I recorded the last gig with Qu-Drive on my “WESTERN DIGITAL MY PASSPORT 500GB USB3.0/USB2.0”.
Nearly every 20min. i have dropouts of audio (just on the recording) for 1-2seconds. Did anyone else experienced the same?
Or is it possible that the dropouts/cuts are caused later while transfer the audio from qu-drive to my computer and/or into ableton live for the mastering?
I had the newest firmware V1.11 updatet before this gig.
Hi Eotsskleet,
I have done recordings with this model of Hard Drive without drop-outs.
I am aware there can be issues with seek time writing to the some Hard drives once the disk starts to fill up with data. To help avoid this problem I would recommend you always format the USB drive before making a recording. This will help to minimise access time, and hence avoid dropped buffers.
I would not expect the dropouts to occur when transferring the data from the USB drive to the computer.
Have you had a look at the following article regarding Qu-drive best Practice?
Qu-Drive
I hope this helps
Best Regards
Sam A&H
Hey Sam
I read that information of Qu-Drive before, that was as well the reason that i bought one of the recommended drives (WESTERN DIGITAL MY PASSPORT 500GB USB3.0/USB2.0)
I will give that another try this weekend with formating the HDD before the show!
Thanks in advance!
Just listened to my recordings this morning… there are again drop-outs! But it’s not for example every 20min! I did 2 Sets of recording: on the first file there is a drop-out after 23min. on the second one is a drop-out after 4min! Did anyone else the same experience? I formated the drive before i recorded the show! to be shure if the console or the harddrive does something wrong (and not my computer), i will check the audio-files before importing to my computer! I will check as well with another HD-Drive to record a session! (@A&H i recieved one of the first Qu-16 Console available in Switzerland, could this be an issue? Still the same hardware?)
Hello,
Almost the same here… See this link
(I’m trying to link to “Hickups during playback with WD My Passport 500GB” in the “Troubleshooting”)
Hope will get resolved.
Maybe the same… but my problem is that the recordings are already with hickups/drop-outs! If the HD isn’t supported then i’m afraid… i bought the 500GB on the same reason like you… because it should be supported! (I rather would have taken the 2TB!)
Hi eotsskleet & Ermep01
Can you please submit a helpdesk ticket to A&H so we can support you directly. Please let them know your forum names so we have a reference to this post.
It would be very useful to know if the errors appear on playback from the Qu-Drive USB port only, or are the errors actually on the recording. You can check this by analyzing the audio files on your computer and seeing if the errors on in the recording.
Also the exact Model number and serial number of the HDD.
Let us know how you get on with the other HDD.
There should be no issues with hardware changes with your early unit.
Sorry to hear you are having trouble
Best Regards
Sam A&H
Hello Sam,
Thanks for for quick response. I’m at work now, but when I’m at home I’ll get the answers.
Here’s a copy of my post in the QU-troubleshooting forum. (Tried to link, but it will not work)
I’m trying to record (multitrack) on a Western Digital My Passport 500GB USB3.0/USB2.0 device with my QU-16.
Current firmware: Qu16UpdtV1_11_2434.QUU
Recording is OK. When I import the files on a PC they’re OK with no hickups.
Trying to playback on te QU-16 every ~2 seconds there’s a hickup of a short period of time (<1 sec).
What I tried: Reset the QU-16 to Factory-setting. Reinstalled the firmware. Format the WD on the QU-16.
I especially bought this device because it’s on the “Tested USB devices from 27oct13″. I wanted to buy a 1 or 2 Tb, but I didn’t want to take the risk.
Anyone any suggestions?
it’s me again… i saw there was a Firmware update for my external harddrive,(WESTERN DIGITAL MY PASSPORT 500GB USB3.0/USB2.0) i now updated that! Then I just checked the external harddrive with the WD-Checking-Tool if there is a Problem with the Harddrive itself! Sadly there’s nothing wrong with it… there has to be a Problem either with the old Firmware on the HD, with my mixer, or with the compatibility between my desk and the harddrive! Can anyone else tell me that he doesn’t have any Problems with the same harddrive that i use and a Qu-16 mixer? Tonight i will perform a test with recording something on the new Firmware-updated HD. If it still won’t work, i will submit Helpdesk ticket.
Hello,
Just checked my WD for the latest firmware. It tells me I’m already on the latest (v1.022).
I already made a Helpdesk ticket. They replied very quickly that they have passed the ticket to Sam.
(My system:
Firmware: 1.11 - Rev 2434 2013/09/26 09:53:30
CPU Board: 04
Audio Board: 09
Surface Board: 00
Fader Firmware: V56.e
Processor: 0701B014-AB359808-50BC0324-F5000583
Western Digital My Passport 500GB USB3.0/USB2.0
WDBKXH5000ABK-01
Supplied USB-cable: 4064-705107-000
Lot Number: JEMSHE108130JG)
My test yesterday worked as it should… no dropouts during 35min of recording! Only thing that i’changed was the firmware on the external harddrive! i will test this again during my next show (probably end of november) or maybe with a longer recording before! i will keep you up to date!
Yesterday I did a new test (as advised by Allen & Heath Support (Maf)). It all worked well.
What I first tried was: I’d copied a former recording from my PC. I converted the tracks to the same audio format as the QU-16 uses (48Khz/24bits). That I played back. This replay was with hickups. I did send A&H a sample of it. They will investigate.
So for me, the problem is solved. I’ll try to record the next gig (in about 10 days) to see what’s happening.
Tomorrow I’ll receive my second QU-16 so I can test myself on two machines.
I’ll keep you posted.
Ok, i did a few steps to avoid further problems:
- Firmware update on the HD Drive
- Firmware update on Qu-16 to V1.2
- Formated the HD Drive via Qu-16
- Tested the HD Drive with the WD System Check Software = no problems detected
Then… another test today with 1hour and 30min of 1kh sine recording! the sine is generated from my macbook via an analyzer software (REW5.0) into the stereo 3 input of the mixer and recorded via multitrack recording to Qu-Drive.
Conclusion: No dropouts during the whole 1.5h of recording! All looks now as it works… i hope so! I will have one or two gigs this month where i will check it!
keep you up to date!
Hi Guys I brought my QU16 around 2 weeks ago and I’ve tried 2 different hard drives and I’m getting audio skipping and jumping around when I use my QU Drive. Any suggestions what I should do has a firmware been released to fix this. Thanks Raoul
Maybe i can tell you more after next weekend… there i will have 2 gigs where i record the show and test after if my problem is solved. What i did is installed the newest firmware for the Qu-16 and the newest firmware on my external Harddrive! In a short test of 90min recording i had no dropouts.
Do you have dropouts when you listen to your recording? How many of them? Other issues? I only had maybe 1 droput of 1second during 30min.
3hours of recording done at the weekend with my qu-16 and the WD my passport 500GB Harddrive.
Everything worked well… i didn’t hear any cuts or drop outs, so it looks like everything ok now!
To remember: i did a firmware update on the WD HD, did several disk-formating and loaded the newest firmware V1.2 on the Qu-16!
Thanks and Cheers eotsskleet
V1.2??? I thought the latest was V1.12. I just brought a Passport and want to make sure it works ok so where do I get V1.2 from is it a private beta
Cheers Raoul
Sorry, i wanted to say v1.12!
Well I’ve come to my wits end. Brought the recommended drive, western digital my passport 500gb, qu-16 is on firmware 1.2 and I’m getting more skipping/jumping than ever. I brought this desk mainly because of the recording facility it offered but it just doesn’t want to work for me HELP HELP HELP

We are using a Seagate Backup Plus per the recommended guide, however the 1TB version. In three 40 minute recording sessions, one of 2-track, two of 18-track, we experienced maybe five skip events. My unfounded suspicion is that it is the hard drive rather than the Qu-16. One comparison of these external drives showed the Seagate as a lesser performing one. Of course this is just one review. I might try the WD My Passport. OTOH, I might try the Buffalo DriveStation DDR, it is a desktop external drive with 1GB of DDR buffer. It is larger and requires a wall wart but I consider these things to be an acceptable compromise to size if the recording performance is rock solid.