Ultrastudio 4K + 2014 Mac Pro = Not so good.

[Bruce Colgate]

More info: The issue seems focused on audio. If I disable audio playback thru the US4K, then Picture plays fine.

– Bruce Colgate

[Derek Nickell]

Must be a software update coming soon from BMD.

—
Derek Nickell | OMPA, VFT | Editor, VFX, Colorist
Blue Brownie Post Production, Portland, OR O:503.922.2117

[Bruce Colgate]

Further searching on other boards seem to indicate this may be more of a Mavericks related issue, with other posters describing similar issues since late October, and they too say that when FCP (X or 7) routes the audio through “built-in”, picture plays fine, and audio is also fine (though out of sync w BMD’s output. Some have reported that 9.7.7 drivers fix the problem, others say no it doesn’t.

When I called BMD tech support, they said they had not heard of this problem before, and didn’t have any suggestions for a workaround.

I may have to put this $4K trashcan on the shelf until BMD gets this sorted out, which would be a real shame, or swap the I/O for a less capable, but presumably functional AJA box.

– Bruce Colgate

[Tim Donahue]

I had a similar issue that I fixed by rolling back to 9.9.2. This was on an iMac with an Ultrastudio 4K, but it sounds like the same problems I was having with 9.9.3.

[Bruce Colgate]

Thanks Tim, will give that a try on Monday.

– Bruce Colgate

[Brad Bussé]

Hey Bruce,

How did the rollback go? Have you had any issues capturing from the US4K at “standard HD” resolutions or any other sync issues? Have you tried playback with Premiere?

Thanks

[Bruce Colgate]

Tim Donahue’s suggestion was good. I uninstalled all BMD software from the Mac Pro Trashcan, and then installed 9.9.2. I’ve been working with 10.1 all day without any obvious issues. I would still like to do further testing, as I feel like the Mac Pro is sluggish compared to operating without the BMD, but I have no data to support that – just a feeling.

Not tested with PPRO. No capturing done yet. The room that it’s currently in doesn’t (normally) do capture.

BTW, in case anyone from BMD reads this, please, please – can’t you guys find a quieter fan? The US4K is the loudest thing in the room. And you couldn’t supply an AC cable for a $1000 piece of equipment? NBD, but still kinda lame.

– Bruce Colgate

[Mika Hudyma]

Did you do any more testing with 9.9.2? I am running Ultrastudio w/ Thunderbolt on new Mac Pro and while the video works perfectly, having major audio issues in FCP7. It will work, albeit slightly out of sync, for a few seconds and then audio will drop out from timeline. Even when playing a QT audio file from QT player, the audio will drop out or scan forward through the timeline.

Any thoughts are appreciated. New machine is incredibly fast and stable with FCP7 and Apple Color, just wish the audio would work and then we’d have the perfect legacy solution.

Best,

M

Mika

[Bruce Colgate]

Hi Mika,

We’ve had good results with 9.9.2, but not 9.9.3. Good, not great, because we *must* use audio routed to another device. Enabling the audio (selecting it in System Prefs) results in an unusable edit system, in that the system always chokes. As soon as we use either built-in (which actually sounds fine, and stays in sync) or our Presonus 1818VSL, everything is fine. And picture through the Ultrastudio 4K is fine also. Plays like a dream.

I am surprised that BMD has not released a fixed driver, since they seem to have known about it for some time. When I spoke with tech support in early January about this issue, the response was, “well, we’re not getting our new Mac Pro for another month.” Like I said, surprising.

Hopefully we’ll see something soon – could be any day!

All the Best,

– Bruce Colgate

[Mika Hudyma]

I’ve discovered the same with 9.9.2 and 9.9.3. The video is perfect, but in an edit in FCP7, the audio drops out after usually like 30 seconds. Sometimes, get a dropped frame warning. If I turn the warning off, the audio drops off just the same. The system audio works fine. Are you using any offset to handle this?

I hope they will fix it, but kind of cool to have FCP7 running on a relatively fast (and quiet) machine! Apple Color also screams and works perfectly with BMD, so a plus too.

Tech support hasn’t been very helpful. One would think that FCP7 is important. Regardless of what anyone says, it’s what half the world uses to edit commercially.

Thanks

M

Mika