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[Tom Russell]

Hello. Tom here.

I use an iMac, 3.06 Core2Duo 8G memory>MediaCenter 21>firewire>Prism Orpheus interface. As stated, no volume. I also have a Mac Mini, 2.3 i7 16G memory>MediaCenter21>firewire>Mytek 8x192 interface. Also, no audio. I have Pure Vinyl/Pure Music on both of these Macs and it works as it should on both. I have MC21 on a Windows10 machine and it works properly.

I've looked at every tutorial I can find and clicked on every box related to volume I can find. No difference. No volume.

A strange thing, at least to me, is MediaCenter controls Core Audio output. With the appropriate interface selected as the output device, the speaker icon is shown by the selected interface, either the Prism or the Mytek. Making a library selection, and pressing play in MC, goes as you would expect. The vertical lines that represent output go up and down, the time line progresses across, and the play time counts down. At a glance, all looks as if it is playing - but - no volume. The strange part is that, at the moment play is clicked, the speaker icon in core audio changes from the digital interface to built-in output. As soon as stop is clicked in MC, the icon switches back to the [actually/formally] selected digital interface. It seems that MC is de-selecting the connection that needs to be made.

I'm sure I have missed a click somewhere but I give up. Thanks to any help you can give me.

Tom

[blgentry]

Your other players (Pure Vinyl, etc) might be using exclusive mode and "locking" the interface.  Make sure to fully quit all other players and audio applications.  Then try again with MC.  Restart MC if it doesn't work the first time.

Also, make sure you are selecting the interface BY NAME in MC.  Do not use "default".  Select the actual name of the DAC/Sound Device in:

Tools > Options > Audio > Audio Device

Good luck!

Brian.

[Tom Russell]

Your other players (Pure Vinyl, etc) might be using exclusive mode and "locking" the interface.  Make sure to fully quit all other players and audio applications.  Then try again with MC.  Restart MC if it doesn't work the first time.

Thanks for your response. This morning I went through this again. To be extra sure, I shut the computer down and, after opening it, I opened MediaCenter. I went to the audio device selection and it showed Orpheus. I opened Core Audio and it showed Orpheus as the output device, with the speaker icon beside the word Orpheus. This is as it always is. As before, when I click play in MC, the speaker icon in Core Audio immediately switches from Orpheus to builtin output. As soon as I click on Stop in MC, the icon in Core Audio switches back to Orpheus. Somehow, MC is changing Core Audio settings. I opened the Audio Device Options in MC while it was playing. Output Device in MC continued to show Orpheus as the output device before, during, and after playing. Nothing changed. The Stop button is defeated when the Option page is open so I must close the Options page before I can access the Stop button. I can't watch the output selection as Stop is clicked in real time. Nevertheless, I think it reasonable to assume MC doesn't waiver from showing Orpheus at all times. As usual, when in Play, MC shows all signs of proper playing, i.e. the graphing lines simulating sound go up and down, the time bar travels across, and the minute counter proceeds. As I see this more fully, it seems to me that the problem is the MC turns off the connection to the digital interface when play is in effect. As to why? And, as I mentioned, the exact same symptoms are evident on my other Mac. Whatever it is, it is symptomatic.


Also, make sure you are selecting the interface BY NAME in MC.  Do not use "default".  Select the actual name of the DAC/Sound Device in:


Tools > Options > Audio > Audio Device

I get to the Orpheus via:

Player>Playback Options>Audio Device

Probably nothing here but nomenclature differences but I want to be as complete as possible.

Thanks again

Tom

[JimH]

Follow blgentry's advice.  The path he gave is correct.

[blgentry]

The key point for me is for you to select the device by name and not to use the " (default) Core audio" selection.

...and of course making sure that your other players and audio apps are completely shut down to make sure they are not "locking" your audio device.

Good luck.

Brian.

[Tom Russell]

The key point for me is for you to select the device by name and not to use the " (default) Core audio" selection.

Good luck.

Brian.

Brian

OK, we're getting somewhere. Both pathways mentioned, from Player and from Tools, open the exact same Audio Device page. As I have said, this page has always shown the Orpheus by name and has always been selected. I started clicking around. Nothing to lose, et al. On the Options page, immediately below Audio Device, I found Device Settings>Core Audio Settings. On this page, Open Device With Exclusive Access was checked. I tried unchecking it. Now, the Orpheus remains as the output device. Very good! But I still had no volume control. I clicked on internal volume and the volume slider starting working Even better! It Lives!! ....from 50 down.

Yes, there is a catch. I use Firewire to connect the Mac to the Orpheus. I have a sort of 3-way system with a 50hz down horn, a 145hz down horn, and a horn run full range.. I feed these via analog out 1&2 to low bass, analog out 3&4 to bass, and analog 5&6 out to full range. All outputs are at line level, full range. The bass amps have their own crossovers. MC is only outputting to the analog out 1&2. In Pure Music, there are specific controls to send the signal to any of the 8 available outputs. I use 7&8 out for a headphone amp. I can't find anywhere in MC or in OSX that addresses this. There are controls that look as if they could perform such functions in Core Audio. These were active when I used an M-Audio interface but they are greyed out with the Orpheus.

Thanks for your help. This is real progress, it's actually nice to hear the thump, thump, just a bit more to go.

Tom

[Tom Russell]

Follow blgentry's advice.  The path he gave is correct.

Thanks for your response. 

Tools>Options>Audio>Audio Device

and

Player>Playback Options>Audio Device

arrive at the same page. It is that page, one step further, that got the player mostly playing.

Thanks

Tom

[blgentry]

With a multi-channel DAC and MC for Mac, I'm not sure what the proper steps are.  It's pretty likely that you will want to use the Mac's Audio MIDI setup program to configure the various channels.  I'm honestly not sure.  I played with this with a REALLY old Creative labs 5.1 USB DAC a while back and I can't remember exactly what happened.

You might do some searches here regarding multi-channel DAC setup with Macs.  I know there are people here who have done it.

Brian.

[Spanker]

Hi Tom,

as a fellow Orpheus owner I thought I'd reach out to help.
Did you already solve the problem?
It took me a while to figure out the proper settings in the Prism application, could your problem be the same?

regards
Spanker