OS X Driver Issue

Ryan Buckley

Ryan Buckley

Member
We are beginning work on a remedy for driver issues that have been reported on OS X. If you have had issues that you are reliably able to reproduce please post the reproduction steps here. Also, please include the version of OS X and the DAW (if you're using one) that you are running. Thanks!
 
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Man. I've been having a lot of problems, but I have no idea whether they're related to Fractal driver. That would be great if I could isolate it to that. My set up is rather exceptional and I'm too busy to get into it now. Probably completely unrelated. . . .
 
Using 10.8.3 on a MacBook air and iMac and haven't had any driver issues, also I use Reaper on both machines and currently things have worked without any issue.
 
What could the issues be?
The reason I ask is that my 2 weeks old Mac mini have "crashed" three times already with no obvious reason. It worked perfect before I installed the Fractal drivers.
Using RME Fireface 400, Logic Pro 9 and the most recent version of OS.
I cant say that its related to these drivers but I just wonder since there are no other obvious reasons.
 
Yeah - I've been confused by all the calls for fixing driver issues on the Mac. I've had no obvious issues I thought were related to Fractal. I only run Macs - Mac Pro 2.8 Quad., 10.7.5. What exactly are the issues?
 
I dont know if my issues is Driver related or software related.

I am running 10.8.3, iMac, Focusrite Liquid Saffire 56

When i am using the Axe fx 2 with Reaper (current or any previous versions) the sound will go robotic after a while, Will crackle on recordings and also when trying to load up a patch (preset) the sound turns robotic and i have to switch off Reaper, Axe Edit and the 2, reboot in same order for it to start working OR restart the iMac.
 
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It's been quite awhile since I've tried using the Axe II as an interface, but here is what I experienced in the past:

2012 Mac Mini i7 Server
OS X 10.8.3 (although I may have been running 10.7.x at the time)
PT 10
Axe FX II connected via USB
Glyph audio drive connected via firewire

Issues:

Open up any session in PT
Set Axe II as Playback Engine
After about 30 seconds - 1 minute of playback, the bit-crush/distorted sound starts
Close session and reopen with various buffer settings....same thing happens
I also had various pops/clicks on recorded tracks, but the bit-crushed sound was the biggest problem I experienced.

I'm now using an RME Fireface 800 as my interface, and my system is super-stable with none of the above issues.
 
I don't know if it's the issue you mean, but after extended use I start getting glitchy artefacts, the only way I know to recreate it is using a long cable or using the standard cable a long time.

Changing the buffer rate in Logic solves it for a while. If this isn't the issue you mean then never mind haha.
 
If you want to include aggregate device issues I can't use the Axe USB device with FF400 with any combination of settings Oma retina Mac running latest os, drivers, and the latest cubase (or any other daw).
 
Allen1uk said:
When i am using the Axe fx 2 with Reaper (current or any previous versions) the sound will go robotic after a while, Will crackle on recordings and also when trying to load up a patch (preset) the sound turns robotic and i have to switch off Reaper, Axe Edit and the 2, reboot in same order for it to start working OR restart the iMac.
Click to expand...

This is what I've run into as well. Lots of distortion in the audio and requires a restart of the AF2.
 
henryrobinett said:
Man. I've been having a lot of problems, but I have no idea whether they're related to Fractal driver. That would be great if I could isolate it to that. My set up is rather exceptional and I'm too busy to get into it now. Probably completely unrelated. . . .
Click to expand...

Henry, if your issues are unrelated to this thread's topic, it's probably better to discuss them in a separate thread.
 
I'm so happy you guys are taking this on. I had chalked this up as "oh well, never meant to be, time to drop a few hundred bucks to replace the Radial Reamp Kit I sold to buy the Axe-FX II. Tick mark in the negative column for Fractal" :( I hope we turn this around and keep that negative column empty. Here is my setup and what I'm experiencing:

MacBook Pro 2.2 GHz Quad Core i7 (early 2011)
Mac OS X Lion 10.7.5
MOTU Digital Performer 8.01
MOTU 828mk3 Hybrid via FW (problem behavior the same whether this is hooked up or not)

I can see a 2-in/2-out Axe-FX audio interface in the Audio/MIDI window.

I can activate the 828mk3 or the Axe-FX or both as the audio interface within DP (DP doesn't require a composite device be set up in the Audio/MIDI window to have two interfaces enabled but I've tried it both ways). Clicks and pops present when both are connected and audio system frequently crashes. Tried every combination of master clock assignment and other Audio/MIDI and DP setup parameters.

I can use USB to record a processed and DI track (mono or stereo).

If I reamp the DI track over USB the new processed track isn't in phase with the first processed track and the phase drifts so instead of a powerful double track you have a tubby phasing unusable thing. If I mute the first processed track and record a second pass of the DI track over USB with the same preset it should be exactly the same (sample accurate). However if you invert the phase of one track when it should now be silent, instead you can hear it clearly isn't in phase and the phase drifts so again no double tracking. And really no single reamp tracking either because of the phase drift. Even if I record in small phrases. The phase drift always sounds weird.

I gave up this last year and haven't revisited it since. I'll take another look at the behavior and update this post if there is something missing or significantly different than what I just described. A solution that doesn't enable me to hear the mix and tweak Axe-FX parameters during reamping doesn't solve the problem for me. I'd like the same capability as if I still had the Radial Reamp Kit. Thanks and can't wait for a solution! :)
 
Gave up tryin to use the Axe-Fx II as a USB interface as I have had problems with it since I got it, other interfaces are fine.

Here is the thread I started in 2011 regarding this issue.

http://forum.fractalaudio.com/axe-fx-ii-bugs/42421-mac-usb-issues.html

I can troubleshoot and test ideas if you like, I have a mid 2010 MacBook Pro 15 and a late 2012 Mac Mini and have access to a 2007 mac book 13 and a late mid 2012 mac book pro 13.

All running the latest OS's they can.
 
Same issues as others have said.

On my iMac OS X 10.8.3, when using the Axe-II with Logic &/or as main sound source, I get distortion/crackle after a short time and I have to restart the Axe & everything else to get things back to normal. After a little while it happens again.

As long as I don't use the Axe-II as my audio interface, my iMac works perfectly with no issues.

Please fix this. I would really appreciate it!!!

Thanks in advance....
 
2011 iMac 27
OS X 10.8.3, but it happened since I had Leopard on it
Ableton Live 9 (also occurs with Ableton 7,8 )
Axe FX II connected via USB

Issues happen mainly if I have both Axe-Edit and Ableton open (happened with every Axe-Edit version I've used), like bitcrush/distortion effect.
But the most annoying is vinyl like crackles and pops mainly on the left channel, it happens without Axe-Edit or DAW too.

Because of these issues, I turn off and on again the unit at least TEN TIMES A DAY. Very very annoying, would be awesome if you could definitely solve this.
 
yek said:
Henry, if your issues are unrelated to this thread's topic, it's probably better to discuss them in a separate thread.
Click to expand...

Well that's the point - I don't know if they're related or not.

I'm part of a beta team for a very high end music audio product. I've been working with the developer trying to figure out where this problem is coming from. We've eliminated almost everything - even ram being a problem. One of he few things I have not looked at is the Fractal driver. But I'm not using the Axe as an interface. But the driver is still installed and sometimes a driver can cause havoc just being there. Tomorrow I'll remove it from the audio plugin folder. See if anything changes.
 
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mid-2011 Mac Mini dual Core I5.
OSX Lion (10.7)
AXE FX II, FW10.02

Problems 1:
bitcrushing and heavy noise on output apperars after 10 min. to 3 hours use. Only using iTunes, noise appears late, after one to three hours use. Solved reseting AXE FX II.

Problem 2: noise on output using Logic Pro. Bitcrusing and crakling on output when recording using AXE edit as AI for input and output. Working with 256 buffer size. Reseting Logic or changing buffer size and back 256 solves issue momentarily. Noise starts crushing in minutes, sometimes 5 to 10 min., some times half and hour, but always appearr.

I own other AI gear. Never had the problem with zoom24, Line 6 X3 live or M-AUDIO Fastrack Ultra 8r.

Current configuration: AXE FX for input, M-AUDIO Fastrack Ultra 8r for output. Never had the problem. No noise on output.

Never had the noise in the recording.
 
Webb said:
It's been quite awhile since I've tried using the Axe II as an interface, but here is what I experienced in the past:

2012 Mac Mini i7 Server
OS X 10.8.3 (although I may have been running 10.7.x at the time)
PT 10
Axe FX II connected via USB
Glyph audio drive connected via firewire

Issues:

Open up any session in PT
Set Axe II as Playback Engine
After about 30 seconds - 1 minute of playback, the bit-crush/distorted sound starts
Close session and reopen with various buffer settings....same thing happens
I also had various pops/clicks on recorded tracks, but the bit-crushed sound was the biggest problem I experienced.

I'm now using an RME Fireface 800 as my interface, and my system is super-stable with none of the above issues.
Click to expand...

+1 with all this. I just quit trying to use the AXEFX as an interface a long long time ago.
 
It would be a great option to be able to set playback levels.
Like a sort of simple audio driver mixer. Because if you play back a
normalized music file and start playing along it's hard to prevent output clipping.
Also if you record guitar at near clipping it's hard to balance with background music without causing
output clipping.
 
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