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Topic: macOS Sierra and higher RME USB driver

Apple is soon to release macOS Sierra, 10.12. What makes it a bit special for us audio freaks is that Apple continued to work on their USB stack, and also provides new libraries to be able to use the changed technology in full. According to our tests the result seems very positive for USB audio - it seems more stable, reliable and even quicker by making lower latency settings operational with less dropouts.

Of course using those new libraries in a driver makes that driver incompatible to former OS.

But there is no need to be concerned: macOS Sierra is fully compatible to existing drivers.

For all wanting to take advantage of the latest USB driver technology in macOS Sierra here is a public beta version of our current USB series driver 2.18, adapted and compiled for 10.12:

https://archiv.rme-audio.de/download/dr … _219_2.zip

Please give some feedback how it perfoms for you.

Note: can also be installed under 10.11, but doesn't give any obvious advantage there.

Regards
Matthias Carstens
RME

2 (edited by johndude 2016-09-21 15:55:01)

Re: macOS Sierra and higher RME USB driver

For a moment i thought it was not working, then i realised i had to turn on the power on the fireface before i saw the software smile

Thanks for getting the driver working guy!!

It was my main worry about upgrading.

Thanks
John

Re: macOS Sierra and higher RME USB driver

Works great here

4 (edited by GrabtharsHammer 2016-10-13 15:44:04)

Re: macOS Sierra and higher RME USB driver

Hi,

First I have to say that the audio performance improved greatly after installing Sierra and the 2.19 beta driver for the Babyface Pro. I can definitely run more plugins simultaneously now than before.

However, I encounter a strange issue with the Headphone output. Within TotalMix it is now only displayed as a software output, which means that I only get sound of my headphones when TotalMix is in Full Mode and not in DAW mode (that I normally like to use). I tried to make a total reset, but it didn't work. With 2.18 I didn't have this behavior, the headphone output worked just fine.

Best regards

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/88905077/Bildschirmfoto%202016-10-13%20um%2016.29.29.png

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Re: macOS Sierra and higher RME USB driver

The headphone output in your screenshot is Main. The purpose of the DAW mode is to do all the routing in the DAW, so you will only hear something on Main if you play back a signal on channels phones 3/4. I don't know how there can be a difference in DAW mode with driver 2.18, only if you had changed the basic CoreAudio routing via Sound - Speakers in Mac OS to feed the phones.

Regards
Matthias Carstens
RME

Re: macOS Sierra and higher RME USB driver

That's strange. I didn't change any settings after installing the 2.19 beta driver. With 2.18 it was more or less plug&play on every output in DAW mode. I selected the headphone output with the "out"  button on the babyface pro and heard the music on my phones. Suddenly with 2.19 the headphone out remains quiet and can only be heard when switching to full mode.

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Re: macOS Sierra and higher RME USB driver

You can not 'select' the phones out with the button on the BF Pro to make it an 'active' output (only in stand-alone mode). This function is limited to adjust the phones output level/volume with the wheel.

Regards
Matthias Carstens
RME

Re: macOS Sierra and higher RME USB driver

Obviously I must have understood something terribly wrong about the operation of the unit. And have dementia in its final stages, too. ;-) Sorry for that. I was really convinced that the Babyface Pro worked differently with the 2.18 drivers. Obviously that's not the case.

Anyway, audio performance really has improved significantly (if I am not completely mistaken about this, too...). I have a MacBook Pro Retina 2013 and with 2.18/El Capitan I couldn't use Kazrog's KClip 2 with 32x oversampling on the Master Bus in most of my Logic Pro X projects without getting glitches and system overload errors. Now with 2.19b/Sierra that's not a problem anymore.

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Re: macOS Sierra and higher RME USB driver

That kind of improvement is indeed expected.

Regards
Matthias Carstens
RME

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Re: macOS Sierra and higher RME USB driver

Version 2.19_2 is now available from our website or the link in the first post. Driver unchanged, but TotalMix FX 1.35 will now be installed.

Regards
Matthias Carstens
RME

11 (edited by miscend 2016-11-30 15:16:48)

Re: macOS Sierra and higher RME USB driver

I tried the new driver today. The Fireface USB Settings application now requires high performance graphics which forces MBPs to switch to the discrete graphics chip which consumes more battery and generates more heat. The other driver does not do this.

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Re: macOS Sierra and higher RME USB driver

We will check this.

Regards
Matthias Carstens
RME

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Re: macOS Sierra and higher RME USB driver

Can you please try this modified Settings dialog (just close the current one, then copy the app into the Applications folder, overwriting the old one):

https://archiv.rme-audio.de/download/Fi … 9_Test.zip

Regards
Matthias Carstens
RME

Re: macOS Sierra and higher RME USB driver

Hi. I have just installed iOS sierra on my mac. I have a Fireface UCX. I installed the latest driver from your website for Sierra. Now, whatever i do, the Totalmix FX interface will not open. It is showing in the toolbar at the bottom but not responding. The audio is working but no interface. Any ideas please?

Re: macOS Sierra and higher RME USB driver

The issue is now resolved with the new settings dialog thanks.

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Re: macOS Sierra and higher RME USB driver

Thanks for the feedback!

Regards
Matthias Carstens
RME

Re: macOS Sierra and higher RME USB driver

Further to this....

I can get Totalmix partially working if my Fireface UCX is not switched on (still no interface but at least a few drop down windows). However when I switch on my Fireface, Totalmix (or at least the parts that appear to function) crashes.

patrick2976 wrote:

Hi. I have just installed iOS sierra on my mac. I have a Fireface UCX. I installed the latest driver from your website for Sierra. Now, whatever i do, the Totalmix FX interface will not open. It is showing in the toolbar at the bottom but not responding. The audio is working but no interface. Any ideas please?

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Re: macOS Sierra and higher RME USB driver

https://www.forum.rme-audio.de/viewtopic.php?id=24198

Regards
Matthias Carstens
RME

19 (edited by patrick2976 2016-12-03 16:16:54)

Re: macOS Sierra and higher RME USB driver

Thanks for the link.

I searched for the audio plugins you mentioned there but don't  have them in the locations you suggested. I tried the 2.17 driver but that also made no difference. I'm running a late 2013 mac, 3.5 ghz processor, core i7, NVDIA Ge force graphics card. I was using Yosemite and the Fireface (and Totalmix) worked perfectly. I'm using Logic Pro X as my DAW. After the Sierra download I also did the latest Logic update. I have not downloaded any other plugins apart from those that come with Logic.....The only drivers in the audio plugins folder are AirPlay, Apple AVB Audio, Apple Time since audio clock, bluetooth audio plugin and isight audio driver.  Any other ideas please?


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Re: macOS Sierra and higher RME USB driver

If you manage to crash TM FX then the crash report would be helpful.

Regards
Matthias Carstens
RME

Re: macOS Sierra and higher RME USB driver

OK I have a .hang file report but it's very long. How can I send it to you?

Re: macOS Sierra and higher RME USB driver

I've just discovered that if I log in as a guest TotalMix works perfectly. I've tried deleting any apps in my account that I had downloaded prior to the programme not working but still no joy....

Re: macOS Sierra and higher RME USB driver

Have you tried making a new user account?

MB Pro - 2 X FireFace 400, FF800 & DigiFace USB
ADAT gear: Korg, Behri, Fostex, Alesis...

24 (edited by patrick2976 2016-12-05 10:29:28)

Re: macOS Sierra and higher RME USB driver

Yes, I created a new user account (as administrator) but I can´t access my Logic songs and all my audio files....

Re: macOS Sierra and higher RME USB driver

If TM works on this new account, your first account is probably somehow corrupted. In that case, it seems wise to reinstall OSX (and Logic and other apps) from scratch and set back your data from backup.

Alternatively, you can use the new account, reinstall Logic on it and transfer your data through the "public" folder, or via an external disk.

MB Pro - 2 X FireFace 400, FF800 & DigiFace USB
ADAT gear: Korg, Behri, Fostex, Alesis...

Re: macOS Sierra and higher RME USB driver

Just bought a new Babyface Pro and running with the new RME macOS driver and macOS Sierra 10.12.1. Hit two problems which may relate to driver:
1. Sometimes Mix button on unit doesn't do anything but bringing TotalMix FX into focus makes it work again.
2. If I set up an Apple aggregate device with just the Babyface Pro (intending to use as master clock and to add USB audio sources belonging to various HW synths for SW sample rate conversion), the default sample rate has a mis-match to the Babyface Pro sample rate and trying to correct causes all sorts of funny rate mis-matches. (E.g. set aggregate device rate to 44.1kHz to match BFPro and then BFPro rate jumps to 42.336kHz and then try to match that and another jump occurs etc. These problems occur with just the BFPro selected in the aggregate device.)
Driver is 2.19_2 and I am using Apple Mainstage as a primary audio app.

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Re: macOS Sierra and higher RME USB driver

1. We will check that.

2. Aggregate Devices is there to combine several devices. Using it with just one doesn't seem to be what it is intended for, so a weired behaviour might be normal.

Regards
Matthias Carstens
RME

Re: macOS Sierra and higher RME USB driver

Thanks Matthias. Re. issue (2), I only mentioned the case of 1 device to demonstrate the issue. The problem actually occurs for me in any aggregate device that includes the BFPro. And I just tested an aggregate device without the BFPro (devices were Roland Integra-7 and Roland JD-XA, i.e. two hardware synths) and there wasn't any problem. As I programmer myself, I wondered if there might be something like a wrong sample-rate lookup table somewhere....?

(It's really useful to synchronise HW synths vis aggregate devices given synth makers don't add clock inputs and HW SRC setups are very cumbersome.... And I want to use the BFacePro as my master clock given that's where the converters are.... Using analogue outs from the synths is not attractive due to noise floor issues....)

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Re: macOS Sierra and higher RME USB driver

RME devices require sync by external clock. This is a known limitation when using the Aggregate Devices function. With two Fireface 800 (example) you would connect them via word clock and set master/slave correctly. This is also mentioned in most manuals. The software clocking via Core Audio is not supported.

Regards
Matthias Carstens
RME

Re: macOS Sierra and higher RME USB driver

Sure, not trying to SW clock any RME device which would be a really bad idea. Just trying to slave *other* devices to BFacePro as master using aggregate devices SRC (Apple call it drift correction and it is not checked for the BFacePro). BFacePro uses internal clock reference and is master. Correct me though if this is really stupid : ) but seems to work between other devices - you pick one as the master and the others are slaved via drift correction.

Re: macOS Sierra and higher RME USB driver

Just to add this is only really appropriate for synths and sound modules since "drift correction" obviously means Apple is messing with the incoming USB digital audio. But it works surprisingly well. I have compared playing a keyboard via Apple's "drift correction" SRC and analogue capture and the former is perfectly clean (no noise floor) and to my ear a slightly more detailed sound.

Re: macOS Sierra and higher RME USB driver

Just to draw a line under my issue. The hang reports were inconclusive so having tried a number of other things I had to do a clean install of Sierra and Logic Pro X. This seems to have done the trick. Thanks for all suggestions and help.

Re: macOS Sierra and higher RME USB driver

For info, turned out my aggregate device issue was related to (a) macOS apparently applying some constraints on aggregate device sample rate which are easy to work around by using the aggregate device for Audio Input only and (b) macOS displaying incorrect values for aggregate device sample rate in Audio Midi Setup. (The real aggregate device sample rate displayed in [System Information / Hardware / Audio] was in harmony with that reported by RME's USB settings.)

So I do not believe there is any issue with the RME driver here, sorry to bother you with this.

An aside for anyone reading with modern synths which present as audio interfaces: you may be interested to note that for me using an aggregate device to process USB audio inputs from multiple synths and then (following SW processing) pushing that audio back through the Babyface Pro works very well. Just set the BFacePro in your application as Audio Output and use an aggregate device of synths (as well as possibly the BFacePro as clock master) as Audio Input and you're away....

Re: macOS Sierra and higher RME USB driver

Thx for reporting back. That is really useful info.

MB Pro - 2 X FireFace 400, FF800 & DigiFace USB
ADAT gear: Korg, Behri, Fostex, Alesis...

Re: macOS Sierra and higher RME USB driver

[For synth people] Note also I am running the BFacePro at 96 kHz, thus ensuring HW synths are SRC'ed by Core Audio to the BFacePro-clocked 96 kHz for a full 96 kHz/24-bit system including soft-synths as well. My system sounds incredible to be honest, in large part due to the BFacePro's great converters. And I am taking delivery next week of a new completely-maxed out MacBook Pro with touch bar (2 TB SSD etc) and can't wait.... : )

Re: macOS Sierra and higher RME USB driver

I have a FIREFACE UC, it's not clear to me if it's compatible with Sierra or not ? I tried to update with the last driver but TOTALMIX is stuck.
Thx for your answer and happy new year

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Re: macOS Sierra and higher RME USB driver

Hello,

Long time RME user here, just sharing my experience with original Babyface and Sierra driver 3.01.

Babyface was working fine w El Capitan. Moved to Sierra in early Jan, clean install.

With Sierra-driver some unexpected noisebursts and audio lockups (session running, master meters showing extreme full scale signal but no audio coming out ) in Logic X. Sudden full scale noises also in Reaper, a big pop to speakers and then silence when session is running.

Usually happening when tweaking a plugin but not limited to a specific plugin. Any synth, eq, compressor or even doing basic region editing (trimming region start etc.) could trigger the burst + silence - kombo. Could not pinpoint any workflow which could reproduce the problem reliably. Audio was coming back after deselecting babyface as audio device and reselecting right after.

Tried that for a few days, installed driver 2.20 and all the problems haven't showed up since. Been working like a dream for a month or so, daily heavy use.

Macbook pro Early 2011 17-inch i7 quad, macOS 10.12.2 and 10.12.3, Logic X 10.2.4 - 10.3, Reaper 5.311 - 5.33

Best

J

Re: macOS Sierra and higher RME USB driver

Here's some info on 3.01 driver with Mainstage. Mainstage unusually allows the user to set the driver latency in addition to the I/O Buffer size (see https://support.apple.com/en-gb/HT202982). So I have tried different driver latency settings at 96kHz and these are my results. (NB: I use a 256 sample I/O Buffer plus I/O Safety Buffer which in effect means I have 512 sample output buffer, 256 sample input buffer.)

32 sample driver latency: glitches most of the time
64 sample driver latency: no glitches most of the time but sometimes glitches
128 sample driver latency: no glitches most of the time but sometimes (more rarely) glitches
256 sample driver latency: no glitches heard yet (although haven't played as much as other settings)

Seems weird to me that need to use high setting (more latency) to be safe but most of the time lower settings work perfectly well. And the driver is basically processing the same info all the time (1 stereo channel from and to Babyface Pro). I might try the old driver.... Or should I be looking to Thunderbolt interface where driver might have less CPU dependency (if this is the problem)?

Re: macOS Sierra and higher RME USB driver

Link from above post with better formatting: https://support.apple.com/en-gb/HT202982

Re: macOS Sierra and higher RME USB driver

Okay, I tried with old driver and got same results. So now I'm less trusting this is driver-related despite being called "driver latency". I am actually struggling to work out what Mainstage's "Driver latency" setting actually, precisely means so sorry if my post not greatly useful.

Re: macOS Sierra and higher RME USB driver

Hello forum,

I just wanted to add to JTF's post on 2/17---

I was basically having the same issue when I was using 3.0 driver, and I just saw this thread a few days ago so now I'm using 2.2. So far I haven't encountered the issue.

For me the extreme full-scale pop noise usually came out when I played certain patch in a sample library. There's at least one Kontakt patch that often gives me this issue--- there might be more but I'm only aware one another patch for now. If I switch to another patch (even from same library) the noise will go away. And this doesn't always happen either,  sometimes I load that problematic patch and have no issue at all. It seems like it happens more when I'm more involved in the writing process, having lots of instruments loaded etc. but not 100% sure about this.

Here's the video I recorded when I was having the issue:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TDL81XSY7WE

You can see the pop happens as I play the keyboard, but no sound is coming out of Kontakt (you can't see but Logic's meter isn't moving either). Then I switch to the next patch and plays fine. I don't think this is a problem with the patch, since I was using it before I started using BFace Pro and had no problem.

Hope the driver will get fixed soon, if that's what causing the issue. Thanks.

RME Babyface Pro/Logic Pro X 10.3.1/Mac Pro (mid2010)/2.93Ghz 12 Core/64GB RAM/OS X 10.12.2

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Re: macOS Sierra and higher RME USB driver

Can you try driver 2.20 first? So far it sounds more like a Kontakt problem to me...

Regards
Matthias Carstens
RME

Re: macOS Sierra and higher RME USB driver

Thank you Matthias for quick reply.

Yes, I am using 2.2 as I mentioned for a few days now, and have not had an issue yet. I will update if anything happens but hopefully not.

I did have Kontakt update recently so it could be the problem with it. I will look into that more...

RME Babyface Pro/Logic Pro X 10.3.1/Mac Pro (mid2010)/2.93Ghz 12 Core/64GB RAM/OS X 10.12.2

Re: macOS Sierra and higher RME USB driver

I was wondering; I have the new macbook pro 15" with touchbar and if i plug out the babyface the touchbar crashes, is this something more people have?

I can work around the problem by making sure I select internal speakers as output device and I have to quit al the RME related programs (Totalmix & the other driver info program)

I think i have the same issue with the ufx in my studio, but have to double check that.

45 (edited by Florian.Streich 2017-06-04 18:03:42)

Re: macOS Sierra and higher RME USB driver

childrenof9 wrote:

I was wondering; I have the new macbook pro 15" with touchbar and if i plug out the babyface the touchbar crashes, is this something more people have?

I do have the same problem with the Babyface and Macbook Pro 15 (2,9 Ghz i7 and Radeon Pro 460) with touchbar.
I can't work around the problem, only a restart brings the touchbar back alive..
AND, after unplugging it once, the Babyface is not recognised any more by reconnecting it. ??

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Re: macOS Sierra and higher RME USB driver

Can all that have the 're-plug' issue please provide a log from the console when doing the unplug/replug procedure? That would be extremely helpful.

Also please note that it would be most helpful if anyone still having problems mentions the exact model of MacBook, the current OS X version, the driver version and model of RME interface, and which interface format is used for connection. Thanks.

Regards
Matthias Carstens
RME

Re: macOS Sierra and higher RME USB driver

Hi Matthias,

I have the following information for you regarding the unplug issue and then losing the touchbar:

Macbook: 15" 2.9ghz i7, intel hd530
Sierra 10.12.5
Of the babyface I updated everything, so newest firmware/totalmix etc.

I also have a log, but its pretty big text wise. Should I email that?

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Re: macOS Sierra and higher RME USB driver

Note: this is an edited post. The first version from last night (too late working...) was not accurate.

It is interesting to note that the Touchbar is a USB device (which at least explains why it is affected from unplugging another USB device). We saw the same crash with other manufacturer's devices too, and are still discussing this effect with Apple.

The crash can be avoided by using a different than the original Apple USB-C to USB adapter. A third party adapter with more than one USB port seems not to trigger this effect if the audio interface is removed from the adapter's USB port instead of removing the USB-C adapter with connected audio interface from the MacBook (most probably because such an adapter has another hub inside).

Regards
Matthias Carstens
RME

Re: macOS Sierra and higher RME USB driver

Anyone else experiencing a BIG performance improvement with the 3.03 driver using Logic 10.3.1 & OSX 10.12.5?

2014 MBP - 2.8Ghz, 1TB SSD, 16GB Ram & a music only software/hardware config.

I was experiencing a lot of random processing peaks, glitching & sometimes complete halting of playback with the 3.01 & 2.20 drivers - there is a lot of talk on the web about the Logic audio engine having these sorts of issues & many consider it needs a rewrite. The workaround for most it seems is to tolerate the issue until the set-up "settles down"......which it does seem to do after a while. (Talk about ghost in the machine..)

Frustratingly I could play the heavier projects via the audio outputs of my Thunderbolt Display without issue.

Installed the 3.03 driver a couple of days ago & the symptoms have resolved - back to (the usual) very smooth & transparent operation.

Cheers RME team! smile

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Re: macOS Sierra and higher RME USB driver

We have a firmware update which should solve the USB 2 detection/recognition problems of Babyface, Fireface UC, UCX, UFX, UFX II and 802 with the latest Apple MacBooks. Please download here and try:

https://archiv.rme-audio.de/download/fu … ac_142.zip

or

https://archiv.rme-audio.de/download/fut_ma … ac_142.zip

Note: this update ONLY addresses the problem that the interface is not recognized when the USB-C adapter is pluggedinto the MacBook while the interface is already connected to said adapter. It might also solve recognition issues after sleep, as they might have the same root cause, or when powering up with the adapter already plugged in.

Regards
Matthias Carstens
RME