Flow 8 Audio Interface Disconnects

[soundog]

I have my FLOW 8 USB AUDIO connected to my 8th Gen iPad, which then connects to a MIDI controller (snapshot changes) and to the AUM app for audio processing. AUM recognizes all ten of the FLOW 8 "recording" audio channels when all is running nicely. But at times, and I cannot figure out why, the audio interface connection is dropped. When that happens I lose MIDI control and audio processing.

The cure has been to either unplug and plug in the USB cable to reset, or (preferred for me) to hold down the FLOW 8 menu button to power down, then tap it again to power up. The iPad and AUM then reconnect to FLOW 8. This is not a huge deal at home, but last night at a gig it happened and I had to fumble around to get things working again.

Any ideas about why this might occur? FYI, I'm using a USB 3 Apple Camera Connection kit, and a powered USB hub (required for my setup to connect multiple MIDI devices; I use a Plugable hub deemed as one of the most stable for mobile music setups).

[RexBeckett]

@soundog Do you still get disconnections without the USB hub? I know that you need the hub but testing without it might help to track-down the issue.

My Flow 8 will stay connected to a Windows laptop through a USB 3.1 port for well over a week with no drops so it doesn't seem to be a fundamental flaw with the interface design.

[soundog]

Yeah, the hub would be my first suspect too. But I'm pretty sure I know now what was causing the problem (and haven't had a chance to respond here).

The iPad OS has no concept of aggregate devices (like Apple OS has). In other words, it will only recognize one audio interface at a time. And it will activate the most currently "booted" audio interface and dump the prior one. At the gig, I connected an HX Stomp half way through a set. I have the Stomp connected via USB to the hub (along with FLOW 8) for MIDI in/out but don't use USB for Stomp audio. But ..... the Stomp acts as an audio interface through USB, so it hijacked the FLOW 8. That may have happened only once during the gig, I can't remember. It happened a lot at home because I was working on setup and probably rebooted the Stomp numerous times. This makes sense to me. I can avoid it in the future by simply connected the Stomp to MIDI via 5-pin DIN, not USB. And let FLOW 8 reign as the rightful king of the audio interfaces.

Thanks for your help in troubleshooting, but I'm almost certain that's what was happening. Something to keep in mind for future audio interface disconnects, perhaps.

[RexBeckett]

That's good logic, @soundog . Thanks for the update. As you say, it may help other users.