Hey,

Just wondering if there are any other users who have experienced this issue. I am running an iMac 27, 32GB RAM with a Quad-Core processor connected to my XF8 via a thunderbolt to firewire connection.

In most instances I have no problems but occasionally during long hours of work on my projects; all of my audio will begin to drag ridiculously to practically an unrecognizable state. Meaning it doesn’t even sound anything remotely like music at all. Performance decreases to a crawl although the CPU utilization meter within Cubase will be well within reasonable limits.

When I first noted this happening, I tried everything. Restarted the DAW and etc. but no resolve.

Finally, out of curiosity and in my efforts of troubleshooting; I turned off the XF8 and my performance and normal expected behavior within the DAW resumed.

I believe I’m already at the highest firmware (1.50) and the cable hasn’t been an issue due the fact that it works just fine most of the time.

Seems the issue is only prevalent when I am repetitiously looping audio which trying to process the sound.

I’d also add that I’ve noted this to happen even when the XF8 may not be used within the project but simply accessible.

Any others seen this issue?

Wondering if Yamaha has any future plans for updating the ability to port Thunderbolt on the board too. Firewire is somewhat outdated at this point.

Thoughts, Suggestions???

I use neither Cubase nor a Mac, so I’m not sure if the following is applicable to what you’re experiencing…

Have you tried the YSFW Utility? It’s been known to fix certain types of problems.

See http://www.motifator.com/index.php/forum/viewthread/478528/
and the links within that thread.

5pinDIN - 26 September 2018 10:15 AM

I use neither Cubase nor a Mac, so I’m not sure if the following is applicable to what you’re experiencing…

Have you tried the YSFW Utility? It’s been known to fix certain types of problems.

See http://www.motifator.com/index.php/forum/viewthread/478528/
and the links within that thread.

Hi 5PINDIN,

I read the referenced thread and saw the links as well and the YSFW Utility you mentioned would be the Yamaha Steinberg Firewire Utility?
If so, unless I’m missing something; that utility on my Mac simply allows me to identify the XF8, change the sample rates and view the firmware version.

None of those options would seemingly be applicable to potentially resolving the issue since I wouldn’t want to change the sample rate; and that’s about all I can change.

Or am I referencing the wrong Utility?

Anyway..... thanks for the effort ;-)

I did a bit more research, and it seems that the utility I previously mentioned, which is used to make buffer settings, is only in Windows versions.

However, it appears that with Macs the buffer settings are accessed via the Control Panel. What you apparently found so far are the driver settings and information. The Control Panel buffer settings are buried a bit deeper.

See http://www.motifator.com/index.php/support/view/motif_xf_ysfw_setup_mac_with_cubase
Search for the term “buffer” in that support article, which explains how to get there. The PDF that comes with the FW install package might also shed some light. I’d suggest making note of settings before changing anything, so that you can return to them if necessary.

Hi 5PINDin,

I looked at article you linked in your last post and I’m very familiar with that area where the buffer size is adjusted; and I’ve previously made adjustments to that area to compensate for audio dropouts and lags with success. But this particular issue seems unaffected by any adjustments in that area.

As a general rule, when recording audio I set the buffer size relatively low to reduce latency and during playback and mixing within the DAW; I set the size larger to increase the performance.

The thing is that when the issue I’ve identified with the Firewire connection to the XF8 occurs; I can adjust that buffer size to every possible setting and the problem simply doesn’t go away.

The sound is like severely damaged tape being fed through a tape player at a slow speed. Its beyond bearable and its almost like my DAW becomes unresponsive to anything.

I’d also add that I am not solely using the Yamaha ASIO driver either. I am using an aggregate device.

On a mac, you can combine the In/Out ports of several devices to create an aggregate device. The primary advantage of doing this is that I’m not pigeon holed into having only the physical outputs of the XF8 available to route to monitors (which I don’t use anyway).

But instead, I have every input and output of all the devices assigned in the aggregate to leverage. Which means I can have audio routed to several different monitors simultaneously to mix and compare.

The only reason I have the XF8 attached is to leverage it as a VST instrument.

Since no one else has posted any response, I suppose the issue is just going to be something that is specific to my system and I’ll have to contend with it by simply disconnecting or turning off the XF8 when the problem occurs.

Thanks for your feedback though. I know for a fact that you’ve always provided quality assistance in the past. ;-)

It would surely be nice if Yamaha had plans to allow that firewire interface to be upgraded to support thunderbolt but that’s not likely going to happen. :-(

mivey4 - 27 September 2018 07:25 AM

Since no one else has posted any response, I suppose the issue is just going to be something that is specific to my system and I’ll have to contend with it by simply disconnecting or turning off the XF8 when the problem occurs.

Thanks for your feedback though. I know for a fact that you’ve always provided quality assistance in the past. ;-)

It would surely be nice if Yamaha had plans to allow that firewire interface to be upgraded to support thunderbolt but that’s not likely going to happen. :-(

Sorry that my suggestions so far haven’t lead to a cure. However, I’m not ready to throw in the towel quite yet.  :-)

When the problem occurs, what happens if instead of disconnecting or powering off the XF you change the Utility mode MIDI In/Out setting from FW to USB?

Of course, if anyone else has an idea about this, please post.

mivey4 - 27 September 2018 07:25 AM

Hi 5PINDin,

I looked at article you linked in your last post and I’m very familiar with that area where the buffer size is adjusted; and I’ve previously made adjustments to that area to compensate for audio dropouts and lags with success. But this particular issue seems unaffected by any adjustments in that area.

As a general rule, when recording audio I set the buffer size relatively low to reduce latency and during playback and mixing within the DAW; I set the size larger to increase the performance.

The thing is that when the issue I’ve identified with the Firewire connection to the XF8 occurs; I can adjust that buffer size to every possible setting and the problem simply doesn’t go away.

The sound is like severely damaged tape being fed through a tape player at a slow speed. Its beyond bearable and its almost like my DAW becomes unresponsive to anything.

I’d also add that I am not solely using the Yamaha ASIO driver either. I am using an aggregate device.

On a mac, you can combine the In/Out ports of several devices to create an aggregate device. The primary advantage of doing this is that I’m not pigeon holed into having only the physical outputs of the XF8 available to route to monitors (which I don’t use anyway).

But instead, I have every input and output of all the devices assigned in the aggregate to leverage. Which means I can have audio routed to several different monitors simultaneously to mix and compare.

The only reason I have the XF8 attached is to leverage it as a VST instrument.

Since no one else has posted any response, I suppose the issue is just going to be something that is specific to my system and I’ll have to contend with it by simply disconnecting or turning off the XF8 when the problem occurs.

Thanks for your feedback though. I know for a fact that you’ve always provided quality assistance in the past. ;-)

It would surely be nice if Yamaha had plans to allow that firewire interface to be upgraded to support thunderbolt but that’s not likely going to happen. :-(

The “Activity Monitor” software on the Mac should give you a pretty good clue where the problem is.  In case you’ve never used it, its located in the Utility folder.

It should show you whats going on with threads, processors, memory etc.  It should show you what is hogging your processors on the Mac and causing things to slow down.  The top 4 or 5 lines in the Activity Monitor are typically the things that are using most of the Macs resources.

Also define “after long hours” how many hours are we talking?

Keep in mind that MacOSX operating system is alway doing something other than just your Motif work.  It runs many processes in background, it archives log files, cleans up temp files, and does other maintenance work in the background. “Especially after running long hours!” So it may not be a function of the Moif at all.  And turning off your Motif may simply be freeing up resources for the Mac allowing it to nice other processes.

If you’re not already familiar with Activity Monitor I suggest you spend a little time with it.  Read the help etc.