DM4800 dropping out audio, losing connection with TMC, etc..

[bryan clark]

Howdy folks, I've had my dm4800 for about 6 years now. I've been having 'issues' for a long time. related specifically to three areas. I haven't really had the time to deal with them because the studio is in use and they have merely been headaches...not they are becoming acute...Any advise you could give would be greatly appreciated! including directions on how to go about opening the unit for some dusting. (Jamsire we just talked on the analog phone line - love you brother - an I'm doing what you said as well)

my issues:
1.) in any daw, PT11, Sonar Platinum, X3, Abelton Live 9, audio playback stops and i get an error message somewhat like this (this is in Sonar X3, or now, Platinum): Audio Has suddenly Stopped. Playback stops as does recording (if that is what I was doing). I click off the message and hit the spacebar to resume playback / recording and it works....until the next time it happens. It could be 10 minutes, 30 sec, or 2 hours, but it WILL happen again. Now, in Pro Tools 11, it just crashes the program and I get an ASIO message saying that the settings of the playback device have changed and pro tools must quit and restart. I restart, and it works....until the next time it happens...just like above.

2.) Also there are times that the TMC companion will just not recognize the DM. "no compatible mixer was found" is the message. I can reboot, power off and power up, restart my computer, etc..and sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. Also, if/when it DOES recognize the DM, sometimes when i try to backup / or restore my project files on the Internal card, it "aborts. timeout failure". BUT, if i have a DAW running in the background, it WILL restore and backup projects.

3. the IF-FW DMMKII firewire card...does a 1394 card with the TI chipset make THAT much of a difference? Really?

Fun fact: they folks from Gibson (who own TASCAM, KRK, and CAKEWALK) will be coming to my studio for an in-house demo of their products in action in about 4 weeks. I'm seriously tempted to do nothing to fix the issues and let the TASCAM folks see what absolute negligence does to a great product. Either way I promise to give them an earful when they are here and I will report the responses on the forum.

final rant: how hard would it be for them to a) update their drivers on all platforms? b) offer customer service that is centered around "service"? c) nuke this whole 1394 crap and get with something NOT 4 generations old? d) resurrect themselves like a Phoenix rising from the ashes and establish the DM3200 AND 4800 as the most up to date, cutting edge mixer for the price point that they are in?!?! Because we all know what a great product these units really are! There is still Nothing as powerful unless you spent 10 times the money for an: SSL matrix, a 1608 with automation, a Neve Genesys, etc...I'm just astounded by the negligence of TASCAM from top to bottom. at the moment, I'm wondering what to do with my 4800...buy 2 UAD Apollo 16 and turn the DM into a glorified automated mixer? I bet I wouldn't have any more headaches!

 

[Gravity Jim]

Well, since you've already diagnosed the problem as "negligence," I don't know what to tell you. Although it does sound to me like an ongoing problem FW communication... A bad chipset, a bad cable, a DM FW card that needs to be reseated after having its connectors sprayed with DeOxIt. But none of that fits the "negligence" hypothesis.

And I'm sorry, I don't really mean to be snarky. But seriously, my fellow DM User... When your starting point is "I've had this problem for a long time and haven't done anything about it," and "it's because the manufacturer sucks," you're going to have a hell of a time reaching a working conclusion. This is not happening to hundreds and thousands of DM users... There's a problem in your rig, and that means it can be solved.

 

[Tonepad]

I'm with Gravity here in stating that good old fashioned troubleshooting may need to be practiced. I had a rash of FW probs on one of my older PC builds... so try this routine:

1. Reseat your card and yes use some CAIG...magic juice
2. Swap out the cable with a brand spanking new and not a cheapy FW cable....I have a bunch of old bad order cables in a box...it does happen
3. Also see if you can swap in a new card to your PC esp if you are using the on MOBO i/o. It's cheap to buy a spare PCI FW card and it's always good to have an extra that may end up being a winner.
4. And this is the big one. I got rid of a ton of problems with PT running on a PC/Tascam DM/FW rig by building my own higly spec'd 64 bit box...esp with PT 11. You can get it running like a hot rod by leaving the 32 bit world behind you. Now I don't know if you're already running a 64 bit machine but DO consider this. There are a few other fixes and tweaks if you've made the 64 bit leap, but I don't want to pile on any more. Even the older Tascam drivers run well on a 64 bit Windows box.

 

[bryan clark]

Thanks Jim, good point. I didn't say TASCAM sucks....ever. here's proof of due diligence.

I've called about my issues time after time to customer service, and even reached out privately to senior members here on this forum as well. here's the rub.

I live in Nashville. TASCAM says: "well, you may need replace the FW card". I call several dealers here that I regularly do business with, even the dealer I bought the gear from - not in stock - not planning on getting them unless a special order. OK, I ask why? answer: TASCAM stopped making the DM4800 and we don't really have demand for outed / legacy products. If I special order the card, but that;s $499 to "diagnose" my problem. TASCAM says, "maybe send in your DM4800 for servicing" - OK. Closest potential service center is in Indiana. and TASCAM cannot say with certainty that they actually know how to work on the DM units. I might as well just send it back to CA. I ask TASCAM what their approx. service time would be. Answer "we're not sure at the moment". Huh...

Meanwhile, I'm a father of two, and a full-time working musician (like many of us on this forum) who produces / composes and tours, and when you're gone for 3 weeks on a tours several times a year..time passes bro. Have a little kindness.

 

[bryan clark]

Hi Tonepad,

Thanks for the troubleshooting tips! Will add to the list of 'to do'.

Yeah, I just spent $5K on on a custom designed Origin Millennium PC. I spec'd it out. All 64 bit, DDR4 RAM 32GB, Liquid cooled CPU, 5 hot swappable 3 TB drive bays ESATA 3. Love 64 bit OS!

 

[captdan]

does a 1394 card with the TI chipset make THAT much of a difference? Really?

It sure can. In fact, this can be a big part of your problem. You should get a cheap VIA PCIe USB card and try it - as Tonepad already suggested.

However, from the other descriptions, you may also be having some USB-comms interrupt. If you haven't tried this, you should unplug all the USB gear, then one by one seat them in different ports. Also, some of those powered USB hubs are troublesome too.

Regarding FWire drivers, Tascam has done due diligence upgrading the drivers for the current flavors of OP/Syses.

CaptDan

 

[AudioWave]

Using a qualified FW Chipset that is meant and tested to be compatible with DM FW card and it's driver or any with other FW product can and will make a significant difference in performance or working at all.

What is the DAW buffer size you are using? Try a different setting it to a lower or higher value. Many users set a buffer size way to low to obtain stable performance in an attempt for low latency that is not possible.

Make sure the DM FW card is in a supported Slot such as Slot-1

Launching TMC first seems to work better for most before you launch your DAW.

No matter how well you spec your PC or it's motherboard, most of them don't have good on-board firewire performance for audio. In addition, there may be settings in your BIOS for FW that may need to be tweaked. If your over clocking your PC, disable that stuff, at least for trouble-shooting.

buy 2 UAD Apollo 16 and turn the DM into a glorified automated mixer? I bet I wouldn't have any more headaches!

I've done something similar. Two Apollo Quad's with Mac Thunderbolt using their ADAT to my DM4800 ADAT ports. Thou you will still likely have many of the same DM headaches and limitations.

I now have the choice to use the Apollo as the main audio interface with it's much lower latency that DM, much better converters, use of UAD plugs for recording and/or monitoring into the DAW. Then able to choose if I use DM as just a control surface for mixing, or use the DM FW ASIO for mixing and use the Apollo as an ADAT insert device to the DM.

 

[Tonepad]

OK so next question:
What is your MOBO manu? I run an ASUS Rocket ship (Sabretooth X79 Intel 6 core/12 thread) which uses a VIA FW chipset on board....BUT I do run the Legacy Windows driver NOT the VIA driver and that's a big one that I don't see mentioned in this thread, so make sure to check that. Years ago I got that tip and it helped.

 

[Transonic]

I Recently built my own 64bit machine for PT11 as well (previously used PT8LE). I used this PCIe 1394 card http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16815124107 with solid results with the DM FW interface. Most of the build is in my signature below. So far so good...

 

[bryan clark]

Thanks everyone for the helpful advice!

Tonepad, my MOBO is ASUS X99 Deluxe - Haswell E.

My cheap Firewire PCIe card has the VIA chipset. So, I'm really excited to get my TI chipset Adaptec card - which should be here mid week.