Mavericks and Fast Track Ultra 8r problems

[napoleonjones]

I was advised the following on the Avid facebook page:

Hi Will, I'd encourage you to connect with the product experts in the Pro Audio Community forums (http://duc.avid.com/forumdisplay.php?f=35) so that we can assist with any troubles you're having with Fast Track. AK

So I will restate.

I waited until Avid announced comparability for the FastTrack Ultra 8r with Mavericks before upgrading my duo-core iMac from os 10.8. After upgrading I could get no audio in or out of the unit except through QuickTime .

At one point I changed my internal clock from internal to spdf, reset my output and the system worked beautifully for 3 days. Since that point, I'm dead in the water. QuickTime sounds great though.

At the very least you need to acknowledge a problem with the driver and an ETA for resolution so that people can decked whether to rebuild their systems with 10.8. You either knew and didn't care and did not post requirements for using the device with Mavericks or your QA department had totally missed the boat.

The continued silence is unacceptable.

[napoleonjones]

Super glad I took the time to connect with the product experts in the Pro Audio Community forums so that they can assist with any troubles I'm having with Fast Track.

I can just smell the resolution in the air....

[napoleonjones]

Ok. The silence is deafening. Looks like I'll be spending a day this week scrubbing my system and reinstalling os 10.8 so I can get back to work.

Probably about a full day of work. Avid reps, please let me know who I can send my invoice to over there....

[JoelG]

Hi, there have been a few other posts about the Fast Track drivers and Mavericks (also Mbox devices). I have asked for an eta or an update but I don't have anything concrete other than it is being investigated.

I'll add your thread to the list and post back when I have anything to pass along.

FYI, the forum is user to user and not an official Avid support channel. If you would like to contact Avid, set up an Avid Support Code (ASC, you usually get a free one when you register your device) by going here:http://www.avid.com/US/support/asc/avid

Please post back if rolling back to 10.8 fixes your issues.

Joel

[napoleonjones]

rolled back to 10.8. Fast Track Ultra 8r works like a champ with last year's pre-mavericks drivers.

now to load my entire system again. every app, every plugin... colossal pita.

i'm going to start researching Presonus and MOTU. Had I even been on the fence about looking in to Avid products this would have been a clincher to avoid them. Can't help but think this never would have happened with M-Audio....

[slinky005]

I am posting for a friend:

He has a M Audio Fast Track Ultra and upgraded to Maverick - bad idea.
Everything was fine until he upgraded. Downloaded the Maverick driver to no avail.
He is now considering rolling back his OS.

What does this entail?
Would he have to go back to his install disk that came with his computer and upgrade as far as he can before Maverick?
Does this require re-formatting and re-installing all software (that's not included in the OS?)

[napoleonjones]

yes.

this entails using the 10.8 install disc or USB drive, formatting disc and installing fresh. then re installing all your applications... restoring all your other data (samples, etc.) then rerunning all updates (except mavericks of course.)

only takes 2 days. no big deal, right?

[marianna]

Hello there....

The avid.com web site does state our support of Mac OS X 10.9 Maverick but does not support Mac OS X 10.9.1 Mavericks.

http://avid.force.com/pkb/articles/e...tra-8R-Drivers

I dont know more than this but will try and follow up Monday with more info if I get it. The person using this should back rev to 10.9 if they can.

Marianna

[BCohune]

In response to issues with Mavericks and Avid USB hardware interfaces here are some results I've found... the one common issue in all the threads related to either Fast Track Ultra 8R, C600, or Mbox 3rd generation devices is that people are having problems when upgrading to Mavericks on Intel Core 2 Duo computers. If that seems to be the case, it would be great to know.

System 1

iMac 21.5 inch (14,3) Intel Core i7
Mavericks 10.9.1
Pro Tools 11.0.3
Ableton Live 9.1 Demo
Quicktime Video (audio playback through device)
Youtube (Safari - audio playback through device)
Fast Track Ultra 8R driver v2.3
Fast Track C600 driver v1.2

System 2

Macbook Air (5,2) Intel Core i7
Mavericks 10.9.1
Pro Tools 11.1.0
Ableton Live 9.1 Demo
Quicktime Video (audio playback through device)
Youtube (Safari - audio playback through device)
Fast Track Ultra 8R driver v2.3
Fast Track C600 driver v1.2
Mbox (3rd Gen) driver v1.2
Fast Track Duo
Fast Track Solo

In all test cases audio worked fine from all hardware interfaces outputs. In addition all un-installers and desktop control panels worked fine for all interfaces.

[Revok]

Configuration used:

OSX Mavericks 10.9.1
Macbook Pro Retina 13"
2.4 GHz Intel Core i5
8 GB 1600 MHz DDR3

Fast Track Ultra 8r - Driver 2.3

Tested with
Quicktime
VLC Player
iTunes
Ableton Live Suite 9.1 trial
Logic Pro X 10.0.4

There are no problems installing or uninstalling the driver, and the control panel works fine.
There are no problems during playback in VLC, Quicktime or iTunes.
The problems occur when recording or monitoring audio from the FT Ultra's inputs in either Logic or Ableton. Frequent drop-outs or crackling and popping sounds. Adjusting buffer size in either software doesn't remedy anything.

So the problems apparently aren't limited to Intel Core 2 Duo configurations.

By the way: Avid's suggestion to "roll back" to 10.9.0 is ridiculous. Unless you happen to have a time machine copy of your full system at 10.9.0 (which I don't), there's no way to downgrade without a clean install/restore.