Korg Forums

Hi.

Anyone with the same issue as descibed here?

"During audio playback via System Audio or within an audio application the sound quality progressively distorts and degrades."

This is with audio via the Kronos, but the same happens when using the ultranova.
Does not happen when using a firewire interface.

According to this thread, Sierra should have solved the issue.
https://support.native-instruments.com/ ... OS-X-10-11

I've tried three different macs, and the same thing happens...

Previous posts have reported audio problems with el capitan as well....including later imacs.(2015 onwards etc).
I have a late 2013 imac and have had problems with both el capitan and Sierra,despite trying various settings....currently abandoned.

However,using Mountain Lion on the same computer....works well !!
Setting an aggregate device helps with pops & clicks by re-sampling the Kronos via the imac Audio midi Set Up.

My older imac 2011,recorded ok via usb,firewire and even its own line in etc.

Apple seems to have messed up the audio routing somehow.....

I'm happy to stick with ML,though.....all my audio software still works with it.

Best Wishes.

I've been aware of the issue, but not experienced it with my current setup.

I'm running audio and MIDI from both Kronos 88/Ultranova to Logic X into a late 2015 iMac Retina (macOS 10.12).

BUT... I *did* have a similar problem with my previous 2010 MacPro. The signal degradation, clicks, pops etc stopped after I bought a high quality USB cable. I'm not saying it will resolve your problem, but it could be worth trying.

Using a different usb cable is worth trying,as a matter of course....its quality may not be critical though.
Also an alternative computer usb port could improve things and/or another trick is to go via an usb2 hub....worked for some mac users in the past.

I've already tried all I can think of,but el capitan and sierra won't play nicely.....only by using Mountain Lion on the same computer does.
Strange indeed !!

Best Wishes.

Tried two different macs - 2015 13" Retina MacBook Pro and 2012 Mac Mini - - - Same result.
Also tried both the K61 and the K88.
- Same result.
Tries different length USB cables - Same result (The cables were working fine before the os upgrade)

Even tried replacing AppleUSBAudio driver on the laptop with the one from Yosemite.

Still no joy.

What I get on the regular Alchemy concert in MainStage 3, is CPU spikes and glitches - until the audio is so distorted that it's not recognizable as other than static noise.

Same concert using firewire audio is just fine.

But it's not just the Kronos - My UltraNova also exhibits the same behavior on both macs.

Oh well - That's what you get for upgrading early...

The only thing that I haven't tried is on a clean installed mac - Both macs are upgrades from previous versions.

I can only suggest that you try using Mountain Lion osx.
Also,worth considering a dual boot system,the drive being suitably partitioned...one for ML (Kronos & music use etc) and have Sierra on the other.

If you use an external usb ssd,boot times are considerably quicker.
However,audio recording is better made on a disk drive(not solid state) apparently....either an external usb or the original internal one,partitioned accordingly.

Some users with similar problems have halted(kill) the core audio with limited good results,but it can be short lived and often the problem returns.
(Re-booting basically re-sets the core audio anyway...).

Hope this helps.

Best Wishes.

*update*

Bugreport to Apple didn't resolve anything. (Yet)

We are now at 10.12.2.

Tried a full reinstall, and all sort of tricks - same issue still remains.
Then finally stumbled upon a solution that worked for a generic soundblaster headset...

I've replaced the AppleUSBAudio.kext with the driver from 10.9.5.
(Tried 10.11 and 10.10 as well, but didn't work)

With the 10.9.5 driver everything works again!

Fwiw...

Does anyone have any updates on this? Having recently moved from Windows to Mac, I was hoping to use the Kronos as an audio interface (as it was pretty rubbish under Windows due to not having ASIO drivers). But I now find it doesn't work.

I thought Apple was supposed to be the platform of choice for this stuff?

SeedyLee wrote:Does anyone have any updates on this? Having recently moved from Windows to Mac, I was hoping to use the Kronos as an audio interface (as it was pretty rubbish under Windows due to not having ASIO drivers). But I now find it doesn't work.

I thought Apple was supposed to be the platform of choice for this stuff?

I would give up on Apple reversing what they did with Sierra.
High sierra no change.

I think we are due on a Kronos OS update, at least historically , Dec/Jan is when Korg gave us a new ver. A faint hope Korg might address the audio interface/mac issue.

Realistically,I purchased an audio interface. Supposed to solve the USB problem with Kronos audio into mac.

As an update to my previous posts I've found that High Sierra (compared to Sierra) has improved things slightly for my set up and everything works for the Kronos audio recording via usb.
Using an aggregate device set up,with careful settings, does help.

For playing mode,the Kronos main line outputs and the iMac recorded audio are routed via a mixer to the monitors.

Some of the problems may be related to mac computer type, model/year etc….both of my Early 2011 and Late 2013 iMacs work fine.

Korg has not provided a Kronos audio driver for mac computer systems and probably have no intention to do so.
Also,Apple continues to change things which can alter functions of subsequent osx versions that followed the early ones…eg. Mountain Lion.

One solution is to use an audio interface and use it as an external sound card/mixer.

The Kronos should be able to be the audio interface.
Other interfaces seem to work fine with MacOS. I have two Focusrite interfaces (Scarlett 2i2 and 18i20), and they both work fine.
One reason I bought the Kronos was to allow me to not have to carry my rack and extra paraphernalia around to gigs. I was hoping one USB cable to my MacBook Pro would allow me to play soft synths like Omnisphere and have all the sounds come from the Kronos' outputs.

Fortunately, the Kronos is an awesome self-contained arsenal of synths that can stand alone quite nicely. But it could be so much more awesome if Korg engineers could make it play nicely with MacOS the way other interfaces do.

As far as I know, this issue isn't isolated to the Kronos. Many other audio devices have been afflicted with similar problems since Mavericks / Sierra. Apparently the issue is due to Apple deprecating a particular class of USB interface, which is why only some devices are affected not others.

Forgive me for repeating myself...
If the Kronos had an audio driver,it would function as an audio interface.
Many had expectations that it had this facility and were disappointed when found it to be missing.

However,as Korg hasn't provided one, the only alternative is to use an external sound card/interface.

Others have audio recording via usb problems as well,but this is down to apple changing the os systems.

Both Korg and apple are aware of these problems,but have not addressed them nor presented with any sort of solution.

It is a shame really,having a better functioning Kronos/mac arrangement would be very useful.

New update seems to fix it:

DeltaJockey wrote:Hey everyone,


Discovered this Apple update today......



"Mac OS 10.13.2 Update

This update:

Improves compatibility with certain USB audio devices".

I downloaded and installed with much excitement.
Have been running USB audio from my MacBook Pro for at least half an hour with perfect performance!

It works straight out of the box

I doesn't work for me...