Focusrite 24PRO + Ableton live problem

Discuss music production with Ableton Live.
starfckr
Posts: 22
Joined: Mon Sep 07, 2009 1:05 pm
Contact:

Focusrite 24PRO + Ableton live problem

Post by starfckr » Tue Sep 15, 2009 1:29 pm

Hi,


I have a little problem with getting my new soundcard, the Focusrite Saffire PRO 24, to work with Ableton live 7. That is, i can get it to work perfectly, all channels inn, and out, and midi, is working perfectly for some time. And then it crashes.

Ableton is still running, but all my signals are suddenly (and i mean suddenly) heavily distorted. The only way of fixing the problem is to restart ableton, and then it works fine again.

The problem could occur after 5 minutes, or after ten hours.

Ive updated the drivers for the Focusrite and done a complete windows update to get up to date with all the newest service packs.

Information about the soundcard:
http://www.focusrite.com/products/saffi ... re_pro_24/

Does anybody have some tips for fixing this problem?

JDemonie
Posts: 44
Joined: Mon Aug 06, 2007 3:42 pm

Re: Focusrite 24PRO + Ableton live problem

Post by JDemonie » Tue Sep 15, 2009 3:55 pm

Hi,

No solution here, sorry, I also bought a Saffire pro 24 some days ago.

Problem: everything is going smoothly and then suddenly there is a dropout of sound of some seconds.
After a few dropouts, Ableton goes nuts and doesn't respond anymore. This is on my laptop, on my
desktop pc everything runs perfect though.

Focusrite answered my e-mail with a standard tips website... Haven't heard again from them for 3 days now.

Went back to the store and they can't seem to find the problem either.

slicedbread
Posts: 313
Joined: Tue Sep 12, 2006 5:22 pm

Re: Focusrite 24PRO + Ableton live problem

Post by slicedbread » Tue Sep 15, 2009 4:49 pm

i'm running saffire le with no problems at all. i actually really love that little interface.

could you describe the distorted sound more? does it sound like all the sudden everything is heavily bit reduced... like running it through a 2 or 4 bit effect? or does it sound like an overloaded circuit?

PHY6
Posts: 286
Joined: Wed Apr 22, 2009 2:42 pm

Re: Focusrite 24PRO + Ableton live problem

Post by PHY6 » Tue Sep 15, 2009 7:27 pm

I'm having the same problems with my PRO26 i/o.
Wrote several emails to focusrite, send my system profile over, but still didn't receive an answer ( almost 2 months ago)
Changing the soundcard settings in the preferences to internal and back to pro26 solves the problem, so you don't need to shut down Live.
It's a temporary solution, still waiting for a definate fix.
The problem is far less since I moved from tiger to snow leopard, but it occasionaly still happens :(

starfckr
Posts: 22
Joined: Mon Sep 07, 2009 1:05 pm
Contact:

Re: Focusrite 24PRO + Ableton live problem

Post by starfckr » Wed Sep 16, 2009 9:46 am

slicedbread wrote:i'm running saffire le with no problems at all. i actually really love that little interface.

could you describe the distorted sound more? does it sound like all the sudden everything is heavily bit reduced... like running it through a 2 or 4 bit effect? or does it sound like an overloaded circuit?
It sounds like a bit of both. The sound gets distorted, like it has been heavily bit reduced, and at the same time sounds like an overloaded circuit. Also it sounds like it gets an "echo" effect.

Its pretty weird. I think i might try to reinstall ableton. It could be that it has fallen in love with my old soundcard, and now thinks iam cheating on her with another soundcard.

starfckr
Posts: 22
Joined: Mon Sep 07, 2009 1:05 pm
Contact:

Re: Focusrite 24PRO + Ableton live problem

Post by starfckr » Wed Sep 16, 2009 7:35 pm

Okay.. now my problems have escalated. Ive reinstalled Ableton live. Reinstalled the drivers for the Focusrite. And now my sound halts for about 2 seconds every 3 to 5 seconds. So it goes like soooooouuuunnnnd (4sec) silence (2sec) sooooouuuuunnnnd (4 sec) and so on.

Anyone got a clue? This is really bugging me.

PHY6
Posts: 286
Joined: Wed Apr 22, 2009 2:42 pm

Re: Focusrite 24PRO + Ableton live problem

Post by PHY6 » Wed Sep 16, 2009 7:39 pm

Did you update the firmware ?

starfckr
Posts: 22
Joined: Mon Sep 07, 2009 1:05 pm
Contact:

Re: Focusrite 24PRO + Ableton live problem

Post by starfckr » Wed Sep 16, 2009 8:52 pm

PHY6 wrote:Did you update the firmware ?
Yes, everything should be up to date, both drivers and firmware and windows.

thelonious.monk
Posts: 2
Joined: Sat Oct 17, 2009 8:12 pm

Re: Focusrite 24PRO + Ableton live problem

Post by thelonious.monk » Mon Oct 19, 2009 11:26 pm

Hello troubleshooters,
I had similar problems with my saffire 24PRO DSP. I kind of like avoided the glitches by trying out 3 different approaches, as listed below:


1.) change the sample-rate from 44.1 to 48 kHz in your saffire control panel


---

2.)

[*]download the Asio4all driver http://www.asio4all.com/
[*]activate the option "resampling of 44.1 kHz audio to/from 48 kHz"


---

3.) if you are a Windows 7 user, Focusrite recommends this http://www.focusrite.com/answerbase/en/ ... hp?id=1030



I tested it on a HP dv7-1180eg with Asio4all 2.9, 1394-OHCI Compliant Host Controller (old), Windows 7 RC1 and it worked so far!

I think my approach is not a real solution and it is not that elegant, but at least it suppresses the annoying glitches. I am neither a technician nor an expertise user, thus there must be better ways to deal with this problem...what do you think? Let me know if one of the approaches mentioned above worked out for you.

Good luck !!!

thelonious.monk
Posts: 2
Joined: Sat Oct 17, 2009 8:12 pm

Re: Focusrite 24PRO + Ableton live problem

Post by thelonious.monk » Mon Nov 02, 2009 2:20 pm

Hello again,
has anyone tried a firewire pcmcia or express card yet to avoid the occuring driver issues?
according to focusrite the supported chipsets are:
Texas Instruments TSB43AB22 & TSB43AB23
VIA VT6306 & VT6308
recommended PCI / PCIe / PCMCIA / Express – cards
Belkin
Lacie
SIIG

cards tested by focusrite:

laptop cards

- SIIG (NN-EC2012-S1) (NNEC2012S1) Serial Adapter FireWire 2-Port
ExpressCard

- Belkin ExpressCard 2port FW+USB2

- Lindy 51500 (FireWire Card - 2 Port, ExpressCard/34)

incompatible cards

most FW 400/800 & FW/USB “Combo”-cards

- Motherboards with NVIDIA nForce4 chipset

- Ultra ULT31342 express-card

- 3-Port PCI Firewire 800 1394b 32bit-card

perhaps not compatible cards

- LogiLink Express Card 2x1394A Modell: PC0036A

- SYBA (SD-EXPC34-2F) - 2x 1394a FireWire 34mm PCMCIA
ExpressCard, TI Chipset

- Belkin F5U513v PCMCIA 3x 1394
unfortunately I've only found the focusrite link in german:

http://www.focusrite.com/answerbase/ge/ ... 394_FW.pdf

good luck!

biologik
Posts: 48
Joined: Fri Jul 02, 2010 5:46 pm

Re: Focusrite 24PRO + Ableton live problem

Post by biologik » Tue Jul 06, 2010 12:56 am

@thelonious.monk

FYI, I had the *exact* same problem as you. I was only ever able to get my saffire pro 24 working under 48khz. No freaking clue why - ESPECIALLY since I was using a firewire card with a TI chip!

BUT - here's a solution that worked for me:
I bought a new firewire card (ADS Technologies PYRO). That fixed it, no problem. I guess not all TI chips are created equal.
cheers,
b

thelonious.monk wrote:Hello troubleshooters,
I had similar problems with my saffire 24PRO DSP. I kind of like avoided the glitches by trying out 3 different approaches, as listed below:


1.) change the sample-rate from 44.1 to 48 kHz in your saffire control panel


---

2.)

[*]download the Asio4all driver http://www.asio4all.com/
[*]activate the option "resampling of 44.1 kHz audio to/from 48 kHz"


---

3.) if you are a Windows 7 user, Focusrite recommends this http://www.focusrite.com/answerbase/en/ ... hp?id=1030



I tested it on a HP dv7-1180eg with Asio4all 2.9, 1394-OHCI Compliant Host Controller (old), Windows 7 RC1 and it worked so far!

I think my approach is not a real solution and it is not that elegant, but at least it suppresses the annoying glitches. I am neither a technician nor an expertise user, thus there must be better ways to deal with this problem...what do you think? Let me know if one of the approaches mentioned above worked out for you.

Good luck !!!

Anubis
Posts: 1397
Joined: Wed Jul 07, 2004 1:06 pm
Location: Miami
Contact:

Re: Focusrite 24PRO + Ableton live problem

Post by Anubis » Tue Jul 06, 2010 1:12 am

My Saffire Pro 24 is working fine... in Vista(32-bit) -and- via the supposedly crappy Ricoh firewire port. For some reason the(input) latency goes down (rather than up) when I switched from 44.1KHz to 48KHz, go figure. :?
Here's something that may help tweak your settings. Remember that the Saffire MixControl allows you to change the settings of your firewire connection. By default it is set to "medium". I left it that way but maybe setting it to something else might solve your problem.
This is by far the best interface that I have ever used with my laptop but, in the end, I'm thinking of returning it because I want to upgrade to a more powerful lappy but they've done away with both firewire and expresscard on the new notebooks. iow- it's obsolete right out of the box, wtf! 8O
9.0.4 Suite-Samsung Chronos 7 laptop(17")-12GB RAM-Samsung 840 series SSD(250GB)-iPad2-Maschine-TouchAble-SaffirePro24-Saffire6USB-Komplete Audio 6-Axiom25-PCR300-Nocturn-LaunchPad-QuNeo-QuNexus
miTunes

leedsquietman
Posts: 6659
Joined: Sun Nov 19, 2006 1:56 am
Location: greater toronto area

Re: Focusrite 24PRO + Ableton live problem

Post by leedsquietman » Tue Jul 06, 2010 1:14 am

try downloading and installing asio4all driver. This often works better than the native driver, Focusrite are known for great mic pres, but also have a bit of a poor rep on their device drivers.

it sounds like a latency issue.

Otherwise, increase your latency. Do all the usual optimization stuff such as turning off wifi, ethernet and CD-DVD driver and the DPC latency checker to determine if a rogue driver is causing the problem.

Also try upgrading your video card drivers and backing off full hardware acceleration on your graphics card.
http://soundcloud.com/umbriel-rising http://www.myspace.com/leedsquietmandemos Live 7.0.18 SUITE, Cubase 5.5.2], Soundforge 9, Dell XPS M1530, 2.2 Ghz C2D, 4GB, Vista Ult SP2, legit plugins a plenty, Alesis IO14.

Khazul
Posts: 3185
Joined: Wed Feb 23, 2005 5:19 pm
Location: Reading, UK

Re: Focusrite 24PRO + Ableton live problem

Post by Khazul » Tue Jul 06, 2010 1:25 am

leedsquietman wrote:Also try upgrading your video card drivers and backing off full hardware acceleration on your graphics card.
If backing off hardware acceleration works, then there used to be a common bios tweak to reduce the data transfer chunk sizes for video cards - cant remember the specific setting - think it is menioned in one of the audio tweak guides - saves loosing the video hardware acceleration.

Sounds like dodgy audio device drivers / firewire chipset compatibility issue.
Nothing to see here - move along!

leedsquietman
Posts: 6659
Joined: Sun Nov 19, 2006 1:56 am
Location: greater toronto area

Re: Focusrite 24PRO + Ableton live problem

Post by leedsquietman » Tue Jul 06, 2010 1:53 am

agreed.
http://soundcloud.com/umbriel-rising http://www.myspace.com/leedsquietmandemos Live 7.0.18 SUITE, Cubase 5.5.2], Soundforge 9, Dell XPS M1530, 2.2 Ghz C2D, 4GB, Vista Ult SP2, legit plugins a plenty, Alesis IO14.

Post Reply