AXE I/O - Sound Cuts Out - both Headphones and Outputs

[daimion]

I'm having issues with my Axe I/O. For the first week or so, not issues. Now, when I run it through my brand new Macbook Pro and either GarageBand or Abelton, after a few minutes, all sound is lost. Doesn't matter if I'm using headphones or a monitor - it just cuts out. And not just sound from my DAW - all system sound from the laptop cuts out as well. I have to quite my DAW, turn the AXE I/O off, then back on - and then I can get a few more minutes of playing time. I don't have the same issue when using the Macbook internal speakers - just when I have the AXE I/O set as the output. It makes it impossible to play and/or record using headphones.

Anyone else have this issue? Any solutions out there?

[dlgebert]

I'm having issues with my Axe I/O. For the first week or so, not issues. Now, when I run it through my brand new Macbook Pro and either GarageBand or Abelton, after a few minutes, all sound is lost.

Anyone else have this issue? Any solutions out there?

What platform were you on before you moved to a brand new MacBook Pro? That's the one thing that changed in your setup when your issue started.

I have an iMac running Catalina and using Studio One 5 as my DAW and I've had my AXE I/O since they came out and that has never happened to me, it's been rock solid.

If you've had this problem since you got it, then I'd say you got a defective unit, but because you said it started using a new MacBook Pro, and that it's crashing the entire MacOS audio stack, that points to driver conflict issue, or something like that.

Firstly, when using your AXE I/O, make sure you are not using the ASIO4ALL driver. On a Mac, no external drivers are needed because the AXE I/O is class compliant. Do you have any external audio drivers installed?

Also, when using your DAW, make sure your AXE I/O is your input and output device. Don't use multiple devices in your DAW or in the Amplitube 4 standalone program. This will introduce timing issues and cause snapping and popping. The device name should be exposed to MacOS as a USB device named "AXE IO" "2 ins / 6 outs".

Below is a link from IKM that should help getting your AXE I/O working properly.

https://www.ikmultimedia.com/faq/index.php?category=13&topic=axe-io

Dave

[daimion]

Dave - thanks so much for the reply.

I think I may have been a bit inarticulate in my posting before about the Macbook. What I meant to say is that the Macbook is new - running Catalina, with more than sufficient memory. This is the only Macbook I have used with the AXE I/O since I purchased it. I haven't made any changes to the OS or any other software.

I have confirmed, I am not using ASIO4ALL. I’ve also checked – not external audio drivers are installed. The only two devices available are the AXE I/O and my Macbook microphone and speakers.

The AXE is both input and output in the DAW – still it cuts out completely after 2-3 minutes. I can set my output to the Macbook speakers at that point, and everything plays fine. No need to restart the AXE. I only have to do that if I want to use the headphones or monitor.

Sounds like I may need to open a ticket with support.

[dlgebert]

Sounds like I may need to open a ticket with support.

Yeah, that's probably a good idea. I've had my AXE I/O since it came out and I've never had a problem with it on my iMac running Catalina.

After putting in a ticket, try running the Amplitube 4 standalone program and see if it still happens if you haven't tried that yet, just to rule out your DAW software.

Dave

[daimion]

Thanks Dave. I tried Amplitube by itself - same issues.

I've opened a ticket. I'll let everyone know what I hear.

[Travicado]

Any responses? This just begun happening to mine as well. My DAW doesn't register it as a regular driver crash either, which typically gives a "Driver could not be opened" error. This just completely removes all audio and only resetting the back of the AXE I/O restores audio for a few more minutes.

[Peter_IK]

Any responses? This just begun happening to mine as well. My DAW doesn't register it as a regular driver crash either, which typically gives a "Driver could not be opened" error. This just completely removes all audio and only resetting the back of the AXE I/O restores audio for a few more minutes.

Since many times issues that appear "exactly the same" are not so, I'd recommend opening your own ticket so that IK Support so they can work directly with you to make sure you get the help you need.

[Travicado]

Since many times issues that appear "exactly the same" are not so, I'd recommend opening your own ticket so that IK Support so they can work directly with you to make sure you get the help you need.

True, and thank you! I had just taken a Windows Update the night before my last message, and I guess some of the sound drivers must have gotten messed up. I simply uninstalled and re-installed the Axe I/O drivers and programs and things have been working flawlessly since then. To anyone out there reading this years from now, it might just need a fresh install like mine did!

[Peter_IK]

Since many times issues that appear "exactly the same" are not so, I'd recommend opening your own ticket so that IK Support so they can work directly with you to make sure you get the help you need.

True, and thank you! I had just taken a Windows Update the night before my last message, and I guess some of the sound drivers must have gotten messed up. I simply uninstalled and re-installed the Axe I/O drivers and programs and things have been working flawlessly since then. To anyone out there reading this years from now, it might just need a fresh install like mine did!

I know most OS complaints tend to be major things Apple does on macOS but I am always suspect of Windows updates now too... Even when there aren't things that are specifically audio-related, I've found that more "odd" things happen and sometimes it is not for everybody. Which isn't better, but makes it a bit harder to nail down. Reinstalling your audio drivers after an OS update shouldn't be the case, but unfortunately it does happen. I'm glad it worked out for you.

Personally, I like to regularly use audio production tools on both my gaming rig and my main studio computer (recently bought a beast of a machine for that) and it is interesting to compare things like performance before and after general updates and such. Since the gaming PC is typically 100% updated day one but the music production machine is kept at whatever was stable most recently and updates are applied only very carefully, it makes for an interesting comparison.

It's also not fun when other non-audio software "horks" things up, too, but I won't name names