Just highlighting that this problem is not fixed - there is no workaround that works for all RME USB products at this point. See post 25 in that thread.

FireWire usually works. But for now please try this driver:

https://archiv.rme-audio.de/download/dr … ac_308.zip

Now that you've fixed it, look in the mirror and ask yourself: Did

* arguing that it was Apple's fault and you couldn't fix it
* talking down to users as if we were idiots
* accusing a user of spreading lies(!)

do any good at all? Maybe next time have a little humility.

I have been really unimpressed by RME's tone and replies in this thread.

I bought (my second) RME device based on their reputation for incredibly stable drivers and performance. Not primarily for the converters, not for the features. I assumed that the reputation also meant their support for their products.

The fact that RME repeatedly denied user issues here (especially initially in the thread), and argued 'we can't reproduce the problem on our machines' or 'there is no bug' - how does that help us as the users with issues? You couldn't replicate the issues, or you believe it's not RME's fault, so the issues don't exist or you don't care? Do you know how that tone comes across to users who have invested in your product?

"obviously as long as we can't reproduce them there is nothing that we could change or fix" - I would have thought that your product not working with new high end Apple computers, would be a problem, not just for your customers who bought your product, but for RME as well, and it would be something you would want to work out and fix? Again the way you say things comes across as if you are denying there is a problem or you don't care about it.

Is this the attitude RME will take with any future issues?

I have a UCX and Macbook Pro 15" 2017 with High Sierra and had similar audio glitch issues when I first installed High Sierra but they now seem to have gone. I haven't tested this with large projects or heavy workload yet. Strangely I did not have any audio issues with Sierra with the same UCX. The only persistent issue from Sierra to High Sierra has been the USB-c disconnection issue but thats a separate issue to this thread.

Hi all,
Do you all have working USB-C MBP's in combination with RME interfaces?
I have upgraded to a new 2018 MBP (high sierra 10.13.6) and since then experiencing a lot of distorted/bitcrushed audio with my Madiface Usb.

I tried:
- driver 2.22
- driver 3.08
- latest firmware
- interchanged usb cables & different hubs
- Highest buffer in Logic
- Disabled wifi
- Disabled RME as system audio device

This drives me nuts! This wednesday is the next attended session and no solution yet. RME didn't respond to my mail. (emailed to support@rme-audio.de)

See this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PAYHNGCB4x4

@jackvdven

A lot of people are running RME's interfaces on High Sierra. It seems the very latest macs still have some wrinkles waiting to be ironed out. I hope Mojave will be a better OS.

Stupid test: switch DAW output to internal audio on the MB Pro. See if it exhibits the same problem.

I'll bet internal audio works.

It seems some of the latest Macs run a special OS, not the usual release version.

Also, are you sure there isn't a plugin in demo mode somewhere?

You're not using a Fusion drive, I hope?

Have you tried a clean install on an external disk?

Does it work without a hub?

These are all just hints, looking for the one thing we obviously are missing.

I have a new MacBook Pro i9 2.9 GHz, 32 GB Ram, High Sierra 10.13.6, with a BabyFace Pro connected with its stock cable to an apple USB-A-USB-C adapter. I am running the latest 3.08 RME driver and current 101 firmware. While I don't get as extreme of distortion as some of the earlier posts, I do get it happening roughly every 4-5 minutes. It can be either playing back audio through iTunes, or within Logic, or Cubase Pro 9.5. It's like a short glitch burst. Like the audio got digitally scrambled. I would appreciate if RME can look further into this. I'm more than happy to provide more details as needed.It is definitely a show stopper for me, because you can't pinpoint when or how it will occur, and right in the middle of a session performance isn't acceptable.

So guys, what's in total? Can I plug my UFX with adapter (which should I pick up?) to MBP2018 and working like I was with my old MBP late 2013?

I guess there's no definitive answer for this. I can just say I couldn't.

For my work it's not yet a deal breaker, the system just makes weird noises occasionally and probably apple is to blame. For super critical recording i would not consider my new macbook / rme ufx as an option. If i was asked if my old computer could record 5 hours of uninterrupted stereo audio without errors (and surf the web and use excel and whatever at the same time wifi and bluetooth enabled) i would have answered yes with 100% certainty. The 2018 mbp system probably could not pull that of at this time.

EDITED:

Sorry but It's your responsibility which system you choose.

I rather more suggest that you ask Apple why they do not test their stuff better.

Look at Apples shares and what high prices they take for commodity hardware... There is the root of all evil, IMHO you are asking here the wrong vendor.

If YOU need reliability up to that level then you need to get a tested turnkey system for audio.
For PC sector up to Xeon Dual processor and Vienna /SSL certified systems look at Xi machine's offers.

Stay fair, if the issues are on Apple side then it's not RME to be blamed for this. Go and complain at Apple. RME at least delivers workarounds if possible.

It's not audio interfaces only. Apparently, the USB-C to gigabit ethernet adapters don't work without occasionally dropping packets too.

Somebody just browsing and checking email, or even watching YT, won't notice. But people who rely on network adapters to do serious testing are pulling their hair out too...

It's an Apple dilemma which Apple has to solve.

RME is not the only vendor having issues. So pls read the thread more thoroughly so that you do not come to wrong conclusions as if this is a RME problem.

I suggest that you read the last postings and open a case at Apple as well.

Did you read the whole thread and are sure that your problem and fix is related to the problems described in this thread ?

I didn't see any post from RME lacking of respect. From user side it was more a matter of wrong expectations from RME.
So please don't make a mountain out of a molehill and pls simply stay to facts.

If you are dissatisfied with the situation, then go complain at Apple.  RME delivered a workaround already which can't hinder the occurrence of the issue (that's on Apples side) but lets the device resync quicker.

Sorry have no PC near at the moment, you need to look on your own or send an email to RME support.

In regards to Synthax recommendation for Apple: as senior IT consultant / technician I have a different view:

1. at the time of the recommendation it was surely a good recommendation for that particular Apple HW otherwise you would / should have given it back.

2. it's not unusual in the IT that you can have times of instability as an operating system is simply complex. There can be any kind of bad patches or bad Major / Minor OS upgrades.

3. It's simply your responsibility as owner / administrator of the system to implement a well tested backup and restore procedure.

So, if the pain is too big and something impacts your business then restore back to the point where everything worked and wait until issues are fixed.

I can perform a restore of my PC to the status of ie last week in under 15 minutes with Macrium Reflect and it's rapid delta restore mechanism (which writes only changed disk blocks) although I have a 1TB SSD which is filled with over 500 GB (OS, applications, VSTi''s and sample libraries).

Nobody in the IT can neither foresee nor hinder Apple or other companies to do mistakes.

And let's be reasonable, the Audio and Video sector is only a nieche market for which neither Apple nor Microsoft provided additional testing.

So either you in person need to provide the required safety belts, especially if outages impact timelines  / your business or you need to outsource this in whatever form.

One for sure, for systems directly connected to the internet it's a bad idea to deploy every available upgrade as every upgrade/change has the risk to break something.

I think for this reason it is still the case for professional studios that not all systems are connected to the internet to keep the workhorses alife. But even then you need working backup and restore procedures shall your hard disk or SSD break.

As RME's workaround as I understood only brings quicker resynchronization after an issue this means there is still audio loss.

So the only proper thing to do is to
- restore backup
- open a case at Apple and heavily complain

Point out that this is not only a RME problem as Motu users seem to have exactly the same problem and maybe also other vendor, but who has the time to investigate this all. Most important is that Apple fixes those applications which have bad impact on audio and maybe also things in the USB stack. This is their responsibility.

The recommendation was last month i.e. it referred to the latest generation of Apple computers.

I take most of your points but this is irrelevant if the user needs a new computer.

Actually I’d say Apple target those users with their portable machines. It seems a shame they’d continue supporting Logic, Final Cut Pro etc whilst alienating the same market.

Just adding another voice to the crowd....

I'm trying to use a UFX+ with Cycling74's Max (v 7.3.5) running on a MacBook Pro (Retina, 13", early 2015, 2.9 GHz Core i5, v10.13.6).

I've tried it with USB (CC, USB2 and USB3, using both ports on the Mac) and Thunderbolt. It just doesn't work reliably enough to be useable... The short version is that it appears that I/O buffers are either being repeated or dropped in the audio feed.

I've described the problem on cycling74's forum here: https://cycling74.com/forums/rme-ufx-vs … e-shifting.

Cheers
-geoff

ADDENDUM: I have "solved" my problem by making the UFX+ my input AND my output device. This doesn't really solve my problem since I sometimes need the UFX+ to be my input device, and the Mac to be my output device - but this configuration appears to result in a clocking conflict between the UFX+ and the Mac. Perhaps some investigations into an "Aggregate Device" configuration will help. I'll be updating the cycling74 forum linked above with the results on that, since it might be only an issue with Max - and not a general problem for everyone.

@ geoffmartin: Aggregate with internal and external won't work because the internal one can not be synced. I am not sure if the internal optical output could be used to sync the external interface, might work.

Keep in mind that audio software also suffer issues with both the latest High Sierra and Mojave. See the following Pro Tools "ALERT: Do not upgrade to macOS Mojave version 10.14" and "ALERT: Do not upgrade to macOS High Sierra version 10.13.4" here:

http://avid.force.com/pkb/articles/en_U … gifQ%3D%3D

Gone are the days of Apple systems being a viable plug and play alternative to dedicated audio computer builds (personally I never experienced them as that anyway).

Ok just experienced these exact same issues on this morning’s session — random crackling and continuous tones every 20min or so when recording one channel on a 2018 mbp running OS X 10.13.6 with a MADIface Pro.

What are my options now other than switching to Windows with say a Dell XPS? Has anyone tried rolling back to Sierra to fix?

Sorry, where is the 3.1 driver?  Usual link only shows 3.08

And does 3.1 solve any issues in this thread, or is High Sierra/Mojave the problem?

Thanks.  Have you got a link to the official bug report by Apple?

Hi RME/Users.

I've just read through this entire thread and there seems to be many differences of opinion on this issue.

I'm currently running an RME UCX with a 2012 MBP with no issues - however I need to upgrade my system.

Q: Is there a current model of MPB from 2018, with the new 6 core i7/i9s, that work with the UCX, without issue under normal operation?

And if not, is there a recommended alternate system to use with this series of USB interfaces, if I need a high spec portable computer for live audio? Would it be safer to buy a 2015 MBP with USB B ports?

Thanks,

L

I did try this with Windows 10 pro with my MBP 2018 i9, and the glitch problems with my BFP went away. So it definitely is OS X specific. However, boot camp limits my bus resources in Windows, so I could not run my thunderbolt ssd drive array. Apparently you can disable some of the Apple OS specific hardware like Touch ID and other sensors that windows does not have the drivers for in Windows System Manager as they take up a bus slot preventing use of some peripherals like my 4 drive ssd array. I didn’t get a chance to test this. I just reverted back to OS X.

FWIW, my best performance results have been creating a separate user in OSX for audio work. In that I disable iCloud, Siri, Notifications, and Touch ID in System Preferences, and make sure there are no ‘extra’ network devices installed. Like BLUETOOTH PAN or Thunderbolt Bridge.

I disabled my AppleSmartBatteryManager which documented in the 3.09 driver thread, and lastly, I do not use iTunes. I specifically sign out of iTunes and keep it closed. For whatever reason, once you sign into it, OSX runs a bunch of background tasks even with iTunes closed, and they would cause spikes and glitches in Logic. 

Maybe all this is overkill, but doing all these steps has things working very well for me. I can always use my other user ID for the Apple experience with iCloud and Siri etc.

Hey mjfe87,

Thanks for your clarification on this - good to hear the issue seems to be fixed.

I'm going to pick up one of these machines and I'll let you know how I go. Luckily apple have a 14 day no questions asked return policy... I do wish they would make a better portable system for professionals in the field though! They seem to be making a few errors of judgement lately.

Cheers,

L