No sound streaming audio via 11R (High Sierra 10.13.6)

[Exoplanet]

I really can't work out what is going on here. I have no sound when streaming computer audio via my Eleven Rack (connected by USB) into an active speaker.


I have a Macbook Pro with High Sierra 10.13.6. I have the latest Eleven Rack driver, which Avid explicitly say is compatible with 10.13.6. I see 'Avid Eleven Rack' on my sound preferences, I can even record guitar with my 11R INTO the Mac, I just can't stream sound OUT through the 11R to the speaker.


I've tried every option in the 11R system preferences, for inputs and outputs. The only remaining thing I can think of is the Digital Clock issue of my 11r. Basically it says "unable to detect a valid external clock". I don't know if this is relevant when I'm not using s/pdif or aes ebu, but thats the only thing that seems to be a visible issue.


Any help would be really appreciated cos its driving me mad!

[Exoplanet]

I get sound out of the 11R headphone jack into the active speaker. I do find though that its difficult to use the 11r amp sim with a garageband plugin with the cab sim. I think through headphones it plays both sounds rather than one through the other? It sound different than when i use a direct passive speaker in the macbook

[Darryl Ramm]

A lot more details of what you are doing would help.

What exact speakers make/model, connected by what cable to what Eleven Rack ports?

What app/DAW are you trying to play Audio from (you are calling this “streaming” you literally mean streaming off the internet?)

Is the main output volume turned up?

I cannot follow what you mean by out the headphone jack into the active speaker... that sounds like you have the headphone jack wired to a speaker... why?

[Exoplanet]

The speaker is a Presonus E5, only one speaker for now but planning to get another to make a pair soon.


Been trying to play audio from my computer (iTunes, Garageband, etc) through the 11r which is connected to the Presonus E5 via 1/4 inch jack via the Output to Amp 1 (Left). This goes into the Presonus E5 TRS slot here seen here https://d1aeri3ty3izns.cloudfront.ne...00/preview.jpg


The volume of the eleven rack is turned up, i might double check all the volumes but it works fine when I just plug the eleven rack into the speaker and thats it. It just doesnt play anything when 11r is connected by usb with my macbook, i.e. sounds from my mac, even when its the same configuration and it is connected and 'Avid Eleven Rack' is selected as output.



I tried the 11R headphone out into my Presonus E5 TRS input just to see if it works and it does, but its not what i want and i think there are some problems with recording that way.

[Darryl Ramm]

Well that was easy, Output to Amp 1 is the wrong output to use. And it may also be too low a signal level and cause bad gain staging with your powered monitor (resulting in worse sound/more hiss etc.).

You should be using "Main Out L" the XLR jack on the rear panel. If you don't have an XLR cable you are likely better off just buying a whole new one to suit, easier than messing with adapters. Main Out L/R is fed the same internal signal as the headphone jack L/R.

And for next time, you have a "powered monitor" not a "speaker", that will make things clearer to other folks.

[Exoplanet]

thanks so much for the help! Will get some XLR cables then.

[Exoplanet]

if its the same signal as the headphone jack though, itll be the same as what ive been doing so far?

[Darryl Ramm]

Originally Posted by Exoplanet

if its the same signal as the headphone jack though, itll be the same as what ive been doing so far?

Huh? What have you been doing so far does not work correctly. You said the headphones worked and output to Amp1 did not... so you do want the same behavior as the headphone right?

Audio out from a DAW or any other app... goes by default to Main Out L/R (and is mirrored in the headphones), not the Amp 1/2 Outputs.

All this signal flow is described in the Eleven Rack User Guide and included there is how you set what amp1/amp2 outputs are being fed from... but if you want to hear the DAW outputs or general audio apps you should not be using the amp1/amp2 outputs, that is not at all what they are intended for. And *everything* you describe here that is happening is exactly what is expected from making this mistake. And even if you did just wanted to play guitar stand alone into your powered monitor there is no reason to use the amp1/amp2 outputs, since you are not driving a real guitar amp with those.

[Exoplanet]

cheers for the help!


So i got the cable and its working from the L main output, but this hasnt solved one issue im having. I want to use a cab sim from my macbook and just the amp sound from the 11R. So I know to set 'rig without cab' on the output, but this seems to be also playing the internal 11r sound as a separate sound ontop of the cabbed sound or something. Cos it doesnt sound right.



How would I basically make the 11r only play computer sounds and no internal amp sim stuff? Also keep in mind im getting a weird 'external clock invalid' message on the digital clock part if that is relevant.

[Darryl Ramm]

Originally Posted by Exoplanet

cheers for the help!


So i got the cable and its working from the L main output, but this hasnt solved one issue im having. I want to use a cab sim from my macbook and just the amp sound from the 11R. So I know to set 'rig without cab' on the output, but this seems to be also playing the internal 11r sound as a separate sound ontop of the cabbed sound or something. Cos it doesnt sound right.



How would I basically make the 11r only play computer sounds and no internal amp sim stuff? Also keep in mind im getting a weird 'external clock invalid' message on the digital clock part if that is relevant.

What DAW are you using? Only Pro Tools will disable the Eleven Rack internal monitoring path, so I suspect you are not using Pro Tools... and with non-Pro Tools DAWs you will hear that doubled sound behavior.

---

But to just add a convolution... you turn off the cab in the rig in the Eleven Rack, record rig output into a mono audio track (since you have only one monitor anyhow-or go stereo if you want to check with headphones or you want to play in stereo with a convolution/reverb plugin) in Pro Tools. Add your convolution/reverb plugin (insert) on that track and it will just work. Toggle on and off that plugin to hear the difference. Not sounding good or what you expect might just be the plugin or you not having stuff set up well.

And to make it easier you can just record the wet track and play it back while messing with the convolution/reverb settings on that track... then you are not messing around playing while you try to do this.

Get things as absolutely simple as possible while you play with stuff. Like an empty session with just one audio track recording the rig output.

If you are not clear on basic recording with Pro Tools (or whatever DAW you are using) or how to use plugins, look on YouTube for tutorials.

---

Remove any S/PDIF or AES/EBU cables from those ports... if you have any connected even if not using them. Confirm the Eleven Rack is set to clock internally. You can try a different USB cable/port on the computer but I would suspect a faulty Eleven Rack if that error keeps happening with nothing connected to S/PDIF or AES/EBU ports.