**HELP** - USB audio dropping out when using AXE Fx III as audio interface

J

Jagermeistro

Member
HELP - USB audio dropping out when using AXE Fx III as audio interface

I am looking for any help I can get to find the possible cause for the issue I am having of audio connection dropping when using my AXE FX III as my audio interface.

Let me start by saying I love my Axe FX 3 and have nothing bad to say about the unit or Fractal at all. I am just hoping I can find a solution to this problem or at least determine if I have a hardware problem with my Axe Fx.

I bought my Axe 3 in 2019. Since that time I have been using it as my audio interface with a laptop running Windows 10. I have had no problems until about 2-1/2 weeks ago when I updated to firmware 21.00. At that time I also updated to the latest USB Windows Driver (5.50) and the Axe USB firmware (1.14). Since then I have been experiencing the audio signal from the computer dropping and it doesn't come back. If I power cycle the Axe then it may come back for an hour or even as short as 2 - 3 seconds before dropping again. There is no consistent pattern I can find as to the timing/frequency of the drops. My audio sources have been reaper DAW, youtube, spotify, etc.

Here is what I have tried so far. I tried all 3 USB (type A) ports on my laptop. I have tried 3 different USB cables. I re-installed previous versions of the USB Windows driver (5.30) and Axe USB firmware (1.11) and still experienced the audio dropouts. I installed the USB Windows driver on a different computer and used the Axe FX with computer #2 and still had the problem.

Lastly, I hooked my FM3 up to my main laptop and the USB audio worked fine and had a signal for several hours straight without dropping. So I think I can rule out the computer?

Anyway, if anyone else has experienced similar issues and found a resolution please let me know. Otherwise I may have to give up on Axe 3 being my interface and take the plunge on another purchasing another interface with spdif or something. I can use my FM3 in a pinch but obviously more limited then.

Thanks to all
 
Jagermeistro said:
HELP - USB audio dropping out when using AXE Fx III as audio interface
Click to expand...

Go to device manager and check every single entry you have under Human Interface Devices

You right mouse click each one and go to power management tab if allow your computer to sleep is ticked un-tick it - you must do this for everyone in your list - this should fix your issue - I had to do the same thing havent had a problem since - not cables axe etc. its windows

 
I have the same. It has to do with the electric current. If I turn on my desklight or my mini fridge kicks in my sound is gone flom my laptop. Turning the axe off and on is the only solution I know of.
 
Harm said:
I have the same. It has to do with the electric current. If I turn on my desklight or my mini fridge kicks in my sound is gone flom my laptop. Turning the axe off and on is the only solution I know of.
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yep happens with one of the fans in my room.
 
Wow, did you see this post? I wrote yesterday: "I was also wondering if those drops could be caused by small peaks/dips in the electrical circuit in my house..."
 
md1234 said:
Wow, did you see this post? I wrote yesterday: "I was also wondering if those drops could be caused by small peaks/dips in the electrical circuit in my house..."
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No I did not see that specific thread before, but I did mention it myself in an other thread somewhere (not my thread). Guitar audio is unaffected btw. And I go straight from guitar to axe.
 
Exactly the same situation with me
Guitar audio is not affected either just the DAW. I have tried Reaper, Cubase and Studio one, all have the same issue.

I connected a Helix and no issues.
It is definitely something between the FM9 and the computer
 
I have the same issue with my Mac 2020 mini M1. After being on for a few hours (or days) it stops seeing the AxeIII as its audio interface, a reboot of the Axe always fixes it. I assumed it was a Mac issue, I made sure everything under 'power' settings was set to 'never sleep' but it still happens occasionally... now that I've read it here, I felt I should add this information to this thread since it's apparently happening on Windows as well, so I wish to add the information that it's happening to me on a Mac as well.
 
TubeByter said:
It stops seeing the AxeIII as its audio interface, a reboot of the Axe always fixes it.
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In my case it did not stop seeing it as an audio interface, FM9 was still selected in Windows as volume output device. There was only an audio dropout.
 
I have the same issue with Mac. It's an older computer, so I don't know if there are any ways of trying a similar solution? Anyone?
 
TubeByter said:
I have the same issue with my Mac 2020 mini M1. After being on for a few hours (or days) it stops seeing the AxeIII as its audio interface, a reboot of the Axe always fixes it. I assumed it was a Mac issue, I made sure everything under 'power' settings was set to 'never sleep' but it still happens occasionally... now that I've read it here, I felt I should add this information to this thread since it's apparently happening on Windows as well, so I wish to add the information that it's happening to me on a Mac as well.
Click to expand...
I have the same Mac mini and I don’t have this issue.
 
rsvette12 said:
Go to device manager and check every single entry you have under Human Interface Devices

You right mouse click each one and go to power management tab if allow your computer to sleep is ticked un-tick it - you must do this for everyone in your list - this should fix your issue - I had to do the same thing havent had a problem since - not cables axe etc. its windows

Click to expand...
So I un-checked the box to allow the computer to turn off the device on every Human Interface Device that had a power management tab as suggested in the post above. Initially I thought it solved the problem as I had no audio drops for about 3 days of moderate use (3 - 4 hours of use daily). However, just yesterday the audio dropouts resumed and would require a reboot of the Axe Fx 3 and even after a reboot the computer audio would only resume for a few seconds or minutes until it dropped out again. To be clear, even after computer USB audio drops out I can still use Axe Edit and Fractal Bot just fine and the instrument input (guitar) still comes through just fine to my monitors through output 1 L & R.

I do find it strange that I can connect my FM3 to the same laptop and don't experience the USB audio issue streaming music from Spotify for hours on end?
 
Admin M@ said:
The FM3 and Axe-Fx III are very different products. Our USB engineer is currently looking into this and similar reports.
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I certainly understand the FM3 and Axe-Fx III are different products as I own them both, but I thought it was worth mentioning and may be relevant to the troubleshooting conversation....
 
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