TC Electronic Konnekt 24D - The Next Generation

[hydra99]

I don't see any Mac users presenting any new information in this thread, just restatements of the "There isn't a new Mac driver and I'm upset" posts.

Because there are no new informations and I'm upset!

So I'm waiting, and waiting, and waiting ...

[locojohn]

TC eventually did come through with a workable Windows driver and they say they're going to come up with a Mac one next, so I'm withholding judgement until the new one comes out.

 

 

not a workable windows driver.

 

-andrejs

[mikews99]

What about my WDM-related question? Why, do you think, we are seeing only left/right/stereo pair?

 

Most ASIO drivers use custom IOControl calls to the hardware. The WDM drivers are there mainly for easy Windows MME/DirectX compatibility, so I wouldn't expect WDM drivers to have the same I/O as ASIO drivers.

[mqbernardo]

Hey Craig, don't cloud the issue with facts. Like I said before, some people just enjoy their recreational anger. But TC I believe in you. Hang in there champ! I'm gonna buy one of these K24 thingeys very soon. And, I'm a Mac user. How's that for blind faith?

hmmm?

like i heard before, some people just enjoy their recreational anger.

[kalimba]

Hello everyone,
I've been looking at the Konnekt 8 interface, and was wondering if anyone has had experience using it with Logic 5 on XP? I've had lots of problems with this program being particularly fussy with audio drivers and different interfaces (one day I'll buy a Mac, one day), and have become quite paranoid about this... I'd like to be sure it works smoothly. Haven't found anything in the post about this during a search, sorry if I missed something!
Rob

[ou81aswell]

sorry, the Windows driver doesn't work fine here, at all. -andrejs

Same for me. The 1.10 driver, although plagued with problems worked better for me than the current 1.20 driver. An email to TC support two weeks ago seemed to get lost in the ether.

[Anderton]

But, Craig's statement seems to say the VST's are not really working in general, and just a so-so extra feature that doesn't count. AND, now there's this Konnekt Live which advertising running the effects on the outputs - i thought the VST method of the 24D already allowed this? and thus, i'm confused.

 

 

You've always been able to add the Fabrik C to both the CH1 and CH2 inputs, and the Fabrik R as a send effect within the K24D. Somewhere around January/February, mostly in response to user requests, TC added the possibility to use the Fabrik C and Fabrik R as standard VST plug-ins. Prior to that, if you wanted to use the effects with a host sequencer, you had to treat the K24D as the equivalent of an external hardware device. It was workable, but not as efficient as the VST implementation.

 

The Fabrik R and C are working here as plug-ins. However, there is a known issue in the beta where manipulating the Fabrik's controls or resizing/moving the window causes pops. If you just close the TC Near control panel, then either one works as a VST effect without the pops I mentioned (unless, of course, your latency is set too low).

 

Does this help?

[Anderton]

HI there, I am quite concerned to read that the problem is not the konnekt driver but the mac intel. Just fyi, as i read that the mac intel worked perferctly with RME, i can also tell you that they also work perfectly with m-audio units (firewire solo). Who could really believe that this is a mac intel issue whereas in the meantime, the previous drivers worked better on intel macs that the beta ones. There is necessarily a problem inside the drivers!

 

One would think that would be the case, but it could also be something hardware related, or TC (and the other companies experiencing Mac firewire problems) might be attempting something that other interfaces don't try, or try to use the Firewire bus in a different way.

 

And frustratingly, remember that a product that works with one Firewire card or chip set might not work with another...so is that the fault of the computer company, the interface company, or the firewire card company? I don't have the answer and apparently, most companies don't either

[Anderton]

 

After I switch to WDM mode, I can only see three inputs/outputs, i.e. "left", "right" and "stereo". Where are all the other ins and outs for this card? My M-audio 1010LT, for example, exposes all its ins and outs through the driver. Why doesn't Konnekt 24D do the same?

 

 

I might be that you've run up against the port limit in Windows XP/NT/2000. I learned about this while doing the Yamaha XS6 Pro Review, where it wouldn't show up as a MIDI device because I had more drivers installed than Windows can handle. Apparently the same issue can happen with WDM drivers, although I'm no expert on the subject.

 

Check out the second page of the review, there's a reference to an FAQ on the Hammerfall site regarding this problem and some possible solutions.

[Anderton]

not a workable windows driver. -andrejs

 

 

That doesn't tell me enough to be of much help...are you referring to the various known issues, or does it just plain not work, and if so, what's the problem? Aside from the issues of using effects as VSTs, I'm having very good luck on Windows XP SP2 with all my various programs...even Sonar.

[Anderton]

Interesting comment from the Alesis io26 pro review from an Intel Mac user:

 

 

Just wanted to update my experience. I run an imac intel 2.16ghz with 10.4.9 system. I have a separate external hardrive for the softsynth libraries and a separate external hardrive for my song files. I use a belkin six way splitter for my firewire which connects my computer, my io/26 and the two hardrives. I am running cubase 4. I was getting many glitches and dropouts where i would have to reboot everything. I decided to add the external power source to both the io/26 and the belkin, and I ran the whole day today without one problem. I was working on a song with about 20 stereo tracks of audio and about 20 effect plugins active and 6 softsynths and the computer didn't break a sweat.

 

 

I think it's safest to run the TC K24D from the external power supply...I do, maybe that's one of the factors why it's working well for me. Jim Norman from Alesis confirmed in the io26 Pro Review thread that not all firewire ports are created equal in terms of being able to apply power consistently.[/] If a Firewire device occasionally draws more power, it might be enough to send the Firewire bus over the edge.

[Kendall Simpson]

I am a Logic user (7.2.3). I have been using the 24D since February. I recently installed the 1.20 beta driver. Everything works as it should except for the TC Near panel. Sometimes Logic will crash when I open the panel or if I store the panel in a Logic (locked) window. I can report no other problems except for the very sensitive TC Near control panel.

Kendall (Mac 1.8GHz, 3G RAM, 10.4.8)

[jhebert]

Sold the 24D on eBay.

Interestingly, I stayed away since the "sequel" thread opened and just returned to check in. I don't see enough jaw-dropping amazement at the product or its manufacturer to make me return.

You may think, "Well, good riddance, then," and you may be right. I said the same thing to the Konnekt 24D, and life has been abundantly sweeter. I have time and there will be other interfaces to come.

But I will never return to the TC Electronic product fold. Ever. To paraphrase an old saying, "Burn me once, shame on me. Burn me twice, shame on you." There won't be a second chance for TC to burn me.

James

[sonicE]

What's happened to Mike? In the original thread, he was around almost every day/every other day or so. Now, dead silence. Has he received a stand-down order?

Mike, when you read this, please post letting me know if the new driver supports Panther OS 10.3.9, and why I've had to wait 12 days (and counting) for this information since contacting TC support.

James (if you ever come back to read this): how much of a loss did you take on your 24D? It's one thing for the driver not to function properly, but at a certain point (a point you have obviously reached and continued on ahead of) you realize that it may simply be idiotic to persist in the folly of hoping and believing. I could easily still be here a year from now staring at this cold, silent metal box (as cold and silent, it would appear, as the company that manufactured it).

[locojohn]

That doesn't tell me enough to be of much help...are you referring to the various known issues, or does it just plain not work, and if so, what's the problem? Aside from the issues of using effects as VSTs, I'm having very good luck on Windows XP SP2 with all my various programs...even Sonar.

 

 

yes, i was referring to various known issues, such as "toshiba" incompatibility, in particular. i have been participating in the former konnekt thread on harmony central since the beginning of january, 2007 - the time when i bought my konnekt 24d. i am a musician and i use this interface on live gigs and i merely cannot afford unreliable operation during live performance, which is what i am afraid will happen with any drivers if i bring k24d along to a gig. drivers version 1.10 seem to produce more cpu load in the system area (about 40%), but work more reliably (less drop outs) than those version 1.20. i have not contacted tc electronic since when they told me they do not support toshiba laptops and cannot recommend this only brand to anyone with konnekt. they also told me they cannot be of help anymore, all they suggested to me was to change my laptop or my audio interface.

 

in the current state of things i do not think you are capable to help me either. i am waiting for the driver update and mysterious "toshiba fix", whatever it is.

 

andrejs

[MishMash]

I have been following TC 24D and io14/26 threads from the very beginning and after further investigations (trawling the net) came to the conclusion that no driver/software update will fix the problems in above mentioned interfaces. The reason..? "Dice II Jet" processor - untested, unreliable and simply not up to the job. I can bet any money that we will not see these chips implemented in any of the others manufacturer sound-cards. I have never, ever read of so many bad issues and problems with any other sound-card maker - even M-Audio... Personally I'm getting Motu Ultralite
Just my two cents...

[designerthumbs]

just a note : my K24D never self powered with a Texas Instruments chipped PCI card, but then I built a new Core 2 Duo DAW which has an Asus p5l 1394 mobo with onboard Firewire. This works fine.

[rpsx]

... Somewhere around January/February, mostly in response to user requests, TC added the possibility to use the Fabrik C and Fabrik R as standard VST plug-ins. ... The Fabrik R and C are working here as plug-ins. Does this help?

 

 

it helps some. but, the main question still is: can the vst's be used anywhere now? (namely, on the DAW output?). and if so, why does TC make such a big deal about the Konnekt Live being able to run the compressors on it's output (and, charge more for it, if the k24D already does it?).

 

thanks for your patience (and super fast and excellent replies!).

[stebo mcqueen]

I’ve been following this thread and the previous one with specific interest in the Toshiba laptop problem. As an EE I found it suspicious that the whole Toshiba product line was problematic. So I took the plunge and pick up a Konnect24D to do some testing.

First I upgraded to the stable release firmware and driver 1.10
On a new Toshiba Satellite U205-S5034 (12”) it didn’t work. The usual sound losses every few seconds and terrible distortion in Live using ASIO. Tried turning off all unneeded service with no change. Next step beta release 1.20 build 1444 – no change.

Then with a fresh install of Windows XP (not using Toshiba restore CD) I got results. Perfect results in fact. No drop outs etc. Ran Live and Cubase in playback and record – No problems. So I thought I had a smoking gun. The Toshiba’s factory install has some sort of conflict (the Toshiba’s are loaded with goodies (or some would say bloat ware).
I started to load the Toshiba extras (and there’s allot) to the plain Windows XP install see if I could break the camels back. I got worn out restarting, testing, restarting, testing hoping to find the conflicting app. The Konnect continued to work fine. So I decided to Ghost that work and fresh install from the Toshiba factory disc and try working backwards. Then the big surprise.

The Konnect now works fine with the Toshiba from a factory fresh restore!

I’m still in the process of investigating this as IEEE1394 is an area I’m not technically familiar with.

Just though some of the Toshiba owners might try this if interested.

[locojohn]

I’m still in the process of investigating this as IEEE1394 is an area I’m not technically familiar with. Just though some of the Toshiba owners mie ght try this if interested.

 

 

hello and thanks for your contribution. the windows i am running now i have installed from windows professional + service pack 1a installation cd. then upgraded to service pack 2 + the infamous microsoft "firewire devices might work slow" patch. no toshiba bells and whistles installed and still frequent drop outs with drivers 1.20. my laptop is, however, an older model - satellite pro m30. it pains me to think that i have to upgrade to a new laptop though.

 

thanks for your feedback, stebo mcqueen! although being tired of waiting, let's see if the new driver update will eventually sort out all problems....

 

-andrejs

[laxano]

a bit off topic

i saw the videos for the new konnekt live. awesome,presentation and marketing.when i saw them i immediately forgot all the problems i had with my previous konnekt and i wanted to buy one.

but

i saw it costing 200 euro more than the konnekt24d and i could'nt figure out why...
let's see...
konnekt24d benefits versus konnekt8
-2 more analog ins
-2 more analog outs
-8 adat in/outs
-2 dsp fx plus assimilator

all these for 150 more

konnekt live benefits vesrus konnekt24d
-fx on the output
-...black color?

for 200 more?

come on...

[locojohn]

i saw it costing 200 euro more than the konnekt24d and i could'nt figure out why... konnekt live benefits vesrus konnekt24d -fx on the output -...black color? for 200 more?

anyone, please correct me if i am wrong here, but konnekt live has more routing possibilities and an additional ResFilter effect, plus a more sturdy casing intended for live use... other than that, the two are identical. even drivers for both seem to be distributed within one package.

-andrejs

[laxano]

anyone, please correct me if i am wrong here, but konnekt live has more routing possibilities and an additional ResFilter effect, plus a more sturdy casing intended for live use... other than that, the two are identical. even drivers for both seem to be distributed within one package. -andrejs

 

 

to be precise

 

-fx on the input AND output(24d has fx only on the inputs)

-resfilter INSTEAD assimilator

-the same casing but with a thick rubber (!) ,and slightly more metal on the front sides

-ria plug in and cable

-black color

 

200 more...

[sonicE]

 

200 more...

 

 

Now with Konnekt Live, TC is going to have to hire more support staff to handle all the new customers with problems; the 200 extra per unit is so they can afford to hire a second support person.

[ludwig van]

TC has support personnel??