Serious Audio related issue with AJA IoHD

[Gary Adcock]

[Ravi Sockalingam] “I am having a tough time figuring out the audio related issue with IoHD… Does any one in this forum had such an issue???”

Without specific setup of your system it is very hard to assist.

OS version, FCP, QT, IoHD software and firmware versions are needed.

gary adcock
Studio37
HD & Film Consultation
Post and Production Workflows
Inside look at the IoHD

[Woody Bass]

I apologize if this post shows up twice…I thought I had already posted a reply, but just came back to check the forum and it didn’t show up.

Anyway, we have also encountered this weird audio “echo, looping” with (2) IoHD units, the most recent test being this AM. We have noticed the issue in both FCP and QT Player, and it occurs with a variety of encoded clips. FWIW, the issue only occurs when audio is routed through the IoHD; if audio is played back through either the internal speakers or if we use a Y-splitter to send audio from the audio out to speakers, we do not notice the issue. We have no other Firewire devices attached to the MacBook Pros.

Along those lines, are config is as follows:

MacBook Pros
Mac OS 10.4.11
FCP 6.0.2
AJA IoHD 5.1.1 driver

We have reported the issue to AJA, but have yet to find a resolution….any ideas?

Woody Bass
wbass@tenplus.com

[Ravi Sockalingam]

Find below the system info:

OS: Mac OS X Version 10.5.2
Processor 2x 3.2 Ghz Quad-core Intel Xeon
Memory 16 Gb 800 Mhz DDR2 FB-DIMM

Hardware:
Hardware Overview:
Model Name: Mac Pro
Model Identifier: MacPro3,1
Processor Name: Quad-Core Intel Xeon
Processor Speed: 3.2 GHz
Number Of Processors: 2
Total Number Of Cores: 8
L2 Cache (per processor): 12 MB
Memory: 16 GB
Bus Speed: 1.6 GHz
Boot ROM Version: MP31.006C.B02
SMC Version: 1.25f4
Serial Number: YM8080Q7XYL

iOHD Driver software Version 5.1.1

Hardware ID: IoHD (0x10224000) S/N IH002408
VideoProc Bit file: 2007/12/04 13:00:16 (DownConvert)
/Library/QuickTime:
5.1.1 – AJACodec.component
5.1.1 – AJADigitizer.component
5.1.1 – AJAMuxer.component
5.1.1 – AJAUncompressedCodec.component
5.1.1 – AJAVideoOutput.component
5.1.1 – AJAVideoOutputClock.component
5.1.1 – AJAVideoOutputCodec.component
1.5 – FCP Uncompressed 422.component
1.4 – DVCPROHDCodec.component
1.2 – AppleIntermediateCodec.component
1.3.2 – AppleHDVCodec.component
1.0.2 – AppleProRes422.component
/Applications:
5.1.1 – AJA ControlPanel.app
/Applications/AJA Utilities:
5.1.1 – AJA Conflict Checker.app
5.1.1 – AJA Data Rate Calculator.app
5.1.1 – AJA DPXToQTTranslator.app
5.1.1 – AJA IoHDUpdater.app
5.1.1 – AJA QTToDPXTranslator.app
5.1.1 – AJA System Test.app
5.1.1 – AJA TV.app
5.1.1 – AJA Uninstaller.app
/System/Library/Extensions:
5.1.1 – AJAIoHD.kext
/Library/LaunchAgents:
11/21/2007 04:40 – com.aja.ajaagent.plist
/Library/Application Support/AJA/AJAAgent:
02/14/2008 08:03 – AJAAgent
/Library/Application Support/Final Cut Pro System Support/Plugins:
02/14/2008 08:12 – AJA Kona RT Enabler

Aja iOHD Frmware Details:

moab.bin 12/06/2007
moab_dc_top.bit 12/04/2007
moab_uc_top.bit 12/04/2007
moab_cdc_top.bit 12/04/2007
moab_cuc_top.bit 12/04/2007
fiwac_top.bit 02/11/2008

[Gary Adcock]

[Ravi Sockalingam] “Find below the system info: “

Ravi
you get all the credit for the most complete software/ hardware list EVER on the Cow

please check to make sure you do not have the IoHD set to be your audio out device for the MAC system, that seems to be the most common cause for the echo.

Secondly
run the AJA uninstaller in the AJA utilities folder inside applications, Then Reinstall and re patch the firmware on your IoHD
One of the firmware files does not correctly match the version of the files in your Firmware.

RAVI – once again thank you for providing the kind of Data we need to suggest a solution without ever seeing your computer.

gary adcock
Studio37
HD & Film Consultation
Post and Production Workflows
Inside look at the IoHD

[Woody Bass]

Thanks for clarifying the issue Gary….I did have the audio out set to use the IoHD in the System Prefs, but switching it back to the internal speakers allows audio from FCP to play fine.

But I’m curious as to how you would configure the system so that clips which typically open in QuickTime Player can play audio through the same speakers. This particular client receives many QT files and want to be able to preview them via these speakers that are routed from the IoHD without having to open them in FCP each time.

I suppose if the speakers have dual inputs, we could route the system-based audio to the 2nd set of inputs, but this doesn’t seem a standard way of configuring an edit suite.

This just seems like a bug in either the IoHD drivers and/or the Mac OS/Quicktime/Firewire and I would think you should be able to send ALL audio through the IoHD without any hiccups?? Am I missing something here??

Woody Bass
wbass@tenplus.com

[Gary Adcock]

[Woody Bass] “I suppose if the speakers have dual inputs, we could route the system-based audio to the 2nd set of inputs, but this doesn’t seem a standard way of configuring an edit suite.”

no the standard way would be to route all of the audio thru a mixer – both from the computer and the IO.

The issue has to do with the latency of FW and the OS not the hardware, remember that the Kona Cards do not have this issue since they are treated a part of the machine, not an add on.

gary adcock
Studio37
HD & Film Consultation
Post and Production Workflows
Inside look at the IoHD

[Jeremy Garchow]

[Woody Bass] “This particular client receives many QT files and want to be able to preview them via these speakers that are routed from the IoHD without having to open them in FCP each time. “

What kind of quicktime files are they? Are they any kind of standard video codec or are they web movies?

Jeremy

[Ravi Sockalingam]

Hi Gary

As per your help I was able to solve the echo issue but there the audio latency issue is still there.. The audio follows video delayed when scrubbing through the timeline of preview window.. Is there any other way which could solve this latency issue???

[Bob Zelin]

Ravi writes –

but there the audio latency issue is still there.. The audio follows video delayed when scrubbing through the timeline of preview window.. Is there any other way which could solve this latency issue???

REPLY –
it makes me upset that knowlegeable people on this forum do not respond with the correct answer, as if they have never heard of this problem, and ask (for example) what kind of files are you working with –

do this – in the FCP System Settings, click on Playback Control tab, and UNCHECK SCRUB HIGH QUALITY.

Please let me know if this works.

One of the MAIN REASONS public forums exist is to eliminate the “gee – I never heard of this problem before” comments.
Audio delay from the video after scrubbing is a WELL KNOWN PROBLEM with the AJA I/O HD, and I never want to see any expert on this forum say “gee, I never heard of this” ever again.

Bob Zelin

[Jeremy Garchow]

Bob-

If it were that simple, it’d be that simple. I urge you to reread Woody’s post which is separate from Ravi’s which requires a different answer.

Cheers.

Jeremy