Mac Mini: notes hanging on external instrument [SOLVED]

Good day everyone,

I've upgraded my live rig from a MacBook Pro 2.4 MHz Intel Core 2 Duo 4 GB RAM to a Mac Mini i7 2.3 Mhz processor 16 GB RAM. The rest of my setup is as follows:

Kurzweil K2600SX Keyboard

Yamaha EX5 Keyboard

Korg RK100 Controller Keyboard

Kurzweil K2000RS Module

Korg 01R/W Module

Roland JV880 Module

MOTU Midi Timepiece AV

Presonus Firebox Firewire Audio Interface.

Connections are as follows:

All keyboards and modules connected to the Midi Timepiece in and out (except the RK100 - it's a controller only.

USB Out of the Mac Mini to the Midi Timepiece

Firewire 800 out of the Mac Mini to a Firewire 400 into the Firebox.

This system worked really well with my MacBook Pro - no hanging notes and very reliable. I got power hungry and was searching for an "installed" solution - the Mac Mini was a no-brainer in this respect.

I installed Logic and updated to the latest version. I also installed "Clockworks" for the Midi Timepiece and ran it to make sure I was connecting properly. I then created my routings in Apple's Audio/Midi - everything seamed to be fine.

My Mainstage concert is set up to send patch change data out to each keyboard and/or module and route the midi from any of the keyboards to any other keyboard or module. One patch change from the K2600XS changes patches in Mainstage.

Now - finely - the problem. I am getting hung notes from two of my external modules - the 01RW and JV880. I'm also getting some hung notes on my EX5 when I route midi back to it (as if I'm playing the internal sounds of the EX5 from a different keyboard). This did not happen with MacBook Pro, and the only change here is the computer.

I've used Midi Monitor to assure I was sending note-off messages - everything there seams to be normal. A patch that sends midi to all modules and Mainstage Vi's works as expected, except SOME of the external midi instruments (modules / keyboards) will hang notes. The notes that are hanging are NOT the same from module to module, and there are NO hung VI's in Mainstage even when playing both the External Midi units and VI's at the same time.

Any ideas? Are there any tests I can run to help isolate the problem?

Any ideas?

People are having this kind of problems with USB 2.0 (and/or 1.1?) devices when connecting them to USB 3.0 ports:

Mountain Lion+Mainstage+Midi I/O Interface

J.

Well Drat,

I'll grab a hub and see if that changes things. I'll report my findings to the group.

And my apologies - I searched the forums but didn't see that reply. Thank you jordito for digging it up for me.

No problem, hopefully the hub fixes it for you. It would be better if this could be fixed without having to buy new stuff.

J.

That did the trick - $6.00 usb 2.0 4 port hub and the stuck notes are gone. There's a little latency when I feed the system a lot of notes, like a palm slide or some such, but I'm back to the functionality I expect. THANK YOU for your help.

For your viewing pleasure, I'm attaching a picture of the rack with the MacMini installed.

Next, I'm off to search the list to see if Apple fixed the hung notes when using the sustain or hold pedal on their B3 emulator.

Great news! Glad to hear the solution was easy and cheap!

Nice rack, by the way! What's that metallic fx processor you got there on the top right?...just kidding...modern times!

THANK YOU for your help.

You're welcome!

J.