MTRX Studio w/ Mac Studio M1 Max

[Menelaos III]

Hello friends,

I hope to get help here for my problem.

I have configured my 7.1.4 setup in the DADman software so that I can work with Pro Tools (via HD Native) and also integrate signals from my IOTA AVX17 (to which my Blue-Ray player is connected) into the MTRX Studio and output them. The routing works, but I have the problem that very often the MTRX Studio is not recognised by my Mac Studio, although it is displayed and connected in my DADman software. The consequence of this is:

• The Dolby Atmos renderer takes far too long to initialise and cannot connect to Pro Tools.
• Pro Tools shows me the Dolby Audio Bridge as the playback engine, which I can also select, but the signals from Pro Tools do not arrive at the renderer.
• I have to restart my Mac Studio several times (at least 4 times) so that a successful connection takes place and I can start in Pro Tools via the Dolby Atmos renderer.

I have decided to reboot the computer and install an older operating system in the hope that the problem will be solved. Before I try that though, I wanted to ask around if anyone else has experienced similar complications? Maybe I am using a component that is causing this problem and I don't know about it? I would be infinitely grateful for any help! :)

My system:

Mac Studio (2022) Apple M1 Max, 64 GB, MacOs Monterey 12.3.1
Pro Tools Ultimate 2023.3.0.
Dolby Atmos Renderer 5.0.0
MTRX Studio + HD Native Card (Sonnet Case) via Thunderbold 2 to Thunderbold 3 adapter to Mac Studio


Best regards

[creativecontrol]

Greetings,

This should be sorted with the upcoming Pro Tools June release. Stay tuned.


Jeff

[IrelandM]

To creativecontrol,

What can we expect from the forthcoming ProTools June release.

Regards

[Menelaos III]

Originally Posted by creativecontrol

Greetings,

This should be sorted with the upcoming Pro Tools June release. Stay tuned.


Jeff

Hi Jeff,

thank you for your quick reply.

Do I assume correctly that some users have the same problem? Because I suspect less that it is due to Pro Tools, because already after the start of the operating system (so in the signal chain before Pro Tools) the MTRX Studio is not recognized by my Mac Studio.

I hope of course that the update will fix the problem.

Best regards

[originalscottyg]

Originally Posted by Menelaos III

Hi Jeff,

thank you for your quick reply.

Do I assume correctly that some users have the same problem? Because I suspect less that it is due to Pro Tools, because already after the start of the operating system (so in the signal chain before Pro Tools) the MTRX Studio is not recognized by my Mac Studio.

I hope of course that the update will fix the problem.

Best regards

AFAIK, the problem is with the HD Native card/Sonnet chassis and the Mac Studio, and has nothing specifically to do with the MTRX Studio.

[creativecontrol]

Yes, precisely.

[Menelaos III]

Yes, the problem was indeed the old Sonnet case. We got a Pro Tools HDX TB3 Desktop Classics and connected our Mac Studio M1 via TB3. Temporarily, we had installed an iMac 2017 with TB2 connection to make Pro Tools + Dolby Atmos renderer work. That worked too, except when the iMac went into screen saver. Then we had to restart the computer because the interface was no longer recognized. That was annoying ...

Now I sit here on it and try with the new case to bring the setup to the start. It shows the same diseases: as soon as the screen saver comes on and you get back, the audio driver hangs. I'm doing an update to ventura right now, hoping it will work then.

[Menelaos III]

Update:

I reported months ago that we had great difficulties in getting the MTRX Studio working.

The problem was the adapter (TB2 -> TB3), which I needed to get from my older Sonnet case (TB2) to the Mac Studio M1 (TB3). As a temporary solution, I swapped the Mac Studio M1 (2022) for an iMac with a TB2 port, thus bypassing the adapter. Initially, this seemed to work fine. However, it frequently happened that the MTRX Studio would hang up after the iMac went into screen saver mode. Neither the interface nor the audio driver were recognized. Only after 5-8 tedious reboots were the interface and driver recognized so I could work at all.

In order to work on an optimal solution, we purchased and connected a new TB3-capable case (Thunderbolt 3 desktop chassis from AVID). Unfortunately, we ran into the same problem: When the computer goes into screen saver mode, whether due to a short break or other reasons, and we then want to continue working on our Pro Tools project, the MTRX Studio enters an error state. The driver is not recognized, and the Pro Tools session crashes. Even after several restarts, the problem persists. Sometimes the interface is recognized (it shows up in the Mac OS preferences), but we can't start audio playback. In addition, the Dolby Atmos renderer does not receive any information that the interface is active, and the initialization fails. We have already tried reinstalling the necessary drivers and software, replacing the TB cable, and disconnecting and reconnecting it.

I am getting very desperate right now as I have tried all possible options and all have failed miserably.

Does anyone have a similar problem?

Best regards

[creativecontrol]

Likely a dumb question, but what screensaver are you using? Also - have you disabled ALL power management + turned off ALL audio notifications for macOS? Audio streaming can get unhappy with system notifications. Turn off all notifications like Calendar, Reminders, Messages and Avid Link so they don’t play sounds.


Jeff