"Error while trying to synchronize Audio and MIDI."

I got this error today. It said: "Error while trying to synchronize Audio and MIDI, Sample Rate 30 814 recognized".

Googled a little and reset the audio rate from 44.1 to 48, then back to 41.1 again.

The problem still remained but with this instead: "Error while.... Sample Rate 22 341 recognized"

 

Why is this occurring and how do we deal with this problem?

 

/Alex

That's a driver problem.

Conflict between your Scarlett and OSX Sierra.

Thank you for your answer! I get "System Overload" very often on this project.. happens on others as well but not as much, hopefully that

will change to. Increasing the I/O is not helping me.

Going away for the rest of the day tho, will update everything and get back tomorrow with the results.

Again, thank you for your time! True Hero*

I get "System Overload" very often on this project.. happens on others as well but not as much, hopefully that

will change to. Increasing the I/O is not helping me.

 

Means your computer's CPU cannot handle it anymore. You're adding way to many CPU hungry plugins.

That's a driver problem.

Conflict between your Scarlett and OSX Sierra.

How can this be fixed???

I think @triplets is right. Especially if it's worst on only some projects. The message is a fancy way of saying "overload, no go, bro". You just might have to work within your computer's capacity, less use of CPU-intensive plugins.

 

It's generally also worst when you are playing back with your selected track being one with a demanding VI and effects. Even if you're not recording on it, it's the monitored live track, and everything on that track with all effects that sum into the main outputs is packed onto just one thread. Look at the CPU "meter" within Logic. Is the rightmost bar hitting the ceiling? That's the so-called dread single core peaking.

 

First thing is never to play back with a plugin-heavy track selected. Select an empty audio track. Beyond that, it's Logic's Achilles heel. You have to start with increasing your audio buffer size, dropping the sample rate, backing off on the effects, start rendering ("bouncing") VI MIDI tracks to audio tracks.

 

Then there are voodoo techniques like splitting the effects into Aux tracks that are there just to prevent everything from being directly on the live track's path to the main outputs. Some people end up with huge mazes of Aux tracks that feed into other Aux tracks, and like it, others just keep buying more expensive systems with only modest improvement, while others yet have been known to be hospitalized with spaghetti brain, muttering things like "Bus 1 to Aux 3 to Aux 6, sending to Sub 11 to Stereo Out".

 

Pour yourself a stiff drink and read up on overloads and single core peaking.

I am converting most MIDI tracks to audio, much less CPU required which helps me out a lot!

Yeah I keep getting Sample rate NOT recognized, even after I bounce to audio and disarm the tracks...I know my computer can handle it its a 2019 MacBook Pro i9 w/32GB Ram. Crackles, Pops , stuttering audio and it slows down, what gives..I'm getting sick of this, Cannot just use Apple plugins for my work!

Hi all!

 

I've decided to add my question to this thread since I'm having a similar issue. I hope that's okay.

I'm doing this online music production course this month, and the current task we are working on is recording samples into our DAW (hitting pots and pans, objects around the house, etc) in order to create our drum hits, sampled instruments, and so forth.

 

I recently bought my Focusrite Scarlett 4i4 and a Rode NT1-A mic. Plugged it in, started recording, and everything went smoothly.

I chopped up all the different samples, threw a few into Quick Sampler, made a DMD track with some of the samples becoming drum hits, and also have a few instances of Flex Time on 4 tracks because I stretched a few samples to fit into the BPM and rhythm of the song I'm working on.

The project is literally bare bones right now. Aside from the snippets of audio in their own audio tracks, I have 4 or 5 Software Instrument tracks with 2 bars of MIDI. The plug-ins I used on those Software Instrument tracks are minimal too (Compressor, OTT, Creative Intent's Tantrum distortion plug in, plus 2 aux tracks of Chromaverb).

 

I've had my Scarlett and my Arturia MiniLab MKII connected via USB. Since both have USB-A connections and my 2019 MacBook has USB-C, I have a USB-C Adapter/Hub by a company called Satechi, that I plug both the keyboard and A/I into, with nothing else plugged in. Here's the exact model I'm using:

 

 

Apologies for the size of the image, not sure how to reduce the size here.

 

For the past few weeks, I've had them plugged in, all was working perfectly. Last night, I thought: "Maybe I should get a USB-C to USB-C cord for the Focusrite, so that both the keyboard and A/I are not relying on this adaptor for juice."

I bought some cheap cable, but it said it had 10Gbps, so I thought that would work fine.

 

Suddenly, last night, in the process of work, I got this error that has been mentioned previously in this thread:

 

 

As you can see, one core is overloaded. And the sample rate error it shows me changes every time I try to playback the project.

Buffer rate has always been set to 1024, and I only reduced it when I first opened the project and recorded my sounds through the Rode mic.

This error above occurred when I had clicked on my DMD track, and tried to play my sampled kick using the pads of the MiniLab MKII.

When I did that, the sound in Logic started skipping, sounded like the A/I was about to implode or something.

Of course, I immediately thought the new cord was the culprit. I closed Logic, shut down the computer, plugged the Scarlett as I had it before, through the USB-C hub, restarted and went back into the project.

Since then, I cannot get the project to play without this error, no matter what I do.

 

Here is an overview of the project. Nothing is even playing here. I stopped the track, and it's still overloading. You can see the audio tracks from the audio recording I did, from track 21 - onwards. Only a few have some Flex Time added, but no plug-ins. They're just short audio files cut up from the larger recording. Only the first rows of tracks have any proper editing, instruments, etc.

 

 

A closer look with the error during playback:

 

 

I went online and searched through various threads on here and in other message boards.

Many people attributed this to the project having too many CPU heavy plug-ins and its overloading the project. Others have accused the audio interfaces.

I've been troubleshooting for several hours now. I've turned off all plug-ins.

I've reinstalled the drivers for the Scarlett and the MiniLab, made sure the Scarlett was working in the same sample rate.

I've reset SMC, made sure all programs were closed except for Logic.

Just now, I unplugged everything, and simply played the project through my MacBook speakers. Same thing. So it's not the Focusrite it seems.

 

I also noticed that after the error, if I just let it sit there for a bit, the core will slowly reduce back to normal (after about a minute or so of waiting without playback).

Then I'll play the track, and everything will be perfectly normal again.

That is, until I'll click on my DMD track (all plug-ins still off!), and try to trigger the drum samples again through Musical Typing. Right away, the core flares up and the error occurs:

 

 

So, I'm trying to write this all out here to see if someone has any troubleshooting tips or solutions for me.

I have my project due Sunday evening, so it's really frustrating to not be able to work on it right now.

 

My only thought is... Has the process of me manipulating the sounds I recorded caused some issues with the sample rate?

Could the files have become corrupt, or have been recorded incorrectly, even though the Focusrite shows that I was recording in 44.1 kHz?

 

Is there a way that I can check these sounds in the DMD to make sure that all of them are the proper sample rate?

 

 

And please let me know if there's any other information you all need to have a better understanding of what's going on.

I just don't know what happened suddenly to cause everything to change suddenly.

Yesterday, I even cut down a few track ideas. So the day before, I had more plug-ins and ideas occurring without even a sign of any overloading or sample rate issues.

 

Many thanks in advance!

Try completely remove all 3rd party plugins from the project and see if it runs smoother ?

Hi JacobP, thanks for your response!

I’ve already bypassed all plugins but that didn’t change anything. Do you mean I should actually remove them from the plugins list for each track? Even if they’re bypassed, they could still be causing this issue?

 

Thanks again!

Do you mean I should actually remove them from the plugins list for each track? Even if they’re bypassed, they could still be causing this issue?

 

Correct. For troubleshooting purposes, you need to remove them.

Do you mean I should actually remove them from the plugins list for each track? Even if they’re bypassed, they could still be causing this issue?

 

Correct. For troubleshooting purposes, you need to remove them.

 

Okay, I removed all plug-ins and it's still happening.

It's not skipping as hard as it did before. In fact, it's playing a bit better, I can actually hear most of the tracks, albeit a few "clicks" here and there.

But the one thread is on full blast:

 

 

I think I did narrow it down it being an issue with DMD.

When I click onto the bass track, which is just a Quick Sampler, everything calms down:

 

 

But then when I click onto the DMD track and trigger a sound, I get this:

 

 

And then, whether I'm playing the project or not, that core sits at 100% the whole time I've clicked on that DMD track.

 

Could it be that it's specifically DMD related? There's no plug-in as you can see in my mixer. And I only have snippets of audio that have been manipulated for the drum hits.

 

A few examples, all cut up samples from the same recorded file.

 

The snare, sampler main:

 

 

The snare, sampler detail:

 

 

The hi hat, sampler main:

 

 

The hi hat, sampler detail:

 

 

And that's the kind of manipulation I've done for each sample, pitching them up or down, a little bit of filter, and that's it.

So, I can't understand why the DMD would be creating such an overload, especially since they're short "one-hit" audio samples that were loaded in.

 

Any thoughts/help would be greatly appreciated!

 

EDIT: I thought I would add that it's true that on each drum sample (so 11 one-shots in total) I have Flex Time and "Follow Tempo" engaged. Not sure if this would create such a massive problem for the program, especially with no plug-ins whatsoever.

Could it be that it's specifically DMD related?

 

Whenever you click on a software instrument track, Logic goes into live input mode and uses one core for that track.

So it seems to me that the single core performance of your laptop cannot handle this particular DMD setup.

 

This can help you understand how Logic uses cores:

 

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201838

 

and more tips from Apple:

 

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT203930

Could it be that it's specifically DMD related?

 

Whenever you click on a software instrument track, Logic goes into live input mode and uses one core for that track.

So it seems to me that the single core performance of your laptop cannot handle this particular DMD setup.

 

This can help you understand how Logic uses cores:

 

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201838

 

and more tips from Apple:

 

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT203930

 

Hi triplets, thanks for getting back to me so quickly! Really appreciate it.

However, this idea that the laptop cannot handle this particular DMD set up doesn't add up for me.

 

I just finished working on a much larger project with several instances of DMD, various break beats, samples etc, with the main DMD beat having a massive amount of plug-ins (Logic and 3rd party) on each track, and never had this issue. I even reopened the project right now to verify.

 

Here is the size of the project:

 

 

And here is one of the three DMD instruments in the project, with the plug-ins, and the cores are pretty much spread out evenly, barely going over 50%.

 

 

So, I just can't imagine that one DMD instrument in this much smaller project that I just started, without any plug-ins, only audio and very few software instruments would max out the computer. I'm doing about the same type of work, so I don't know why it's overloading the core in this one project, and not in the other. I did read the article you attached and already knew a bit about "Live Input Mode" ... But never had this issue in the previous projects with similar plug-ins and size of load.

 

It seems very bizarre to me. I was also recently composing a score for a 5 min long video with the video file in the project, tons of plug-ins, DMDs, Alchemies (plural), tempo changes, Flex time, etc. I pushed Logic hard to see how far I can take it, and when I was in "Live Input Mode" on any track, there were no issues, especially since I sat at a buffer rate of 1024.

 

With this info, could it still be that it's an issue with the laptop and this one instance of DMD?

 

Many thanks again! And apologies for my ignorance in case the answer is already quite clear!

However, this idea that the laptop cannot handle this particular DMD set up doesn't add up for me.

 

Of course not, you have a 2019 laptop with an i9.

 

So I think it must be this particular DMD instance that freaks Logic out.

Try to recreate the same setup on a brand new project, or import that track thru the Project Browser.

However, this idea that the laptop cannot handle this particular DMD set up doesn't add up for me.

 

Of course not, you have a 2019 laptop with an i9.

 

So I think it must be this particular DMD instance that freaks Logic out.

Try to recreate the same setup on a brand new project, or import that track thru the Project Browser.

 

Okay, very good to know! Phew, I thought I was SOL with being able to use Logic for what I need it to do.

 

I just realized something, as well. After reading more into these articles you shared, I stumbled on "Multithreading" which I had no idea about.

I looked into my Audio Preferences, and saw that I had it on "Playback":

 

 

I switched it to "Playback and Live Tracks" and it seems like now the cores are more even, and I can play the track without the clipping/ overloading:

 

 

Even after reading that article, I still don't fully understand the difference between these two options, but it seems to have helped in some way.

 

That being said, it still seems like the DMD is causing the cores to sit at 50% just in Live Input Mode. So, this could still be a bad sign, I have no idea.

 

When you say "import the track through the project browser," I had recorded a very long audio session, about 6 minutes long, with me coming up to the mic with various objects and recording one shots. I then chopped them up into tiny audio files in various tracks that indicated something about the audio file (such as "Kick sounds" or "atmospheric sounds" or "shaker sounds") ... So, would I have to re-import that entire audio file, chop up the pieces again, and import them into a new DMD track?

I just ask because this task took me forever, and I don't know if I have enough time to go through it again to find the exact samples I used for each instance. (I have to try to submit something to the class by tomorrow night)

 

In any case, thank you so much for taking the time to help me with this, triplets!!

The Logic Project Browser import function is amazing. In the new project you locate the project to import:

 

 

Then you can select the content of the track and all its plugins:

 

Also, if make sure you are powering the computer from the right side ports and DO NOT pass the power through another adapter (usb-multiport, anything). There is a temp sensor near the left side ports that gets triggered when powering on the left, especially if that port is handling power *and* data. That makes the machine ramp down it's processor to compensate. Edited June 21, 2020 by redgreenblue

The Logic Project Browser import function is amazing.

 

I had no idea about this. So good to know! I'm going to try this out now, thank you!

 

There is a temp sensor near the left side ports that gets triggered when powering on the left, especially if pass that port is handling power *and* data. That makes the machine ramp down it's processor to compensate.

 

redgreenblue, thank you so much for this. You are absolutely correct, I had everything plugged in from the left.

I now did as you said, and everything is sitting at 25% max, as opposed to 50% as it was before. No problems in playback, no issues playing around with DMD and triggering samples.

 

And only half of the cores are being used in Live Input Mode:

 

 

Jeez. How did you even figure this out? Such a great thing to know. Thanks for sharing!

 

My deepest gratitude for all the responses, and I'll keep you updated on how it goes from here!

I support Macs for a large # of advertising agencies and keep my eye out for things that can make them run better.

Also, if make sure you are powering the computer from the right side ports and DO NOT pass the power through another adapter (usb-multiport, anything). There is a temp sensor near the left side ports that gets triggered when powering on the left, especially if pass that port is handling power *and* data. That makes the machine ramp down it's processor to compensate.

 

Great piece of information. The disruption power of heat.

I support Macs for a large # of advertising agencies and keep my eye out for things that can make them run better.

 

Super cool! And well, everything is running smoothly now.

Quite astonishing how big of an improvement such a small detail like where you plug in your interfaces can make.

I'm starting to wonder what other little things I'm not aware of are causing certain issues in my recording process.

But, as I said, smooth sailing so far!

 

Thank you all immensely! I was able to finish my music assignment on time for the class. Much appreciated.

I support Macs for a large # of advertising agencies and keep my eye out for things that can make them run better.

 

Super cool! And well, everything is running smoothly now.

Quite astonishing how big of an improvement such a small detail like where you plug in your interfaces can make.

I'm starting to wonder what other little things I'm not aware of are causing certain issues in my recording process.

But, as I said, smooth sailing so far!

 

Thank you all immensely! I was able to finish my music assignment on time for the class. Much appreciated.

I am having similar issues with a certain project and have been stumped diagnosing for over 3 hours maybe 4

 

Nothing its helping. Thanks for this thread though. Sadly nothing has helped yet.

SOLVED! It can be a video file that must be in a different sample rate. So if you delete the video file should be fine. Have a look in all the tracks that you’re not using and delete them too.