I’m actually an enthusiastic Gig Performer user and have already played over 30 shows with it this year alone.
Unfortunately I had a serious problem for the first time yesterday:
We spontaneously played an after-work event in a smaller beer garden. From the sound check, including round 1 (around 60 minutes), everything worked so far. Only during one of the first songs did I hear a note that I hadn’t played. Already then I noticed that something was wrong.
With the start of the second round, the chaos began: I was able to play for about 2-3 seconds during the first song until my midi keyboard stopped sending any values and no more sounds were heard. But the keyboard was constantly switched on. I then restarted several times while the band members continued with guitar-heavy songs.
But this didn’t bring any improvement. I spontaneously unplugged all USB and HDMI cables as far as possible. Specifically, my setup looks like this: I use the Arturia Keylab 88 MKII via USB power and Midi on the MacBook M1 PRO. I also have a wireless mouse which is powered by USB power and the interface (Motu Ultralite MK5), which is powered externally. I have an external portable monitor permanently installed on my keyboard, which mirrors the MacBook’s screen via HDMI. So far I’ve played around 50 gigs in the last 2 years and never had a problem.
After unplugging all possible cables, I only had the keyboard and the interface plugged. That worked, even if all my midi assignments were gone afterwards.
The bottom line is that I spontaneously found a good solution, but I would like to be able to understand why this problem arose and what I can do about it? Does it make sense to think about an externally operated USB hub?
Maybe interesting that I installed the Gig Performer update 3-4 days before. On the other hand, I already had a gig with the new firmware on Saturday and had no problems. Do you think it could possibly be due to the overall power supply? We usually play larger locations, i.e. a beer garden with an infrastructure that is not designed for a large number of devices connected to the power network is an exception. I have my MacBook constantly connected while WLAN etc. is switched off. The Keylab has the latest firmware.
Do you still experience this issue with the initial wiring?
I agree with @dhj regarding the powered USB Hub which gives you a larger security margin regarding the power supply. I personnaly use this one:
Hey guys, thank you for your feedback. What irritated me was that, as I said, I had played 40-50 gigs without any problems so far. All cables were always plugged directly into the MacBook’s USB slots. So far I’ve never had a problem. That’s why I asked myself whether this could have had something to do with the local infrastructure - but I think that this is almost impossible.
I will definitely buy a USB hub with an external power supply. Thank you for the hints.
I have three gigs again this weekend, so I’ll test everything or check in advance.
Definitely use a powered USB hub. Those USB ports in laptops can wear out. They are not designed to be serviceable.
Might want to also check the voltage the venue is supplying. If the power is low, it might interfere with what the laptop can supply to the USB buses over time. That maybe why you didn’t have issues at other venues, if their power was sufficient.
My rack-mount power distribution unit was showing a venue I played two weeks ago supplying 129 volts. A little high, but I’ve also played venues that supply 117 volts and lower. Venues are getting better about what power they supply, but you also have to be aware of what is plugged into the circuit you are on, that can draw power.
Had a sound company last year plug in their powered monitors and PA system, only to have it trip the breaker on the first song, at an outdoor venue. They didn’t check the amp rating of the breakers and overloaded it. Worked for soundcheck, but I guess they wanted a little more “umph” when we started.
Very rookie mistake on their part.