Anyone else experiencing this?

Hi BleepCore,

Are you using a power supply for the Novation TWITCH?

Do you have your Mac computer connected to a power supply? Does the sound still remain if you disconnect it from the power supply?

Have you tried using a different USB cable and connecting to a different USB port with the TWITCH?

The Twitch does not have a jack for an external power supply, it is USB-power only. I have tried several different USB cables and both USB ports on the MacBook.

I did try disconnecting the Mac power supply in case it was a grounding issue. I have also tried disconnecting all cables other than the USB to the Mac, then listening through the headphones for the noise, it is still there when the Aux is operational. The only way to get rid of the noise is to completely turn off the Aux. (Again, this is with any audio connected to the Aux, or nothing at all.)

The noise is very high-pitched and digital-sounding, I think "hum" was an inaccurate description in my original post. I am familiar with the sound of grounding issues, as I've owned and set up turntables at venues for 15+ years now. Those are usually a lower frequency with some bass to them.

I can't quite pinpoint the frequency but it sounds almost like an impulse wave at around 21.54Khz with some brown noise...if that makes sense =)

I am also running a Twitch and 10.6.8, and I had a good play with the Aux input last night at my gig. I can't recreate this at all. I'm suspecting a hardware fault.

Is there any store near you that the sells the Twitch, where you might be able to try their demo unit on your laptop?

Sorry, my bad you are correct!

I have also tried this on my TWITCH here, I can't really replicate this.

Does this happen with ITCH open AND closed?

Are you able to try connecting your TWITCH unit to a different computer to see if this noise still exists?

Happens with Itch closed (which appears to power down the Twitch, all lights turn off), only with Direct Monitoring switch(on the back by the Aux RCA jacks) set to ON. In this case the headphone volume knob still functions (can raise and lower volume of this noise I'm hearing with headphone volume knob.)

Sounds exactly the same connected to a different computer (also configured/optimized for DJ'ing, this one is a Dell Latitude E6400 running Win7pro64)

If you'd like to try and replicate it I suggest setting the Direct Monitoring switch on the back of the unit to ON, turn the headphone volume halfway up, then set the headphone mix knob (to the right of the headphone volume knob) to 100% Master.

(You can also hear it if you then turn the Direct Monitoring switch to Off, and hit the "On/Off" button below the headphone cue button below the Aux volume knob.)

Clarification:

Noise audible with Itch open or closed:
Try setting the Direct Monitoring switch on the back of the unit to ON, turn the headphone volume halfway up, then set the headphone mix knob (to the right of the headphone volume knob) to 100% Master.

Noise audible with Itch open (can't test this with Itch closed, unit is powered down):
Turn the Direct Monitoring switch to Off, and hit the "On/Off" button below the headphone cue button below the Aux volume knob.

Thanks BleepCore,

I have followed your instructions. With Direct Monitoring ON, whether ITCH is open or closed, and I have replicated your other adjustments, I get no sounds like you describe.

However with ITCH open, Mix/Aux on, Mix/aux headphone cue on, and direct monitoring off, there is a noticeable buzz/hum noise.

I am not 100% of the reason behind this, but if you are getting this noise even with direct monitoring it is possible your TWITCH unit has some sort of issue, it especially confirms it if you experience it with multiple computers.

It may be worth getting in touch with Novation about this. Support contacts for Novation are on this page here: serato.com

Let me know how you go :)

Ok...I might be awhile looking into tech support with Novation, I'm very busy this month. Thanks for looking into it.

If you are able to replicate the buzz in one situation, might this be an issue Serato will look into as well?

Ok thats fine, I have also contacted Novation to try and look into this issue further, hopefully I will get a reply soon.

Hey BleepCore,

Are you able to provide me with the serial number of your TWITCH unit? It is located underneath a barcode below the words "Novation Twitch"

Also, when you have the following settings:

- Direct Monitoring is off
- MIc/Aux is ON
- Headphone Cue is turned full
- Cue/Mix set to Master
- ITCH is on

Then you adjust the MIC/AUX level, at maximum, there should be noise, at minimum, do you still have noise?

I'm going to test this ASAP...have a festival to play this weekend and dealing with food poisoning. If you don't hear from me today I will test this by Tuesday the 27th when I am back from the gig.

Thanks!

Thats cool man, hope you get better!

Let me know your serial number as well, when you can please, Novation staff have requested me to get it :)

i did report this issue too, in the beta forum. I have some sort of feedback, i guess its what you call buzz/hum. So i guess you re not the only one :) got a mixer now hooked up, so its not too bad now, but still, quite anoying .

Hey MichaelM,

Could you provide a link to the thread you reported it in? Thanks!

Okay, back from the festival, crazy busy day now because I got a last-minute gig this weekend that I will have to travel for again =o

Here's the serial: IT7120603341

Thanks BleepCore, I will get in contact with Novation and will keep in in the loop.

i dont know if you got it, but i ll post it here aswell :
serato.com

So, you seemed to be able to fix this problem by using an external mixer? I am unsure what you mean by that exactly.

BleepCore, if you plug a Mic into the Mic input, does the sound go away or change?

Here u go,. i just bypass the aux cause of this failure

imageshack.us

forgot to mention, the red lines are what i had to change, and the black ones how it should work according to the hardware.

just had another try with the booth out from the club mixer on AUX, feedback is gone. so might of been the power from the input? i

Thanks Michael M :)

I am back home, should have time to try the Mic and your instructions today or tomorrow. Thanks for keeping up with this.

Cheers BleepCore, let me know!

Uh...wow. Your settings as described above are now the only way I can hear noise, and it's much quieter and less "buzzy". I am using the exact same cables, computer, USB port, same version of Itch, literally every single variable is the same-- and I can't get the same noise that caused me to write this support post.

Also tested a microphone per your request, no change/difference.

Interesting, could it have been the output cables were connected a bit loosely to your speaker system at the time of this help request?

Basically Novation have said this is normal behavior to have a bit of noise when the above settings are applied.They said a couple of other things, but I will get back to you with the full email when I am back in the office.

Definitely not the output cables. I was testing the 1/4" outputs, then the RCA's, and also just in the headphones with all output cables disconnected. Sound was consistent across all of them. This is bizarre.

The noise I'm hearing now, with the settings you describe, isn't anything that would stop me from using the Aux input. It's very quiet and is only heard with the volume at full. The original problem was very obvious even at half volume, and made the Aux input nearly unusable.

Strange indeed, and I never was able to recreate the issue doing it the way you had described.

If you come across it again let me know, it would be great to figure out the detail that makes it happen that we may have missed, it could be a good lead to the cause of the issue.

Will do. I'm happy that it's gone, as I wanted to make use of the Aux input. I'm also a little perplexed as to how it was so persistent and then disappeared. I've been very methodical and scientific throughout this whole process. x.x

FWIW, I do remember finding one USB cable that made the noise worse. After that I tried half a dozen different cables, all the same level of noise. The one I'm using now (nearly no noise, only with your settings and the volume at max) is the one I usually travel with and had previously tested during this help discussion...

I have managed to replicate one horrid noise finally. With your previously described settings, close the lid of your MacBook so that it goes to sleep, then open the lid. Do you hear a loud white noise?

Aaah ok, I have heard of various issues with putting your computer to sleep with ITCH hardware connected. It is the same reason why we recommend in our optimization articles to turn off any screen savers/hard disk sleeps etc

Great news on that noise going away so you can use the aux input though! Kinda annoying I guess we didn't get the chance to pinpoint the cause of it haha. Its entirely possible it was a USB cable thing, perhaps we will never know.

Its currently our Easter holiday weekend here in New Zealand, so Im out of the office unfortunately. I will do the sleep test first thing Tuesday morning (your monday) and get back to you man!

Cheers, enjoy the holiday! I appreciate all the help with this =)

Hi BleepCore,

I did manage to recreate that noise after it goes to sleep, it is really horrible!

I would generally recommend that you close down the software before putting your computer to sleep in the future. It is unlikely this problem will be able to "fixed" as such, as putting your computer to sleep with any hardware/software combo is quite often problematic.

So as I was saying previously, I was unable to recreate your previous problem, and Novation was not able to either, other than the following:

- Direct Monitoring is off
- MIc/Aux is ON
- Headphone Cue is turned full
- Cue/Mix set to Master
- ITCH is on

Their response regarding this was:



I hope this clarifies a few things and that you haven't had the other noise return :)

Wow...this is doing my head in. Regarding the horrible white noise, it's not just the software. I've been closing Itch when I put the MacBook to sleep. The Twitch hardware must be disconnected and reconnected after waking up to kill the noise.

Also today I attempted to connect via 1/8" stereo-to-RCA from my secondary laptop to the Aux in on the Twitch and I hear tons of clicking/popping that is not present in the audio signal of the secondary laptop when listening via headphones or connected directly to the amplifier using the same cable. x.x

So just to clarify for my testing purposes, you could have the TWITCH connected, but not even open the software, then close the macbook (sleep) then open it up again and the noise will come through the headphone and all other outputs in the TWITCH unit?

Do you get that clicking/popping when using the AUX IN on the TWITCH, with other sources of audio? iPod or stereo? Different cable?

Correct, Twitch connected, Itch closed, macbook put to sleep, wake it up, open Itch, horrible wall of white noise with Direct Monitoring set to Off, and the On/Off button below the Mic/Aux Level knob and Headphone cue button activated (illuminated red). Fixed by disconnecting and reconnecting Twitch hardware.

Re: clicking/popping...can't reproduce it today. lol. Even using the same exact config/cables as before. Again, I'm positive the popping was not present in the audio signal of the secondary laptop, I tested that with headphones directly plugged into the laptop, and plugging the laptop directly into the amplifier using the cable that I used to connect it to the Twitch's Aux input. This Twitch seems susceptible to odd glitches and behavior at times. I've also managed to screw it up by seeing if scratching was possible on the touchstrips. Can't reproduce that either. I spent about 10 minutes just seeing if scratching was possible at all with touchstrips, basic flares, scribbles, etc out of curiosity. After that session the play/pause buttons on both decks stopped working correctly, had to hit them 3-5 times for them to trigger, and THEN they started swapping control between decks--i.e hitting play a few times on the left might start the right deck, might start the left, same for the right deck's play button. Any weird behavior from yours?

And yeah, I don't expect you to attempt a follow-up on any of these random/bizarre/unreproducable problems, obviously you can't look into them if they cannot be reproduced... =)

This is all proper bizarre. All I can say is that Scratch Live has never played nice after sleep either, I always disable sleep and totally shut down if I need to close my laptop.

Yeah I don't expect the hardware/software to be friendly about OS sleep, but it's interesting to note.

The popping is back, trying to find a way to reproduce it that you could test Martin...

I did notify Novation about the issue, although I am sure they were already aware of the sleep problem.

It would be great if something like that could get sorted it out in the future, but yeah in general I would stay away from doing the sleep thing without shutting down properly.

Regarding your other issues, yes kinda hard to trouble shoot being that they are so random, but it does sound like you are getting infrequent USB drop outs with certain strenuous activities on the controller.

Probably going through our troubleshooting USB dropouts/glitches for Mac guide would be a good start: serato.com

Making sure all your files are analyzed and adjusting your USB buffer can play a part too. What is your USB buffer size set to currently?

It doesn't sound like USB dropouts, I'm very familiar with how those sound and how the computer behaves when they are happening. It's pretty easy to induce them by following the opposite of the troubleshooting guide =)

I would agree if wild movements on the touchstrips caused audio glitches, but what happened was the attempt at scratching, no audio trouble, then afterwards the controller was unresponsive and seemed to be mapped incorrectly. I have a busy schedule this month so I may not be able to test again soon, but I wondered if anyone else had experienced this.

All files are analyzed and I've played with different USB buffers from lowest to highest.

Hmmm ok, so you have only had it happen once so far? I have tried messing about on the touch strips for a while and haven't seen anything quite like what you described.

At the time you did this, did the MIDI light show up at all? Did you have any other USB devices connected at the time? I have seen the TWITCH act a bit odd with some USB mouses connected at the same time.

Thanks for this post, I had the white noise problem and panicked. Next time I will shut off the twitch properly

Great news!

Could we get Novation to put this troubleshoot on their answer base as that is where i went originally as I understood it would be hardware vs the software

Regarding putting your computer to sleep mode, or the original that bleepcore mentioned about the aux input making a noise?

I'm not sure if Novation have too many people having this issue, so they would probably only put something up if they thought it was fairly common, but I could be wrong about that! Your best bet it to contact Novation if you feel the issue should be on the their answer base.

Hi everyone, I've got the same issue here. A strange hum/noise over the AUX input in ITCH aswell as Traktor.

Hey Mariensuz,

Have you tried looking into some of the suggestions we have tried in this thread?

I would say if you have this noise when using ITCH or Traktor, that it is not software related, it is more to do with the hardware.

I would recommend getting in contact with Novation for further help. Their contacts can be found here > serato.com