Dm4800 Transport problems with Cubase Pro 10.5

[Vince Arpey]

I seem to have problems of late with the usb transport operations from the mixer to Cubas. The scroll line disappears at times and is sluggish when pointing and editing. When I disconnect the usb Cubase seems fine. Has anyone else had this problem or similar? Is it the driver?

 

[J L Bowie]

Hey Vince, just a couple observations that may be worth considering:
First thing to try is simply changing USB ports.
Another is, if you are using a USB3 port, switch to a USB2 port. Although USB3 is supposed to be backwards compatible, they often don't interface well with older USB2 gear - same thing goes for Steinberg dongles, too.
Of course updating or reinstalling the driver is always a good idea.
Might also be a good idea for future reference to post your system specs so anyone offering assistance can provide more specificity with respect to your OS and basic configuration.

Jack

 

[Vince Arpey]

Hey Jack, thanks so much for your info. I'm using a MacPro, cylinder type, OS 10.14.6
and you know I don't think it has any USB2 ports. I'm running the latest version of Cubase and I was having problems not only with the transport but with occasional dropouts due to a momentary overload. I think it may all be due to the USB problems. I have disconnected the DM4800 USB and started using the keypad for transport. So far it seems to have helped.

 

[J L Bowie]

If you have any USB ports without the SS prior to the USB logo, then those are USB2, just for quick reference.

 

[Vince Arpey]

Thanks, my specs say that they are all USB3 so that may be the problem. It's not that they don't work but they definitely have problems with the 4800

 

[J L Bowie]

Yeah, it's not that they don't work at all, they can be a bit persnickety with some USB2 equipment. One other thing is to check your USB3 drivers to see if you have the latest updates.
One other thing to try is a USB2 hub plugged into the USB 3 port, which essentially lowers the throughput to USB2 specs, which could make a better match for the DM's USB2 interface.

Another thing to be aware of, is that it can often be problematic for some USB devices to be on the same chain as others. Having the DM on its own port can make a huge difference in remote response. This also holds true for the Firewire interface - Don't daisy chain.

Lastly, and this might be a long shot, but here is a link to an Apple article on USB3 that discusses how USB3 emits radio waves that can interfere with Bluetooth and WiFi devices in the 2.4 GHz range. Thought here is that if it can interfere with those signals, perhaps in turn that interference might muck with the USB ports stability, too. Just an idea. Anyway, it's the last paragraph in this article: https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201163

 

[Vince Arpey]

Thanks so much Jack, a lot to think about here. I disconnected the USB to the dm4800 and found that the transport from the keypad work just fine and Cubase is good with it. I'm still having problems with the occasional drop out of playback. I'm not even using the firewire anymore. I am just using the mixer as an analog IO to a MOTU interface. Can't figure that out.