• brent
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  • Registered: 2018-09-03
  • Posts: 1

Topic: ARC USB and Virtual Instrument Issues (MIDI bombardment?)

Hello, all.

I'm a new owner of the ARC USB. My interface is a Fireface UC on a 2017 iMac (non-pro) - 40 GB of RAM, High Sierra 10.13.6. Instrument data in question for this post is all hosted on an external USB 3.0 SSD. Interface is directly connected to the iMac, the ARC is connected through a USB 3.0 active hub.

I have discovered when the ARC USB is plugged in and enabled on my system that any virtual instrument I attempt to use will produce audio glitches: pops, cracks, etc. After troubleshooting the usual suspects like buffer settings and sample rates and isolating this click/pop phenomenon to VI's (and not to anything connected to the hardware inputs on the Fireface UC), I opened MIDI monitor and noticed that the ARC USB continuously sends control messages: Bank select 0 on channel 1. I understand it's a MIDI device, but I suspect this bombardment of MIDI data is the cause of the instability of my VI's. I experimented on VI's from Arturia and Ivory and found issues across the board, both in standalone modes and when hosted in DAWs. Unplugging the ARC USB or disabling it in the TMFX settings immediately resolves the issues.

I have tried a few troubleshooting things I saw on semi-related threads, but I have yet to find a workaround. Am I missing something obvious?

2 Reply by MC

  • MC
  • MC
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  • Registered: 2007-04-06
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Re: ARC USB and Virtual Instrument Issues (MIDI bombardment?)

This forum's search function:

https://www.forum.rme-audio.de/viewtopic.php?id=26468

Regards
Matthias Carstens
RME

MC's Website

  • Registered: 2017-09-05
  • Posts: 21

Re: ARC USB and Virtual Instrument Issues (MIDI bombardment?)

yes this is a known issue, only causes problems for me with LPX. MC topic is the main one he posted.

brent wrote:

Hello, all.

I'm a new owner of the ARC USB. My interface is a Fireface UC on a 2017 iMac (non-pro) - 40 GB of RAM, High Sierra 10.13.6. Instrument data in question for this post is all hosted on an external USB 3.0 SSD. Interface is directly connected to the iMac, the ARC is connected through a USB 3.0 active hub.

I have discovered when the ARC USB is plugged in and enabled on my system that any virtual instrument I attempt to use will produce audio glitches: pops, cracks, etc. After troubleshooting the usual suspects like buffer settings and sample rates and isolating this click/pop phenomenon to VI's (and not to anything connected to the hardware inputs on the Fireface UC), I opened MIDI monitor and noticed that the ARC USB continuously sends control messages: Bank select 0 on channel 1. I understand it's a MIDI device, but I suspect this bombardment of MIDI data is the cause of the instability of my VI's. I experimented on VI's from Arturia and Ivory and found issues across the board, both in standalone modes and when hosted in DAWs. Unplugging the ARC USB or disabling it in the TMFX settings immediately resolves the issues.

I have tried a few troubleshooting things I saw on semi-related threads, but I have yet to find a workaround. Am I missing something obvious?