robert.olivier

I am a brand new Max user and taking a course to learn how to use it.

I'm using a quad core Intel Mac Pro and last night was playing some music in itunes with soundflower 2ch as the system sound output. I had the DSP settings to use soundflower as the input, and my audio card as the output.

I simply had an adc~ connected to a dac~ without intermediate processing and after about 5 mins the audio would degrade into distortion. I tried all sorts of buffer IO and signal vector settings in the DSP window and nothing changed the situation.

Anyone got an idea of what is causing this?

I'm using a quad core Intel Mac Pro and last night was playing some music in itunes with soundflower 2ch as the system sound output.  I had the DSP settings to use soundflower as the input, and my audio card as the output.

I simply had an adc~ connected to a dac~ without intermediate processing and after about 5 mins the audio would degrade into distortion.  I tried all sorts of buffer IO and signal vector settings in the DSP window and nothing changed the situation.

sudden-audio-distortion-on-intel-mac

this happens to me when i couple mainstage 2 with ableton live 8 via soundflower. its intermittent, though, meaning that everything will work fine for a while then the sound thats playing will degrade into a distorted mess and then everything will be fine again.

it actually sounds kind of cool sometimes, but in general i would hate this to happen at the wrong time during a performance.

what would cause this? is it a problem with coreaudio? maybe a problem with soundflower?

this happens to me when i couple mainstage 2 with ableton live 8 via soundflower.  its intermittent, though, meaning that everything will work fine for a while then the sound thats playing will degrade into a distorted mess and then everything will be fine again.

what would cause this?  is it a problem with coreaudio?  maybe a problem with soundflower?

specs:
8 core mac pro os 10.6
motu mk2
6gb ram


I'm getting the same problem - Ableton Live 8 routed into Max/Msp via Soundflower, sometimes the audio degrades, sometime it doesn't.

The only way to fix it I've found is to flick the audio off/on (it's like it resets the buffer or something) the problem is it cause a glitch, this is really annoying because I want to use it Live in the coming week.

Is there a way to route audio into Max/Msp from Ableton any other way?

Does anyone know why Soundflower is doing this?? Are Cycling aware of it??

Its good to hear that other people are having the same problem and its not something wrong with my setup. Maybe we can get this bug fixed. I think the problem is Soundflower. I don't get the problem using Mainstage or Live independently. Does Soundflower have a bug management system of some kind?

If you're just working between Live and Max you can use Rewire instead of Soundflower. Max for Live will make it even easier. Unfortunately Mainstage can't be a rewire slave, so Soundflower is the only option (that I know of).

Its good to hear that other people are having the same problem and its not something wrong with my setup.  Maybe we can get this bug fixed.  I think the problem is Soundflower.  I don't get the problem using Mainstage or Live independently.  Does Soundflower have a bug management system of some kind?

If you're just working between Live and Max you can use Rewire instead of Soundflower.  Max for Live will make it even easier.  Unfortunately Mainstage can't be a rewire slave, so Soundflower is the only option (that I know of).


Ah! I'm glad (sort of) to hear about others with this issue.

I'm Soundflowering (that's a verb, right?) Mainstage into Max and getting the distorted audio once in a while, too. My solution has always been a quick on/off of the audio in Max. I usually gig with another guy, so temporary silences aren't usually a total problem since he's usually making some other noise, though it's still unfortunate.

I always assumed it was a problem with Mainstage since, even in it's present, much improved condition, it still seems like it needs to bake in the oven a little longer before it's done.

Ah!  I'm glad (sort of) to hear about others with this issue.
I'm Soundflowering (that's a verb, right?) Mainstage into Max and getting the distorted audio once in a while, too.  My solution has always been a quick on/off of the audio in Max.  I usually gig with another guy, so temporary silences aren't usually a total problem since he's usually making some other noise, though it's still unfortunate.
I always assumed it was a problem with Mainstage since, even in it's present, much improved condition, it still seems like it needs to bake in the oven a little longer before it's done.


RabidRaja wrote on Sat, 19 September 2009 02:33

since soundflower is free and open-source:

https://cycling74.com/products/soundflower

it would be reasonable that it might take last priority...

Last time I heard anything about C74 and SoundFlower, it was that SF had absolutely no priority whatsoever. It's basically open-sourced and if there's something wrong, fix it yourself. That may sound sound harsh, but it's not supposed to. It's just a fact of life--a lot of open-source software is distributed with that assumption.

RabidRaja wrote on Sat, 19 September 2009 02:33since soundflower is free and open-source:https://cycling74.com/products/soundflower

Last time I heard anything about C74 and SoundFlower, it was that SF had absolutely no priority whatsoever. It's basically open-sourced and if there's something wrong, fix it yourself. That may sound sound harsh, but it's not supposed to. It's just a fact of life--a lot of open-source software is distributed with that assumption.


I've got the same problem, it doesn't matter what i route into what. After a couple of minutes sound gets slowly more and more distorted and slowly turns normal again this takes about a minute.

I've got this problem since I upgraded to 5.0.8

I downgraded to 5.0.7 and the distorted sound effect on inputs disappeared.

I've got this problem since I upgraded to 5.0.8
I downgraded to 5.0.7 and the distorted sound effect on inputs disappeared.


Did anyone ever get a solution to this problem? It happens with my system all the time, for no reason that I know of. It sounds like a sudden drop in sample rate. I can fix it for a time by switching the vector size from 64 to 32 and back again. The cpu never goes above 20% and the memory usage hovers around 50%. Also, my fan Never kicks on for anything else, but it goes nuts while I'm using Max. Here is a screen shot of my settings. Any ideas?

Macbook Pro
8 gigs
2.9 single i7
Core Audio

I only ever get the issue everyone has described above, when my set up is away from home. Either for a gig or in a different studio for rehearsal. I never have had a problem using my set up at home. To make it even weirder, it has only started to happen within the last month or so. Nothing has changed. I was gigging with my set-up fine last year.

The only fix for me is to shut down completely then start everything up again which is not sustainable for live situations so I need to get it sorted pronto. Any suggestions greatly appreciated. I've tried changing signal vector size etc. Nothing seems to work. arrgh!

I'm using a MacBook pro, max7, arduino mega linking various sensors which process instrument sound in real time.

The only fix for me is to shut down completely then start everything up again which is not sustainable for live situations so I need to get it sorted pronto. Any suggestions greatly appreciated.  I've tried changing signal vector size etc. Nothing seems to work. arrgh!

I'm using a MacBook pro, max7, arduino mega linking various sensors which process instrument sound in real time.


Have you checked that your sample rate is the same in both the Max preferences and the Audio MIDI setup? Just a thought :)

Have you checked that your sample rate is the same in both the Max preferences and the Audio MIDI setup?  Just a thought :)


Sudden audio distortion on Intel Mac