• Registered: 2010-10-11
  • Posts: 25

Topic: Babyface Pro - some audio breakup and some unexpected solutions

Hi,

I took delivery of a Babyface Pro just before New Year. Initially I had some problems with random audio breakup playing a single file. I think I've solved the issue but it might be useful to detail what I did; the fixes are a little unexpected. Note that this is on a new 16GB MacBook Pro running OS X 10.11.1 El Capitan, BFP firmware v101, BFP driver v2.14 with the BFP connected to the left-side USB port and bus-powered, and the MacBook Pro running on battery power.

Initially all would be well, but then I would get random episodes of audio breakup. I was using a single .m4a audio file located on an external ThunderBolt drive. The problem cropped in Logic Pro X, Ableton Live and QLab.

After a bit of investigation, I found that there are some El Capitan 10.11.x (and possibly Yosemite 10.10.x) network issues involving Apple's AirDrop and AirPlay services that are somehow conspiring to disrupt audio services. I made the two changes listed below, and since then I've had clean audio. Sorry if these seem slightly techy.

First step; open your Network Preferences, create a new Location and discard any service you don't specifically use. In my case I deleted the Bluetooth PAN and the Thunderbolt Bridge services, leaving only Wi-Fi. Be sure to save and Apply the changes.

Second step: switch off a network service called 'awdl0' (a-w-d-ell-zero) which is used by AirPlay and AirDrop. Simply removing AirDrop from the Finder sidebar won't help! Open Terminal (in the Utilities folder) and CAREFULLY type "sudo ifconfig awdl0 down". You'll be asked to enter your administrator password. You can then check that the service is inactive by typing "ifconfig awdl0"; it should list a status of 'inactive'. NOTE that this change is not persistent between restarts, so you'll need to do it each time to start up (or write a script to do it for you). More details on this issue can be found here: https://discussions.apple.com/thread/69 … p;tstart=0

Odd as it seems, my Babyface Pro audio is now clean. I'm sure there are others who have more IT wisdom than I do that can suggest why this might be, but I can now get on with making recordings.

Cheers,
Matt

2 Reply by MC

  • MC
  • MC
  • Administrator
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  • From: Germany/Thailand
  • Registered: 2007-04-06
  • Posts: 25,600

Re: Babyface Pro - some audio breakup and some unexpected solutions

Thanks for sharing this information.

Regards
Matthias Carstens
RME

MC's Website

  • Registered: 2013-03-16
  • Posts: 15

Re: Babyface Pro - some audio breakup and some unexpected solutions

I think I might be suffering from the same problem, but the suggested solution does not work. I'm on El Capitan, using an UFX with up to date drivers/firmware. After some time of recording audio (into Ableton Live), all inputs seem to get stuck, i.e., they receive the same audio buffer over and over again. I can unstick the inputs by temporarily choosing another audio interface in my DAW.

What makes me think that my problem is related to the one described is that the system log shows messages mentioning awdl at roughly the point in time where the audio inputs get stuck. Bringing awdl0 down seems to have no effect on this.

Are there any other known solutions to this issue?

  • Registered: 2010-10-11
  • Posts: 25

Re: Babyface Pro - some audio breakup and some unexpected solutions

Hi Schmallon,

Glad I'm not the only one to see this. I also had the 'stuck buffer' effect a few times. I can't offer an explanation of why the network changes should affect the audio. Since posting the suggestion, I've had an improvement, but not a complete fix, of the problem.

Mostly I'm using Figure53's QLab application (but also Logic, Live etc). If I set a buffer of 512 samples in QLab, I'll sometimes see Console errors from QLab reporting 'dropped 512 frames of audio'. If I change the buffer to 128 samples, I'll see 'dropped 128 frames of audio'). The error will crop up regardless of how large I make the buffer, so it seems to be something external to the audio chain that is disrupting things. The errors occur when playing a single audio file; no massive multitrack pushing-to-the-limit scenarios.

Sometimes I'll also see 'AudioDeviceDidOverload' warnings from QLab. I'm told (by Figure53) that this means QLab had audio data in RAM to send to the interface, but couldn't get it there in time.

I've tried hassling the USB cable as much as I can without disconnecting it; no effect. I don't have a replacement cable to test it against but I'll plan to do this. I also tried physically hassling the Babyface Pro, but again no effect.

Matt

  • Registered: 2013-03-16
  • Posts: 15

Re: Babyface Pro - some audio breakup and some unexpected solutions

I just noticed that turning off Wi-Fi seems to stop the problem from happening alltogether. So if turning off wi-fi is an option for you, I suggest you try it.

  • Registered: 2010-10-11
  • Posts: 25

Re: Babyface Pro - some audio breakup and some unexpected solutions

Hi Schmallon,

Well that would seem to suggest that there is some form of network-, or at least wifi-related, issue that is somehow disrupting USB audio. For me, I found that just shutting down that adwl0 service was sufficient. I don't have the means to try a wired network link to see if that also causes trouble; do you have the means to test this?

Matt

  • Registered: 2013-03-16
  • Posts: 15

Re: Babyface Pro - some audio breakup and some unexpected solutions

I don't have a wired network in my recording environment. In fact, I don't have any network there at all, that's why turning off wi-fi is an option for me. I still do think that there is some connection to awdl. Whenever the issue occurred, awdl showed up in my system logs. All of this does happen even if I disable awdl0.

  • Registered: 2010-10-11
  • Posts: 25

Re: Babyface Pro - some audio breakup and some unexpected solutions

Now, this may be completely unrelated, but:

I have an iLok key for various licenced things (SpeakerPhone, Soundminer etc). Today it seemed to stop working for no reason. I did some searching and came across this issue, seemingly specific to newer USB3-equipped Apple computers (ie all of the newer ones):

http://www.pro-tools-expert.com/home-pa … quipp.html

In essence there MAY be an issue in the way Apple's USB3 ports support USB2 devices (the iLok is a USB2 device, as is the BabyFace Pro). Of course if RME's drivers sidestep Apple's USB2 support then this is a red herring, but I'm going to try running my iLok (and my BFP) via a USB2 hub to see if anything changes.

Matt

  • Registered: 2008-01-01
  • Posts: 3,025

Re: Babyface Pro - some audio breakup and some unexpected solutions

Does your Mac use Asmedia chipset based USB3 ports?

  • Registered: 2010-10-11
  • Posts: 25

Re: Babyface Pro - some audio breakup and some unexpected solutions

Hi Timur Born,

I'm not sure. It's a Retina MacBook Pro 15-inch, mid 2015. Looking in System Information I see the following USB information:

USB 3.0 Bus:

Host Controller Driver: AppleUSBXHCILPTH
PCI Device ID:  0x8c31
PCI Revision ID:  0x0005
PCI Vendor ID: 0x8086

Running the Device ID through pcidatabase.com suggests it's an Intel controller.

Matt

  • Registered: 2010-05-07
  • Posts: 31

Re: Babyface Pro - some audio breakup and some unexpected solutions

Any news on this issue? I've had a similar problem with my new iMac 27 and both proposed solutions didn't work for me.

  • Registered: 2013-03-16
  • Posts: 15

Re: Babyface Pro - some audio breakup and some unexpected solutions

OS 10.11.4 "Fixes an issue that caused USB audio devices to disconnect". I haven't had a chance to try whether it is the issue reported in this thread, but it sounds similar.

  • From: Germany
  • Registered: 2007-04-10
  • Posts: 9,782

Re: Babyface Pro - some audio breakup and some unexpected solutions

I have so far had one customer report that the update fixed the issue.

Regards
Daniel Fuchs
RME

Regards
Daniel Fuchs
RME

RME Support's Website

  • Registered: 2016-03-30
  • Posts: 3

Re: Babyface Pro - some audio breakup and some unexpected solutions

hey guys,
i think i have a similar problem - could you check my post please
i've attached an audio file there so you could let me know if the glitch in your case sounds the same..
thanks
Den

https://www.forum.rme-audio.de/viewtopic.php?id=23588

  • Registered: 2010-10-11
  • Posts: 25

Re: Babyface Pro - some audio breakup and some unexpected solutions

Hi koochey,

The link you provided seems to be bad; can you provide a different link (or a direct link to the file)?

Cheers,
Matt