Glitches and drop-outs with multimix firewire

jonathono2000 · Post by **jonathono2000** » Wed May 10, 2006 6:16 pm

I have used live to sequence my external synths with no problems.

I have always had something against software instruments so I never bothered but now I like impulse so much I want to be able to hear both at the same time.

The answer - I thought was the multimix but i was wrong. Everything starts out sounding great but then over the course of about a half hour impulse starst to get glitchy and drop out while my other hardware gear goes on sounding great.

When i plug my headphones directly into my laptop i can leave live running overnight and come back and the sound is still crystal clear. I haven't clue what is going on. All my settings are correct. I have the latest drivers, firmware, version, os blah blah blah.

This is on a G4 powerbook with OS10.4.6 live 5.2, any input would be appreciated because the people at Live and Alesis have none.

odysseysounds · Post by **odysseysounds** » Fri May 26, 2006 5:28 pm

this is my problem, exactly. i'v noticed the multimix needs a very small buffer (around 128). once the glitches and dropouts kick in, nothing will stop it. the first time, continuous restarts wouldn't stop it either.

it happened last night during rehearsal and a restart *did* fix it this time. but at the gig tomorrow, that better not happen.

my guess? a crap driver thanks to alesis.

blake

odysseysounds · Post by **odysseysounds** » Sun May 28, 2006 6:12 pm

re: live and alesis multimix:

of course, at the gig last night, (what i suspect is) the alesis multimix took a dive mid-set complete with glitch (the bad kind), dropouts, etc. i restarted and got back to business.

so today i happened to check alesis and they have not only updated the driver, but greatly simplified their archaic method of updating:

http://www.alesis.com/index.php?id=58,62,0,0,1,0

hopefully that'll do the trick.

blake wilson

odysseysounds · Post by **odysseysounds** » Mon May 29, 2006 9:06 pm

i'm sad to report that the update didn't improve anything. is anyone using the multimix fw 8 successfully with live 5 on a mac?

thanks,

blake

StrangeDays · Post by **StrangeDays** » Sun Jun 04, 2006 4:53 am

The problem you're describing actually occurs in Windows as well. I'm fairly confident it's just really poor drivers. Basically, when I first attach the device, all is well. Within 2 to 3 minutes, the audio becomes garbled and eventually just drops out completely. The only fix is to power-cycle the device, and sometimes a reboot of the computer is necessary too. It seems like overall, the Mac drivers are better than the Windows drivers, but neither works as well as they should considering the price of the product.

According to Alesis' tech support, I'M doing something wrong (though they don't seem to know what.)

I've been told to fully uninstall the drivers and reinstall them. Did that, no difference. I've been told to ONLY use firewire the cable that comes with the MultiMix. I've tried that cable, I've tried two other cables I own. No difference. (Also, Alesis' tech support INSISTS the MultiMix won't work with the cables that have the smaller four-pin connector, the kind usually required for laptops. I tried a 6pin-to-4pin cable on my laptop and it worked just as well as the normal cable does to my other computer.)

The general feeling I get when I talk to their tech support is that they know the drivers are bad, and that Alesis has probably insisted that tech support not outright admit that.

I haven't found anyone yet who has managed to use the Firewire version of the MultiMix with any success. It somewhat amazes me that no one has filed any kind of class-action lawsuit against Alesis, seeing as how if the store you bought the MultiMix from won't take it back, you're pretty much out of luck.

Product works great... drivers suck. Guitar Center didn't feel that bad drivers constituted a "defective product", so I'm a little SOL on this one unless someone has suggestions for how to make this thing work right.

jonathono2000 · Post by **jonathono2000** » Tue Jun 06, 2006 3:58 pm

Sorry guys but i tried over and over again to make the multimix work but i have no answers either. Basically its the mutimix and the crappy drivers. The f-in tech suport guy at alesis told me i should try a different firewire cable (why they sell it with one that they think doesn't work is beyond me). Anyways i ditched the 300 dollar multimix for a 70 dollar behringer firewire audio dealy, can't remember the name right now, but the thing is as smooth as silk, who would have guessed behringer would have a better product than alesis, not me. Now I just plug that into an analog mixer. More stuff to keep track of but hey it actually works.

jonathono2000 · Post by **jonathono2000** » Tue Jun 06, 2006 4:02 pm

I should have read all the replies before replying myself. The fact that the tecj guys said that you can't use a 6 to 4 pin proves that they are just trying to cover their asses because all you need those two extra pins for are power and they have nothing to do with data transmission.

Basically they are just finding any excuse they can to get you to think that you are doing something wrong when they are selling a bum product.

odysseysounds · Post by **odysseysounds** » Tue Jun 06, 2006 7:40 pm

StrangeDays wrote:
Product works great... drivers suck. Guitar Center didn't feel that bad drivers constituted a "defective product", so I'm a little SOL on this one unless someone has suggestions for how to make this thing work right.

most, but not all, guitar center products can be returned within 30 days. i bought the multimix8 at gc, tried to get it working for a few weeks, and took it back and i'm now trying with the multimix12. SAME EXACT PROBLEM as the 8; maybe even worse. i've got a couple more weeks before it has to either stay or go back. the workaround? yank out the firewire cable and run your computer 's headphone output to the analog inputs. works great! no dropouts! i've noted that dropouts happen even if the multimix drivers aren't selected; simply having the FW cable connected causes problems.

an alesis tech has been doing stuff like sending me pages from the manual and so forth....not much help there.

blake wilson

cbass · Post by **cbass** » Wed Jun 07, 2006 2:53 pm

with the first drivers it seemed to work ok but had some latency, i didnt get the problems you guys are discribing until the second drivers, which fixed the latency...i have been using it as an analog mixer, just using the sends to the input of the labtop... what a piece... i got mine from sweetwater, i bet they will help me out...

odysseysounds · Post by **odysseysounds** » Wed Jun 07, 2006 6:26 pm

cbass wrote:with the first drivers it seemed to work ok but had some latency, i didnt get the problems you guys are discribing until the second drivers, which fixed the latency...i have been using it as an analog mixer, just using the sends to the input of the labtop... what a piece... i got mine from sweetwater, i bet they will help me out...

you know, the old drivers did indeed work better. wtf?

blake

ps: nice gear list, cbass!

cbass · Post by **cbass** » Wed Jun 07, 2006 7:16 pm

hey a good chunk of its for sale!!!
ms2000, 02 and the trigger finger, and soon the damn multimix 8!!!

xy.xx · Post by **xy.xx** » Wed Jun 28, 2006 12:13 pm

has anybody come close to resolving these problems? i got a multimix firewire 12 a week ago, and it seemed fine on first glance - but as soon as cpu load hits around 50%, it consistently starts to chop up the sound before dropping out altogether. as others have said, it often needs to be restarted before the problems go away.

monitoring the multimix system preference indicates that it's quickly accumulating tens of thousands of dropouts. thus, i assume this is a driver issue, either with apple's firewire drivers (unlikely?) or alesis's (very likely). they've been singularly unhelpful, giving the usual advice about changing firewire cables, sending me pages of the faq.. no joy.

i'm running os x 10.3.9 on a g4 ibook, with very little else running. latest drivers and firmware, disk permissions repaired, background processes stopped. i can't really see what else it could be; am i doing something fundamentally wrong, do i have a duff unit, or have they really not tested this under high levels of processor load!?

xy.xx · Post by **xy.xx** » Thu Jul 20, 2006 9:35 am

well, it looks like the only real resolution to this problem was to return it to the retailer and buy a moto ultralite, which has been solid as a rock with support to match. admittedly it was a hefty amount more cash, but even if i'd got the multimix working, i would have had little faith in its stability after experiencing so many problems. alesis, you've let your side down.

Glitches and drop-outs with multimix firewire

Glitches and drop-outs with multimix firewire

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