Bad Eleven Rack USB cord?

[Hendrix95]

I just received my Eleven Rack a few days ago. When I try playing back recordings, I get a lot of static and clicks. This happens in both Pro Tools and Reaper. It sounds fine when recording, but does this just during playback. However, if I uncheck low latency monitoring, then it sounds just as it does during playback. This problem went away after trying a different USB cable. I originally thought the Eleven Rack USB cable was defective, however I tested it out with my Vox Tonelab through Reaper and everything was fine. Does anyone have any ideas on why it would work fine with my Tonelab but not the Eleven Rack?

[fly_with_v]

I am not sure why but this is fairly common. The USB cable might not have the best construction or sometimes different USB ports create problems. Since it is working now you should be good.

[Mister_Riff]

Yeah, my usb cable out of the box was bad as well...

[Hendrix95]

Looks like this is a common issue. Thanks

[bassmanjazz]

Not that I think the cables that come with most USB equipment are bad, but I usually have a few high quality USB cable sitting around that I use exclusively with my audio equipment. Never a bad idea to buy a high quality cable. Well, unless you have a ton already.

[hakea]

Can you safely swap out any USB cable, provided that they have the right fittings at each end?

Some USB cables are just straight wire, whereas others - like the one that came with the Eleven rack - have some kind of lump/barrel thing (excuse my boundless ignorance of electronics...) part way down the wire. What does that do please? And does it limit which cables can be safely tried out on other equipment?

Thanks.

Chris

[Darryl Ramm]

Originally Posted by hakea

Can you safely swap out any USB cable, provided that they have the right fittings at each end?

Some USB cables are just straight wire, whereas others - like the one that came with the Eleven rack - have some kind of lump/barrel thing (excuse my boundless ignorance of electronics...) part way down the wire. What does that do please? And does it limit which cables can be safely tried out on other equipment?

Thanks.

Chris

Its a ferrite choke, usually a cylinder of ferrite around the cable that prevents high frequency signals from being picked up or carried by the cable and interfering with the USB signal. Whether a choke is really needed depends on a lot on he environment the cable is used in and what it is connected to, and it alone does not signify one cable is "better" over another.

In principle USB cables are interchangeable, if the connectors fit both ends they are supposed to work. Reality may be a little different.

Darryl

[hakea]

Originally Posted by Darryl Ramm

In principle USB cables are interchangeable, if the connectors fit both ends they are supposed to work. Reality may be a little different.

Darryl

Thanks very much for such a swift and useful reply Darryl.

"Reality may be a little different" - that's so true! I have a couple of iMacs that get used for music and one has a traditional USB keyboard and mouse. whereas the other is a later model that uses a wireless mouse and keyboard. One has somewhat noisier internal components than the other, etc. So what sounds get picked up by which piece of equipment can vary quite a bit. I tried two different sets of monitors on one computer and one set picked up a more than acceptable level of interference and the other pair didn't. Never did find out exactly where it was picked it up from or why. But sometimes it's better to just get on with whatever works. Occasionally the answer turns up later.

Chris

[Hendrix95]

Just to give you an update, I contacted Avid to get a replacement cable. Even though I got it working with a generic cable, the supplied cable is much longer and would be move convenient to use. Avid was great about sending a replacement quickly. However, when I tested it out, I had the same issue. I'm now thinking that the cable isn't the problem. I did notice that if i have low latency monitoring checked while recording, it sounds fine during tracking but playback sounds terrible. If I turn off low latency monitoring, it sounds bad during tracking as well. Is it possible for the extra length of the cable to cause some sort of latency issue? I guess it's not a big deal since I can use another cable, but like I said, the Avid cable is much longer and is a little more convienent to use.

[fly_with_v]

All USB cables are not created equal. Heck, all USB ports aren't created equal. Buy a higher end USB cable. Some cheap ones work good, some don't. Some expensive cables are cheap. It is kind of a crap shoot sometimes.