Anyone having issues with their Axe FX 3 dropping out when using it as an interface?

mrb1946

Member
This started happening to me recently. I'm currently using my Axe3 as my interface. It'll be working fine for a few minutes, but then all audio will stop and the apps on my computer will say something like "can't recognize the I/O config" or something to that effect. For example, I've used it for zoom conferencing a few times, and after working fine, all audio will stop and a popup will say something along the lines of "can't use mic from Axe FX III." Pro Tools even forces me to close my session when this happens.

This happens on multiple Macs that I've used. I have my Axe3 plugged into a usb hub in a 2.0 port. I've also tried it on a motherboard usb port. Same thing happens. The only fix is to reboot the Axe3, but then it just happens again.

I'm also on the latest firmware.

Any ideas?
 
I had similar issues when I was running my Axe through a 2009 iMac - when I went to a Mac mini (2018) all the issues disappeared. Not really helpful I know but I couldn't figure out why it was doing it on the iMac other than maybe it was just too old to handle it...drove me nuts, and also cost me $1500 lol - but NOT having those issues now is completely worth it.
 
I had similar issues when I was running my Axe through a 2009 iMac - when I went to a Mac mini (2018) all the issues disappeared. Not really helpful I know but I couldn't figure out why it was doing it on the iMac other than maybe it was just too old to handle it...drove me nuts, and also cost me $1500 lol - but NOT having those issues now is completely worth it.
Interesting. I'm using both a 2012 Retina MBP and a hackintosh I built in 2019. Never had this issue until recently. Have you ever had an issue with the audio coming out of the output sounding very digital and robotic for about 10 seconds and then return to normal? THAT has actually always happened to me when using the Axe as the interface. Haven't been able to figure that one out either.
 
2014 mbp 2020 imac 27", no issues like that that i can recall.

Try a new usb cable first.
 
Only time I've heard that robotic sound from my Axe 3 is when I've overloaded the CPU e.g. >80% usage (it's not even so easy to get it up that high)
 
Interesting. I'm using both a 2012 Retina MBP and a hackintosh I built in 2019. Never had this issue until recently. Have you ever had an issue with the audio coming out of the output sounding very digital and robotic for about 10 seconds and then return to normal? THAT has actually always happened to me when using the Axe as the interface. Haven't been able to figure that one out either.
Can’t really recall a robotic sound happening- my main issue was that I kept losing audio
 
I solved all the issues when I bought a high quality USB cable.

I never use hubs with the Audio Interfaces
 
Last edited:
Interesting. I'm using both a 2012 Retina MBP and a hackintosh I built in 2019. Never had this issue until recently. Have you ever had an issue with the audio coming out of the output sounding very digital and robotic for about 10 seconds and then return to normal? THAT has actually always happened to me when using the Axe as the interface. Haven't been able to figure that one out either.
Cliff told me to increase the USB buffer size on the Axe when I asked about this a long time ago. Haven't had the issue since.
 
Cliff told me to increase the USB buffer size on the Axe when I asked about this a long time ago. Haven't had the issue since.
I'll try this as well. The latency has always been pretty noticeable for me since I got this unit, so I turned the buffer size all the way down to see if it would help. It's still noticeable, but I've been able to manage. Guess that's just the way it is!
 
Noticeable latency? Even turning the buffer all the way down? There must be something wrong with your system.
 
There are two different buffers used for USB audio, a hardware buffer set on the Axe FX side and a driver/software buffer set on the computer side. They both contribute to your total latency. For the hardware buffer, check the USB meters in the Utility menu. The bars should stay roughly in the middle while audio is streaming. If one or both goes all the way up or down (buffer over or under flow), your buffer size needs to be adjusted. For the sofware/driver side, most DAWs have a CPU meter that allows you to monitor the CPU load relative to the current buffer size settings. If your CPU meter pegs and you get artifacts or dropouts, increase your buffer size in the audio settings of your DAW.
 
There are two different buffers used for USB audio, a hardware buffer set on the Axe FX side and a driver/software buffer set on the computer side. They both contribute to your total latency. For the hardware buffer, check the USB meters in the Utility menu. The bars should stay roughly in the middle while audio is streaming. If one or both goes all the way up or down (buffer over or under flow), your buffer size needs to be adjusted. For the sofware/driver side, most DAWs have a CPU meter that allows you to monitor the CPU load relative to the current buffer size settings. If your CPU meter pegs and you get artifacts or dropouts, increase your buffer size in the audio settings of your DAW.
Computer buffer size is not an issue. I had not seen this before about the USB menu on the Axe FX. I do have the buffer size set all the way down to 8, but I still notice some latency.
 
Back
Top Bottom