USB recording issues (Axe II& cubase) -clipping?

Chewie5150

Fractal Fanatic
Been trying various methods of recording with my Axe II. Typically I have used analog recording via my Saffire Pro 40 with decent results. I have been wanting to use the digital domain and over the weekend fought with getting spdif to work with no success. I have poured over numerous threads and forums and have decided spdif just will not work without issues. I think it is a problem with the Saffire line from what I gather.

I am using Cubase 8 as my DAW on my iMac 27" running the latest OS. I was trying the USB last night. set the appropriate ASIO and Cubase recognized Axe outputs. Within the DAW , i've set project at 48K and 24 bit. My problem is that the tracks I lay down sound very lofi and what would sound like a lot of clipping. for experiment purposes I was only tracking clean sounds to hear what was going on. I have tried recording with lower output from the grid to mitigate clipping but doesn't seem to make much difference.

I have read a number of threads with some hints that there might be some problems using USB with Mac and/or Cubase. anyone have success with this setup using USB? I'd love to hear about it. or If I'm missing something obvious please let me know.
 
When using S/PDIF did you set axe-fx word clock to S/PDIF instead of auto?

When using Axe-FX USB, Inputs 1-2 in your DAW are your processed channels from Axe-Fx and 3/4 are your dry signals from Axe-Fx (3-4 are used for re-amping).

Double check your axe-fx I/O settings, and look at your USB output levels as well, might have something to do with it.
 
Manual also says that OS X may need higher values of the USB Buffer Size setting in the I/O menu, Audio page as well.
 
When using S/PDIF did you set axe-fx word clock to S/PDIF instead of auto?

Double check your axe-fx I/O settings, and look at your USB output levels as well, might have something to do with it.
yeah I made sure to set AXE FX as master and synced/locked to my saffire (slave) too many issues happening and sometimes unlocking and some strange artifacts when recording...popping etc. I'd really love to get spdif working so I can use the saffire to be the interface to monitor my mix etc.

Manual also says that OS X may need higher values of the USB Buffer Size setting in the I/O menu, Audio page as well.
oh I hadn't increased the buffer. believe it was set at 512. thanks for pointing this out..i'll try this tonight.
 
After another hour or so with Cubase and repeating a phrase with different output settings (Amp output and/or overall output on grid) I believe its digital clipping. what is throwing me off is that on the front panel of the Axe Fx there is no indication of clipping. When i play back a phrase that I"ve recorded on Cubase the signal looks to be uber hot and there is distortion present on a clean fender amp preset. In Cubase I am setting the input level so incredibly low which seems counter intuitive which seems to make a huge difference but doesn't leave me much room to increase the level relative to a song's mix. Overall it seems to be a matter of input/output levels. Is the USB output level basically the level of the preset itself (on the grid)? is it really this delicate of a balance with my preset levels to my input levels on Cubase???

In somewhat related news I also discovered creating an aggregate device on my mac haha. Can use both the USB for input and my Saffire for output. Derp
 
Rather than make a new thread ... as this is related to my OP here. the Wiki manual states:

The “USB” bar graph in Utility > Status displays the amount of data in the USB FIFO buffer. Ideally the bar should be at around 50%. If the bar sinks all the way to the bottom or goes all the way to the top, then the buffer may under/overflow and the USB buffer size should be increased. The number of buffer errors that have occurred since the last buffer reset is indicated above the bar graph.

I have noted when I only have my Axe turned on the bar sits around 50%. When I load up Cubase that bar shoots all the way to the top at 99. I have my buffer set at 1024. I've even set the buffer to max and this bar graph still sits at 99. not sure what else to do. My USB recordings are still quite distorted. like there's clipping/distortion on a clean track. Starting to think I should just stick to analogue.
 
Back
Top Bottom