Chances are, it's your computer or driver installation or one of the peripherals hanging up. I'm not here to defend Mackie, but it's got to be one of the easiest, dumbest, simplest interfaces out there - when everything ELSE is working right.

I would have thought they'd have brought out a V.2 of their driver software by now, but I really do think it's probably not necessary. I've got a 1640 and 1220 each with FW interfaces, both of which work flawlessly (but differently!) on the different machines I run them on. I have various Sony VAIO computers, and they each their little quirks. But aside from a few glitches here and there, most "Default" modes work perfectly, so deductive reasoning would indicate the fault is not with the FW interface.

FWIW, I've had just as many, no, MORE problems with my original MOTU 896. What a DOG that was to ever get working properly...... (Again, I think the device itself was fine, the problem was no doubt the drives and my host machines.)

I was originally geared up to use the hookup. I installed the drivers and everything installed fine but when i wanted to playback audio even the system sounds on the computer through the onyx it was glitchy and even let out high pitched squeals and eventually stops all together...............even when i open the included software, traction, audio is still messed up and i get an occasional "error; device did not open correctly" or something like that! I like the onyx 1640 and i was just thinking about integrating a better or equal value interface into the equation..........

sorry, thought I could help. All my suggestions have been covered in your other post.

I've had similar problems, and tracked 'em down, but I understand how annoying it is. It still seems like a computer issue, not an onyx issue. Sounds like a resource conflict (DMA or Firewire interface on the MB of your computer.)

Since you've already spent the $$$ on this, a little more time investigating the problem might still be worth your time before you go after another interface....

Have you tried it on a different computer? (a friends, or second computer in your home, etc.) You might want to stop over to the Onyx forum on the Mackie website: http://www.mackie.com. You can sign up as a registered member over there, log in, and post your questions over there to other users.

You can also email or contact Mackie support directly on this, they've always been pretty helpful finding this sort of thing for people with similar problems. From what you're describing, I'm 99% sure it's not the card itself.

I had the same problem when I got my onyx 1620 all set up - the same exact problem...

Here's what I did:
I researched and asked questions about audio sample rates and frequencies... if you setup your software and board correctly it works extremely well...

I use a bit of latency (.05 i think not quite sure but not the default) and 96khz... also my recording software had to be setup with the same settings... eh dont give up on the fw interface it really can work wonders!

However I would probably use a different interface for guitar/bass... but thats another discussion

I am with JoeH on this.

We own two Mackie Onxy mixers and they perform to perfection with our Sony Vaio laptop computer. We too had some start up problems but now they are running GREAT!

It sounds to me like you may have other problems with your computer. The studdering could be from some other background program running on the computer. One good piece of software to have is one that will show you what you have running on your computer. There are lots of them out there and most are for free. I was amazed at all the junk that was running on our laptop when we first got it and I took most of it off. Also be aware of things like spyware that can not only slow down your computer but make audio playback a nightmare.

Best of luck!