Fast Track Pro issue
 

I've got an M-Audio Fast Track pro USB audio interface running on a Dell Inspiron 1521 with Windows 10 home 64 bit.

When I bought it used it didn't come with the power supply so it is powered by the USB.

Every so often maybe 2-3 times a minute the audio cuts out then it will come back in a few seconds.

Any idea what the issue is?

Re: Fast Track Pro issue
 

Guessing here, but I would check to see that Power Management is disabled on all USB ports(aka "USB Root Hub" in Device manager). If that doesn't help, post specs on the computer(as described in the Help Us Help You link near the top of this page). Ultimately, I think a better interface is in your future(just my opinion, but there's nothing "pro" about M-Audio interfaces):o

Re: Fast Track Pro issue
 

Suspect it is just the computer or maybe the USB ports cannot supply enough power all the time.

Now on a Windows 10 PC I did use the card on every time I booted it up I'd have to unplug the card and plug it back in for it to work right.

I do intend to try it with a power adapter just to see if that clears up the issue first.

Doesn't matter much about the pro aspect so long as the audio from it sounds good.

Re: Fast Track Pro issue
 

Disabling the Power Management feature is a standard Pro Tools system tweak so start there.

Re: Fast Track Pro issue
 

That's something I do as standard when I set up the power plan for a computer to high performance.

USB is set so that selective suspend is disabled.

Thing is the power light never goes out until I shut down the computer

Re: Fast Track Pro issue
 

Some computers have some USB ports that still have power when the computer if off. I believe this is done in case you wish to charge something on a USB port(like an iPhone).:o

Re: Fast Track Pro issue
 

Some do indeed have that feature.

On my XP computer I had, the motherboard had a couple jumpers that could be set to leave the front or rear USB ports on all the time.

I'll try the sound card with an external power supply to rule out power issues.

EDIT:

Tried a 9 Vdc power supply and the issue seems to be resolved.

I'm guessing that because this is a laptop maybe the USB ports aren't capable of full power and perhaps that was causing an issue with the sound card.

EDIT:

Same problem. Audio cuts out for a few seconds after playing a bit.

The level indicator in the Windows sound devices tab under playback still shows signal though.

Re: Fast Track Pro issue
 

Reviewing your info and I suspect the computer is simply not up to the task. 2 biggest reasons I say this are:
#1-I remember Turion CPU's NOT working well for PT back in their day(and this is an old computer)
#2-windows 10 x64 software requires every bit of RAM just to run the OS, leaving essentially none for Pro Tools:o

Re: Fast Track Pro issue
 

Not running pro tools. Just using the sound card.

Another computer from 2010 is running Windows 10 X64 on 4 gigs of RAM and the sound card worked just fine on that computer.

I'm thinking it is just the Dell laptop or it could just be something with Windows 10 on the laptop.

Re: Fast Track Pro issue
 

Yeah, thinking about how old the Turion is/was, that laptop might not be a good candidate for Windows 10:o