Hi Christian

Same problem here! Same setup!

MBP Mid 2012 OSX 10.9.1
PT11HD 11.1.3
Madiface XT Firmware v 167 - Driver v 1.95

Protools crashes after telling me: "IO channel count for current playback device has changed. Please restart Pro Tools."

Did you get it fixed?

Patrick

Updated to PT 11.1.3 this morning only because of same crashes with 11.1.1.

No luck.

Will contact Avid as well.

Best, Patrick

I'm having the same issue with Pro Tools HD 9.0.6 on OSX running native with the Madiface XT. If I try to switch the playback engine to Madiface XT, PT crashes. It works with "built in audio".

Has this been resolved at all, or is it a known issue?

Thanks,
TC

If you were to search this forum, you would likely find out that the crashes in PT 9 are a known issue of the software. There is nothing we can do about this. The problem was fixed in later versions of PT and should be a thing of the past in 11. Whether or not the cases in this old thread are a return of the old bug (or even still exist today) remains to be seen. In any case, they are not related to the known PT 9 crashes (which are apparently due to the number of channels of the XT, and the software being unable to handle that).

Regards
Daniel Fuchs
RME

If you use the XT via USB it might help to limit the unit to USB2 mode and with this to 64 channel I/O (I think the old 9 crashed above 32 channels...). Using the XT via E-PCIe the driver allows to reduce the number of WDM devices to 0 and the number of ASIO channels to 32 (added June 2013 for PT).

Wow. You see "no need". Ok. Even though it is indeed an Avid issue, one reason to post information about "compatibility issues" would be simply as a courtesy to existing and potential customers of the Madiface XT. If this was noted, it would have personally saved me hours of troubleshooting time with my system trying to figure out why it was crashing, reinstalling software, drivers, etc. Apparently your customers' time is not deemed valuable enough to post a couple of lines of text on your website or in the manual for users of Pro Tools 9/10 (not exactly an obscure little used daw)? Good to know.

It's interesting that I was able to find info on this fairly quicky on SSL's docs for their MadiXtreme cards, and they did even implement a workaround for their customers. Apparently they did see the need for this.

http://www.solid-state-logic.com/suppor … nloads.asp

New in MadiXtreme Driver V1.3

Fully certified for Mac OSX 10.7 (Lion)
Includes new Firmware V19 with several performance improvements
New MADI Channel Limit (MCL) functionality, set in MadiXtreme Control Panel by clicking on the "MADI Channel Limit" Button (reboot required)

Applications for MCL:
Pro Tools 9/10 Users. As PT 9.x and 10.x can only work with an Audio Device of max. 64 I/O Channels, setting the MCL to 32 Channels on a MadiXtreme 128 will allow this card to work
Limit to 32 Channels for MadiXtreme 128 Users, that work in 96 Khz (no "blank" Core Audio I/O's, ie. 33-64)
Limit to 48 Channels for Alpha-Link Users (also for Users with 2x Alpha-Link...avoids "blank" channels as well)

Apparently SSL thought enough of their customers to at least note the issue.

My Madiface XT replaced a system with 2 Lynx AES16e cards with an additional LS-adat daughtercard, which was capable of more than 32 physical i/o. While the physical i/o may have been limited to less than this in PTHD 9 software, Pro Tools was not crashing on startup with this setup. (I also don't believe that an "HD" license is limited to 32 "channels", as you've stated).

I wil likely upgrade to PT 11, but this type of response towards your customer base has certainly left me with a less than positive perception of RME.

I would suggest that while this is certainly an Avid technical issue, your disdain towards them should not be passed down to customers who've invested in your products. Simply noting the issue (as SSL have done) would have gone a long way towards avoiding that.

In any event, I do thank you for your responses.

And I find it remarkable that you are being so contemptous with me, considering I am a long time RME customer, and I think the points I've made are quite valid and not at all unreasonable or illogical. Clearly you feel in this case that the "customer is always wrong". That's fine.

To answer your first question, PT immediately crashed after installing and setting up the MADIface XT. Prior to that, I was using 2 Lynx AES16e cards (72 channel I/O configuration with no issues). Naturally I first looked for answers on RME's end, as I had assumed I could find answers if there was a compatibility issue with the most commonly used software in North America for post production and studio work. (Due to the large number of interfaces and soundcards available, this is a more likely source of info, as Avid is generally not going to list every interface available).

Apparently I was incorrect in this assumption. I also find in funny that I only received a response in this thread after making a comment questioning RME's support, rather than to the support inquiry itself.

Had you originally replied and said, "yes, it is a known issue", that would have answered the question.

You keep repeating the fact that it's a bug in PT. I UNDERSTAND. WE ALL GET THAT. THAT IS NOT IN DISPUTE. SSL GETS THAT AS WELL. THEY STILL NOTED IT.

You said you went above and beyond, helping avid identify the issue. Yet, you wouldn't spend 5 minutes to make a note in your docs to potential customers as SSL did. That's all I'm saying. Would have been nice.

You clearly have no perspective from the customer side of things.

Yes, Daniel, let's leave it at that. We can agree to disagree on posting "notes" regarding known issues. At least SSL's notes err on the side of caution, if this was indeed resolved in later 10.x versions. (I have no real issue with their notes, as I haven't invested 3.5k in their cards).

I'll admit that your first response implying that I somehow didn't "search the forum" set the tone for me for our entire exchange.

I'd ask that you maybe try to see things a little bit more at times from the end users perspective. I understand you are tech support, but that would go a long way.

Have a nice week. I do appreciate your help by the way, and I now know that I need to upgrade to PT 11 to use PTHD.

Hi, I also have a similar problem. I have a Madiface XT, which crashes when opening PT 11, PT HD 11 and PT HD 12. I am a long time RME user but this is the first time I register for this forum because is my first problem of this kind (also owned Fireface UFX, Madiface and older products).

I know what i can expect from a company like Avid, and what to expect from RME. That's why I really believe the only solution can come from RME's side. Either limiting the channel count with a special driver, or whatever you can think of.

Please let me know when you solve this problem. I really like my Madiface XT but my clients rely on Pro Tools so now I'm using another interface, which is a shame considering the thousands of dollars that it costed.

Thank you

RME I HOPE YOU KNOW YOU ALL ARE THE ONLY ONES HAVING THAT ISSUE, I have a very good friend that work for avid and they say the issue if from you all. This 32 channel limitations is you not AVID. I have a UA Apollo and with Pro Tools no HD i can do up to 124 channels with no issue, i have tested other interfaces from SSL and also don't have that same issue. I also have a RME MADI for my Neve and other then crashing once in a blue it also has a limitation of 32 channels so i will be switching to focusrite Red. RME you all have a great sounding product but its sucks with Pro Tools..

Same problem here too - with the Madiface XT on a Mac with the latest version of Pro Tools 11.3.2.

Record-enabling a strip with an input set to channel 1-64 is fine, but arming anything above channel 65 causes PT to crash. A tad annoying if you want to arm any of the mic inputs or the AES input by itself - or indeed MADI 3 which is the only coax IO - as they come at the end after all the MADI streams!

Confusingly it's happy to output channels 65 upwards, just not input. Is there any news in the works?

Can you select which MADI port (or other channels) in USB2 mode?

Otherwise it seems happy to work over USB3 for MADI port 1 anyway (or MADI ports 1+2 when at 2Fs).

CK

Well this is brilliant. After not using PTHD software since purchasing the Madiface XT, I went and upgraded today before the month end deadline. Specifically so I can have session compatibility and finally use my RME unit with PTHD again (I've been primarily using Cubase/Nuendo), since "apparently" it was Pro Tools 9 HD that was the problem last time I visited this thread.

Of course when I open PT12 HD for the first time, I'm getting "I/O channel count has changed... restart pro tools..." and crash.

I see this is still an issue, and I'm happy to learn that I've just wasted $600 doing an upgrade to the latest PT12 HD version. Lovely... 

I do this for a living. It would be nice to have this expensive RME interface actually work with the most widely used software in the recording profession. By the way, I love this page, it's steeped in irony - http://www.rme-audio.de/en/news_rme_ind … andard.php

Any suggestions guys, or is this a lost cause? USB 3 is not an option here, thanks. I'm on a 12 core 2010 mac pro tower, all slots are full.

Also, I like how you still are not putting any Pro Tools compatibility issue notes on your product page. Avid also doesn't have the Madiface in their "will not work" list. I guess it's still the customers fault, or Avid's, or God's... or whatever.

As it were (or should I say ironically?),  PT 12.3.1 works just fine here with the Madiface XT in OSX 10.11. We also recently had a customer who had an issue similar to yours on two of four brand new iMacs, while it worked on the other two. Last I heard was that they copied disk images from the working systems to the other ones, and that fixed it. What exactly may have cause the issue is not clear, unfortunately. It may indeed be neither Avid nor RME. Without clear reproducibility on our systems, it will be hard to find the cause, much less simply fix it.

Please mind that this is really not an issue of the XT "actually work(ing) with the most widely used software in the recording profession". There is no specific criterion for PT compatibility. PT Native uses standard ASIO and Core Audio drivers. If the issue were driver related, it would affect other software as well. All earlier issues of this nature were eventually fixed by Avid. Limiting a driver's channel number can only be a workaround at best, and once the actual issue is solved, it becomes redundant. There is also no apparent need for "compatibility issue notes" on either our or Avid's website. I would still suggest you contact Avid to find out what may cause this error message, they will know best.

If not USB 3, how is your XT connected? For USB 2, try manually setting the device to USB 2 mode instead of "Auto". I have it running on USB 3 here, on a 2010 2.8 GHz Quad Core.
If your system can not host an additional USB 3 card, that is, well, not within our scope of influence...

Have not tested PT 11 in a while, but can do so in a moment.

Regards
Daniel Fuchs
RME

By the way, just so you don't think I'm being completely negative here, I absolutely love the XT with Cubase/Nuendo. It's fantastic in every way, except when it comes to Pro Tools...

Hi Daniel,

I've had some success here testing some things since my last post, so maybe you can also test this out as well to confirm...

First, hold down the "N" key before launching PT. Then in the dialog window, check the "Ignore Errors During Playback/Record" box. Make sure Madiface XT is also selected as the playback engine (sometimes defaults to core audio).

That's working for me. I haven't tested yet with recording/playback, but I can now get it launched, and see all 196 inputs and 198 outputs in my I/O configuration, all checked and enabled.

Will do further testing, but this is good news so far!

Hopefully this helps the other people here who have also been having these issues.

Cheers.
TC

Update:

Same behavior with PT 12.4.0........downloaded and installed 5 min ago........