M-audio Audiophile 192 Problems On Tiger, It doesn't work well under 10.4.2 Options

[iBug]

I have a dual 2.7 G5, bought this Audiophile 192 just yesterday, installed the newest drivers for 10.4.2 but it doesn't work properly. In iTunes for example or Quicktime Player, or DVD player, if the sampling rate is set to 192 or anything higher than 44100, there are pops and clicks all the time, it goes away sometimes but I have no idea when they go away. Sometimes I stop the song and resume it and they are gone. Sometimes, even if I switch back to 44100, they don't go away. I close the running programs, log out, log in, set the rate to 44100 and open all the programs again to get rid of it. But sometimes it just works. What is wrong with this card? Is my unit defected or is it about the drivers again?

[Fdumptch]

I'm having similar issues with Dual 2.3 G5 running Tiger 10.4.2.
It ran perfectly on my G4 867 running Panther. (And still does as I took it out and put it back in the G4 to test if the card had fried) I really am beginning to wonder if it has to do with PCI X and which slot you put it in.

I have sent (god knows how many reports) to M-Audio - no resolution.
The drivers won't even load unless I don't allow the Mac to auto login - I have to let it go through to the login window - then type in my account pass - only then will the drivers actually load.

I've tried de-installing , reinstalling I even reformatted and did a fresh install of Tiger.
I've had the same issues with EVERY version of Tiger.

BTW - M-Audio support are pretty good at making you think you are the ONLY one with an issue.
I for one was glad to see your post, although it doesn't change anything, I feel better knowing I'm not alone.

This post has been edited by Fdumptch: Wed 14 Sep 2005, 06:21

[iBug]

Yes, the same thing with me. I have to login every time to get the drivers loaded. I wrote them about it 3 times now. No useful reply. I used 24/96 with my G4 and didn't have any problems on Panther. But now, this thing sucks.

[lancet]

They REALLY did make me feel like I was the only one.... dual 2.5, 10.4.2.

BTW . logging out and back in works too.

I've tried switching slots around with no effect.

there are no work arounds for the poor performance.
@ 48k the built-in audio blows it away. I can work up a good sized project using only the built-in audio, then switch to AP192 and the thing chokes

very glad to hear it's not just me

This post has been edited by lancet: Wed 14 Sep 2005, 23:53

[iBug]

I tried switching the PCI slots, no difference. M-Audio better come with working drivers SOON!!!!!

[Fdumptch]

OK so there's 3 of us in the same boat.
I'll just keep filling out the tech support forms and it would be good if you guys can do the same.

The last one I sent was months ago asking which slot I should use the 133 MHz or 100 MHZ ....
I got no response.

Now I see it doesn't matter - basically would you agree it seems to be a sync problem?

I also can't use the standalone version of Absynth 2.0.5 with this card either - Absynth just stops responding and I have to force quit if I try and set the audio to Audiophile 192.

The plug-in version works fine with Cubase SX 3 ( and now 3.1)
I tried also to use a free Synth made by NI distributed by CM Magazine - same problem if I try and select Audiophile as the destination for output.
I tried locking the sample rate in the Delta Control Panel to see if that would help at all - but no - it's just the same crap.
If I play anything with QuickTime player or iTunes and stop the song and restart or skip through a song - I get the same "sync" issues - output becomes choppy and Distorted.....

My work around now is that I installed SoundSource from Rogue Amoeba Software which puts a menu item up that you can quickly change between cards (sound sources) Temporarily switching to built-in audio and back to the 192 fixes up the audio - but this is just such crap to go through.

This post has been edited by Fdumptch: Thu 15 Sep 2005, 07:47

[lancet]

I've already sent m-audio support 5 or 6 emails on the subject. I'll continue to report the issues every time they release a driver update that doesn't fix anything.

The weird logout/in issue aside, the one thing I haven't been able able to test is to use another clock source. i suspect that would drastically improve the cards performance.

As for me, at this point I'm looking around for a replacement I/O. This card has really been a disappointment. Too bad, I don't need much and the AP192 COULD have been the perfect solution.

This post has been edited by lancet: Thu 15 Sep 2005, 13:58

[Fdumptch]

That's pretty much where I'm at with this card

[lancet]

another update passes (2.0.5) and I still need to logout/in to get the card to work.

can they NOT fix this? is the problem so completely beyond their capabilities???

[Fdumptch]

can they NOT fix this? is the problem so completely beyond their capabilities???

Apparently.

I've just been through another bout of the "Tech Support" shuffle.
At first they tried to tell me I was using an unsupported computer.
I bought this card because I was moving to a G5 with PCI-X.
I still have to boot to the login window - enter my password - etc etc and blah.
I have NO idea why the drivers won't load if I have my mac auto login. I only have one account (me) .

It has always seemed strange to me that the drivers are within the "Startup Items" and not in the Extensions Folder.

[lancet]

I have NO idea why the drivers won't load if I have my mac auto login. I only have one account (me) .

It has always seemed strange to me that the drivers are within the "Startup Items" and not in the Extensions Folder.

Yea , very strange. It half loads because the delta control panel sees the card is there.

fortunately it's just an annoyance. I reboot my machine so seldom anyway. the good part is that with the latest round of drivers I haven't had the "snap crackle pop for no reason" thing happen yet.

[Fdumptch]

The only thing I have noticed is that I can't make use of Aggregate devices with the latest and greatest update.
Every time they "Fix" something they F@#$% something else up.

[Steve9]

Aargh...

I bought ProTools M-Powered. It can not find the card without the driver upgrade. Installed the new 2.0.5 driver, ProTools runs, but....No sound out (for any application). VU meters look OK, but silence.

Used the installer to Uninstall, & then installed the old 1.x driver. Sound works OK, but ProTools 7 can't find the card, & will not load!

Finally tried the logout/login install. Looks like it is working on a clean system on my test disk. Why don't they put this on their site?

No luck with the real system though. Looks like I will have to rebuild from sratch.

G5 Dual 2.7GHz
OSX 10.4.4
Audiophile 2496
Reason 3
ProTools 7
(Hassle)

G4 500
OSX 10.3.9
Audiophile 2496
Protools 6.8
(this works fine)

PS Has anyone tried to connect via SPDIF? I have the machines set up back to back. I can get analogue in & out between them but not SPDIF. Also, I notice that the MIDI clock works but is quite glitchy.

This post has been edited by Steve9: Thu 12 Jan 2006, 07:54

[Fdumptch]

This is not a complete fix for the problems I've been having with the Audiophile 192, which are:

1. Drivers not loading unless "Automatically log in as" is deselected
2. Losing sync and either having to log out, reboot or use a utility like "SoundSource" to switch between cards.

BUT... it does seem to have improved things somewhat.

What I have done (this time) is to "sym-link" all of the M-Audio extension files from within the StartupItems (4 items with .kext extension) to the /System/Library/Extensions/ folder.

NOW the drivers load and the card is found without having to disable "Auto log in" and although the card STILL loses sync especially when scrubbing through audio files in QuickTime or iTunes etc. the skipping, stuttering and distortion can be solved by just quickly clicking on a new position on the timeline (in QuickTime player or iTunes for example) to bring the playhead to another section of the file which then starts playing properly again. No need to log out or restart to get it working again.

Here's how:
1. Using the terminal Application - found in Applications/Utilities - type sudo -s <return>
You will be asked or an admin password, so type that in.
2. Next, you will want to create the "Sym-Links" from the directory: /Library/StartupItems/ M-Audio PCI Audio Helper/
I found the easiest way was to use drag and drop from the Finder into the terminal application - so:

Open up the following folders and position their windows side by side. /System/Library/Extensions/ and /Library/StartupItems/ M-Audio PCI Audio Helper/

There's probably a quicker way to do these all at once - but I just did them one at a time.
In the /Library/StartupItems/ M-Audio PCI Audio Helper/ folder - you will see 4 .kext files (ignore anything that doesn't have the extension ".kext" - so the files you want are:
MAudioDeltaFamily.kext
MAudioDeltaFamilyJaguar.kext
MAudioDeltaHT.kext
MAudioDeltaHTJaguar.kext

Back in the terminal Type: ln -s <and then a space> now drag the first .kext file to the terminal and it's full path will be auto completed for you < type another space> then just highlight the last bit of that directory path and copy it into the paste buffer <Apple> <C>. So in this case that would be "MAudioDeltaFamily.kext"

Now - back in the finder - click on the title bar of the /System/Library/Extensions/ folder (directly on the little picture of the folder with "Extensions" next to it) and just drag that little icon into the terminal window after the space you just typed. That creates the first part of the full path to the sym-link we are about to create.

Now paste in the name of the file you copied into the paste buffer and you have the full command to make a sym-link. NOTE - if you have a space at the end of the path - just press the delete key once to clear it. Now press return and a sym-link is created for you.

Repeat these steps for the remaining 3 .kext files and you're done.
This is probably not essential - but before rebooting run "Repair Permissions on your drive.
Also - don't forget to go back to the Accounts Preference Pane and set your Mac to Auto log in before rebooting.
One other thing I should mention is that I also put my card in SLOT 4 (the top one) I don't know if this makes a difference or not (?)

I've been running this way for a few weeks now and haven't noticed any bad side effects.
Hope this helps

[lancet]

Thanks Fdumptcf, Great job!

I used Cocktail to create the links and save in the desired location.

You still need to do one at time.. but it works so far!

[Fdumptch]

You're welcome lancet - glad it works for you as well, oh and thanks for the tip about Cocktail - forgot about that utility

[lancet]

yea, I saw that feature in Cocktail and thought to myself, "when would I ever need that?" lol

You should send that to M-Audio tech support.. oh wait. I'm the only one with that problem so nevermind.

This post has been edited by lancet: Thu 9 Feb 2006, 18:21

[Fdumptch]

I can't even get tech support now - as an "International" consumer I am being referred to my local distributor.
So M-Audio are saying - hey , still not happy? Then buy another card.

This post has been edited by Fdumptch: Fri 10 Feb 2006, 00:35

[Fdumptch]

UPDATE
I took this one step further and now using Tiger's "launchd" instead of (what I think must be) SystemStarter to load DeltaHelper - seems to work even better.

This combined with "locking" the sample rate in the Delta Preference Pane seems to have stopped (or at least reduced) the loss of sync issues. So far I've been unable to reproduce the loss of sync symptoms using QuickTime Player and iTunes to scrub through and jump through audio files.

I don't pretend to know why this works - was just clutching at imaginary straw-like things as launchd seems to be the preferred way to, well, launch things in Tiger.

If you're bored - try it.
Just download "Lingon" (a GUI launchd editor) and make a new launchd job for DeltaHelper.
http://lingon.sourceforge.net/

This post has been edited by Fdumptch: Sat 11 Feb 2006, 03:35

[Fdumptch]

UPDATE
loss of sync symptoms still happen - but no need to reboot or log out to fix them

[Fdumptch]

Courtesy of OS X hints.
The quickest way to make the sym-links in one go:

ln -s *.kext /System/Library/Extensions/

[Fdumptch]

Version 2.0.6 drivers are out.
Still the same issues here.
Anyone see anything different ???

I can't believe I still use this card (masochist)