having unstable behaviour on my Madiface XT ii using the Driverkit on Mac OSX Tahoe. I'm getting some errors appearing in the last two of the counters ( audio HAL issues / data delayed ) and the recorded sound is stuttering / dropping out.

All firmware and drivers are up to date. Macbook Pro 16 inch M1 Max.

Any advice on getting more stable performance? I understand Class Compliant mode is a last resort, but because of the lack of diagnostics it's more difficult to test whether it is indeed stable (I'd have to run a multi-hour recording and then visually look for glitches on a spectrogram).

Many thanks!

  • waedi
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Re: Madiface XT ii audio glitches when recording - USB errors

first thing comes to my mind, recording target is external drive.
Remember external HDs with spinning hard drives
But with your 16" MBP you are recording directly onto the internal SSD, right ?

During the recording is there some task active with sample loading ?

M1-Tahoe, Madiface Pro, Digiface USB, Babyface silver and blue
  • Registered: 2024-06-15
  • Posts: 11

Re: Madiface XT ii audio glitches when recording - USB errors

waedi wrote:

first thing comes to my mind, recording target is external drive.
Remember external HDs with spinning hard drives
But with your 16" MBP you are recording directly onto the internal SSD, right ?

During the recording is there some task active with sample loading ?

Recording to internal drive, only active apps are Reaper, TotalMix, Fireface driver interface, and Sleep Control to stop the laptop going into sleep mode. WiFi off.

  • waedi
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Re: Madiface XT ii audio glitches when recording - USB errors

You could try the KEXT driver usb_335

are there any other HAL in the HAL folder, if I remember correct they can be issue even without the app running

M1-Tahoe, Madiface Pro, Digiface USB, Babyface silver and blue

5 Reply by MC

  • MC
  • MC
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Re: Madiface XT ii audio glitches when recording - USB errors

Trying the CC mode is super simple, easy and quickly done - much easer than changing the drivers. So just change the mode on the XT II, reconnect and use it like that. You'll notice stuttering or not - for such wild issues an error indicator is not necessary.

Regards
Matthias Carstens
RME

MC's Website

  • Registered: 2024-06-15
  • Posts: 11

Re: Madiface XT ii audio glitches when recording - USB errors

I've run a test in CC mode - all seems good, though the routing (channel order) not matching what I set up in USB3 mode is slightly annoying. I can work around it, but it threw me at first.

Yes, I will notice stuttering on a session, but then it's costing me time, client respect, etc, so I run 2-3h tests at home, but I can't just sit there listening to the test for hours on end, so the error indicator is actually a godsend in DriverKit mode. Otherwise I have to scan through the whole test recording to check if anything went wrong.

Testing so far has indicated CC mode seems solid. Setting the device to USB3 mode rather than Auto also seems to improve things, so will further test this to make sure (it would be my preferred option to retain full functionality).

  • Registered: 2024-06-15
  • Posts: 11

Re: Madiface XT ii audio glitches when recording - USB errors

waedi wrote:

You could try the KEXT driver usb_335

are there any other HAL in the HAL folder, if I remember correct they can be issue even without the app running

Yes, thank you for pointing that out! There were some old MOTU drivers that I removed.

I also have the following:
ACE driver, ARK driver (both for Rogue Amoeba apps that I find extremely useful but don't run when recording)
MS Teams and Zoom drivers (a necessary evil, apps not running during recording of course)
SoundID Reference and VSX Systemwide drivers (I do sometimes use Sonarworks when listening back on a session)

8 Reply by waedi (edited by waedi 2026-01-27 19:52:09)

  • waedi
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Re: Madiface XT ii audio glitches when recording - USB errors

jan.capinski wrote:
waedi wrote:

You could try the KEXT driver usb_335

are there any other HAL in the HAL folder, if I remember correct they can be issue even without the app running

Yes, thank you for pointing that out! There were some old MOTU drivers that I removed.

I also have the following:
ACE driver, ARK driver (both for Rogue Amoeba apps that I find extremely useful but don't run when recording)
MS Teams and Zoom drivers (a necessary evil, apps not running during recording of course)
SoundID Reference and VSX Systemwide drivers (I do sometimes use Sonarworks when listening back on a session)

just for testing I would copy all those HaLs on a stick and delete them from the computer

Best workaround - post 5 - use CC-mode

M1-Tahoe, Madiface Pro, Digiface USB, Babyface silver and blue
  • Registered: 2024-06-15
  • Posts: 11

Re: Madiface XT ii audio glitches when recording - USB errors

CC mode does seem to work solidly in terms of dropouts / stuttering.

I'm sorry if I'm being stupid, but despite some press releases claiming 'Now TotalMix FX becomes fully operational in CC mode, providing users with the flexibility and control they expect from RME interfaces.', it isn't fully operational, is it? Software playback channels in TM seem to not function at all in CC mode, so I don't actually have control over their routing.

And routing-wise, because the Madiface XT ii defaults to Aux First in CC mode, I have to change all my playback software (DAW, OS sound settings) to output to channels 5 and 6 (rather than the obvious 1-2) to get any playback through my headphone out or main out on the XT ii.

Have I missed something? Is there any way to regain some control over this peculiar routing?

10 Reply by vinark (edited by vinark 2026-01-28 12:50:08)

  • vinark
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Re: Madiface XT ii audio glitches when recording - USB errors

Maybe tmfx is in daw mode? Then it behaves as you experience. I have no madiface and I am not on apple so forgive if you already know.

Vincent, Amsterdam
https://soundcloud.com/thesecretworld
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  • Registered: 2024-06-15
  • Posts: 11

Re: Madiface XT ii audio glitches when recording - USB errors

vinark wrote:

Maybe tmfx is in daw mode? Then it behaves as you experience. I have no madiface and I am not on apple so forgive if you already know.

No, it's not in DAW mode (though I did check both modes to see if the routing was consistently offset by 4 channels).

  • Registered: 2024-06-15
  • Posts: 11

Re: Madiface XT ii audio glitches when recording - USB errors

On resetting Totalmix completely once in CC mode it actually started working as expected! Please disregard my previous difficulties. The naming on the playback channels didn't match what I would expect, but that's what renaming was made for.

Phew!

  • Registered: 2026-03-01
  • Posts: 6

Re: Madiface XT ii audio glitches when recording - USB errors

waedi wrote:
jan.capinski wrote:
waedi wrote:

You could try the KEXT driver usb_335

are there any other HAL in the HAL folder, if I remember correct they can be issue even without the app running

Yes, thank you for pointing that out! There were some old MOTU drivers that I removed.

I also have the following:
ACE driver, ARK driver (both for Rogue Amoeba apps that I find extremely useful but don't run when recording)
MS Teams and Zoom drivers (a necessary evil, apps not running during recording of course)
SoundID Reference and VSX Systemwide drivers (I do sometimes use Sonarworks when listening back on a session)

just for testing I would copy all those HaLs on a stick and delete them from the computer

Best workaround - post 5 - use CC-mode

Ive heard this that Zoom HAL can cause an issue - would you advise all others HAL to be removed test ?

  • waedi
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Re: Madiface XT ii audio glitches when recording - USB errors

yes

M1-Tahoe, Madiface Pro, Digiface USB, Babyface silver and blue