audio hiccup

[Michele Cremaschi]

Hi,

I report a problem i met for the first time with audio.

I have a macbook pro 2014 with El Capitan recently installed, QLAb 3.1.23, and I use a very simple Peavey audio interface to route audio.

During rehearsal audio started having hiccups. I solved unplugging the USB cable, increasing the audio buffer to 1024 in QLab references and replugging to a different USB port.

During the show the audio started to hiccup again. Till it stopped at all. I solved again unplugging and replugging.

When the OS was Yosemite, I just played the show a few times, but this problem never arose.

I attach the log I found in system.log after the show.

How could I avoid to repeat the bad experience?

ciao

michele

Jun 17 20:19:39 MacBook-Pro-di-michele QLab[377]: Warning: audioDeviceDidOverload: USB Audio DAC   

Jun 17 20:19:44 MacBook-Pro-di-michele QLab[377]: Warning: audioDeviceDidOverload: USB Audio DAC   

Jun 17 20:19:45 MacBook-Pro-di-michele QLab[377]: Warning: dropped 895 frames (0.02 seconds of audio) : /Volumes/Macintosh HD/Users/mic/Shows/SmartStone/SmartStone bundled 20160603/video/estinzione dynos-smartstone.mov

Jun 17 20:19:56 MacBook-Pro-di-michele QLab[377]: Warning: dropped 852 frames (0.02 seconds of audio) : /Volumes/Macintosh HD/Users/mic/Shows/SmartStone/SmartStone bundled 20160603/video/estinzione dynos-smartstone.mov

Jun 17 20:20:07 MacBook-Pro-di-michele QLab[377]: Warning: dropped 809 frames (0.02 seconds of audio) : /Volumes/Macintosh HD/Users/mic/Shows/SmartStone/SmartStone bundled 20160603/video/estinzione dynos-smartstone.mov

Jun 17 20:20:18 MacBook-Pro-di-michele QLab[377]: Warning: dropped 766 frames (0.02 seconds of audio) : /Volumes/Macintosh HD/Users/mic/Shows/SmartStone/SmartStone bundled 20160603/video/estinzione dynos-smartstone.mov

Jun 17 20:20:29 MacBook-Pro-di-michele QLab[377]: Warning: dropped 723 frames (0.02 seconds of audio) : /Volumes/Macintosh HD/Users/mic/Shows/SmartStone/SmartStone bundled 20160603/video/estinzione dynos-smartstone.mov

Jun 17 20:20:44 MacBook-Pro-di-michele QLab[377]: Warning: audioDeviceDidOverload: USB Audio DAC   

Jun 17 20:20:45 MacBook-Pro-di-michele QLab[377]: Warning: audioDeviceDidOverload: USB Audio DAC   

Jun 17 20:20:45 MacBook-Pro-di-michele QLab[377]: Warning: audioDeviceDidOverload: USB Audio DAC   

Jun 17 20:21:50 MacBook-Pro-di-michele QLab[377]: Warning: audioDeviceDidOverload: USB Audio DAC   

Jun 17 20:22:54 MacBook-Pro-di-michele QLab[377]: Warning: audioDeviceDidOverload: USB Audio DAC   

Jun 17 20:23:59 MacBook-Pro-di-michele QLab[377]: Warning: audioDeviceDidOverload: USB Audio DAC   

Jun 17 20:24:14 MacBook-Pro-di-michele QLab[377]: Warning: audioDeviceDidOverload: USB Audio DAC   

Jun 17 20:24:27 MacBook-Pro-di-michele QLab[377]: Warning: dropped 16 frames (0.00 seconds of audio) : /Volumes/Macintosh HD/Users/mic/Shows/SmartStone/SmartStone bundled 20160603/video/grotta-smartstone.mov

Jun 17 20:24:40 MacBook-Pro-di-michele QLab[377]: Warning: dropped 32 frames (0.00 seconds of audio) : /Volumes/Macintosh HD/Users/mic/Shows/SmartStone/SmartStone bundled 20160603/video/grotta-smartstone.mov

Jun 17 20:25:04 MacBook-Pro-di-michele QLab[377]: Warning: audioDeviceDidOverload: USB Audio DAC   

Jun 17 20:26:10 MacBook-Pro-di-michele QLab[377]: Warning: audioDeviceDidOverload: USB Audio DAC   

Jun 17 20:27:15 MacBook-Pro-di-michele QLab[377]: Warning: audioDeviceDidOverload: USB Audio DAC   

Jun 17 20:28:20 MacBook-Pro-di-michele QLab[377]: Warning: audioDeviceDidOverload: USB Audio DAC   

Jun 17 20:29:24 MacBook-Pro-di-michele QLab[377]: Warning: audioDeviceDidOverload: USB Audio DAC   

Jun 17 20:30:30 MacBook-Pro-di-michele QLab[377]: Warning: audioDeviceDidOverload: USB Audio DAC   

Jun 17 20:30:44 MacBook-Pro-di-michele QLab[377]: Warning: audioDeviceDidOverload: USB Audio DAC   

Jun 17 20:31:35 MacBook-Pro-di-michele QLab[377]: Warning: audioDeviceDidOverload: USB Audio DAC   

Jun 17 20:32:39 MacBook-Pro-di-michele QLab[377]: Warning: audioDeviceDidOverload: USB Audio DAC   

Jun 17 20:33:44 MacBook-Pro-di-michele QLab[377]: Warning: audioDeviceDidOverload: USB Audio DAC   

Jun 17 20:34:49 MacBook-Pro-di-michele QLab[377]: Warning: audioDeviceDidOverload: USB Audio DAC   

Jun 17 20:35:53 MacBook-Pro-di-michele QLab[377]: Warning: audioDeviceDidOverload: USB Audio DAC   

--

_________________________________________________________________
Michele Cremaschi
http://michelecremaschi.it

http://facebook.com/michele.cremaschi
ph. +39.320.2992681

[mic]

I found in the log a more dramatic log saying "audioDeviceDidDie"; could be when it stopped completely as the time and the following file reported in the log dropping frames indicates that was the moment of the show.

Jun 17 20:17:10 MacBook-Pro-di-michele kernel[0]: USB Sound assertion in /BuildRoot/Library/Caches/com.apple.xbs/Sources/AppleUSBAudio/AppleUSBAudio-303.3.1/AppleUSBAudioIsocPipe.cpp at line 127

Jun 17 20:17:11 MacBook-Pro-di-michele QLab[377]: Error: 2003332927 [?ohw] | -[F53AudioDevice _stringForProperty:] [line 579]

Jun 17 20:17:11 MacBook-Pro-di-michele QLab[377]: Warning: audioDeviceDidDie: *nil description*

Jun 17 20:17:30 MacBook-Pro-di-michele QLab[377]: Warning: audioDeviceDidOverload: USB Audio DAC   

Jun 17 20:19:22 MacBook-Pro-di-michele QLab[377]: Warning: dropped 981 frames (0.02 seconds of audio) : /Volumes/Macintosh HD/Users/mic/Shows/SmartStone/SmartStone bundled 20160603/video/estinzione dynos-smartstone.mov

Jun 17 20:19:33 MacBook-Pro-di-michele QLab[377]: Warning: dropped 938 frames (0.02 seconds of audio) : /Volumes/Macintosh HD/Users/mic/Shows/SmartStone/SmartStone bundled 20160603/video/estinzione dynos-smartstone.mov

[fishmonkey]

if it worked okay with 10.10 then the most likely problem is that the audio driver is not compatible with 10.11.

did you check to see if the interface is compatible and/or has updated drivers for 10.11?

[Sam Kusnetz]

On Jun 18, 2016, at 7:05 PM, mic <michele....@gmail.com> wrote:

I found in the log a more dramatic log saying "audioDeviceDidDie"; could be when it stopped completely as the time and the following file reported in the log dropping frames indicates that was the moment of the show.

Hello Michele

The message “audioDeviceDidDie” means that QLab lost contact with the audio interface. This definitely means one of the following:

1. The audio interface was turned off or unplugged

2. The cable connecting the interface to the Mac is bad

3. There is a hardware problem with the interface

4. There is a problem with the driver for the interface

5. There is a hardware problem with the Mac

Peavey has a history of poor hardware quality control and badly written drivers, so my guess is that it’s most likely one of those two.

Cheerio

Sam

—

Sam Kusnetz | Figure 53

s...@figure53.com

[Andy Lang]

On Sat, Jun 18, 2016 at 6:50 PM Michele Cremaschi michele....@gmail.com wrote:

I have a macbook pro 2014 with El Capitan recently installed, QLAb 3.1.23, and I use a very simple Peavey audio interface to route audio.

--snip--

When the OS was Yosemite, I just played the show a few times, but this problem never arose.

Hi Mic,

Have you checked to be sure that you are using the latest version of El Capitan, 10.11.5? Earlier releases had lots of problems with audio devices, especially ones using built-in drivers like most (all?) Peavey interfaces do. Since you’re seeing the audio device disconnect, and say you didn’t have the problem in 10.10, that’s definitely a big red flag to me.

Thanks!

-Andy

—
Andy Lang
@SoundGuyAndy
sup...@figure53.com

​

[johng...@mac.com]

I'm getting stuttering, but its in a slightly unusual situation.

Running os 10.10.5 and Qlab 3.1.23.

16 gig ram on a 2013 macbook pro with ssd.

I'm working in a dance rehearsal, so am running Qlab files through a quad setup while they work on one section and running Digital Performer on headphones to get ready for the next one (and mail, chrome....).

While DP will happily play forever in the background, Qlab gets all stuttery after about 2 minutes. Putting Qlab back in the foreground gets rid of the stutter, working on DP or checking mail (its rehearsal!) leads to Qlab stuttering again in about 2 minutes.

CPU and memory pressure are all quite low on activity monitor, DP is using moderate amount of RAM. 

Since this is an issue with Qlab running in the background, I don't expect it is behaviour that really needs to be fixed, but still....

thanks,

john

On Monday, June 20, 2016 at 12:53:39 PM UTC-4, Andy Lang wrote:

On Sat, Jun 18, 2016 at 6:50 PM Michele Cremaschi michele.cremaschiwrote:

[fishmonkey]

that sounds like App Nap at work. the solution is to disable App Nap for QLab (and for any other applications that play audio in the background):

http://osxdaily.com/2013/10/29/disable-app-nap-per-application-mac-os-x/

[Andy Lang]

On Mon, Jun 20, 2016 at 6:42 PM fishmonkey fishmo...@gmail.com wrote:

that sounds like App Nap at work. the solution is to disable App Nap for QLab (and for any other applications that play audio in the background):

http://osxdaily.com/2013/10/29/disable-app-nap-per-application-mac-os-x/

Unless there's a bug in the OS version that's being used, it’s not App Nap. The OS disables App Nap for any application that's actively feeding audio, for what I imagine are obvious reasons. Under the hood, QLab is, in fact, technically always sending audio, so it's effectively exempted from App Nap.

As I mentioned earlier, the next question that needs to be answered is exactly which build of 10.11 Michele is using. If it's not 10.11.5, that needs to be updated. If it is, then the problem may lie in the hardware side of things, either a damaged USB port, a bad USB cable, or a failing hardware device. But this is right along the lines of exactly the sort of problems that many devices using the OS's built in drivers had in earlier builds of 10.11, so I'm hopeful that's the answer here.

[fishmonkey]

it has not been my experience with App Nap that OS X automagically disables App Nap for all apps that stream audio, certainly not in Mavericks or Yosemite.

btw, i was replying to John's message, not Michelle's. that certainly sounds like a different issue.

[Christopher Ashworth]

That is indeed the intended behavior of how app nap is supposed to work.

You can see the conditions under which app nap applies, and instructions for checking to see if app nap is applied to a specific running app, on this page:

https://developer.apple.com/library/mac/documentation/Performance/Conceptual/power_efficiency_guidelines_osx/AppNap.html

(mobile)

[fishmonkey]

it may well be the intended behaviour, but in the past i have needed to manually disable App Nap on several applications that play audio. i conclude that the App Nap heuristics don't always work as intended.

this includes Firefox, Fidelia, and Fission.

in fact i just tested Fission by starting playback of an audio file and putting it in the background, and El Capitan App Napp'ed it after about a minute and a half, causing audio stuttering.

[fishmonkey]

it is pretty straightforward for John to see if App Nap is causing the stuttering. all he needs to do is have the Activity Monitor running (showing the Energy Pane) while QLab is running in the background on his machine.

given the behaviour he described, i will be surprised if it isn't App Nap that is causing the issue...

[johng...@mac.com]

Yes, it was App Nap doing it.

Thanks, I hadn't even noticed this as an option now.

Funny thing is that I can't disable it through 'get info' on Qlab, it doesn't show up as on option.

OSX 10.10.5

thanks fishmonkey

john

[Dominic Bilkey]

I'm glad others are seeing this. 

I've witnessed it to and thought I was going crazy. 

Something ain't quite right in app nap town

D

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[fishmonkey]

just checking that you realise that you can use a Terminal command to disable App Nap for an application if the option isn't exposed in the Get Info window?

[fishmonkey]

this guide gives more detail about disabling it for a specific app, although it suggests that this might not stick between reboots:

https://www.tekrevue.com/tip/disable-app-nap-os-x-mavericks/

it seems that it is also possible to disable App Nap system-wide:

http://osxdaily.com/2014/05/13/disable-app-nap-mac-os-x/

[mic]

Hi all,

thanks for your support.

To answer fishmonkey, device (it's called USP-P, i discovered) hasn't its proper drivers but uses system's one.

So I'll follow Andy's idea of updating to 10.11.5 as I'm a version back at the moment, hoping this fixes the problem.

Thanks

michele

[mic]

Dear,

a deeper research, showed that El Capitain introduced a bunch of bugs related to USB audio diverters; and that many complains still 10.11.5 didn't fix them ( see 

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/7253452?start=225&tstart=0  )

I checked compatibility with 10.11 of the other usb audio interface i own, a Yamaha AG06, and its drivers are still not compatible!! ( see: http://www.yamahaproaudio.com/global/en/downloads/firmware_software/compatibility/compatiblity_osx.jsp )

Please notice they both ran fine on 10.10.

So, my question is: could anyone address me to a cheap external audio unit, with one audio input and a left/right output, TESTED working under 10.11 ???

Sounds many of us with entry-level sound cards should fear many bugs with audio.

ciao

michele