Digital Surfaces X32 Firmware 4.02 Crackling Issue

Blake Alley

Member
Hi everyone. I recently updated my X32 to firmware version 4.02 mainly for the individually assignable user inputs and somehow it gave the board an interesting issue with the sound output from it.

No matter if I'm listening from the main LR out or through headphones, everything sounds very crackly, almost like digital clipping but nothing on the board is even close to clipping. (Sorry, I forgot to get a recording of it but there isn't a whole lot to describing it. It just sounds like digital clipping all the time.) All sources sound this way including a Shure QLXD system via XLR and an ATEM Pro Studio via RCA aux. This randomly happened after the firmware update and after about an hour of being on. It doesn't matter if the sample rate is 48 kHz or 44.1 kHz, it still sounds terrible.

There isn't anything digitally connected to the board; everything is XLR or Aux analog connections, some even on a separate AC circuit. I went back to firmware 3.09 (the last version this board was on) and the crackling went away but the scribble strips are still showing the new style images which don't correspond with the ones in 4.02.

Anyone encountered this themselves or have any idea how to resolve this? I can stay with 3.09 but just need to get the scribble strips back to normal if 4.02 can't be resolved. Thanks!
 
You have to go back to 3.07 to restore scribble strips, I'm told. I haven't updated any of our X/M mixers yet but with the "new time off" virus, console updates and maintenance are on my list.
 
I have updated both a compact and a full size X32 to 4.02 without any difficulty. Blake's trouble is like what one of mine did a few updates ago. I simply rolled it back a version and then forward to the latest, and it cured it.

My practice is to always keep the previous version of firmware in a folder on the flash drive I use for doing updates. That way, I can go back easily, if needed. 4.02 deletes libraries, so back those up, along with scenes, before updating.
 
Thanks for the info! I had also taken this “no one’s going to be in the building for a few more weeks” time to update the Macs and consoles, so this X32 was part of that group to update. It certainly is a good thing that I caught the board doing this pretty early in our off time, so I’ve got a while to sort it all out.

I will be able to test out going back to 3.07 and back to 4.02 next Wednesday to see if it really is just a random and temporary bug specific to this console.
 
Maybe do the firmware updates in sequence? 3.07 to 3.11 to 4.0 to 4.01 to 4.02. Just a WAG...
I was discussing @Blake Alley 's issue with a colleague and he suggested exactly that.
 
Thanks for the suggestion! I will attempt that when I am able to get to the console again. This whole COVID-19 thing has now gotten so severe I am no longer let into the building more than once a weekend.

For those that may visit this thread in search of this solution, I've managed to find most of the firmware archives by just changing the number on the URL for the firmware download:
...although now I think it's only necessary to do the major version changes like what yert33 specified, skipping 08, 09, and 12.

I'll report back if this method results in a successful update to 4.02 since it doesn't seem like there are many versions between current and latest anyway.
 
Maybe do the firmware updates in sequence? 3.07 to 3.11 to 4.0 to 4.01 to 4.02. Just a WAG...

Good news! It looks like doing all the updates in sequence does indeed result in no problems with the board in the end. I ended up going from 3.07 to 3.09 to 4.0 to 4.02, testing the board with two XLR sources seeing if anything sounded off. I left the board on for a few hours to see if it would deteriorate over time but the audio still sounded great.

I personally love the follow fader feature on version 4 of the X32 along with the flexibility of new user-assignable inputs, so I am quite happy to have this sorted out!
 
I personally love the follow [autolink said:
fader[/autolink] feature on version 4 of the X32 along with the flexibility of new user-assignable inputs, so I am quite happy to have this sorted out!

What is the fader follow feature? Do you mean Fader Flip?[/QUOTE]
 
I'm pretty sure fader flip (or whatever it's called) is the ability to have the currently selected channel automatically change depending on the page selected (ex. Ch. 17 is selected when changing pages instead of Ch. 1 staying selected in the background). I don't personally have that enabled since I like my currently selected channel to remain selected no matter what page is selected.

I had mentioned fader follow (not sure if that's the official name for it) but basically it'll automatically select whatever fader was moved or altered last. I now find myself just touching the fader itself to select it and adjust its level instead of finding its corresponding select button and then adjusting the fader after. Again, maybe I called it the wrong thing but I'm pretty sure it had the words "Fader" and "Follow" quite close to each other. Maybe it was also available in a previous firmware but I had just discovered it when going to >v4.0.
 
Touch select. When you touch the fader it becomes the selected channel. Fader flip works 2 ways - if you select a channel and then flip to faders, the master section faders will be used to set the selected channel level in those mixes; if you select a mix, the channel input faders reflect each channels contribution to that mix.
 
Yeah, that's it! Apologies for getting the name wrong and thanks for the clarification.
No problems... the fader flip is also called "sends on faders" and that's probably a more accurate description of what's going on. It's a work flow thing, for me especially if I'm mixing stage monitors where I use it often.

Glad you got your updates sorted out and got the crackles to go away!
 

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