FaderPort 8 and FaderPort 16 General Discussion
30 postsPage 1 of 2
1, 2
I've verified this on three DAWs, Studio One, Ableton Live 10(lite) and Reaper 6.04(and previously).

I've also checked this on multiple powered USB hubs and direct USB cables in to the machine. The results are all the same. I'm writing this up here since all "support request" links go to Knowledge Base. This unit has been in heavy use for 18 months.

The problem
Whenever a fader is moving on the console, the volume automation on another track with another fader is choppy and imprecise. See the attachment for a screenshot of two volume automation envelopes in Reaper.

Screenshot of two recorded volume envelopes in Reaper

Whenever the upper track carries volume automation that moves a fader on the console, the recording is crap. At first I did think this might be a Reaper problem, but another user verified that Reaper was recording volume automation from his Mackie Control Universal just fine, not matter how many tracks were making the faders dance.

I verified this by doing the same test on Ableton Live Lite 10(up to date) and Studio One(downloaded TODAY).

Videos of runs of these three tests can be viewed here
Studio One : https://www.dropbox.com/s/v1gkzuomb9w1d ... n.mov?dl=0 (2 MB captured with OBS)
Ableton Live (MCU Ableton) https://www.dropbox.com/s/l5sh1reqz05zg ... n.mov?dl=0 (11 MB captured with OBS)
Reaper (MCU Logic) https://www.dropbox.com/s/f0h6x6dqdpqun ... n.mov?dl=0 (4 MB captured with OBS)

I tested this with both the stock firmware v2.0 and the latest v3.32.

Machine: ASRock Extreme 4 Z170 mainboard, i7 6700K CPU, 32 GB Ram, GTX1070 GPU. All drivers up to date(including mainboard stuff).

Do I need to take this unit in for servicing ? Is this a firmware problem ?
Yours sincerely
A.O.
Last edited by Airon on Tue Feb 25, 2020 8:14 am, edited 3 times in total.
User avatar
by Airon on Sat Feb 22, 2020 9:18 pm
Oh yeah, one more thing. I turned point reduction in Studio One options/Automation to 0% before running the test. Just a small side note.

I'm really hoping to get this unit back up and running again. I've been writing extensive support for the control surface integrator project in Reaper for this unit(and FP8 and v2). I'd like to keep using it.
User avatar
by Airon on Sat Feb 29, 2020 4:25 am
Worth mentioning is this :

The fader resistance goes up if one of them is moved by automation.

This smells more and more of a firmware error. Mardis Gras test shows no fader out of line. Level tests also reveal nothing funny.

Are you guys looking in to this ? 'cause if not, I have to return this unit at some point. It's still under warranty.
User avatar
by Bbd on Sat Feb 29, 2020 7:15 am
You need to create a Support ticket for your issue.
This forum is not Presonus Support.
What version UC are you running?
I’ll look at this on my side.
Thanks.

Bbd

OS: Win 10 x64 Home, Studio One Pro 6.x, Notion 6, Series III 24, Studio 192, Haswell CPU: i7 4790k @ 4.4GHz, RAM: 32GB, Faderport 8/16, Central Station +, PreSonus Sceptre S6, Eris 3.5, Temblor 10, ATOM, ATOM SQ
User avatar
by Bbd on Sat Feb 29, 2020 9:25 am
I just tested using your Studio One video as a guide.
I can't see an issue on my side (yet anyway).

I tested on my FP16 with firmware version 3.42.
UC version is Universal Control 3.2.0.56558 Win x64 (Built on Feb 20 2020)

Here is a screen shot of my test:

https://www.screencast.com/t/ddm3sHQObzh

Playback is smooth for both faders.

Bbd

OS: Win 10 x64 Home, Studio One Pro 6.x, Notion 6, Series III 24, Studio 192, Haswell CPU: i7 4790k @ 4.4GHz, RAM: 32GB, Faderport 8/16, Central Station +, PreSonus Sceptre S6, Eris 3.5, Temblor 10, ATOM, ATOM SQ
User avatar
by Airon on Mon Mar 02, 2020 4:14 am
Thank you. That's a new firmware version. I'll run a test with that immediately.

Mine was 3.32.
User avatar
by Airon on Mon Mar 02, 2020 5:55 am
Ok, here's my test setup.
  • Universal Control v3.2.0.56558 installed (built on February 20th 2020)
    None of the drivers checked during installation, since I have none those devices.
  • Faderport 16 , firmware v3.42 , connected via a powered USB hub(direct connectio
    )
  • System : Windows 10 Pro x64, up to date
  • DAW software : Reaper v6.04 , Studio One v4.6.1.55987 (Jan16 2020)

First, a weird thing happened, which in retrospect makes me think it might be a power issue.

One note on the power use of the unit. From time to time, it will not turn on when the ON switch is depressed. On the second try it usually works.

In the tests, at first things got worse(but then got less bad) :

OBS Recording of volume automation recordings with Reaper 6 (46MB)
https://www.dropbox.com/s/qy4wsj8h11aoa ... g.mp4?dl=0

OBS Recording of volume automation recordings with Studio One (4 MB)
https://www.dropbox.com/s/b5jpv3wsmgy23 ... g.mov?dl=0

As can be seen, the recorded automation was choppier than ever. When faders were moving, other faders sent even more truncated automation. The moving faders were VERY choppy in their movement as well, less than 2 movements per second. A power issue ?

So I quickly changed to a direct USB connection to the mainboard, and changed the location of where the power brick was plugged in. Maybe that would do it and indeed the automation recordings now acted the same as in my first tests.

Now the recordings where once again smooth on first pass, and if any other faders were moving at the same time, the recordings became choppy and truncated as shown in my first post.

To recheck my first recordings I restored the setup I usually have. I plugged in the USB cable connected to my powered D-Link hub and plugged the power brick back in the same outlet it has been sitting for the last 18 months.

The recordings were the same as in my first post. Very curious.

As usual when the output of the Faderport 16 gets choppy when faders are moving. It was harder to move the faders.

Next I made a direct USB connection to the motherboard via a high quality extension cable, and nothing changed, but I'm leaving that in for now. All tests were now done with Studio One.

Next I plugged the power brick in to a different outlet, and everything got extra choppy. After moving the power brick on to the same circuit as the rest of the setup, things returned to normal.


In all v3.42 of the firmware did not fix the problem, but it sure made me look at the units power brick. Now I'm thinking about taking it to the distributor and trying out their power brick on mine, and mine on their display unit.
Last edited by Airon on Mon Mar 02, 2020 6:10 am, edited 1 time in total.
User avatar
by Airon on Mon Mar 02, 2020 5:57 am
Bbd wroteYou need to create a Support ticket for your issue.
This forum is not Presonus Support.
What version UC are you running?
I’ll look at this on my side.
Thanks.


I couldn't find a way to submit a ticket, aside from the contact form for the local european Presonus entity in Ireland. I kept ending up in the knowledge base.

Thus, this forum is it.
User avatar
by Airon on Mon Mar 02, 2020 6:36 am
A sidenote. Who knows if this will help.

HUI mode does not work with Protools 11.3.1 on my Windows 10 Pro x64 machine. Neither did it ever work, nor does it work with the most recent firmware update v3.4.2. Protools simply has nothing to say to the unit. I don't know if there's something necessary during the installation process of Protools, so it could be user error there. I don't use PT for mixing any longer, so I didn't bother investigating.

One interesting aspect is that the unit now presents a third midi in and out device with the new firmware. I tried all kinds of combinations.
User avatar
by Bbd on Mon Mar 02, 2020 7:27 am
You really need to contact Support. Can you find out who to call from where you purchased the unit?
Have you uninstalled UC and reinstalled it?
When you do, why not keep all drivers checked this time instead of none.
Have you manually reset your FP to the Factory Default?
Have you done the Tune Faders option in the unit?
Is your FP properly registered in your Presonus account?

Thanks.

Bbd

OS: Win 10 x64 Home, Studio One Pro 6.x, Notion 6, Series III 24, Studio 192, Haswell CPU: i7 4790k @ 4.4GHz, RAM: 32GB, Faderport 8/16, Central Station +, PreSonus Sceptre S6, Eris 3.5, Temblor 10, ATOM, ATOM SQ
User avatar
by Bbd on Mon Mar 02, 2020 9:10 am
@Airon,

Support does not have any record of you trying to open a support ticket.
Please see below in my link for "Support Ticket".
Thanks.

Bbd

OS: Win 10 x64 Home, Studio One Pro 6.x, Notion 6, Series III 24, Studio 192, Haswell CPU: i7 4790k @ 4.4GHz, RAM: 32GB, Faderport 8/16, Central Station +, PreSonus Sceptre S6, Eris 3.5, Temblor 10, ATOM, ATOM SQ
User avatar
by Airon on Mon Mar 02, 2020 9:24 am
Bbd wroteYou really need to contact Support. Can you find out who to call from where you purchased the unit?

I could just take it in, but I need the unit, even as is it is in the coming weeks. After that if this turns out to be not solvable through any other means, I'll take it there. It's a local outfit, so no big deal.

Have you uninstalled UC and reinstalled it?

Only updated it.

When you do, why not keep all drivers checked this time instead of none.

I hesitate to load up my production machine with drivers I don't need. I've done a backup anyway, so I'll give that a try.

Have you manually reset your FP to the Factory Default?

Twice. I did all tests on both the default(v2.0) and the two recent firmwares v3.32 and v3.42.

Have you done the Tune Faders option in the unit?

Multiple times. I can try more sensitivity levels.

Is your FP properly registered in your Presonus account?

I did as soon as this problem came about.

Thanks for the attention. I'll submit a support ticket and point to this forum thread. I just did a test on a Macbook Pro(really old one though), and that went rather poorly.
User avatar
by Airon on Mon Mar 02, 2020 9:33 am
Support request sent. ( 562615 )

Ok, the test with a 12 year old Macbook Pro on MacOS 10.13 iirc. The unit was used in Logic (MCU) mode via the MCU and MCUXT drivers in Reaper 6.05 x64.

Some of the faders thought they weren't being touched any more and started to fight my input. The truncated data still occured if one of the faders was moving. So that computer is not for this unit :P .

Back on Windows, I'll attempt a reinstall of UC with all drivers. Let's see.

-edit-
It lengthened the first reboot, but other than that it's the same as last time.
Thankfully my old Faderport still works, though I hesitate to update its firmware. It works fine in Reaper, which is my primary mixing platform.
User avatar
by Airon on Tue Mar 10, 2020 10:49 am
Bbd wroteI just tested using your Studio One video as a guide.
I can't see an issue on my side (yet anyway).

I tested on my FP16 with firmware version 3.42.
UC version is Universal Control 3.2.0.56558 Win x64 (Built on Feb 20 2020)

Here is a screen shot of my test:

https://www.screencast.com/t/ddm3sHQObzh

Playback is smooth for both faders.


Could you do a test with 1-2 up and down faders cycles per second, and zoom in to the an area so the round automation point no longer show, but little points are now used ?

At slow enough fader movements the issue is interpolated away by Studio One reasonably well, but it shows up on fast enough fader movements when zoom in.

Similar to how they're shown here: https://imgur.com/a/aymvkaT
User avatar
by Airon on Wed Mar 11, 2020 6:00 am
Support has told me they're handing this off to the dev team.

Let's wait and see then. I have received two confirmed reports from other users of this issue with screenshot evidence.
User avatar
by Bbd on Wed Mar 11, 2020 6:09 am
OK thanks for the update. Keep us posted!

Bbd

OS: Win 10 x64 Home, Studio One Pro 6.x, Notion 6, Series III 24, Studio 192, Haswell CPU: i7 4790k @ 4.4GHz, RAM: 32GB, Faderport 8/16, Central Station +, PreSonus Sceptre S6, Eris 3.5, Temblor 10, ATOM, ATOM SQ
User avatar
by ansolas on Mon Jun 08, 2020 7:29 am
I had a similar issue and i solved it tempoary by tuning teh faders to speed 7.
Today my faderport was loosing its connwection to studio one multiple times and teh faders are totally unprecise again.
I just rest the FP to factory default and right now I reapply the latest Firmware 3.43
Hopefully It works after that again.

Presonus StudioOne 6, Apple Logic Pro
__
macOS, macMini M1 1TB SSD / 16 GB RAM,
MOTU M2, Behringer X-Touch & 2*X-Touch Extender,
https://ansolas.de
User avatar
by ansolas on Fri Jun 12, 2020 5:44 am
I just discoverd that the FaderPort Classic has a better resolution than the FaderPort 16.
I think that's why faders are jumping at least visually while recording.

Presonus StudioOne 6, Apple Logic Pro
__
macOS, macMini M1 1TB SSD / 16 GB RAM,
MOTU M2, Behringer X-Touch & 2*X-Touch Extender,
https://ansolas.de
User avatar
by brucesokolovic on Sat Jul 18, 2020 12:10 pm
Jumpy faders here too. Hoping for a fix. Support tried everything.


osx 10.13 :
1T SSD
Windows 10
i9
64gb ram
Studio one 5
User avatar
by Airon on Sat Feb 27, 2021 4:32 pm
This is still a thing a year later.

Any updates from Presonus on this issue ? Firmware updates ?

30 postsPage 1 of 2
1, 2

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 2 guests