Car Alarm noise after a while using wahoo

[ThePiecan]

Just got this unit direct from yourselves on eBay...factory refurb I think. After using for a while it turns into a car alarm! nearly blows your ears off!
Using USB power only from laptop.Usb Midi clock into Lappy from my rig then routed to wahoo editor and both filters on midi sync.....the wahoo unit is the source of the car alarm noise. Only powering off resets it....but it soon starts up again!
Any clues or do I send it back as faulty unit! Filters are working away fine...playing away and then bam. ..it turns into a car alarm....guaranteed to ruin any gig! ....Help please!

[james]

Some of the presets will sound like a car alarm: the filters are set to self-oscillate and driven by an LFO so you get this sweeping, alarm-like noise.

Which preset is showing on the 7-seg display? Try selecting F00 and see if that fixes it.

Perhaps MIDI program change is being sent over USB and this is selecting one of the "alarm" presets?

[ThePiecan]

I haven't got the filters self oscillating, far from it. The patch is working fine then it just blows car alarm after 20-30 mins playing!

It is a modified beat patch, so saved to P00 I think. It is a beat type filter on low freq and a synced wah filter on the mid to high. Works fine and Im playing away...then it just goes mental by itself.

Do I have to rout the midi clock from Abelton or something. Cant the software have port configuration itself? Abelton seems to create noise! I need something simple to rout the midi clock from Lappy USB to Wahoo editor...any advice. Shame the Wahoo cant take midi clock direct!

When using sync, it would be nice to have the pedal to work the beat divisions! ....so you can speed up and slow down, but be in sync! Would the BPM tempo option...give you sync?!

Not transmitting any cc's .... I am not doing anything else in Ableton other than routing the midi clock to Wahoo Editor. May try Copperlan. All other ins and outs off...can try including LoopBe1 or something..

Will try get a play in week...but may be next weekend?!

[james]

I haven't got the filters self oscillating, far from it. The patch is working fine then it just blows car alarm after 20-30 mins playing!

Certainly, it shouldn't be doing that.

It is a modified beat patch, so saved to P00 I think. It is a beat type filter on low freq and a synced wah filter on the mid to high. Works fine and Im playing away...then it just goes mental by itself.

Can you post the patch you are using (you can save it from the editor) and I'll check there isn't anything obvious in the patch... though I can't think of anything that would cause it to go wonky like this.

Do I have to rout the midi clock from Abelton or something. Cant the software have port configuration itself? Abelton seems to create noise! I need something simple to rout the midi clock from Lappy USB to Wahoo editor...any advice. Shame the Wahoo cant take midi clock direct!

You don't need to use the Wahoo editor for MIDI Sync. The Wahoo will appear as its own MIDI port when connected via USB, so just route the MIDI messages (i.e., MIDI clock) to that. You can still run the editor at the same time, or indeed close it, its independent from MIDI.

When using sync, it would be nice to have the pedal to work the beat divisions! ....so you can speed up and slow down, but be in sync! Would the BPM tempo option...give you sync?!

Actually, this is planned for the next firmware update. It's already working, just needs a few things completed and hooked into the editor.

[ThePiecan]

Yeh...I routed to wahoo in Abelton...was not not clear if it's the editor and editor forwarded to wahoo ...or direct and editor picks up from wahoo. Obviously the later. Will try get patch to you. Maybe weds evening....thanks

Beat divisions pedal control will be great.... Ltrs

any advice on a lite Win 7 router appreciated.... So much easier on the ipad routing midi. having to use USB...means you have to include the Laptop !? I have iPads in my rig....got cheesed with win7...it sucks.

[james]

Please send the patch when you get the chance.

The Wahoo will work connected directly to the iPad (using the Camera Connection Kit, from Apple, which gives you a standard USB connection). You'll need to power the Wahoo using a 9V supply because the iPad can't supply enough power for the Wahoo (nor any USB device that requires significant current). It will then appear as a standard MIDI I/O device.

You can also use standard 5-pin MIDI with the Wahoo by using this device from Kenton: http://www.kentonuk.com/products/items/ ... host.shtml

[ThePiecan]

...not if the iPads are in two Alesis iodocks....which have loads of 5 pin midi ports!!

I have irig for loose pad and it is powered.... But that goes to.....oh yeh 5 pin midi

....camera connection kit..nope

[james]

Sounds like the Kenton MIDI USB Host would work for you. This will also power the Wahoo via USB and let you connect using standard 5-pin MIDI.

[ThePiecan]

How come?... £80odd just to get clean/quiet midi clock in! ...then when I want to use the editor I have to unplug the Kenton and route my midi clock via a midi to usb cable through a noisy Lappy and into the wahoo. .... working with clock coming though my Lappy is sooooo noisey and crackly....what's going on? How can you create patches with all the distortion from whatever is making the wahoo crackle when the usb is doing editor and clock.

How do I get midi clock from the Kenton into wahoo and use the editor at same time! .....do I put some sort of USB hub after the Kenton? ...to create another port for the editor from the Lappy?!

I have a feeling that I'm an R&D Guinea pig and the Wahoo II with midi 5pindin in port and USB-b port for editor is on its way out soon!

I am not enjoying the experience of this wahoo at all !!!! More for IT geeks than music making....so far a good idea totally balls up by one missing port!

has anyone just tried a Neutrik gender bender Usb-b to usb-a female...so you can just whack in the USB midi clock from a Alesis/Emu/Roland whatever midi to USB adapter cable? See below!!

http://www.neutrik.com/en/multimedia/usb/nausb-w-b

[james]

I thought you wanted to use 5-pin MIDI so you didn't need to use the laptop at all; then you need some way to get 5-pin MIDI to the Wahoo.

I didn't realise you were getting noise problems from USB.

Using a laptop (or any computer) can sometimes introduce noise over the USB connection. When this happens, it's usually worse if the USB is providing the power and the laptop is conneted to the mains power supply (when running on batteries the problem usually goes away).

We have confirmed that this is caused by ground loops through the USB connection -- when the USB is not used to provide power, but a 9V DC supply is used instead, the ground loop will usually become insignificant since there is almost no current flowing through the USB cable (just the communication signals). So, have you tried using a 9V power supply with USB at the same time? If the problem persists with a 9V supply, try another one, or try it on a different power outlet.

Another option, that works perfectly is to use a USB isolator. That isolates the power and signalling so it is impossible for ground loops to exist to/from the USB host. You can then use USB to provide power and signalling with no noise whatsoever.

For example, Olimex do this one which works great (it's not in a sturdy case, just a PCB with heat shrink around it, but it's pretty cheap considering the cost of the components required):
https://www.olimex.com/Products/Modules ... e/USB-ISO/

Amazon also have it too:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Olimex-USB-ISO- ... ref=sr_1_1

Here's something similar (but I've not tested this one personally):
http://www.audon.co.uk/usb232/pousbiso. ... tAodpyIAWQ