Digital noise when streaming audio via USB-B.

[WaihekeSoundie]

I have a
– 2019 Macbook Pro 1.4GHz Quad core i5, 8GB ram
– Catalina
– Reaper
– 10GB USB to Thunderbolt hub https://www.pbtech.co.nz/product/HUBSTT4643986/StarTech-4-Port-USB-C-Hub-10Gbps-to-3x-USB-A–1x-U
– 500gb Samsung T7 external SSD

It seems to be working ok so far

[Ewald]

Thanks for sharing this good info.

[Lexinton]

Last year I was on this thread because I had issues with noise while trying to multitrack using the USB connection hooked up to use my 10 year old laptop (USB 2). From some of the comments it seemed like trying to use the USB interface was never going to work on pretty much any device unless it was an old laptop. I am not trying to minimize anyone’s issues in this reguard but recently I have been able to mulitrack through the USB connection on a new Mac running logic and a late model PC running Cakewalk with no issues. Turns out the issues I was having with my laptop was because it was 10 years old. So no I didn’t have to sell/trash my Qu32.

[EarthScum]

Hi all,

Anyone tried following these steps as a solution?
https://support.presonus.com/hc/en-us/articles/360028620552

I recently purchased a QU16 from a local company and encountered this problem immediately. After lots of reading, there doesn’t seem to be much of an answer to the problem. Is it USB 3 or intel i7’s an above or a combination of the two? I have tried LatencyMon, all the ports which are all USB 3 apart from two of the ports on the case which are USB 2 (which will obviously feed into the mother board) and no joy, I have tried different many different cables. The only thing that seems to sort it is restarting the QU16 but then the problem will resurface not long after.

To me it seems to be intel i7’s and beyond are the culprits. Both my studio PC and home laptop have these so I can’t really change those. So now I am looking at returning the QU16 and trying out something else… except will I have the same problem? I also saw in these threads people asking if other mixing desks had problems which has made me cautious and research more.

I came across this article from presonus while reading about the presonus Studiolive 32SC. It sounds very similar to the Allen & Heath issues with intel.
https://support.presonus.com/hc/en-us/articles/360028620552

Has anyone else tried following this article? Before the desk goes back this week I am going to try following the steps to see if fixing the QU16 issue with my PC.

Really A&H and all these companies need to be more honest and upfront with people buying this kit brand new. You should be contacting your sellers to say that it has a problem with i7’s or that i7’s have a problem with it and that should be crystal clear. Imagine being in the UK ordering this and receiving it from Thomman or something, the ball ache of trying to sort the issue and then trying to return it.

[Mike C]

What firmware version is the Qu16 running?

Do you have the A&H driver loaded on the PC?

Is the noise the issue your having?

[EarthScum]

Hi Mike C, thanks for the reply.
Firmware is Qu16UpdtV1_95_4561

The QU USB Control Panel driver is loaded on the PC yes. It’s set to 512 samples though I have experimented with some different sample size settings but the same problem.

This is the noise that I’m experiencing:

It’s the bitcrusher type effect that many others have described.

The company that sold me the QU16 have also lent me another to see if that one has the same issue which it did.

The QU16 also had the same bitcrusher problem with a windows laptop and a macbook owned by one of the companies employees but not on an older windows laptop, and on the same macbook one they re-installed the firmware to the QU16 – which is strange!

So 2 QU16’s have this issue, or at least with my PC which has these specs:
SYSTEM INFORMATION
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
OS version: Windows 10, 10.0, version 2009, build: 19043 (x64)
Hardware: To Be Filled By O.E.M., To Be Filled By O.E.M.
CPU: GenuineIntel Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-6700K CPU @ 4.00GHz
Logical processors: 8
Processor groups: 1
RAM: 32705 MB total

It also has the same issue with my MSI laptop which has these specs:
10th Generation Intel Hex-Core i7 Processor,
8GB of DDR4 RAM
Nvidia GeForce 1660 Ti graphics
512GB NVMe SSD
15.3″ IPS 120Hz display

[KeithJ A&H]

Hi @EarthScum

I’m running an i7 with no issues, so although both those computers are i7’s, there must be some other commonality which is causing them to not play nice with the Qu’s USB interface.
If you haven’t done so already, please contact us about this using https://support.allen-heath.com so we can try to determine what in your system is causing the issue.

Thanks,
Keith.

[slowhand73]

I have a WinPC i7 5930k on ASUS x99A Board – and it makes noises every time.

[patked]

I have a PC in intel I5 and another in Xeon E3.
I have the same noise problem
(which I bypass by forcing playback on my sound card from the pc while recording in USB)

[EarthScum]

Hi all, I literally tried for days (3+ weeks), hours and hours of tweaks and reading, trying different things and followed the suggestions and troubleshooting from A&H support until all avenues were exhausted. In the end I had to give in and send the desk back to the company that sold it to me.

I got a refund and from the same company I purchased a Presonus StudioLive 32SC and have had no problems after using it for about 3-4 weeks. It’s a wonderful desk so far.

There are some very small minor phantom clicks and pops when I’m sometimes doing a few bits aside from purely recording – using usb devices and the mouse but these aren’t recorded and are extremely minor/minimal.

Nothing like the bitcrushing of doom that was happening with the QU16… Sorry Allen and Heath, the fault is with your desk and drivers not being able to cope with USB 3 drivers or intel or chipsets. Your excuse of people not having their PC’s optimised for Real Time Audio is seemingly not true.

My PC runs this Presonus desk just fine.

Allen and Heath – you should be more transparent when selling this desk and admit that it is possible it may have problems with PC’s some Intel chips etc. I know this will hurt your sales but it’s the right thing to do.

[Ozboy]

Wanted to say I upgraded firmware from an admittedly well out of dat 1.4 to 1,95 and it seems to have fixed the noise issue for me. Atleat based on one evening’s use. I am fond of my Qupac, makes a great compact home studio mixer but the noise issue was driving me bananas. Thought I’d broken the speakers. Anyhow all good just now. Thanks

[almabes]

I have a Lenovo Legion i7/USB 3.1 laptop. It works just fine with the SQ. It has had problems with the QU we also run occasionally. I’ve used the same laptop on the X32/M32 and XR18/MR18 to record as well with no issues. Presonus studiolive records fine, but playback pops and snaps. I’m not a fan of that desk at all and loathe using it.
The laptop has a mix of Intel USB3.1 and NVIDIA USB 3.1 controllers. I ran into the 32 channel limitation on USB recording at this past gig with the SQ, and have been considering the Waves card anyway. It would be awesome if Allen and Heath could make a built-in gigE recording interface, or give us ASIO drivers that could talk to a second SLink card.

[Anonymous]

ANy solution?

[Vince]

Hello,
I dig up the subject
first of all i apologize for my bad english, i use google translate to express myself.
I have read some topics that talk about the USB3 to USB2 problem, but it seems to me that it is in the PC worm mixer sense. It deals with recording if I understood correctly!
My problem comes from crackles of sound from the macbok pro M1 2020 to the QU-SB mixer and the USB2 B input.
I use the EZ Drumeur 2 software for the sounds of a Roland electronic drum kit and TD11 module. I’m doing this to multitrack the drum mix on my QU-SB mixer via USB. I have tried everything with high quality USB3 to USB B cables, also with a USB3 to USB2 adapter but I end up with creaking sound and digital saturation like clips. I tested the exact similar configuration on my other mixer at the rehearsal room (Beringher Xair18) and everything works normally! No noise ! I bought the QU-SB 3/4 years ago now for better sound quality, compared to the XR-18, also hoping for better reliability, … And there I find myself in a dead end. I hope that a solution exists because I do not want to use the beringher on concerts, and place the QU-SB in the rehearsal room … Thank you in advance for your feedback
Vince

[jasonhalogen]

I was able to drive this issue (for now) with the following steps:

Update firmware to 1.97
Disconnect from internet
Disable antivirus software (Avast in my case)
Do some basic optimization
Set sample buffer to 2048 (maximum)

After taking these steps, I was able to stream multiple channels of 24bit, 48kHz through the DAW’s master channel, which still had active plugins, to the Qu Pac on channels 31&32, along with processed live inputs, with no drops or noticeable noise.

I’m going to keep pushing this by attempting to stream busses from the DAW instead of the master, and will post results here.

FWIW, I’m running Cakewalk on a Del G5 5590 laptop via USB 3.1 port.

[Author]

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