Playback problems

[DanTappan]

I'm using Auria on an iPad3 Retina (64GB) with an Apogee Duet that I just got. I've been running into some occasional glitches with playback. Basically periodically Auria will have one or more of the following symptoms.

1. Sometimes sound output will disappear totally. Usually the playback cursor will advance (but see below) but no sound comes out.

2. Sometimes playback is staticy with bursts of noise and dropouts

3. often accompanying symptom 2, but sometimes with 1, playback speed will become slow and irregular. The playback counter advances at about 1/10 real-time.

Generally restarting Auria corrects the problem, but it's a pain. In one case when I restarted it lost an audio overdub that I had done about 10 minutes previously.

[Rim]

It sounds to me like there's something wrong with your Duet. Do any of these problems occur without the interface connected? Have you tried using the interface with any other audio apps?

Rim

[DanTappan]

It sounds to me like there's something wrong with your Duet. Do any of these problems occur without the interface connected? Have you tried using the interface with any other audio apps?

I have tried the Duet with other apps (for output, not recording) and haven't encountered anything similar.

I agree that it sounds like a problem between Auria and the Duet since it seems to be fixed by re-initializing the connection.

I'm not clear on how the 3rd symptom (playback slowdown) could be caused by the Duet unless Auria is getting its timebase from the audio interface? The CPU meter does not look particularly high when this symptom happens so I don't think it's anything taking over the processor.

Have there been any similar problems reported with Apogee products? I believe I have the latest Duet firmware (v0.2.65)

BTW: these symptoms have happened when I have had the WiFi turned off and at most one other audio app loaded (iReal Pro).

[Rim]

It's pretty unusual to have playback speed issues like you describe. Auria doesn't have any control over the interface. It's totally reliant on iOS to get audio in an out of the app. In fact, all audio apps simply ask iOS for audio and supply audio when iOS asks for it. So using an interface in Auria shouldn't be any different than using it in other audio apps.

Are you using iOS 8.3? Have you tried creating a new Auria project and seeing if the problem continues?

Rim

[DanTappan]

Are you using iOS 8.3? Have you tried creating a new Auria project and seeing if the problem continues?

Update on this: The same problem occurred with a different audio app so it doesn't seem to be an Auria problem.

I am running IOS 8.3 and I hadn't seen the problem before upgrading, but I had only had the Duet a couple days at that point so I don't have much evidence that it's related to the IOS version.

A workaround for the problem seems to be to plug and unplug a cable into the iPad audio jack. I assume that this resets the IOS sound drivers somehow when it tries to switch the output between audio jack and USB.

[DanTappan]

Update on this: The same problem occurred with a different audio app so it doesn't seem to be an Auria problem.

Though, I should add, it seems to happen much more frequently with Auria, sometimes every couple of minutes.

[Rim]

I suggest getting your Duet repaired. It sounds like a hardware issue to me. Might be useful to test it on a desktop computer to see if it happens there.

Rim