Topic: Fireface UFX: defective or bug?
I have had a Fireface UFX for about a month, and sometimes it will mess up when powering up. I'm wondering if I have a defective unit or if it's perhaps a Firmware bug that occurs with how I have setup things in Totalmix?
The main issues:
-A bunch of noise (sounds like digital clipping) present in all Analog inputs and outputs (according to unit's front panel and TotalMix), and Muting something like the Main Out has no effect (I have to turn off my speakers or the noise continues, even on Mute). The signal is not perfectly constant in each channel (comes and goes) and will happen regardless of whether I have something actually plugged in to that channel or not. No signal is shown on the digital inputs, I'm not using digital outs so I don't know if noise is coming out of there or not.
-Inputs 9-12 are unresponsive to changes in Input Level or 48V on/off.
When it occurs:
-A short period of time after powering on the unit. The time seems random, sometimes it's a few seconds after powering up, or it may take as much as 5 minutes before it starts.
-The noise lasts for a few seconds or up to a minute.
-Sometimes, from power up until the noise stops, the lights for "TRS" and "48V" are ON for all channels 9-12, regardless of how they're actually setup or whether 48V really is on or not. Other times, the display is correct, but changes are still unresponsive.
-When the noise clears, everything is back to normal, channels 9-12 are fully responsive again, have the lights on or off correctly depending on their state, and the problem never comes back as long as the unit stays on.
Frequency:
-Most times I power the unit on, but not every time. If I just power down the unit for a few seconds then back on the problem does not occur (unfortunately, this makes it much harder to troubleshoot)
Setup:
I'm using a MacBook Pro running OS 10.6.8, 64-bit. I have updated the Firmware to the latest version (351/141/340) as well as both the USB and Firewire drivers this morning just in case, but the behavior remains unchanged (I was previously using 349).
This happens whether I'm plugged in using Firewire or USB. However, if the unit is stand-alone, it runs problem-free (or at least I've been unable to reproduce).
There appears to be nothing else wrong with the unit; I can see and assign all inputs and outputs just fine in Mac OS, and get it to behave exactly as I want after the "noise" part is done (channels 9-12 do not respond to changes until the noise clears). And sometimes the problem doesn't occur at all.
Does anyone have a clue what else I should try? or if there's a way to determine if my unit really is faulty? My local store currently has the UFX on backorder so I have no immediate alternative to test on.
Any help would be appreciated.
Thanks!