Question

I work on a very simple set up of a Toshiba laptop, AudioBox 44VSL and a Toshiba external hard-drive of 2 TB. It was working normally until a week ago as i was trying to record some audio and the AudioBox wouldn't show any signal. I tried to check what was the problem and came to a point where it seemed that when i use the external drive (where i have most of my virtual instruments) the AudioBox goes out of sync. As i thought to buy a new hard-drive i did a test and placed a virtual instrument in a small pen and got the same result, no midi signal and no sound. As soon as i try to access the instrument connected "via" usb the AudioBox stops working properly as she works if i just use the instruments within the laptop hard-drive. It's obviously a computer problem but i can't buy a new one now. The op. system is Windows 7 home premium the ext. hd.is Toshiba v63700-H 2TB, the daw is Cubase 5.1.1.120. Any suggestion is very appreciated. Thanks     

Answer 1

Well, hosting your VST plugins and instruments on external HD is not very efficient in general.  Especially on a laptop where USB is sharing processing with other hardware and power over USB is not great on  laptops.  Better to keep them on same HD that is running your OS and your DAW.  Use you external HD for storing sound files and your recordings.  Wouldn't even record to external HD, but do what you need to do.

The AudioBox connectivity may be hardware failure.  It doesn't usually just disappear.  Test with new USB cable and different USB connections.  Test your AudioBox on another computer.  Does it work or not ?  If not, then assume your AudioBox is faulty and contact the Distributor in your area for repair.

You might also try using a new power supply.

Use this article to fully remove installed device drivers.  Then install current Universal Control v2.2.  Once installed, open Universal Control and Update Firmware if prompted.

If you still have trouble, contact PreSonus Support for further assistance.