MultitrackStudio User Forum

Hi,

I'm having trouble using a new USB audio interface and I'm out of things to try. Hope someone here
can help.

The problem is with the midi i/o. The usb interface has ports for midi in/out. MTS playback
operates normally with no errors, my USB interface says it's sending midi out, my synth
apparently receives it, but reports "midi buffer full" and "midi communication error".

Initially, MTS reported a problem with my "mixer" when I tried to record using the new
interface. It recommended using the control panel to add hardware - this message was
generated when I clicked the MTS Input button.

So, I installed asio4all V2.10 thinking it might be a driver problem. After this install, the
MTS error stopped. The Input dialog now shows the channel order. MTS reports no errors.

The USB Interface is an Alesis IO2 Express. I'm running Win XP on an Acer laptop. I mention
that because the ASIO site says Asio4all v 2.10 has a workaround for a full-duplex issue with
Acer laptops and the Realtek HD drivers that are installed on my machine.

My synth is a Roland xp-50 that works well with my old usb midi cables. The only reason for
using the USB audio interface is to record xp-50 voices (driven by MTS midi) into MTS audio
files for mix-down.

Thanks for your help.

Vic

Maybe there's a MIDI loop. Does MIDI playback work if you unplug the MIDI cable that goes in the USB device's In connector?


Windows showed that message. Most likely your USB device doesn't provide any volume controls, and hence there's no mixer window.


Giel Bremmers

Thanks for your quick reply, Giel. I think the problem is the usb device itself.

I booted my PC this morning without the device attached. Then I attached it, adjusted the settings in the control panel and it worked. I experimented a bit, closed and reopened MTS a couple of times and it still worked.

Then I rebooted my laptop - just to see if it could live through that - and the midi i/o stopped working. I got the same old errors from my synth. I unplugged and reattached the device and the errors stopped. I repeated the reboot/reset procedure a couple of times and its consistent.

I will say that the recorded sound quality of the Alesis IO2 is fine for my purposes, but the midi feature is too flakey for me. Can anyone recommend another usb audio interface in the $100 price range?

Thanks,

Vic

It has probably got something to do with your usb. On my laptop I cannot boot at all if there's a device plugged in apart from the mouse.

USB performance is often fixed/refined through BIOS updates, so make sure you have the latest version (For an older machine, it's a good idea to download/install the latest chipset drivers as well).

Ah, BIOS update - that's a good idea. I'll give that a try. Thanks.

Hey,

I had a similar issue with the USB functionality on my Yamaha synth. Normally I have no problems with the MIDI in/out (works fine on my Yamaha P95 but seems more complicated on my synth.

I wish I had a better grasp of the technical side of these things! I'm going to try the BIOS update solution you suggest. Hopefully that works. Thanks for the ideas! If worst comes to worst, I'll take it in to a shop or something.