Why don’t we have this yet? On Mac and newest windows machines the driver is unstable and has random dropouts even if the system is running smoothly. I want to be able to walk up to a. Desk that has a waves card and hook up my Mac and superrack performer via a single cat6 and call it a day. Not every gig has a server. Get that unreliable driver out of my computer!
Or make a box that’s usb C, and has Madi Dante AND soundgrid connections. 64x64 at 96k and price it less than SSLs UMD unit because it’s not 128x128. That’s what they need to do!
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Hi @ryandowdall,
Thanks for the feedback. I’m forwarding it to the relevant personnel in Waves.
On the Windows dropout issue specifically, following the SoundGrid optimization guide has cleared this up for many users, and disabling core parking on newer Intel CPUs, in particular, tends to make a noticeable difference in driver stability.
If dropouts continue after that on your system, please contact our support team for personalized help, they can look at your specific machine and network setup directly.
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I’m on Mac now as my main machine and run parallels for any windows based software control or showfile setup I need. On Mac the issue is still not solvable in any way. Clock slip causing dropouts and pops once every 10-15 min. Any soundgrid I/O, and any machine this behavior happens and it’s the driver that’s the problem. I want to use performer so I can access other tools and have a setup without a server if needed.
Hi Ryandowdall
I do agree. This could be awesome and I can see how this could help a lot of users.
That being said, I just wanted to chime in: As a small rental company I have a few LV1-systems on the road. All of them have an extra PC mounted underneath. I exclusively choose motherboards with Intel I225v nic and Intel processors. Afterwards I install Windows 10 LTSC and set it up following the Waves guide. These machines seems to work flawlessly with the SoundGrid driver. I have not had a single complaint from any of my customers about those. Try have a look on Nuc PC’s.
Cheers
Hi @ryandowdall,
What you’re describing lines up with a known SoundGrid driver issue on Mac, network timing changes since Ventura affect driver performance, as covered in the SoundGrid setup guide for Apple computers. We currently recommend Windows for recording and playback through the SoundGrid driver, though that same article points to Recording and Playback Tips for Apple Computers that clear this up on many systems, so it’s worth working through those before ruling Mac out entirely. Running SoundGrid host apps such as SuperRack SoundGrid or eMotion LV1 on a Mac is fully supported, the driver limitation is specific to recording and playback through a SoundGrid interface rather than the host application itself. For your specific Performer setup without a server and the clock slip you’re seeing, Our Live Sound Team will get in touch via email so they can dig into your session and hardware details directly.
I have 3 more recent Macs running with SoundGrid and none of your issues described (a MacBook Pro with M3 Max, a MacMini M1 Pro and a MacMini M4 used for live recording, SuperRack Performer etc., all with no problems).
I use NO USB-C but an TB3 device (as recommended from Waves btw.).
I use the Sonnet AVB adaptor as well as a WaveLink TB3 Hub (with build in 1GBit interface), all without any issues.
I also used original Apple TB1 Gbit adapter with TB2>3 adapter without any problems, but skipped this “double adapter” construction in favor of the Sonnet AVB adaptor.
And yes, I had many issues with all kinds of USB-C Gbit devices (which - again - aren’t suggested by Waves).
So to speak - there are “USB-C” (USB-C in terms of connector type, but running TB3 as protocol) boxes that work.
Regards Peter
Yeah I’m using a M1 Mac MacBook Pro with the sonnet avb tb adapter just like you. Waves looked at it and said it was not working and a known issue and nothing could be done yet.
Apparently mine is one of the “some Mac’s” in the tech notes that don’t work. Annoying but hopefully they can fix.
The USB C device I’m mentioning is different. I’m saying waves should make a usb C(or TB) box that has a soundgrid card in it. So that the driver isn’t actually doing anything on the computer. The computer just sees it as core audio. You could network it like normal too with a server, or use performer for 3rd party vsts but still use soundgrid as the fast network transport protocol and integrate with all the existing waves card I/O in the different desks out in the field. Similar to the Dante bridge but just USB class compliant. You’d be able to jump in and out of the waves server/computer processed worlds. But still keep the network running the fast audio.
That would fill a gap, make things easier, and solve this multi year issue that they can’t seem to fix with Apple.
We have discovered four Mac machines since updating to V16 Soundgrid drivers, all started suffering from audio dropouts.
Why are these drivers still up?
I just got back from rehearsal running pb and, for the love of ■■■, what a nightmare it was.
Yeah it’s making work harder for sure. Nothing you can do in the moment if that’s your machine. Hopefully they fix it or come out with something to bypass it.
… uh, this sounds really odd to me, that one - more or less identical - machine works while the other doesn’t.
But I had a very similar issue with Steinbergs Nuendo Live 3. This didn’t work stable on all Apple Silicon Macs, so I had to go back to V2 on some machines. Same answer from Steinberg: they don’t know why, but some machines do not work.
Hope there will be a solution soon.