Software help archive

A read-only archive of old serato.com help threads.

Waveform and audio cutting out while dj'ing

Product
Scratch Live
Version
2.4.3
Hardware
Rane TTM 57SL
Computer
Mac
OS
Platform
-
Ikhan 7:15 PM - 23 November, 2012
After 2 hours of dj'ing, my waveform is cutting out, the tail end of the wave form is empty and thus the audio cuts out. When i load a track serato is freezing then the track loads, plays then waveform cuts out and audio cuts out too. I have noticed its not just with videos its also happens with mp3s. Also once the other dj goes on I can not recreate this situation.
I have perian installed
All my files are analysed in the latest version of scratch live
All videos are from smashvidz or dtvideos
It doesn't happen with the same videos each time
I have the serato video buffer / cache set to 1.5gb
USB buffer is set at 5
I have it preloading 60 seconds of the file
Maximum screen updates full
All energy saver settings are turned off
HDD is set never to go to sleep
Wifi and Bluetooth are always off
It's not temperature related as tonight it did it straight away when my laptop was cool.
Macbook Pro i7, 17' Mid 2010 model.
8gb of ram
Please help
Ikhan 7:33 PM - 23 November, 2012
I'm actually not even Video Dj'ing just straight audio out
9:23 PM, 23 Nov 2012
Ikhan attached a file: IMG_0600.MOV
Download· Permalink
Ikhan 10:43 PM - 23 November, 2012
Watchwww.youtube.com

This is exactly what happens to me please help.
Ikhan 8:29 PM - 28 November, 2012
How come no one is helping me here ? Serato where are you?
Serato, Support
David Wood 3:34 AM - 29 November, 2012
Hey DJ iKan,

Sorry for the late response, we have been working through a backlog of threads. Sorry we didn't get to you earlier.

Are you using an external drive to store your music?
When did this start happening?
What are the codec's of your Mp3's and Mp4's? Could you send me a file you know this has happened with in the past.
Do this happen in offline play also ? Or just when you are connected to the Rane TTM57 mixer? Does this happen if you are using an Rane SL box?

Regards
Dave W
dj shadow from detroit 3:56 AM - 29 November, 2012
im having the same issue . macbook pro 2.9 ghz intel core i7 with 8 gigs of ram, external hard drive ntfs format with ntfs for mac program. using newest version of serato buffer set at the lowest and never had this problem until i purchased my new macbook pro.
previously was using a 2009 white macbook 4 gigs of ram 2.0ghz intel core 2 duo.

im still using the white macbook at gigs because i have no problems. everything is the same as music goes just the macbook pro.
Ikhan 6:37 AM - 29 November, 2012
Hi Dave,

No external drive, all internal. I run via iTunes. I also have an OptiBay HDD (Replaced DVD with internal drive, which ran fine for 10 months no prob until now)
Been happening usually on SL1 and some TTm 57's not all, started after 2.1 03 2.2 on and off.
Codecs are all pool videos and mo3's all from Music pools, will attach files.
Does not happen in offline player.
Happens on one new ttm57 but not the older ttms (button are concave(new) rather than convex (old))
Also happens on SL1

How do i know if my database V2 is corrupt again or not?
Also if i make new database V2 by renaming will I have to rebuild all overviews again?

Thanks
iKhan
Ikhan 6:43 AM - 29 November, 2012
HDD's are all in good health, so is computer. When i run 2.4.2. on the old ttm57, while dj'ing Videos via mix emergency (i do own a copy of Video Serato but don't use it Sorry) oddly enough after 5 hrs straight play i have no problems. What i mean is I have no problems at this gig. But when I dj at other gig (Which is No videos) on the new ttm57 i get problems. Can it be because of vibrations in booth?
6:46 AM, 29 Nov 2012
Ikhan attached a file: Let\'s Go (Official Video).mp4
Download· Permalink
6:53 AM, 29 Nov 2012
Ikhan attached a file: Block Off (Kitten Hoop Mix).mp3
Download· Permalink
Ikhan 7:12 AM - 29 November, 2012
I do notice in the offline player waveform goes in and out but no affect on audio, I will attach video to show
Ikhan 7:20 AM - 29 November, 2012
Again just to be clear this only happens when I'm only using serato
7:21 AM, 29 Nov 2012
Ikhan attached a file: IMG_0632-1.MOV
Download· Permalink
Ikhan 7:21 AM - 29 November, 2012
Is this behaviour normal?
Thank you in advance.
iKhan
DJMINGIA 4:56 PM - 29 November, 2012
DJ iKHAN, I had the same exact problem. What seemed to work for me is plugging the Serato box into the other USB port, lowering the screen updates form 60 to 30, Shutting everything off (Screensaver, battery saver, internet, etc).... But the biggest improvement came when I downgraded from 2.4.3 back to 2.4.2. Also, I run all my audio off an external Firewire drive. Do not use USB hard drives and I also noticed using the internal drive was bad. Also, do not have the Serato box self powered (USB). Use a separate power supply. Why take power from the USB when you don't have to? Especially since audio/files runs along this cable.

Also, try changing to a beefier USB cable and make sure the USB jack on the SL1 box hasn't come loose from plugging in and out. I know, USB cables shouldn't matter much, 1's and 0's, but doesn't hurt.

Hope that helps.
DJMINGIA 4:58 PM - 29 November, 2012
BTW, "other USB port" means the other USB port on your computer. I also notice you are using the 57 mixer. Check the USB jack on it for any wiggling/looseness. And maybe downgrading back to MAC OS 10.7.x until they sort this out. Thanks.
Ikhan 6:50 PM - 29 November, 2012
Thanks @DJMINGIA, I have a 17" Macbook pro, what USB port do you recommend, ive been using the one closest to the audio headphone jack, and i have total 3 ports. I dont use USB drives, everything is internal. Will most definitely try separate power for SL1 box and better usb chord, downgrading to 2.4.2. Thanks again.
DJMINGIA 7:11 PM - 29 November, 2012
It's hard to say which USB port.. I know on some MACS, mine included, Serato works better on one usb port, than the other. So try the other 2 along with the other fixes, and see if that helps. On mine, I switched the USB port and downgraded to 2.4.2, and all is well, so far. Again, also check that the USB jacks do not have any wiggle on them from repeated plugging and unplugging. Good luck.
Ikhan 5:29 AM - 4 December, 2012
Serato? Dave W?
Serato, Support
David Wood 10:41 PM - 4 December, 2012
Hey Ikhan,

Thanks to DJMingia for your advise on this one, I'd definitely try his suggestions Ikhan, also this is based on the way that the CPU is decoding the Audio, if there is no audio there is no wave. This can be related to external HD's and or CPU decoding, or USB dropout. Let me know what you have tried that DJMingia has suggested and what that testing resulted in.

Regards
Dave W
Ikhan 7:51 AM - 5 December, 2012
Hi Dave I tried exactly all the things that Dj Mingia suggested and it worked, but I would like to know what the problem is?
Serato, Support
David Wood 9:54 PM - 5 December, 2012
Could you list the things you tried and even what may have made the difference, we are still trying to lock down exactly why, any info you can give me will aid in the diagnoses you are asking for :)

Regards
Dave W
Ikhan 11:29 PM - 5 December, 2012
Quote:
Thanks @DJMINGIA, I have a 17" Macbook pro, what USB port do you recommend, ive been using the one closest to the audio headphone jack, and i have total 3 ports. I dont use USB drives, everything is internal. Will most definitely try separate power for SL1 box and better usb chord, downgrading to 2.4.2. Thanks again.


I tried all the above as I stated. i am pretty dissapointed with the level of ur help Dave. I clearly wrote that 2.4.2 worked. Not sure why you didnt even look at the youtube video before making the diagnosis of CPU decoding or HDD. Dave, Please review the thread before you help, or escalate this to someone that wants to help me, because it looks as though you dont even want to help.
Ikhan 11:31 PM - 5 December, 2012
@ Dave W. There were a list of questions I asked you non e of which have been answered, do you know where I can get them answered?
Serato, Support
David Wood 12:42 AM - 6 December, 2012
Sorry to hear you feel that way, just to clarify, I asked exactly what you had tried as i'm trying to establish exactly what it may have been which lead to the issue being resolved. As I said
Quote:
this is based on the way that the CPU is decoding the Audio, if there is no audio there is no wave. This can be related to external HD's and or CPU decoding, or USB dropout

If I'm going to answer your question,
Quote:
I would like to know what the problem is?
I need all the details. DJMINGIA has obviously had some success with this issue so I wanted to know if there was any extra info i might need to help us here with determining why this is showing up again with Scratch Live 2.4.3 yet doesn't in 2.4.2. I have read your thread and watched your videos. I'll answer your questions:
Quote:
Can it be because of vibrations in booth?

No I don't believe so.
Quote:
Is this behaviour normal?

No obviously not a desirable behavior.
Quote:
How do i know if my database V2 is corrupt again or not?

Usually crashes, freezing on exit, that type of thing, your issue is with the large waveforms and audio dropping out which is mostly likely unrelated to Database issues.

I'm glad you got this to work, i'd also like to know what it was that tipped it to stop dropping waveforms.. Let me know what else you could see as a helpful thing for me to determine the cause. Ultimately we don't want to offer a workaround but have you running stable, on the latest version, especially as a Serato Video user.

Regards
Dave W
Ikhan 11:11 PM - 8 December, 2012
@ Dave W,

Thank you Dave W, just to clarify, if you looked at the youtube video posted above Watchwww.youtube.com you will see there is a waveform, The issue here is not that there is no waveform, its that the wave is cutting out and part of it disappears. I tried the above suggestions, I want to help you help me. Let me know what i can get you. How can it be the HDD or CPU if after downgrading to 2.4.2 there are no problems? Please advise
djRene 9:20 AM - 9 December, 2012
I Just Started experiencing the same issue. It happen once in each of my last two gigs.
Different video files and I can not re create it. I used a Dennon 3700 in Hybrid Mode along with TTM57. Hopefully it gets resolved soon.
DJMINGIA 5:55 PM - 9 December, 2012
I'm not sure why, but 2.4.3 seems to be the culprit. I downgraded back to 2.4.2 and no drops.
Serato, Support
David Wood 10:39 PM - 9 December, 2012
Ikhan,

It's RAM cacheing issues but what we need to figure out why it's happening. These waveform drop outs and disappearing is what i was referring too.

Questions: (Just want to see if there anything putting extra load on your RAM)

Are you using Video files in your youtube video? (It doesn't matter if you are using them without the Video output window open just the audio too.)

Are Mix emergency and Serato video active at the same time?
Ikhan 6:49 AM - 10 December, 2012
Hi Dave W,

Are you using Video files in your youtube video? (It doesn't matter if you are using them without the Video output window open just the audio too.)

The youtube is not mine, but just an example of what happened to me. It has happened with Video MP4 and Mp3 and both times it was when I was not running Serato Video

Are Mix emergency and Serato video active at the same time?

No Serato Video & M.E. were not active. Just straight audio, but when audio cut out happened once it was when i was using an mp4 and 2nd time it was mp3.

If it is RAM cacheing issues what can i do to fix this, i.e. Should I change USB Buffer setting? Max Screen Updates? and Audio Buffer setting?

Thanks
Serato, Support
David Wood 1:51 AM - 11 December, 2012
I was under the impression that the RAM was the issue but under more investigation with a developer I was educated in more detail that the way that the software application reads the tracks is directly from the Hard Drive I/O.

Let's try targeting some troubleshooting around that,
Quote:
No external drive, all internal. I run via iTunes. I also have an OptiBay HDD (Replaced DVD with internal drive, which ran fine for 10 months no prob until now)


Could you tell me your Mac HD spec's and the spec's of your second drive installing internally?
Also i'd run Disk utility, Disk repair on your Hard Drives, that could help.

Regards
Dave W
Ikhan 7:48 AM - 11 December, 2012
I've done disk repair on both drives, apple genius said they are both working fine here are the specs:

1TB Western Digital 5200 rpm
and
1TB Samsung 5400rpm


Should I change USB Buffer setting? Max Screen Updates? and Audio Buffer setting?
Serato, Support
David Wood 11:04 PM - 11 December, 2012
What is your USB Buffer set to at the moment? Maybe set it to 15

Max Screen Updates should have any effect really.

Regards
Dave W
Ikhan 5:25 AM - 12 December, 2012
Quote:
What is your USB Buffer set to at the moment? Maybe set it to 15

Max Screen Updates should have any effect really.



I had it set to 5 then changed it to 8, which is what its now sitting at. I will set to 15, I'm obviously way off
dj shadow from detroit 5:26 AM - 12 December, 2012
u should not have to move buffer to fix this problem. i guarantee serato new update will fix this.
Ikhan 5:36 AM - 12 December, 2012
Quote:
u should not have to move buffer to fix this problem. i guarantee serato new update will fix this.


i think ur right because I'm seeing alot of ppl having a similar issue.

@Dj Shadow - Do you run ME or Serato Video? If so what do u set ur usb buffer to?
dj shadow from detroit 2:02 PM - 12 December, 2012
Hello DJ iKHAN
Im running only audio ( no video )
Im currently trying to run my macbook pro
2.9 ghz intel core i7
8 gigs of ram
mac osx - 10.7.5

Serato Settings
screen update - 60
audio cache - 60
buffer setting - 1 ( lowest )

I have this issue with using an external hard drive and without.
when using an external its ntfs format with using the ntfs seagate drivers for mac
but like i mentioned this happens when playing music without the external plugged in while using music on the mac internal.

my wave forums are disappearing when loading and playing.
im still using my 2009 white macbook ... smh with no problems i upgraded to the macbook pro ( knowing serato keeps adding more ) thinking i would load it up and just go... i was wrong. its either a mac issue or a serato issue and from reading all around on the forums alot of people are having this issue.
DJMINGIA 7:35 PM - 12 December, 2012
This happened again to me this weekend. Thank god it happened to the music that I was cueing up in my headphones and not going out to the crowd. The gap was like 4 seconds. I thought I hit the cue button off on my mixer, but low and behold, I look up and the waveform to deck 1 was blank, while deck two was playing fine, then 4 seconds later, the audio and waveform kicked in on deck 1. Really frustrating when you have everything set to take the load off the computer (high buffers, low screen updates, internet off, blue tooth off, etc..) and it still cuts out. What gives when you have tried everything?
Ikhan 7:45 PM - 12 December, 2012
Quote:
This happened again to me this weekend. Thank god it happened to the music that I was cueing up in my headphones and not going out to the crowd. The gap was like 4 seconds. I thought I hit the cue button off on my mixer, but low and behold, I look up and the waveform to deck 1 was blank, while deck two was playing fine, then 4 seconds later, the audio and waveform kicked in on deck 1. Really frustrating when you have everything set to take the load off the computer (high buffers, low screen updates, internet off, blue tooth off, etc..) and it still cuts out. What gives when you have tried everything?


@DJ MINGIA exactly what I'm saying. I'm looking at buying a new MacBookPro. What v ersion os SSL were you using and what was it hooked up to? TTM? SSL1Box?
Ikhan 8:07 PM - 12 December, 2012
@Serato isnt doing much to help us, I'm very disgusted my this considering i just bought Rane 62, Searto Video...disgusting
DJMINGIA 8:23 PM - 12 December, 2012
I am using 2.4.2. I downgraded from 2.4.3 because it seemed like 2.4.3 was worse with this problem. SL1 hooked up to USB port directly, Macbook Pro 13" newer one 10.7.x. (Don't remember the exact OS I have off the top of my head, on a PC now) FIREWIRE 800 hard drive, Western Digital. Swapped USB ports, lowered settings, turned things off, etc... This may be a 2.4.x problem, and for whatever reason, 2.4.3 is worse with the dropouts. Why? I don't know.
Ikhan 8:25 PM - 12 December, 2012
@Dj MINGIA, Im stating to think this will always happen with SL 1 Box. Serato I don't think even supports SL1 Box.
Ikhan 8:27 PM - 12 December, 2012
@Serato Dave W,

I want this issue troubleshooted, I don't see that you are doing this properly, i.e.. the last question doesn't troubleshoot anything, can we get on this or be escalated please thanks.
DJMINGIA 8:31 PM - 12 December, 2012
I haven't looked, but I take it that anyone using an SL2, 3, or 4 doesn't have this problem?
Ikhan 8:32 PM - 12 December, 2012
I thought this was a help request, where is my help, its been 3 weeks, very disappointed, dont feel sorry that i feel this way, just HELP me
dj shadow from detroit 9:29 PM - 12 December, 2012
To be honest its probably a problem they are looking into... when they give answers they are normally correct. i agree would like to know also. i cant even use my new laptop. smh

hopefully a fix will come soon.
Serato, Support
David Wood 10:22 PM - 12 December, 2012
Just so you know Ikhan, I've spent hours in the last week working on this, testing, talking with developers and trying to push through by asking questions of you to try and narrow down what the issue is, I understand you are frustrated..

I am coming to the conclusion that it may have something to do with your speed of your HD's, they are actually mostly the issue here. Your drivers are only 5400rpm and you only have to do a google search on the 7200rpm vs 5400rpm to see the difference.



As for the others in this thread, what are your hard drive spec's?

Regards
Dave W
dj shadow from detroit 11:11 PM - 12 December, 2012
7200 rpm internal and external
Serato needs faster hard drive speeds to run correctly now?
Serato, Support
David Wood 12:44 AM - 13 December, 2012
To collate the information of you all specifically if there is differences, 'dj shadow from detroit' could you actually start you're own thread or link me to your other one? I can then work with you personally as your information could be related to a different issue. NTFS more specifically. Lets talk there.

Ikhan could you please send me the System profile, i'll guide you with instructions:

Go to Apple > About this mac > More Info > System Report > File > Save

Then attach to the thread please.

Regards
Dave W
Ikhan 9:48 AM - 13 December, 2012
Thank you Dave W. Here is the attachment. Thnx
9:51 AM, 13 Dec 2012
Ikhan attached a file: MacBook Pro.spx
Download· Permalink
Serato, Support
David Wood 10:10 PM - 13 December, 2012
Thanks for that, can i get form you please your:

DatabaseV2 file from within your _Serato_ folder

iTunes Music Library.xml from the iTunes folder.

Trying to get as much as i can to reproduce this here. We need to figure what is happening within 2.4.3 which could be creating this. Don't rush out and by some new hard drives i no longer think this is the cause. I've looked at your system and it maybe OSX, USB 1.1 drive related and something to do with the Build of Scratch Live but we really need to do more tests and get as much info from all of you to bring together any similarities to try and narrow it down.
DJMINGIA 2:00 AM - 14 December, 2012
Hi, OK. What can I send you to help. I know I didn't start this thread, but I'd be willing to send you info if it helps.
Ikhan 1:49 PM - 14 December, 2012
I will definitely send ASAP. However please not last night while using 2.4.2 it froze then audio disappeared. What happened is I loaded a song (that's which I have played many times (no letting go)) then then Serato froze, then soon after audio stopped for about 1-2 min. Then it came out of freeze and then audio came back on. Then I continued to DJ and problem never came back. I will send those files ASAP. Moreover I'm noticing Serato keeps writing tags to only my videos.
3:20 PM, 14 Dec 2012
Ikhan attached a file: iTunes Music Library.xml
Download· Permalink
3:26 PM, 14 Dec 2012
Ikhan attached a file: database V2
Download· Permalink
Ikhan 3:30 PM - 14 December, 2012
Dave W,

Is there anyway you can look at my crash log from yesterday to diagnose whats going on?

The crash last night was so embarrassing, cant get over it man.

i
Serato, Support
David Wood 9:28 PM - 17 December, 2012
I personally don't have the ability to decode the crash report but please send it through so I can pass it on to our Development team.

I don't have anything new for you right now, we are looking into it. Sorry about the delay.

Regards
Dave W
Ikhan 9:53 AM - 18 December, 2012
@ Dave W,
Ok
How do I do that?
GRiNDBoX 3:07 PM - 18 December, 2012
ikhan,

i encounter that kind of issue and the main conclusion with that is too reformat your HDD...thats a hard disk problem...since ur using the one from the caddy thats the main reason before..i shift to a new hdd and the other one is i reformat it..thank god i dont have that problems anymore...the main reason for that one is your hard disk took too much time reading your files...
GRiNDBoX 3:08 PM - 18 December, 2012
one thing else if you got too much crates in your playlist it took too much time to load the certain songs...thats why
DJMINGIA 10:04 PM - 18 December, 2012
Grindbox, in what format are you reformatting your drives so that this problem gets eliminated? Thanks.
Serato, Support
David Wood 12:29 AM - 19 December, 2012
Hey Ikhan,

Send the Crash report when you get one as an attach txt file :)

Regards
Dave W
dj shadow from detroit 1:00 AM - 19 December, 2012
so the new macbook pro using ntfs formatted external / using ntfs / macfuse and serato is not a good idea. this is what im using and not having success at all. waveforms dissapearing ?
Serato, Support
David Wood 1:41 AM - 19 December, 2012
Hey Dj Shadow,

We don't recommend that File format with your Mac.

Regards
Dave W
dj shadow from detroit 3:17 AM - 19 December, 2012
i understand that.
i have been using my white 2009 macbook with 2.0 ghz intel core 2 duo w/ 4 gigs of ram with macfuse - ntfs - 3g
flawless since 2009 and i still continue to use this at my gigs. i tried using the same set up on a new macbook pro and thats when the waveform issues popped up.
GRiNDBoX 4:19 AM - 19 December, 2012
Quote:
Grindbox, in what format are you reformatting your drives so that this problem gets eliminated? Thanks.


mac osx journaled...yup so far so good..knock on the wood..:)
Ikhan 7:13 AM - 21 December, 2012
@Dave W
1. I don't know how to find and send the crash file?
2. What do I do next please advise
DJMINGIA 5:20 AM - 22 December, 2012
As a heads up, downgraded to 2.3.3, and still have the problem. Changed all cables, shut everything off, did everything recommended on this board and other posts. Bummer.
DJMINGIA 5:15 PM - 22 December, 2012
Quote:
mac osx journaled...yup so far so good..knock on the wood..:)



I just checked, my hard drive says it is formatted Mac OS Extended (Journaled). Still have dropouts with SL1 after all the tricks and tips mentioned in other posts.
DJMINGIA 7:22 PM - 22 December, 2012
BTW, keep in mind, when I use my older, 2007 white Macbook, I have zero problems with everything else being the same (cables, hardware, etc..). And that's with low buffers, high screen updates, low RAM, etc.. You'd think that a newer MAC, faster processor, and more RAM would not have these issues, especially when raising the buffer, lowering the screen updates, and turning all non essential stuff off.

I just don't understand how one deck is outputting to the crowd fine while at the same time the other deck has the waveform go blank in the middle of the song and the output of the audio from that blank deck coincides by going out, yet the "empty" waveform is still moving right along and when it eventually kicks back in the song is at the point it would have been anyway if the song had been playing; it's as if somebody hit the volume on the mixer of that channel.

I hope this helps Serato/Rane sort this out as there are lots of others having problems with their I-series Macs and SL1 hardware. I swear, I get a knot in my stomach when this happens in the middle of a wedding.
Ikhan 8:27 PM - 22 December, 2012
@Dave W.

I know what the issue is. It has to do with Serato. How I know is simply. I dj fri & sat on an OLD TTM57 with flat buttons using 2.4.2 & ME spinning videos all night 10-3am NO Performance issues at all. Whereas I dj Thursday on a newer TTM57, NO ME, NO Serato Video and I have the problem on that mixer and SL1 box from my experience. Again to re-iterate. The problem is two fold. 1) As the youtube video shows above I get audio cut outs about 2 of the per night, again only on the thursday using the newer ttm57, the cut out happens 2-2.5 hrs into my set. 2) also i encountered another problem where i loaded a track mp4 and the whole thing froze, serato then froze, audio then cut out. I got beach ball, waited a minute, and everything cam back and I dj'd the night with no problems. Its not an over heating, not HDD or CPU.
I cannot recreate this issue anywhere buy only live at my Thursday gig. When i try to recreate this issue on fri or sat gig I cannot.
I am convinced this issue is only with old TTM57 and SL1 Box.
I hope this helps, I need to know, what i should set my USB buffer to, my max screen updates and audio buffer to?
Please advise
Thanks
DJMINGIA 8:39 PM - 22 December, 2012
Quote:
I hope this helps, I need to know, what i should set my USB buffer to, my max screen updates and audio buffer to?



At this point I don't think it matters much. I set my buffers high, my screen updates low and ran as minimal as possible, and still have the problem on my new Macbook Pro, just like so many other do. I run the program full blast on my older 2007 Macbook, and just like others, not one problem. Go figure.

Real quick, if you have a TTM57SL, why do you need an SL1 box? Doesn't that mixer have the hardware "built in"?
Ikhan 8:43 PM - 22 December, 2012
Real quick, if you have a TTM57SL, why do you need an SL1 box? Doesn't that mixer have the hardware "built in"?

I have had the problem separately, SL1 box hooked to a pioneer and SL1 Box hooked to TTM 5t and TTm 57 by itself. We only hook up the SL1 box if there are 2 dj's you need to connect box to tom.
DJMINGIA 3:02 AM - 23 December, 2012
In the middle of a wedding right now, with knot in stomach. Serato at near minimum, audio cache set at 15, screen updates at 20, hifi sampler off, internet and blue tooth off, and the other usual stuff, and yet, still getting dropouts, tiny ones more than usual, clicks and audio "slurring", I hear it in the background every once in awhile. Maybe time to bust out the old white Macbook till this gets fixed.
Ikhan 8:47 AM - 23 December, 2012
@Mingia what mixer?
DJMINGIA 4:27 PM - 23 December, 2012
Pioneer.. Why? The mixer is not the problem.
Ikhan 7:34 PM - 23 December, 2012
@DjMingia ur problem is ur SL1 box, too old, newer MacBooks don't work with them very well, thats why ur old macbook work fine with it and ur new one doesn't.
dj shadow from detroit 9:56 PM - 23 December, 2012
so the new macbook pros with usb 3.0 don't run usb 1.0 good?
DJMINGIA 11:52 PM - 23 December, 2012
Quote:
@DjMingia ur problem is ur SL1 box, too old, newer MacBooks don't work with them very well, thats why ur old macbook work fine with it and ur new one doesn't.


Yes, it sure seems that way. I know Rane/Serato has a thread here that addresses this issue with I-series processors, but they say it only happens with Windows machines. Seems many of us here are having similar problems on I-series processors on the new Macs as well.

Quote:
so the new macbook pros with usb 3.0 don't run usb 1.0 good?


I guess when it comes down to an SL1, then yes, that seems to be the case. It's a shame, you'd think a newer, more powerful computer, with more RAM would have no problems at all, especially since an older Macbook with less Ram and power works flawlessly. I take it SL2 is USB 2.0 and that is why those boxes are OK?

Can't be doing weddings and events and have a pit in my stomach that anyone who uses an SL1 on the newer Macs is going to have a problem at any moment.
dj shadow from detroit 12:36 AM - 24 December, 2012
my 57 and new macbook pro has issues also. From research usb 1.0 can have issues with usb 3.0.
regardless i hope the next update fixes some of these issues.
DJMINGIA 12:42 AM - 24 December, 2012
It'd be nice if they made a firewire interface, or even a thunderbolt interface.
Ikhan 5:56 AM - 28 December, 2012
Ok just happened again at my gig. Always around 2.5hrs of playing. This time u brought my Rain 62. And it happened again. Wave is playing as it plays wave starts to disappear. Just like YouTube video. I quickly drop another track and its ok. Other DJ is on now.
Again this only happens at this gig. Fri sat gig no problem. Only difference I can think of is loud monitors hung above the booth and large vibrations. But why? What can I do. Please advise
9:37 AM, 28 Dec 2012
Ikhan attached a file: DropoutCount.log
Download· Permalink
Ikhan 9:38 AM - 28 December, 2012
What does this mean?
vio0633 9:43 PM - 2 January, 2013
Im having the same issues and have started help threads on this to help out but they never got resolved. Subscribed to your thread hoping the SSL team can find this issue!
DJMINGIA 5:05 PM - 3 January, 2013
Quote:
Im having the same issues and have started help threads on this to help out but they never got resolved. Subscribed to your thread hoping the SSL team can find this issue!



So are we. Multiple sound systems, all older SL1 boxes with 2012 I-series Apple computers. ALL of them have the same problem. Disappearing waveforms, sound cutting out, and then kicking back in, as if someone hit the volume. Tried every idea given and then some. We go back to the old computers, keeping everything else the same, and zero problems. For years never had a problem, now with the new Apple computers, forget it. Sure, it may be advised to upgrade to SL2's, but who is to say that would help? Then what, if the problem continues? Very frustrating.
Djgalileo 8:11 PM - 3 January, 2013
I have the New 15in macbook pro retina display running 2.6ghz and an i7 processor and this same thing happens to me. I run music of an external lacie 500gb rugged hard drive firewire using the adaptor to thunderbolt.
Ikhan 8:23 PM - 3 January, 2013
Quote:
I have the New 15in macbook pro retina display running 2.6ghz and an i7 processor and this same thing happens to me. I run music of an external lacie 500gb rugged hard drive firewire using the adaptor to thunderbolt.


Are any of the files u run mp4 or all mp3? Do u have any mp4 or wave files that u played?
Djgalileo 8:26 PM - 3 January, 2013
Yes i do both mp3 and mp4. Using Serato scratch live and even serato itch.
I have the newer TTM-57 and a vci-300
DJMINGIA 9:30 PM - 3 January, 2013
Doesn't matter. Aiff files, MP3, MP4, wav, doesn't matter. Has happened on all those formats.
vio0633 1:49 AM - 4 January, 2013
Quote:
Quote:
Im having the same issues and have started help threads on this to help out but they never got resolved. Subscribed to your thread hoping the SSL team can find this issue!



So are we. Multiple sound systems, all older SL1 boxes with 2012 I-series Apple computers. ALL of them have the same problem. Disappearing waveforms, sound cutting out, and then kicking back in, as if someone hit the volume. Tried every idea given and then some. We go back to the old computers, keeping everything else the same, and zero problems. For years never had a problem, now with the new Apple computers, forget it. Sure, it may be advised to upgrade to SL2's, but who is to say that would help? Then what, if the problem continues? Very frustrating.


I have a late 2011 MBP with the i7 processor as well and its the same deal. I would play and all of the sudden the waveform disappears. Sometimes it will cut in and out but I have had it crash on me a couple of times when this happened. The waveform disappeared and SSL locked up and shut down on me. Real shitty night for me. The SSL team thinks its an issue with my hard drive but I never had an issue with this on my old core 2 duo MBP I had back in the day. I have sent youtube videos, performance data for my HD, multiple video files, and more to them but its still un resolved. Honestly....I gave up because I felt like I was going in a circle with them. No disrespect to the SSL team (I know you guys are trying) but we need this problem fixed please!

Not only is this issue occurring but my video output sometimes gets really choppy and laggy. Performance is horrible for me right now....and it shouldn't be.
Djgalileo 2:09 AM - 4 January, 2013
Quote:
Quote:
Quote:
Im having the same issues and have started help threads on this to help out but they never got resolved. Subscribed to your thread hoping the SSL team can find this issue!



So are we. Multiple sound systems, all older SL1 boxes with 2012 I-series Apple computers. ALL of them have the same problem. Disappearing waveforms, sound cutting out, and then kicking back in, as if someone hit the volume. Tried every idea given and then some. We go back to the old computers, keeping everything else the same, and zero problems. For years never had a problem, now with the new Apple computers, forget it. Sure, it may be advised to upgrade to SL2's, but who is to say that would help? Then what, if the problem continues? Very frustrating.


I have a late 2011 MBP with the i7 processor as well and its the same deal. I would play and all of the sudden the waveform disappears. Sometimes it will cut in and out but I have had it crash on me a couple of times when this happened. The waveform disappeared and SSL locked up and shut down on me. Real shitty night for me. The SSL team thinks its an issue with my hard drive but I never had an issue with this on my old core 2 duo MBP I had back in the day. I have sent youtube videos, performance data for my HD, multiple video files, and more to them but its still un resolved. Honestly....I gave up because I felt like I was going in a circle with them. No disrespect to the SSL team (I know you guys are trying) but we need this problem fixed please!

Not only is this issue occurring but my video output sometimes gets really choppy and laggy. Performance is horrible for me right now....and it shouldn't be.



Prior to 2.4.3 i never had this issue either doing video mixing or just regular audio. Ever since i switched to it, i've had nothing but problems. Very frustrating spending over 2,000 for a new MBP and it cuts out and i have no idea why.
Djgalileo 2:22 AM - 4 January, 2013
Is everyone that is having this problem currently running mountain lion?
DJMINGIA 2:34 AM - 4 January, 2013
I have 10.7.5, is that Mountain Lion or just Lion? Sorry, don't know. Based on all the threads I see here plus my experiences, the common link here is older SL1 boxes, and the I-series Apple computers. Particular to the 2012 models more so than others. I downgraded to 2.3 and same problem. I also did everything you can think of, including everything recommended by Serato, and am running Scratch Live bare bones on my new computer, yet on my older white computer, which is slower, and has less RAM, with everything else being equal, I never had a problem running Scratch Live full blast for years weekend after weekend. Go figure. I know Serato is working hard on this, but it is disappointing this situation. Wish someone could say "It is this,,,, this is the culprit,,, Scratch Live does not like to be started when it is raining outside..".. I don't know, anything....
vio0633 3:29 AM - 4 January, 2013
Quote:
Is everyone that is having this problem currently running mountain lion?


I am running the newest version of Mountain Lion
vio0633 3:30 AM - 4 January, 2013
Quote:
I have 10.7.5, is that Mountain Lion or just Lion? Sorry, don't know. Based on all the threads I see here plus my experiences, the common link here is older SL1 boxes, and the I-series Apple computers. Particular to the 2012 models more so than others. I downgraded to 2.3 and same problem. I also did everything you can think of, including everything recommended by Serato, and am running Scratch Live bare bones on my new computer, yet on my older white computer, which is slower, and has less RAM, with everything else being equal, I never had a problem running Scratch Live full blast for years weekend after weekend. Go figure. I know Serato is working hard on this, but it is disappointing this situation. Wish someone could say "It is this,,,, this is the culprit,,, Scratch Live does not like to be started when it is raining outside..".. I don't know, anything....


10.7.5 is Lion
Dj Buscat 3:52 AM - 4 January, 2013
This happened to me with Snow Leopard, and still have the same problem with Mountain Lion. SMH!
Ikhan 1:51 PM - 4 January, 2013
Disable SMS worked for me
DJMINGIA 2:08 PM - 4 January, 2013
Not to be a pessimist, but could it be that the problem just hasn't presented itself yet? There are gigs where this problem doesn't happen, and then there are gigs that it does, plus it's only been 1 gig. SMS disabling has not worked for me.
vio0633 6:36 PM - 4 January, 2013
Quote:
Disable SMS worked for me



Didnt work for me either :(
djambesa 1:00 AM - 5 January, 2013
just use the old software for now till there is a fix...i have 1.9.2 as my back-up..
old software=older box
DJMINGIA 1:04 AM - 5 January, 2013
Quote:
just use the old software for now till there is a fix....
old software=older box


Tried that, does not fix problem.
DJMINGIA 1:05 AM - 5 January, 2013
Quote:
just use the old software for now till there is a fix...i have 1.9.2 as my back-up..
old software=older box



Also, 2.0, 2.2, 2.3, up to 2.4.3, all worked fine on the "old box" with an older, slower laptop.
djambesa 1:30 AM - 5 January, 2013
i saw that video, & that literally frightens me...i just started using 2.4.3 today,, so if i get something sketchy, i will holla back
DJMINGIA 5:09 AM - 5 January, 2013
That video on Youtube is exactly what happens to me too. One deck is fine, and the other not. Waveform cuts, audio cuts, but the deck keeps playing the file in silence, and then audio and waveform kicks back in.
vio0633 6:06 AM - 5 January, 2013
Yea....that video shows exactly my issue as well. Unfortunately its hard for me to pin point exactly what is causing it or how to replicate the issue.
vio0633 6:10 AM - 5 January, 2013
Here is my issue I posted a while back. My system locks up and you can see the waveform slowly come in and out at the :32 mark.

Watchwww.youtube.com
vio0633 6:13 AM - 5 January, 2013
When you hear me go "That right there" what im pointing out is how the waveform blanked out there and the system locking up.
Djgalileo 6:16 AM - 5 January, 2013
I ran two different sets today. one was 3 hrs long and it didn't cut out once. the other set i ran today it cut off twice in an hour. It happens randomly. This time i was playing videos the other set i wasn't as much. but i have no idea why it chooses to do it. My macbook is more than enough to run videos.
DJMINGIA 4:03 PM - 5 January, 2013
Same here, random, no rhyme or reason. Some gigs happens just once, others not at all, others yet again, alot more. Scary.
DJMINGIA 5:30 PM - 5 January, 2013
Quote:
Here is my issue I posted a while back. My system locks up and you can see the waveform slowly come in and out at the :32 mark.


BTW, what interface are you using in that video? SL1? 57?
vio0633 5:38 PM - 5 January, 2013
Quote:
Quote:
Here is my issue I posted a while back. My system locks up and you can see the waveform slowly come in and out at the :32 mark.


BTW, what interface are you using in that video? SL1? 57?


57 running ME
DJMINGIA 12:04 AM - 6 January, 2013
Quote:
57 running ME



Just switched out the sl1 with a sl4. So far so good. We'll see tonight and tomorrow.
Ikhan 8:56 AM - 6 January, 2013
I'm finding after a track is loaded, Serato wants to re-write tags, mostly on video only why?
vio0633 9:49 AM - 6 January, 2013
Quote:
I'm finding after a track is loaded, Serato wants to re-write tags, mostly on video only why?


Its funny you say this. I had the same issue and started a thread about this. I thought that maybe the tags getting rewritten all the time was the cause of my waveforms disappearing and audio cutting in and out.

serato.com
Serato, Support
David Wood 9:41 PM - 6 January, 2013
Hey Guys,

Just back from Holiday today, sorry bout the late response. If all roads seem to be leading to the USB 1.1 devices, Rane SL 1 & Rane TTM57 this could be part of the issue. DJMINGIA has had some good feedback putting some of this together.

We are looking into it. Now i'm back i'll be back on the case however, this could be the issue with newer Mac's spec's running with old hardware.

DJ Ikhan, did you say this happened with a Rane Sixty-Two?

Regards
Dave W
DJMINGIA 11:38 PM - 6 January, 2013
Quote:
Hey Guys,

Just back from Holiday today, sorry bout the late response. If all roads seem to be leading to the USB 1.1 devices, Rane SL 1 & Rane TTM57 this could be part of the issue. DJMINGIA has had some good feedback putting some of this together.

We are looking into it. Now i'm back i'll be back on the case however, this could be the issue with newer Mac's spec's running with old hardware.

DJ Ikhan, did you say this happened with a Rane Sixty-Two?



Hi. I switched out my SL1 and used (borrowed) an SL4 last night on my computer. There was one hiccup, in the headphones thank God, while I was cueing up a song. Again, the same exact blank waveform/audio thing, however, it only happened once, wasn't that bad at all, and recovered real quick. Now, this quick recovery has happened also when using an SL1, so I'm not so confident that switching to an SL4 is the answer just yet, and who knows, maybe the problem just didn't present itself, just as I would have nights using an SL1 with no problems. Will have to do more testing and gigs.

As far as re-writing tags, yes, I have noticed this too. I have analyzed all my songs and re-scanned all my ID3 tags, but yet still, there are times when Scratch Live re-writes the tag. I see it in white lettering at the bottom of the screen, and it stays there for awhile. Not sure if that is part of the waveform issue we're all having though.

On a side note, used my old backup white Macbook (2007) today with 2.5 gigs RAM with the SL4 and SSL 2.3 because where I was at, there was no way I could afford even the littlest of errors. No hiccups whatsoever, and I even raised the cache and lowered the buffer.

Anyway, if this whole problem is indeed a USB 1.1 newer MAC thing, hopefully it can be fixed.

Will keep you informed of the SL4 testing.
Serato, Support
David Wood 12:52 AM - 7 January, 2013
Thanks for the update DJMINGIA, interesting that it may have happened on the Rane SL4 too. Please keep me informed. Keen to get this narrowed down so we can look at a solution for you all.
vio0633 1:50 AM - 7 January, 2013
Quote:
Thanks for the update DJMINGIA, interesting that it may have happened on the Rane SL4 too. Please keep me informed. Keen to get this narrowed down so we can look at a solution for you all.


Dave I know this isnt my thread, but im subscribed to see how you and the Serato team do to help us out. Thank you for your support! I hope this issue gets resolved and its something that maybe we can possibly see in the next updated version of SSL. If you need anything from me as well, please dont hesitate to ask. Im more then glad to help out with this issue :)
Dj Buscat 2:02 AM - 7 January, 2013
I have SL3, and it happened again to me lastnight... This is not good for business. I Dee'Jayed a concert yesterday, and was frightened to use my serato, so I played all their tracks on Itunes. Didn't want to mess up their performance... SMH
DJMINGIA 3:32 AM - 7 January, 2013
Quote:
I have SL3, and it happened again to me lastnight... This is not good for business. I Dee'Jayed a concert yesterday, and was frightened to use my serato, so I played all their tracks on Itunes. Didn't want to mess up their performance... SMH



What computer do you have? Is it an Apple I-series? From 2012? What make and model of harddrive? Firewire? External? Trying to see if you and I have any commonalities since we both have this problem.
MarZmatrixZ 10:31 PM - 7 January, 2013
Wow, i used to have this same issue as well. But i wasn't using a newer i series mac. I was using a 2006 G5 core duo iMac previously on tiger but i jumped to snow leopard to update to the latest SL software. It was the same issue as everyone else and sometimes you could see the waveform popping in right at the line as the track was playing. If the playtime beat the waveform to the line, then the audio would drop out. It was terrible. I luckily haven't had this issue lately so thank goodness. Here's what i did. Btw I'm using the 1st gen ttm57sl on 2.4.3. I replaced my internal HD to a 3TB HD and i had to update to 10.6.8 to get the SL bugs out. I upgraded my memory in the iMac to 3gb. Before i was using a 1TB external HD so i noticed the tracks loaded faster with no lag or freeze, waveform and all. I run both audio & video. So far so good. I'm sorry that this won't help ppl with newer macs and this isn't a cheap fix. The HD alone was over $250. As much as i wanted to upgrade to a new mac with more power, i'm deterred because of the compatibility issues. I use a 2009 13" MBA 2.13ghz on 2gb with a 125gb SSD running lion (audio/video) for backup and it runs fine. So before i saw this thread i had always thought this was a Internal vs external HD issue.
DJMINGIA 1:19 AM - 8 January, 2013
Quote:
Wow, i used to have this same issue as well. But i wasn't using a newer i series mac. I was using a 2006 G5 core duo iMac previously on tiger but i jumped to snow leopard to update to the latest SL software. It was the same issue as everyone else and sometimes you could see the waveform popping in right at the line as the track was playing. If the playtime beat the waveform to the line, then the audio would drop out. It was terrible. I luckily haven't had this issue lately so thank goodness. Here's what i did. Btw I'm using the 1st gen ttm57sl on 2.4.3. I replaced my internal HD to a 3TB HD and i had to update to 10.6.8 to get the SL bugs out. I upgraded my memory in the iMac to 3gb. Before i was using a 1TB external HD so i noticed the tracks loaded faster with no lag or freeze, waveform and all. I run both audio & video. So far so good. I'm sorry that this won't help ppl with newer macs and this isn't a cheap fix. The HD alone was over $250. As much as i wanted to upgrade to a new mac with more power, i'm deterred because of the compatibility issues. I use a 2009 13" MBA 2.13ghz on 2gb with a 125gb SSD running lion (audio/video) for backup and it runs fine. So before i saw this thread i had always thought this was a Internal vs external HD issue.


Hi. Are you saying the problem presented itself after you updated from Tiger to Snow Leopard, or you always had the problem? Also, you are getting your music of an internal now? Unfortunately, I don't believe I can downgrade to 10.6.8 on my new I-series MAcbook Pro. However, on my old white Macbook, I have 10.6.8, and have zero problems. When you had the problem, what OS version were you at?
Ikhan 6:20 AM - 8 January, 2013
This thread is for:

10.8.2 Mountain Lion, Serato 2.4.2/ 2.4.3 i - series Macbook Pro (mid 2010)
Music and Videos for which all overviews have been built and analyzed, re-scanned id3 tags, deleted all corrupt files. V2 Database has been recreated etc. All power save adjustments have been made as instructed
All music mp4 and mp3 files are on 2 drives hooked up internally and the other via Opti-Bay drive (from OWC store).

Using Rane hardware TTM57 new and old models, Rane 62, and SL1 Box.
In a loud dj booth. Getting audio and wave dropouts, which have been corrected by disabling SMS Sudden Motion Detector.

However, there are sluggish performance issues:
When a track is loaded the previously loaded track has its tags re-written, especially on video MP4 files attached far above this thread.
Also the situation seems to happen randomly but mostly 2 hrs into the gig, lots of vibrations but nothing I haven't Dj'd before using Serato.

Otherwise, been using Serato fine for years.
Serato, Support
David Wood 8:32 PM - 8 January, 2013
Quote:
Using Rane hardware TTM57 new and old models, Rane 62, and SL1 Box.
In a loud dj booth. Getting audio and wave dropouts, which have been corrected by disabling SMS Sudden Motion Detector.

Are you saying the waveform dropouts have stopped now completely? Disabling SMS can be extremely dangerous and can cause major damage.
However that leads me to believe that the HD is again not buffering the Waveform Data fast enough. Try re-enabling it and try putting foam or trying to insulate the computer to stop it getting vibrations.

Regards
Dave W
DJMINGIA 10:13 PM - 8 January, 2013
Quote:
Using Rane hardware TTM57 new and old models, Rane 62, and SL1 Box.
In a loud dj booth. Getting audio and wave dropouts, which have been corrected by disabling SMS Sudden Motion Detector.



I don't think that is the solution. I say this because it is possible that the problem just has not presented itself (it was only tested without SMS on that 1 gig), but more importantly, I don't have this problem when I go back to my older white apple with SMS on. All things being equal, I do have the problem on my newer Apple even with SMS off. I am thinking it is an issue with running an any Apple OS above 10.6.8 and SSL 2.3 or higher. AGin, up to OS 10.6.8 looks good.
MarZmatrixZ 6:26 PM - 9 January, 2013
Quote:
Quote:
Wow, i used to have this same issue as well. But i wasn't using a newer i series mac. I was using a 2006 G5 core duo iMac previously on tiger but i jumped to snow leopard to update to the latest SL software. It was the same issue as everyone else and sometimes you could see the waveform popping in right at the line as the track was playing. If the playtime beat the waveform to the line, then the audio would drop out. It was terrible. I luckily haven't had this issue lately so thank goodness. Here's what i did. Btw I'm using the 1st gen ttm57sl on 2.4.3. I replaced my internal HD to a 3TB HD and i had to update to 10.6.8 to get the SL bugs out. I upgraded my memory in the iMac to 3gb. Before i was using a 1TB external HD so i noticed the tracks loaded faster with no lag or freeze, waveform and all. I run both audio & video. So far so good. I'm sorry that this won't help ppl with newer macs and this isn't a cheap fix. The HD alone was over $250. As much as i wanted to upgrade to a new mac with more power, i'm deterred because of the compatibility issues. I use a 2009 13" MBA 2.13ghz on 2gb with a 125gb SSD running lion (audio/video) for backup and it runs fine. So before i saw this thread i had always thought this was a Internal vs external HD issue.


Hi. Are you saying the problem presented itself after you updated from Tiger to Snow Leopard, or you always had the problem? Also, you are getting your music of an internal now? Unfortunately, I don't believe I can downgrade to 10.6.8 on my new I-series MAcbook Pro. However, on my old white Macbook, I have 10.6.8, and have zero problems. When you had the problem, what OS version were you at?



I had the waveform issues with tiger. Upgrading to snow leopard gave me stability in SL. It seems like OSX 10.6.8 is the holy grail system for handling SL. All my music is internal on the HD in my iMac. Also on my MBA which benefits from the SSD. On the MBA, after starting it, all the crates & songs pop up instantly. The only issue i came across is that for some odd reason, using effects from theTTM57SL mixer and serato's video do NOT play well together. It uses an extreme amount of memory and can sometimes cause SL to crash or become unstable for the rest of the night. I can only use either or. (Video/Effects) Also, once you have started using your effects while playing video, even after you stop using the effects your memory will not go back down and will stay at peak levels.
vio0633 9:30 PM - 9 January, 2013
Quote:

Quote:


It seems like OSX 10.6.8 is the holy grail system for handling SL.


+1
vio0633 2:56 AM - 11 January, 2013
I just bought this www.g-technology.com and will report back if this helps out the issue at all. I got a 1TB 7200rpm 16mb cache G-Drive at the apple store today. This drive has more cache capacity and is faster then my Western Digital My Passport Studio hard drive. Hoping maybe the external could be my issue.
vio0633 12:39 PM - 12 January, 2013
So I would like to report back on how my gig went. After swapping out my external with the new one I got, I did not notice any waveforms/audio cutting in and out at all. My entire night went very smooth. Im going to continue testing it before I say that was the issue but I played for 6 hours straight without any hiccups.
MarZmatrixZ 9:26 PM - 12 January, 2013
Quote:
So I would like to report back on how my gig went. After swapping out my external with the new one I got, I did not notice any waveforms/audio cutting in and out at all. My entire night went very smooth. Im going to continue testing it before I say that was the issue but I played for 6 hours straight without any hiccups.


Well that sounds great. If it does actually turn out to be certain HDs that will cause the waveform/audio issue then this needs to be addressed to all SL users. (i.e. a minimum requirement) It would seem that SL is harder on a HD than normal apps.
DJMINGIA 10:48 PM - 12 January, 2013
Quote:
Well that sounds great. If it does actually turn out to be certain HDs that will cause the waveform/audio issue then this needs to be addressed to all SL users. (i.e. a minimum requirement) It would seem that SL is harder on a HD than normal apps.



I suppose this can be true, but I am not convinced, only because let's say your average MP3 file is 5 megabytes. USB 2.0 has a transfer rate MUCH faster than that, and even today's slowest drive should have no problem at all handling a file such as that. Even 10 megs, 20 megs. Also, With all things being equal, the problem does not present itself on older Macs.
vio0633 12:23 AM - 13 January, 2013
Quote:
Quote:
Well that sounds great. If it does actually turn out to be certain HDs that will cause the waveform/audio issue then this needs to be addressed to all SL users. (i.e. a minimum requirement) It would seem that SL is harder on a HD than normal apps.



I suppose this can be true, but I am not convinced, only because let's say your average MP3 file is 5 megabytes. USB 2.0 has a transfer rate MUCH faster than that, and even today's slowest drive should have no problem at all handling a file such as that. Even 10 megs, 20 megs. Also, With all things being equal, the problem does not present itself on older Macs.


Well it was worth a shot to swap out hard drives to see if this was the issue. Worst case scenario is it didnt help any and I could always return it to the Apple store for a full refund :)

Im not entirely convinced myself either. I will continue to test this out and report back any changes.
DJMINGIA 4:18 AM - 14 January, 2013
OK, so today, while using my 2007 white Macbook with SL4, had the same thing happening, audio dropouts, but here's the weird part, even though the dropouts were happening more frequently than with my 2012 Macbook Pro, the audio dropouts themselves were shorter, say like a 1/4 second of silence, as opposed to 1-3 seconds of silence on the newer Macbook Pro. Weird, how it was more frequent but shorter silences. Anyway, not sure what else to do. Ever since upgrading past 2.2.x, I've had this issue.

The only thing I can think of is springing for the best Non solid state harddrive out there, but I do not think that the hard rive is the issue. I'm at a loss.
DJMINGIA 4:20 AM - 14 January, 2013
Quick question to the Serato team, Let's say I upgraded to 2.4.3, then decided to go back to 2.2 (or any version for that matter), are there components/extensions/anything that may get left from 2.4.3 that may be causing this problem and following me no matter what version I decide to go to after downgrading from 2.4.3? Maybe hidden files from th einstall I can't see? I've tried downgrading and the problem is still following me. Help.
Dj LiL 12:43 AM - 15 January, 2013
I'm having the same problems you guys are having. Same machine, same serato version etc... I've tried nearly EVERYTHING. I find out it quite annoying how it only does it at certain venues. We definitely need the serato tam on this. A few of my Dj friends are also having the same problems after upgrading to 2.4.2 and 2.4.3
Ikhan 1:31 AM - 15 January, 2013
Lots of people having this issue, hopefully a resolve soon
Serato, Support
David Wood 1:41 AM - 15 January, 2013
DJMINGIA : in regards to downgrading back to earlier versions on Mac, the .app contains the program as a whole. The other things which are added like preferences etc should not be an issue.

We are continuing to investigate however we have not been able to reproduce this here yet which can make it hard to find and fix the cause of these dropouts. It doesn't seem to be happening to everyone but is effecting a growing number of users. Please continue to update us with your tests and findings.
vio0633 : In many cases this issue could be I/O related and hopefully this is the fix for you. Please let us know. Hard thing about this issue is that there may be different causes for the same symptom.
DJMINGIA 3:47 AM - 15 January, 2013
I wonder what the commonalities here are. For me, it seems once I upgraded to 2.4.3, that no matter what version I downgrade back to, the problem stayed. The only thing I can think of is that by coincidence, my new harddrive which I bought before upgrading (which was working fine before said upgrade), had something go on it just at the same time as I upgraded. I don't know. It's a WD Firewire 800, here is the link www.wdc.com

What i don't understand is how I can have disappearing waveforms and dropped audio on a Macbook Pro with plenty of RAM to spare, all non essentials disabled, SSL running at bare minimum, and using a Firewire 800 external drive to load up a 5 megabyte MP3 file. Think about it, a small 5MB file, and all these issues. If it doesn't work well on this system, how can it work well on any other system? And I'm not the only one. Just wish this can be figured out.
DJ506 2:32 PM - 15 January, 2013
~ I've been tracking this discussion because I've had same problem. Started in Oct. Video would freeze then waveform would disappear followed by audio dropping out. I've done everything to stop this from happening but it still would appear at random times.

My latest attempt to fix this has been most successful to date. This is what I did...

I shut off "Dedicated Video View", 4th view button. I went back to my regular view which for me is the 2nd view button, vertical waveforms.

Is this the problem?
Dunno yet but I'm 8 nights/gigs in with no problems yet. Longest streak since this problem arrived.

BTW, these are my computer specs:

15" Mid-2010 Macbook Pro

Processor 2.66 GHz Intel Core i7

Memory 8 GB 1067 MHz DDR3

Graphics NVIDIA GeForce GT 330M 512 MB

Software OS X 10.8.2

120GB OCZ-VERTEX3 SSD for my Main Drive with OS

500GB Hitachi HTS545050B9SA02 internal with all my Audio Files

3TB Seagate GoFlex Desk External Drive FW800 for all my Video Files

Not sure if this info helps but it couldn't hurt. Hope this problem get resolved soon. :)
DJMINGIA 3:27 PM - 15 January, 2013
Quote:
My latest attempt to fix this has been most successful to date. This is what I did...

I shut off "Dedicated Video View", 4th view button. I went back to my regular view which for me is the 2nd view button, vertical waveforms.



Is dedicated video view only an option if you have Scratch Live Video? By regular view (2nd view button) I take it you mean the original view that SSL first had (classic), basically the waveforms vertically side by side? That's the view I use and have problems with. Maybe I'll go to horizontal and see.
DJMINGIA 3:17 AM - 16 January, 2013
Was just thinking, maybe it's having too many files that are "ready to go" in SSL that is causing this problem. For instance, I have about 55,000 total files in Scratch Live ready to go and analyzed, when I attempted to add about 40,000 more, I noticed SSL was really choppy and slow, and even more slower when I attempted to move around, locate a song, and attempt to load it. Screen freezes, etc.. so I decided to take those 40,000 out.

Could it be that there is a variable threshold on how many files you can have analyzed and ready to go within Scratch Live that we are all hitting? Maybe it's a lower threshold for slower computers? To those having this problem, how many files do you have within Scratch that are analyzed and ready to go?

As soon as i deleted those extra 40,000 songs, I noticed a drastic improvement.
Ikhan 3:54 AM - 16 January, 2013
@MINGIA 30k files mp4 and mp3 mix, all videos are in Opti-Drive internal, rest of mp3's are in built in internal drive.
dj shadow from detroit 5:22 PM - 16 January, 2013
this has to be a bug in 2.4.3
Ikhan 8:01 PM - 16 January, 2013
Quote:
this has to be a bug in 2.4.3



Co-sign
DJMINGIA 11:07 PM - 16 January, 2013
Quote:
this has to be a bug in 2.4.3



I have had it in 2.4.2 and earlier versions (2.3.3, etc..). That is why I believe that once you install 2.4.3, that there may be something left behind that cause the problem no matter which version you downgrade to.
Serato, Support
David Wood 11:34 PM - 16 January, 2013
The only parts which are installed to my knowledge are these things:

.app file into Applications
Driver files : .kext files
Preference files: .Plist's

So when you download grade there shouldn't be anything left behind besides preferences which sort your personal pref's from the Serato programs. And the .kext driver files can change if there has been a set of driver updates from us or Rane on the hardware devices.

If you wish to remove these for tests when downgrading to an older version. Remove them and delete then install your version which you wish to test.

Macintosh HD > System > library > Extensions >

SeratoScratchDriver.kext
SIXTY-EIGHT.10.6.kext
SixtyOne.10.6.kext
SixtyTwo.10.6.kext
SL2.10.6.kext
Sl3Driver.10.6.kext
SL4.10.6.kext

Regards
Dave W
Rane, Support
Zach S 11:39 PM - 16 January, 2013
Keep in mind.. if you remove those drivers you won't be able to use any of the devices as the sound cards for other programs until you reinstall Scratch Live which will reinstall those drivers.
Serato, Support
David Wood 11:43 PM - 16 January, 2013
To add to that: /Applications/Scratch Live - the application itself
~/Library/Preferences/com.serato.scratchlive.plist - program preferences
~/Music/ScratchLIVE - holds crate information
/System/Library/Extensions/SeratoScratchDriver.kext - the hardware driver
/Library/Receipts/Scratch LIVE App.pkg - installer receipt
/Library/Receipts/Scratch LIVE Driver.pkg - driver install receipt

and if you have multiple hard drives:
/Volumes/harddrive/.ScratchLIVE - crates on other drives besides the boot drive
vio0633 7:24 AM - 17 January, 2013
Quote:
I wonder what the commonalities here are. For me, it seems once I upgraded to 2.4.3, that no matter what version I downgrade back to, the problem stayed. The only thing I can think of is that by coincidence, my new harddrive which I bought before upgrading (which was working fine before said upgrade), had something go on it just at the same time as I upgraded. I don't know. It's a WD Firewire 800, here is the link www.wdc.com

What i don't understand is how I can have disappearing waveforms and dropped audio on a Macbook Pro with plenty of RAM to spare, all non essentials disabled, SSL running at bare minimum, and using a Firewire 800 external drive to load up a 5 megabyte MP3 file. Think about it, a small 5MB file, and all these issues. If it doesn't work well on this system, how can it work well on any other system? And I'm not the only one. Just wish this can be figured out.


You know whats funny? I had the EXACT same hard drive you linked to and this is when the issue happened. Once I got my G Drive, problem went away. Im still testing it out here guys! Havent seen it come back yet.
vio0633 7:30 AM - 17 January, 2013
One thing I would like to point out that maybe could be the issue is that occasionally SSL will rewrite an ID3 tag after you eject or load a new track (nothing changed on the file ie cue points, loops or anything. It just rewrites the tags at random times). So if your rewriting ID3 tags on MP4 files live while streaming video and doing other stuff....maybe this could be causing an I/O issue within the hardware as it cannot keep up with the multitasking that this bug is causing?

Just throwing out some ideas! I really dont think my HD was the issue at hand (Hoping it is but I havent had alot of time to test this out live).
Dj LiL 11:20 AM - 17 January, 2013
Quote:
One thing I would like to point out that maybe could be the issue is that occasionally SSL will rewrite an ID3 tag after you eject or load a new track (nothing changed on the file ie cue points, loops or anything. It just rewrites the tags at random times). So if your rewriting ID3 tags on MP4 files live while streaming video and doing other stuff....maybe this could be causing an I/O issue within the hardware as it cannot keep up with the multitasking that this bug is causing?

Just throwing out some ideas! I really dont think my HD was the issue at hand (Hoping it is but I havent had alot of time to test this out live).



I've noticed that. Serato 2.4.3 is rewriting tags to my mp4's although my whole collection has already been analyzed.
Deejay Steve 1:50 PM - 17 January, 2013
I have that same WD 2TB hard drive and I'm running SSL 1.9.2 and I have had dropouts too a couple of times. The dropouts have now stopped and I believe it only happened when the drive is on it's side. Never had a dropout with the drive flat on it's feet.
Would be cool if you guys can confirm this.

I also need to let you know that I also had previously installed 2.4.3 and removed it almost straight away so this also may be the problem.
Ikhan 6:42 PM - 17 January, 2013
I'm sure our problems stem from id3 tags being re-written on ejection
Deejay Steve 3:17 AM - 18 January, 2013
Ok, just thought it was worth a try :-)
Ikhan 3:15 PM - 18 January, 2013
Noticed that with 2.4.2, then next time I open up Serato, the previously loaded tracks that I have played the day before are now white when they should be green. So SSL. Is not remembering the tracks I played and keeping them green after restart. While I am playing they turn green, but don't remember upon restart. What is causing this?
Also yes can any advise what the correct version of 1d3 tags are for iTunes and serato?
Rane, Support
Zach S 6:09 PM - 18 January, 2013
Quote:
While I am playing they turn green, but don't remember upon restart. What is causing this?

A corrupt databaseV2 file.
Rebuild it/them --> serato.com
Quote:
Also yes can any advise what the correct version of 1d3 tags are for iTunes and serato?

Scratch Live gets along best with id3 tag version 2.3.
DJMINGIA 6:31 PM - 21 January, 2013
Well, it happened again last night on known audio files that have played flawlessly night after night for the past 3+ years. The audio would cut out, the waveform would go blank at the same time, and then kick back in 1/4 second later. Real quick drops every 20-30 seconds. Thank god I had a CD ready to go. Played that, shutdown SSL, and restarted, not sure if that helped or not.

I just don't get it. Fast firewire 800 drives, SSL at minimum, everything analyzed, corrupt files deleted, yet SSL is STILL re-writing ID tags on known played songs, waveforms and program "freezing" while loading songs (music still plays, but still have a heart attack for that 5 seconds), and the worst is the waveform disappearing and audio drops.

How can this be happening on the fastest MAC out there, FW800 drive, plenty of RAM, SSL at minimum, known songs playing, everything analyzed, switched out cables, etc, etc...

Downgraded to 2.3 on newer and older MACS and problem is still there. All this happened after upgrading to 2.4.x. Now the problem will not go away no matter what version we go to and no matter what specs we minimize, and no matter what boxes and cables we change out. Can it be that since 2.3.3 re-writes the tags a different way than it used to, that somehow it is messing with the program no matter what version you go to after?
Ikhan 8:30 PM - 21 January, 2013
I am in exact same situation @DJ Mingia is in. I've already done everything now, just going through the same things over and over. I agree it has to do with the "Re'Writing" of tags, all my overviews were built, then my database was corrupt somehow, then I fixed that, deleted corrupt files. re-built overviews and still my database is corrupt again after 2 months. Serato has to do more, an apple tech again confirmed my HDD's and Macbook are running just fine. I've done everything, SERATO ?
Serato, Support
David Wood 1:32 AM - 22 January, 2013
Hey Guys,

DJMINGIA has created a great thread for you to contribute too if you wish, could be very helpful for our Development and Product team

serato.com

Regards
Dave W
Ikhan 3:25 AM - 22 January, 2013
Quote:
Quote:
One thing I would like to point out that maybe could be the issue is that occasionally SSL will rewrite an ID3 tag after you eject or load a new track (nothing changed on the file ie cue points, loops or anything. It just rewrites the tags at random times). So if your rewriting ID3 tags on MP4 files live while streaming video and doing other stuff....maybe this could be causing an I/O issue within the hardware as it cannot keep up with the multitasking that this bug is causing?

Just throwing out some ideas! I really dont think my HD was the issue at hand (Hoping it is but I havent had alot of time to test this out live).



I've noticed that. Serato 2.4.3 is rewriting tags to my mp4's although my whole collection has already been analyzed.


After all the above i realized my database V2 is corrupt so now I have to do that AGAIN, if you look way up top in this thread I had to do this previously. Now i have to do it again.
MarZmatrixZ 1:01 PM - 22 January, 2013
Is anybody having this issues on OSX 10.6.8? My MBA is running lion 10.7.5 and i noticed SL is not as stable as on snow leopard. I'm thinking of downgrading my OSX on my MBA back to snow leopard just to further compare and test to see if it runs better. I know MBAs or MACs in general, can run up a lot of memory with it's kernel_task issues but they appear to be at more stable levels in snow leopard. One key thing i've noticed in differences is that whenever you activate serato video plugin/mix emergency on lions OSX, it leaves SL less stable. For example, the waveforms & virtual deck become less smooth permanently regardless of how much memory or processing power the apps are using.
vio0633 9:45 PM - 22 January, 2013
Lion was a horrible OS release! It never ran good on my Mac's with serato. Once I installed Mountain Lion, performance got MUCH better for me.
LJ_WOOLSEY 10:44 PM - 22 January, 2013
Wow loads to read here got shit bored but here is how i have fixed this issue for other djs.

First get there external and smash it to bits with a hammer!!! Then go buy a gtech external with 16mb catche or more and 7200rpm. Use firewire 800.

Then reinstall the osx to 10.6.8 fresh install.

Then load fan controll software and make a dj profile for full speed fans.

Then turn off SMS. This helps loads when in places with alot of vibration.

Then i rebuild all there serato folders just keeping the subcrates folder. Then force analyze all files (hold ctrl while pressing analyze files button)

Then make sure there battery and charger is an offical apple one (fakes have been known to cause issuies)

Then the venue it self check for cheap ass smoke machine that have a mains powered controller as these makes spikes that knock the harddrive out. Also fridges or aircon on the same power supply.

Always make djs plug there mac and other dj equipment into surge protector plugs.

Then always make them to a disk permisions repair before they start the gig.

So far no drop outs!!!

Could be just luck i supose. But have you guys tried all that??? And again sorry if this has already been posted just could not be arsed to read hole thread.
Rane, Support
Zach S 10:46 PM - 22 January, 2013
Quote:
First get there external and smash it to bits with a hammer!!! Then go buy a gtech external with 16mb catche or more and 7200rpm. Use firewire 800.

lol love this! ... and I would agree:)
LJ_WOOLSEY 10:55 PM - 22 January, 2013
It's so true when i get a dj asking about issues it goes do you use an external? Yes it band new bla bla bla i make them buy a gtech then never hear of issues again. Those drives are endorsed by a fee companies i think Serato should aswell they do seem that good!

Not saying it will fix these guys issues tho but defo think about getting one peeps!
vio0633 1:19 AM - 23 January, 2013
Quote:
Quote:
First get there external and smash it to bits with a hammer!!! Then go buy a gtech external with 16mb catche or more and 7200rpm. Use firewire 800.

lol love this! ... and I would agree:)


Thats what I did (and got the same drive as well) and havent seen any issues occur yet. Haven't performed live but from my testing here at the house, everything looks much better.
vio0633 1:21 AM - 23 January, 2013
If you guys have an Apple store near buy go and buy one! Try it out and if it doesnt fix the issue then just return it to them. They offer a 2 week return on their hard drives. Its worth a shot you know? No one right now has any idea on why this is going on (even the serato team). Best bet is to try and start to rule out any hardware that you can.
DJMINGIA 1:42 AM - 23 January, 2013
Quote:
Wow loads to read here got shit bored but here is how i have fixed this issue for other djs.

First get there external and smash it to bits with a hammer!!! Then go buy a gtech external with 16mb catche or more and 7200rpm. Use firewire 800.

Then reinstall the osx to 10.6.8 fresh install.

Then load fan controll software and make a dj profile for full speed fans.

Then turn off SMS. This helps loads when in places with alot of vibration.

Then i rebuild all there serato folders just keeping the subcrates folder. Then force analyze all files (hold ctrl while pressing analyze files button)

Then make sure there battery and charger is an offical apple one (fakes have been known to cause issuies)

Then the venue it self check for cheap ass smoke machine that have a mains powered controller as these makes spikes that knock the harddrive out. Also fridges or aircon on the same power supply.

Always make djs plug there mac and other dj equipment into surge protector plugs.

Then always make them to a disk permisions repair before they start the gig.

So far no drop outs!!!

Could be just luck i supose. But have you guys tried all that??? And again sorry if this has already been posted just could not be arsed to read hole thread.



Unfortunately, the newest MAcbook Pro's cannot run anything less than 10.7.x.

This problem happens even with tried and true harddrives that I have used in the past with no problems (Even 7200 ones). And yes, I do use FW800.

SMS off doesn't solve the problem.

Rebuilding and re analyzing doesn't help.

Have 3 original Apple power supplies.

Dedicated "clean" power all the time. No fog machines, no ac's, just clean separate power, and it happens at different venues.

No one uses my stuff but me. Mobile DJ.

Fan control haven't tried yet, I will, but I doubt it will help as my MAC runs cool already.
Ikhan 2:17 AM - 23 January, 2013
I've been using Serato for over 10 yrs no problems. This is def a serato issue, noticing lots of Dj's having problems I just want to help fix it. Disabling SMS is very dangerous.
Serato, Support
David Wood 2:21 AM - 23 January, 2013
Quote:
Disabling SMS is very dangerous.


I agree, we are looking into it and if you are in this thread and having issues please refer to this thread if you wish to help us to narrow the search further: serato.com

Cheers guys

Dave W
djambesa 6:16 AM - 23 January, 2013
++1
LJ_WOOLSEY 12:49 PM - 23 January, 2013
Quote:
Quote:
Wow loads to read here got shit bored but here is how i have fixed this issue for other djs.

First get there external and smash it to bits with a hammer!!! Then go buy a gtech external with 16mb catche or more and 7200rpm. Use firewire 800.

Then reinstall the osx to 10.6.8 fresh install.

Then load fan controll software and make a dj profile for full speed fans.

Then turn off SMS. This helps loads when in places with alot of vibration.

Then i rebuild all there serato folders just keeping the subcrates folder. Then force analyze all files (hold ctrl while pressing analyze files button)

Then make sure there battery and charger is an offical apple one (fakes have been known to cause issuies)

Then the venue it self check for cheap ass smoke machine that have a mains powered controller as these makes spikes that knock the harddrive out. Also fridges or aircon on the same power supply.

Always make djs plug there mac and other dj equipment into surge protector plugs.

Then always make them to a disk permisions repair before they start the gig.

So far no drop outs!!!

Could be just luck i supose. But have you guys tried all that??? And again sorry if this has already been posted just could not be arsed to read hole thread.



Unfortunately, the newest MAcbook Pro's cannot run anything less than 10.7.x.

This problem happens even with tried and true harddrives that I have used in the past with no problems (Even 7200 ones). And yes, I do use FW800.

SMS off doesn't solve the problem.

Rebuilding and re analyzing doesn't help.

Have 3 original Apple power supplies.

Dedicated "clean" power all the time. No fog machines, no ac's, just clean separate power, and it happens at different venues.

No one uses my stuff but me. Mobile DJ.

Fan control haven't tried yet, I will, but I doubt it will help as my MAC runs cool already.


Cool so the only thing you have not tried is the gtech external. Might be worth trying.

Is turning off SMS really that dangerous???
Ikhan 2:21 PM - 23 January, 2013
Ur 7200 rpm g tech FireWire is same speed as my internal 5400rpm drive. Speed of drives never gave me a problem for years man. Been using these drives for over 5 yrs
DJMINGIA 2:37 PM - 23 January, 2013
Quote:
Cool so the only thing you have not tried is the gtech external. Might be worth trying.

Is turning off SMS really that dangerous???



True, haven't tried a G-Tech drive yet, but I have tried numerous other ones, all FW, including ones that I've never had a problem with that are 7200 RPM. One of them being a WD. Something that scares me are the reviews of the G-Tech.

store.apple.com
LJ_WOOLSEY 5:34 PM - 23 January, 2013
Quote:
Ur 7200 rpm g tech FireWire is same speed as my internal 5400rpm drive. Speed of drives never gave me a problem for years man. Been using these drives for over 5 yrs


Not saying it ain't but like i said a number of people seem to have really good results with Gtech drives and Serato Software...

Quote:
Quote:
Cool so the only thing you have not tried is the gtech external. Might be worth trying.

Is turning off SMS really that dangerous???



True, haven't tried a G-Tech drive yet, but I have tried numerous other ones, all FW, including ones that I've never had a problem with that are 7200 RPM. One of them being a WD. Something that scares me are the reviews of the G-Tech.

store.apple.com


True that looks bad but you can find tones on any harddrive. a harddrive can fail at anytime. That's why backups are needed!!!

I am not saying the Gtechs will totally solve your issues BUT i am letting you know this has fixed this issue for the 10-12ppl i have got to change there external for a gtech and they have all used WD before the change. (Also the harddrives they had were 8MB Cache and the gtechs were 16MB OR More!) So maybe that could be the issue here!) ((Just sharing my advise here guys))

Like i said so many things can make dropouts so not all of your dropout issues are going tobe for the same reason!

Will follow all these threads tho and keep my eye to see IF any kind of fix does happen.

Cheers Woolsey.
Ikhan 8:59 PM - 23 January, 2013
Quote:
Quote:
While I am playing they turn green, but don't remember upon restart. What is causing this?

A corrupt databaseV2 file.
Rebuild it/them --> serato.com
Quote:
Also yes can any advise what the correct version of 1d3 tags are for iTunes and serato?

Scratch Live gets along best with id3 tag version 2.3.


I followed the above and i notice every time i re-create a new "database V2" I have tore-build "overviews" for 1800 tracks. Any idea why?
Dj Luxury 11:35 AM - 26 January, 2013
So tonight I had the problem 3 times. I restarted every time and it didn't solve anything. The last time it happened i noticed the waveforms were completely gone, so i tried loading other mp4's and mp3's, IT WOULD NOT LET ME. Serato was still running, computer was also running, no audio, & it would NOT let me load a track as if the keyboard was not functional. After the last restart I decided to mix all internal, luckily this worked. I have no idea why, but the problem didn't persist. Talk about a nightmare. I've tried everything you guys have stated.


im running basically same set-up as you guys.
Mac Osx 10.8 - 8GB memory
Serato 2.4.3
Serato Video 1.1
2tb firewire 800 Gtech Drive
LJ_WOOLSEY 12:39 PM - 26 January, 2013
So we can rule out gtech drives as a fix.

That is strange the software wont let you do anything with it.
skritchin 2:57 PM - 26 January, 2013
I'm having the same problem. It's done it a few times to where the audio and waveform cuts off for about 10 seconds then comes back to the point of the song as if it never happened. Last night it cut out, came back, but after it came back, the file was corrupt. A song I've had for 3 years which I never had problems with before. Every track that has ever cut out isn't corrupt. I'm using Serato 2.4.3 on a Rane Sixty Two (this issue has happened on other mixers), Macbook Pro 17 inch Mac OS X 10.6.8, and all the music is coming from a Seagate 4 tb external through firewire 800. (ran diagnostics on the external, and it works fine.)
DJMINGIA 3:22 PM - 26 January, 2013
DJ Luxury and Skritchin, I started a thread/questionnaire so hopefuuly Serato/Rane can figure this out. I think if we all fill it out it would help them. Should only take a minute or so. Here is the link: serato.com
djgeorgegrover 1:57 AM - 27 January, 2013
Hello,

I have just finished Djin for the first time without any audio dropouts since this problem started. Last weekend and previous nights before (since November '12) I had the same problem that many people have had, which is audio cutting out and loss of waveforms and actual functionality of Serato itself.

I am not sure if this problem is intermittent, but tonight there were no problems whatsoever with regards to Serato and the audio.

I thought I would share with you how I set up my system as it may help some of you in the future,

I use - MacBook Pro 13" 10.6.8, Serato SL1 (2.4.2), 2x CDJ-850, Pioneer DJM700, Powered USB Hub.

I wire my mixer channel outputs and CDJ outputs into the SL1 box the same as always, I connect both 850's via usb into a powered USB hub (which is only being used for the CDJ's), the USB cable from the hub goes straight into the USB ports furthest from the screen and the USB cable from SL1 goes into the USB ports closet to the screen ( I have heard that one USB port on the MBP is better than the other), all other programs are completely closed when running Serato, and have also lowered screen updates to 30 (as DJMINGIA suggested).

I do not know if this has completely solved my problem as I do not know if this problem is intermittent but as of tonight it seemed to work fine with no problems at all.

Hope this can help anyone who needs it, also anyone who feels they can assist me in improving any aspects of my set up I will be much appreciative.

George
DJNeilG 6:41 AM - 27 January, 2013
Hi
Just wanted to add my name to the list of people suffering this dropout problem, although I'm a Windows user so its also happening cross platform.

I'm going to try some of the things listed in this thread, to see if it stops it happening? (But i'm not thinking it will)

I've Posted my system details on DJMingia's thread so we can hopefully work out what's going wrong, and I'd already started my own help thread with Serato back in mid December, but found this post today

I've used Serato for years and was really happy with it until this.

This is making me go to work with a lack of confidence in my equipment and Serato, which is not a good feeling for a professional club DJ.

Thanks to All

Neil
DJ Skritchin 7:00 AM - 7 February, 2013
It keeps doing it and now its corrupting my files.
DJ Skritchin 7:01 AM - 7 February, 2013
I'd figure this would be a MAJOR issue that would have been addressed already.
djambesa 7:27 PM - 11 February, 2013
they are going to tell you to open up a new help request.. just a fyi... :)
DJ Skritchin 6:30 AM - 21 May, 2013
uninstalled and reinstalled, reanalyzed every file. still getting drop outs.
Dj matty k 1:22 PM - 27 May, 2013
I had the same 2 weeks ago just stopped then started again randomly couple times in the last hour of my set .But this week it done it again but about 6 times mostly on left but once on the right soon as i put it to internal and pressed play it was fine . But with the left deck it stopped i didnt put it to internal tried to press play again nothing so i went to right deck played that tune when i looked back the left deck was playing again , Really pissed of its not like my mac hasnt got a good enough spec either
Serato, Support
David Wood 9:43 PM - 27 May, 2013
Hey DJ Matty K,

Are you waveforms dropping out and disappearing which is causing you to lose audio ?

Regards
Dave
Dj matty k 9:47 PM - 27 May, 2013
Hi dave Nope no wave form drop out the music just stops waveform aswell its seems to me control type problem ?? but never had it before , i have made a help request aswell about these problems

cheers matt
Serato, Support
David Wood 10:07 PM - 27 May, 2013
Oh o.k, good to know. Sounds a bit different than this issue, glad you made your own help request. Hopefully someone can get to you as soon as possible.
possible
Regards
Dave W
Dj Judah 12:28 PM - 1 June, 2013
Damn i read through this entire thread to see this hasnt been solved yet... I dunno im having the same issue.... And im really sick kf being booooooed..!!

2010 macbook pro 15 inch
Snow leopard
Rane 68
DJ Skritchin 5:30 PM - 1 June, 2013
^^^ isn't it great when hundreds of folks look at you like you're retarded?
DJ Tecniq 6:39 PM - 1 June, 2013
I had that happen on 2.4.3 why don't you try upgrading?
DJ Tecniq 6:41 PM - 1 June, 2013
2.4.3 also has a problem corrupting audio and video files. it happened to me as well. I am on 2.4.4 latest running solid.
DJ Skritchin 9:36 PM - 1 June, 2013
did and did still dropping out
DJMINGIA 12:04 AM - 3 June, 2013
Since I did my upgrade to the caviar black hard drive, I have yet to have this problem come back. Look above in this thread for my very detailed instructions on what I did. The re-writing tags thing still happens, but at this point, that is minor. As long as there is uninterrupted sound coming out of the speakers, I am OK.
DJMINGIA 12:06 AM - 3 June, 2013
o wait, sorry. Here is the link to the post that has the detailed instructions serato.com
Dj Judah 11:50 PM - 3 June, 2013
im on 2.4.4 and it still happened...

This is what i did sat n and i finaly had a flawless night

1: use the usb B instead of A
2: Analyzed whole library & Deleted all corrupt files in serato library
3: keep video Plugin completely turned off as i am not spinnin vids tonight
4: use cdj for left deck instead of just going internal
djgeorgegrover 12:43 PM - 16 June, 2013
Hello,

After a few successful months of no problems, last night this problem appeared twice ! I had my set up exactly the same as I have had it since not getting the problem, Serato started skipping (like a scratched CD) and then lost waveforms, music cut out and lost all response from SSL. I am still running 2.4.2 as this was the last known release where I wasn't getting this problem. Any idea if Serato have figured this out yet ?

(Oh and to top it all off this was a Gypsy wedding I was DJin' at last night when it happened, Yayyy !! )

Thank you,

George
djgeorgegrover 6:54 PM - 19 June, 2013
Just a quick question if anyone could help, is this problem occurring when using control cds?
Dj Judah 7:13 PM - 19 June, 2013
Yes ... Control cds, vinyls, and internal mode....
DJ Skritchin 4:10 AM - 24 June, 2013
so the good people at serato don't have an answer for us? i know its not my external cause it doesnt drop out on other computers.
DJ Skritchin 4:11 AM - 24 June, 2013
im seriously sick and fucking tired of this drop out shit. this fucking sixty two is gonna become a paper weight.
Dj Judah 4:13 AM - 24 June, 2013
seems to be som type configuration problem for me... i bought a new imac and and made it basicly an identical copy of my macbook via a time machine back up... and it appears that i transfered the problem along with it on to my brand new computer...
DJ Skritchin 4:23 AM - 24 June, 2013
we been asking them for six months they aint gonna help us dj judah, theyre more concerned if fake djs on serato dj have a sync button that works properly
djgeorgegrover 5:33 PM - 24 June, 2013
I have to agree with the last 4 comments, this problem has now been occurring plenty long enough for Serato to at least make some progress or at least have the decency the update people on any progress that may have been made.

I do love Serato and have said in the past that I would never change, but to be honest I am not going to let myself get made look like an idiot because Serato cannot solve a problem. There is plenty of competitive software out there now that could probably give Serato a run for its money.

The majority of us on here have been using Serato for a number of years, way before the controllers came out but it seems now that a priority is being made for these newer products.

Us DJ's are trying to run a professional service, something that Serato are making very hard for us to do whilst using their trademark product.
Serato, Support
David Wood 11:04 PM - 24 June, 2013
Hey Guys,

We have found for the most part, these issues have been related to the buffering of the audio and it's mostly related to the audio caching or disk access time.

The best way to get to the root of the problem maybe to start your own help thread if you wish to get more personal support on your issue. There could be one of these reasons why this is happening to you or many of these. Without step by step support from one of our support staff it can be hard to get to the root in a large thread such as this.
A number of users in this thread have found a resolution for their issue. I suggest reading on and answering the following questions within your new thread as these are the question we are going to ask you.

Here are some details about how Serato Scratch Live handles audio buffering and what can effect your audio output and waveforms.

Scratch Live > Setup > Display > Audio Cache

Audio cache size; if this is too low then the buffer could run out unnecessarily, if you set it to 60 seconds on the buffer fader this will allow the audio caching to be larger allowing for more audio to be ready to play.


Your hard drive could have a big part to play in this situation

When Scratch Live tries to access your files from your hard drives the disk access time can effect playback.
Your Disk access time; comes from the seek time of the disk, disk speed, USB throughput for an external disk, how many files are being read at once, disk fragmentation (bits and pieces of your files all across the disk causing more pressure on the disks reading ability), disk vibration (suspends reading to protect disk).

We need to take into account all of these things when trying to diagnose this issue for each and every user.

Here are some questions which need to be looked at.

How many playing files are loaded to the virtual decks at once? Also, are they all on the same physical drive, including logical partitions on the same drive?

What is your CPU usage like? (It shouldn't be high if the disk is working hard it may increase the overall load).

How long does a dropout last (waveform disappearing)? Does it seem to be just having trouble keeping up, or does the end of the buffered audio come up like running off a cliff? (Which suggests that buffering may have temporarily stopped). Please if possible record a video of this for us to see your issue visually this can help us understand a lot about why it maybe happening to you.

Does this only happen in a club environment? Is it a place with a lot of bass or vibration?

Is an external drive powered over USB or Firewire? Is it receiving enough power to keep up? What USB speed is it? A drive on a bus that is forced from USB 2.0 down to 1.1 (sharing with a 1.1 device) will only stream at 1.1 speed hard drives however there isn't always a simple answer if this is the case.


Regards
Dave W
DJ506 7:55 PM - 25 June, 2013
~ An update to my situation...

I switched from external "Seagate Go-Flex" 5400RPM Firewire drive to an external "LaCie d2 Quadra" 7200RPM Firewire drive for my videos.

I'm 10 gigs in without a glitch. *knock on wood*

Currently I'm thinking drive speed may be the problem. We'll see. *crosses fingers*
DJ Skritchin 6:02 AM - 1 July, 2013
no solution, awesome, thanks serato, do yall want us to buy traktor or what?
Rane, Support
Zach S 5:45 PM - 1 July, 2013
Did you read Dave's last post Skritchin?
Check out this article that has much of the same info but even more comprehensive --> serato.com
(and yes this is just as relevant to Scratch Live)
Serato, Support
David Wood 9:40 PM - 1 July, 2013
Hey DJ Skritchin,

If you'd like to get continuing support on your issue, could you please ask the following questions from my latest post. Look forward to your response on these.

Quote:
How many playing files are loaded to the virtual decks at once? Also, are they all on the same physical drive, including logical partitions on the same drive?

What is your CPU usage like? (It shouldn't be high if the disk is working hard it may increase the overall load).

How long does a dropout last (waveform disappearing)? Does it seem to be just having trouble keeping up, or does the end of the buffered audio come up like running off a cliff? (Which suggests that buffering may have temporarily stopped). Please if possible record a video of this for us to see your issue visually this can help us understand a lot about why it maybe happening to you.

Does this only happen in a club environment? Is it a place with a lot of bass or vibration?

Is an external drive powered over USB or Firewire? Is it receiving enough power to keep up? What USB speed is it? A drive on a bus that is forced from USB 2.0 down to 1.1 (sharing with a 1.1 device) will only stream at 1.1 speed hard drives however there isn't always a simple answer if this is the case.


Dave
DJ Skritchin 11:16 PM - 1 July, 2013
1. One. Yes all on my external. logical partitions?
2. How do I check?
3. About 10 seconds. then comes back corrupt. It goes out then comes back like nothing happened so I guess it's having trouble keeping up. It never did for a year. I've been told to have my usb buffer all the way to the left and to the right, it's at 15 right now.
4. Happens in any environment. Live with bass around me or at home with just my headphones.
5. Firewire 800. Plenty of power. THe hard drive works fine on other's computers. And with other programs (virtual dj and traktor i had no issues with it).
DJ Skritchin 11:20 PM - 1 July, 2013
so whats a good virtual memory for serato scratch live? mine's at 353.3 mb
Serato, Support
David Wood 2:01 AM - 2 July, 2013
Hey DJ Skritchin,

Lets move this back to your own thread. Your issue has factors not related to this thread. We can then support you more personally back there..

Regards
Dave W
DJMark 8:00 PM - 2 July, 2013
I just noticed this thread, and think there are several things going on for different people.

I'll start with my own system configuration: 15-inch "late 2012" MacBook Pro, 2.7gHz, 8gb RAM, Samsung 840 Pro 512gb SSD for boot/apps/some media (this drive is in the normal hard drive bay), and Western Digital 1TB WD10JPVT drive (5400rpm) installed on MCE adapter bracket in optical bay. Mac OS 10.8.3 (have not gotten around to installing the 10.8.4 update yet), SSL 2.4.4, Mix Emergency 2.2.0. Pretty much always playing videos, recently getting quite a few HD videos.

SL devices I've used regularly in recent months: SL-1, SL-4, TTM57SL, Sixty-Eight, Sixty-Two.

Basically zero performance problems. Had one issue about 9 months ago after a whole DJ booth (mixer included) got rained on...

That out of the way:

1) If you've installed a hard drive into a Mac that has its own "shock protection" feature built in, you ***must*** disable Apple's Sudden Motion Sensor. Otherwise, the built-in SMS will interfere with that of the hard drive. Results are anything from drive i/o stalls to a full-on Mac OS kernel panic. support.apple.com

2) There are numerous different issues with certain hard drives and the SATA busses in various Mac models. One common one right now is people with 2011 MacBook Pros using optical-bay adapters and installing SATA-3 drives: that almost certainly will not work well (or at all). That's just one of several examples I've personally dealt with in recent years. More info here: blog.macsales.com and discussion in Serato forum here: serato.com

3) If all is working well, my experience is that modern 5400rpm drives are plenty fast enough for DJ-ing (video or not).

4) I've seen cases where Apple's Disk Utility seems to indicate no drive problems, but third-party utilities like Alsoft Diskwarrior www.alsoft.com and Volitans Smart Utility www.volitans-software.com have found issues. I've used both of those tools for years, and consider both of them essential troubleshooting utilities.

5) Some hard drives' "Advanced Power Management" may cause performance issues. serato.com

Unfortunately, replacing hard drives (especially when using an optical-bay adapter) is not always an easy "plug and play" deal.
officialdjruse 5:54 AM - 11 August, 2013
Macbook Pro 13" (early 2012)
OS X (Lion) 10.7.5
2.8Ghz Intel Core i7
4GB 1333MHz DDR3
Sudden Motion Sensor: Enabled
(everything is standard, I use it how it came in the box)

Serato Scratch Live 2.3.3
USB Buffer Set to 5
Max Screen Updates 40 per second
Audio Cache 30sec
Sample player, FX and Playlists enabled.
Read all music from my iTunes
No external HDD
No MIDI Controllers
No Cracked software at all

Last night I experienced Audio Dropouts. The waveform looked like it was still playing and then all of a sudden disappeared (about 5secs after the audio dropped out). The smaller waveform on either the far side of the left or right deck was still present and the time elapsed continued to run as normal. After this happened I couldn't load a track into either of the decks. The only way around this was to close and restart Scratch Live.

The most recent situation:
It happened was during the first song of my set, approximately 5minutes after opening scratch Live. The song was playing in internal mode as I was doing a change over with the last DJ. I was playing a song I have played multiple times in the past and never had any issues with. After restarting scratch live I played about 5 songs before the same thing happened again, this time while in relative mode. I had knocked the USB cable both before and after the dropouts occurred so i thought this may have been part of the issue however once I got home I recreated the situation knocking the USB cable at the USB ports by the computer and interface even more extremely while playing the same tracks as this occurred. This did not affect scratch live in anyway until I completely removed the USB cable which of course stops any audio output. (This did not happen during the gig). It is worth noting the SPL was at approx 107dB (I measured the level in the booth before playing because i'm a nerd like that).

Previous Situation:
The same as above happened to me three times during another set 2 months prior. This time it was about 45 minutes into my set. was using the same computer with same setup except I was running an earlier version of OSX and version 2.4.4 of scratch live. During this gig the computer was far enough away that no interference of the USB cable occurred so I have ruled that out.

After the first night I was so paranoid that I completely restored my computer back to factory settings and reinstalled all necessary software.
I downgraded versions of scratch live to 2.3.3 (A version where this had never occurred until last night). Ruling out software versions as a problem.
I upgraded my OSX to 10.7.5 therefore ruling out operating system.
As previously stated I run all music off the internal HDD through iTunes, eliminating the chances of the problem being an external HDD problem.

Both times occurred during performances where it was very loud and sudden motion sensor was enabled (I will try disabling and see if this helps).

I hope this helps eliminate the problem
officialdjruse 5:55 AM - 11 August, 2013
Forgot to write I use SL1
LJ_WOOLSEY 12:42 PM - 11 August, 2013
What you have just said is there is far to much vibrations so sudden metion kicks in. Just need to isolate the vibrations.
Dj matty k 3:01 PM - 11 August, 2013
I know this might sound funny do you put you mac on a stand ? i use a little griffin one and in the club where its used the bass is very heavy moving stuff around in the booth but i put my hand on the mac and there is nothing it seem to take about the vibration for some reason

in another club i use a uberstand and it seems to do the same :-)

put my hand on the booth top loads of vibrating but hand on the mac nothing
might be worth a shot

cheers matt
officialdjruse 2:13 AM - 12 August, 2013
I haven't invested in a stand yet.

I have just been using the CDJs beside the Turnies, Not trying to insult anyone that uses CDJ's it's just the only available place a lot of the time.

I'm definitely looking into buying a stand though, sounds like it is worth it :)
Dj matty k 3:26 AM - 12 August, 2013
Yeah it's only since I been seeing threads on here about vibration problems It got me thinking I don't want to have my mac harddrive cause me problems with to much vibration . so last weekend it come to mind so i placed my hand on my mac thinking I hope it's not vibrating to much and destroying my harddrive and it wasn't always used stands so that might be my saving grace :-)
It this one store.apple.com.
I got mine from eBay but it seems to have big rubber feet and doesn't seem to take any vibration really I put my phone on my mac sometimes and it doesn't vibrate off either . All these things just got me thinking

Cheers Matt
2:09 AM, 30 Aug 2013
This help request has been closed due to inactivity.