Help! Avid HDX/MTRX goes unexpectedly out of whack

[tenebre]

Hi all,

Yesterday I power-cycled our MTRX (troubleshooting a now-resolved issue), and later in the day one of our other users came to me saying that the sound coming out of the studio monitors (PMC IB1S) is messed up. And indeed it is: the left channel sounds like theres a LPF at 200 Hz, the right channel sounds thin, and it sounds like there's phasing/comb filtering on the whole thing. We have an HDX card going into the MTRX, analog out to our monitors. No settings in DADMan or the hardware have been touched.

The rest of our music center runs on a Dante system through the MTRX and ironically, everything Dante-related going into and out of the MTRX sounds perfect. So it is not an issue with the analog outputs of the MTRX or any of the Dante inputs.

The main studio Mac, however, connected to the MTRX via HDX card, has this issue through any signal that goes through the card. This includes all Pro Tools sessions (ones recorded both on the machine and offsite, and yes I doublechecked the sample rate), Safari, Chrome, Tidal standalone player, Spotify, all with the exact same issue—mix pulls to the right, HF cancellation in the left, some instruments sound canceled out leaving others unnaturally boosted.

This issue also occurs when testing all of the above on different user profiles on the computer, which rules out anything related to the DADMan monitor profile. (Believe me, I checked for every delay and EQ setting to make sure!)

I've power cycled the Mac and the MTRX several times again, and it does not alter this very unique distortion that occurs across everything coming out of this HDX card.

If I can be a little more specific about what I'm hearing, it sounds like a time domain issue—like two clocks delayed by a handful of milliseconds but still running with internally consistent timing. It could be a clocking issue or delay/phase cancellation. But I really can't know for sure yet. Thanks for reading!

[BScout]

DADman version?
Firmware version of unit?
Pro Tools version?

[tenebre]

PT 2020.9.1 (although the issue occurs outside of PT as well)
DADMan 5.4.2.1
Not sure how to check the firmware on the MTRX. It was purchased in March 2021.

[BScout]

In DADman, Menu Bar > Settings > Device List
Select the MTRX unit in the top section
In the bottom section, Main Board line, post the full FW version line

My guess, since it seems you haven't done a firmware update before, that you need to do a firmware update.

And the current version of DADman is 5.6.5.1

There was a bug that was fixed.

(Pro Tools versions determine HDX firmware so even if it happens outside of PT, the card itself that is used to communicate to DADman over digilink is changed)

[tenebre]

OK Thank you so much for this. First, I updated DADMan and the issue is still persisting. I have a good feeling about the firmware update.

FW for Main Board is cpufw: 2.3.1.3, matrix: 1.1.23.2, recovery: 1.2.1.1

So I've downloaded the firmware, and I haven't found other threads on this (although I'm certain there are posts), but I am not certain how to direct this .flash file to the MTRX. Opening it on my Mac desktop just opens a bunch of code.

Once I get the firmware and DADMan updated I think we'll be in business... we shall see

[tenebre]

Found the firmware update instructions online. Stay tuned...

[BScout]

In the Device Listing window, top section, select the MTRX and then right click. You'll see firmware update.
Choose and then point to the file you downloaded in the pop up window.
It's a bit of a slow process (also mute your speakers just in case). It'll update and then auto reboot at the end.

[tenebre]

Thanks. I have new firmware and updated DADMan and the issue still persists! Hmmm...

[tenebre]

OK, here's a new wrinkle... I started pointing my tracks to other speakers in our 5.1 system—the center and surround channels, and they sound crystal clear. So I'm going to need to test these monitors to see if the speakers themselves didn't get blown out while I was out of the office for an hour....

[Loop101]

Quick question here, is it possible to connect two MTRX studio thru the new thunderbolt 3 ? Do you need to buy two thunderbolt card on each or you can link thru the mini-digilink both unit ? It will add all the I/O ? How that can work ?
Thx