OP-Z USB audio crashes device

OP-Z Help
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#1

Hi everyone, first post from a newbie who just got his (second-hand but pristine) own OP-Z!

This is very frustrating because I managed to make my dream setup work but after a few moments (between 30 seconds and 2 minutes) the audio crashes and I have to disconnect everything.

Basically every time I connect the OP-Z to my MacBook Pro or iPad via USB and send the audio either from the device to the OP-Z or from the OP-Z to the device, everything works and I can hear the sound from the destination but then the app I’m using crashes and the sound stops working on the other device.

OP-Z - Macbook Pro via Ableton: when I’m playing audio either from Ableton to the OP-Z or from the OP-Z into Ableton, after a couple minutes the audio track in Ableton freezes. Sometimes the audio sources are reset to “No input” and “No output”, or I get the error “Certains périphériques audio n’ont pas de fréquence d’échantillonnage compatible avec Live” (it’s French, roughly translates to “Some audio devices don’t have a sample rate compatible with Live”). My sampling rate in Live is set to 44100, I cannot change it when the OP-Z is connected. Googling this error didn’t return any useful results.

I tried increasing the sample buffer size to the max, disconnecting any other USB devices and only using an official Apple USB-A USB-C adapter, no luck…

OP-Z - iPad (using Animoog or NanoStudio, it’s an old iPad still on iOS 9 and connected via Apple’s “camera” USB adapter): the sound always goes to the OP-Z at first and it’s working with midi out and audio in (or without midi and just audio), but after a few moments the sound returns to the iPad and then the app usually crashes or I have to disconnect and reconnect the OP-Z to make it work again.

I tried resetting the OP-Z to factory settings but the same thing happened, then upgrading to the latest version again and it’s still the same.

What do you think? Any ideas or suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

#2

This is very strange indeed. What happens if you connect via usb cable, but for midi only, not using opz in usb audio mode?

Since OPZ is class compliant usb audio device it really shouldn’t have weird or changing sample rates…

Can you use a friends pc computer or android phone and try it there? That might at least eliminate the opz as the main culprit.

My other thought would be something with the USB, either your cable or the usb port on the OPZ. I’d try it with a high quality usb cable. One you know works well with data/audio on other devices.

It could be that the cable (or the usb port on the OPZ) is damaged. Which might make some information/audio drop for a brief moment, causing the computer/ios device that is using it as a sound card to crash. That could be why it works at first, but then crashes. If a pin in the USB-C port is damaged, it might nudge and loose contact a tiny bit, just enough for a couple 1’s and 0’s to get lost, which would mess up any app connected to it and using it as a sound card.

Hopefully that’s not the case. If it is, you might be able to get the usb port fixed/replaced

#3

Hi, thanks a lot for taking the time to answer!

After spending a few more hours trying different computers, cables and programs, I think I’ve almost got the answer, or at least I can systematically reproduce the problem: whenever I press the first D piano key, the UBS connection breaks down. It also sometimes happens when I press one of the keys in the same area, up to the track buttons 3 to 6, or even the flat surface above that.

I tried opening it up and removing the default plastic module but it didn’t help, seems like there must be a damaged component inside the box in that aera that disconnects USB when it moves from the pressure.

Unfortunately I don’t have a warranty since I got it second-hand. This is still very annoying but at least I can find ways to work around it now that I know when it happens.