Audio Pro 8R manual Troubleshooting

Fast Track Ultra 8R User Guide

21

12 Troubleshooting

Fast Track Ultra 8R has been designed to give you high performance and professional-quality audio. It has been tested under a wide range of systems and operating conditions. However, there are a virtually limitless number of operating scenarios, any of which could affect your system’s performance. Though this section cannot cover all possible issues you may encounter, we would like to offer you some suggestions for dealing with common problems.

We recommend that you avoid connecting too many devices via USB. The USB bus is a dependable protocol that is ideally

suited for digital audio. Nevertheless, it is important to remember that audio and multimedia streaming place considerable

demands on your processor and the USB bus.

If you are having trouble getting audio in or out of your Fast Track Ultra 8R, please check the following:

<If you have no sound:

Check to see if Fast Track Ultra 8R drivers are properly installed.

•In Windows XP, go to the Control Panel and double-click the System icon (under Performance and Maintenance if you are in Category view).

•Select the Hardware tab and click the Device Manager button.

•Click the plus sign (“+”) next to Sound, Video and Game Controllers, and locate the Fast Track Ultra 8R listing. If you see a question mark or exclamation point next to it, or if you don’t see it listed, you may need to reinstall the driver software.

<Make sure your audio software has been set up to use Fast Track Ultra 8R.

•Open your application’s audio settings page and check to see if the correct ASIO, WDM, or Core Audio drivers have been selected.

<If you’re certain Fast Track Ultra 8R is correctly installed and configured for your audio software, check your signal path. Make sure your inputs are routed correctly by verifying that your application is receiving audio signal. Make sure your outputs are routed correctly so that your signal is sent to your headphones, amp and/or monitors.

•Check your audio connections and cables to make sure everything is plugged in correctly.

•Check the LED Level Meters 4 to see if input signal is present.

•Check the Control Panel to verify that the output volume levels are turned up, and that signal is present at the input meters.

•Check to see that the power adapter is connected to an outlet and to Fast Track Ultra 8R, the power button is enabled, and that the USB cable is connected to the unit and the host computer.

•Check the input selector switch to verify that you’ve chosen the proper input.

<If you’re trying to record a digital input to Fast Track Ultra 8R and have no sound, or are experiencing clicks and pops in your recordings:

•Make sure the input source on the Settings tab of the Control Panel is set to “External.” See the section titled “About External Clock” for more information about digital synchronization.

•Make sure your input levels are not too hot, as this can cause distortion and clipping.

•Check the input level meters in your audio application.

•Try using a larger buffer size (higher latency setting) in the Control Panel (Windows only). Larger buffer sizes can increase input latency time, but this is not an issue if you’re mixing, for example. Increasing the buffer size can be helpful, particularly in the case of older or lower-powered systems.

•If you are using a USB hub, try connecting Fast Track Ultra 8R directly to your computer.

For more troubleshooting tips, visit the Knowledge Base at www.m-audio.com