First GearSpace post. Woohoo!!

I'd be interested in people's actual experience of the Neumann MT48 under OS X in particular.

I can see all manner of reasons to buy this thing, but I'm getting pretty tired of a common modern disease -- hardware brilliant; software appalling -- and assorted posts on this forum make me wary.

If you've bought one, how's the experience been in terms of driver/software stability? (I'm already sold on the sound.) Is it really as bad as I've read?

Absolutely no regrets. The MT48 is stellar I was able to plug and play via USB into my older Intel MBP and it was the most painless digital interface I have ever had. After several days of having fun and making some music, I went ahead and did the down loads. I like that I don't have to stop making music as I evolve into a deeper understanding of its many uses. I am heading toward having less stuff and this interfaced will be perfect for the road. For the first time I can imagine pruning the expense, heavy analog gear-- Neve, SSL, Shadow Hills, Manley, DbX, Pendulum, Tonelux, etc. I love the analog stuff but also liked film for photography. For day-to-day creativity on the fly, digital is the way to go and I think we have arrived to the future with the MT48. The preamps are the cleanest I have heard. Maybe to clean, but one can always add color with plugins. The built in EQ is very useful and clean. The dynamics seems to be a really good tool, but has absolutely no tone mojo like many of my analog dynamics.

I've used mine daily, both on a custom Windows 11 desktop and a 2020 Intel Macbook Pro. Not a single blip, not a single crash or crackle. I even had a prior issue with the Sonarworks system wide version having intermittent crackles on Windows 11 that went away when I switched the MT 48. I've since stopped using Sonarworks in favor of the built-in output EQ on the MT 48 instead, but I think that speaks to the stability of the audio drivers.

Pretty great stuff for a unit fresh on the market if you ask me. Granted, I'm not really pushing the limits of the unit here, i.e. not peering it to another unit or anything like that.

However, it's worth noting that this is based on the Anubis platform, which has been on the market for some time, and any software stability learnings have likely been inherited by the MT 48. Neumann didn't start from scratch here.

Using my Neumann MT 48 for 4 weeks now, almost running all day for at least 10 hours without any problems.

Rock solid case, stable drivers, it gets warm, but still in fan setting MID absolutely NO fan noise.

Sold my Apollo x6 immediately, no looking back. The PREs, the feel of the main knob, the overall sound, so much clearer and better.

Had a session with 2 singers using the PREs 1 and 2 and HP-Mixes 1 and 2 for them, my own HP mix I set up through line out 3-4 into my inear Preamp (all mixes are customizable) and into the Neumann NDH 30. Mix 1 went straight to my KH 150s, which recently replaced my Amphion One 18. With the MA 1 the sound is really really good now.

I am absolutely happy atm.

Hope to get future updates for DeEsser and so on.

Does it work with HDX?

does not have Digi-Link connector so no I'm guessing

Other than a temporary glitch when updating the firmware, this thing has been rock solid. Excellent sounding, fantastic build quality and top notch UI.

Hi All, first time post here.
I just thought I'd contribute as I'm having some stability issues with the MT48.
I'm running the 48 (fully updated) under OSX and am having some glitches in the monitoring. Little pops and the odd static kind of sound.
It happens a few times in a 1-2 hour session. I haven't taken it out on a gig yet because of these issues.
The glitches aren't in the recorded sound, just as I listen to myself during recording. Sometimes I’ll stop the recording and check the file and it’s usually fine. To be very specific, I'm running two channels through the built-in pres (which are great), and monitoring through the DAW (not directly from the 48). Any unneeded channels are disabled.
My other interfaces are the Prism Lyra 2 and Prism Titan, neither of which has ever had an issue, and I've used them professionally for 6 years or so ...I suppose I'd describe them as "rock solid".
I wrote to Neumann twice describing the issue as best I can and am a little disappointed as they haven't written back.
Anyway, just thought someone may be interested to read this. I'll follow up if the issue ever gets solved.

Had it for 1 week, in operation 10 hours x day. Not a single problem. The only reason to stay away from it, is that is so revealing, detailed, uncoloured, truthful, that 90% of the music - or rather I should say of the "music productions" you hear through it, will sound exactly what they are (including your own): absolute rubbish.

The great productions will stay great.

Eye opener stuff. Not a whiff of coloration in the sound.

Can you specify os version, buffer settings etc...?
Please report back if you find the source, it will be very helpful.

Did you mean macOS, or are you in fact still running on a version of OSX? If so, that could very well be the issue, as OSX has been out of date for a very long time, and I highly doubt this was developed or tested with OSX in mind.

Running Ventura on a 14-inch MacBook Pro. The buffer is 256 samples and my projects (24/48) are very light, a stereo pair with 1-2 plugins. Neumann and I are in touch now and they have suggested some things which I will test and report back when it’s been solved.

Hi All,

Here is an update on the MT48 stability issues I've been having.
Again, my system is a 14 inch MacBook Pro (M1 Pro processor). I'm basically just recording myself practicing with a stereo pair in 24/48 with a buffer of 256 with a Fabfilter Pro R. I solo the "DAW1" on the MT48 because I'm just used to working that way. All unneeded channels are disabled.

The issue being several pops coming through the headphones while monitoring (the recordings were fine). My sessions were 1-2 hours, and every single one had these noises.

Neumann responded quickly after my second message, and they suggested a couple of things:

1) "In certain cases, cabling can be a culprit. I have seen similar cases of this.
Can we try swapping the cable used for power, and the cable used for data with each other? "

2) "On the Control Panel, select Buffer Settings. Try enabling Safe Mode (raises the Output Latency by 2 milliseconds.) We generally recommend the buffer size dropdown at 64 samples."

On top of that, I reset the MT48 in case I just did something inadvertently while playing with the settings and made sure the computer and DAWs were up to date.

Unfortunately, no luck. Still various little random pops in my ears while I'm trying to record.

As I write this, I'm listening through my Prism Titan, and am reminded of how problem free it is. Just a clean listening experience.

So, I think unfortunately the MT48 has to go back, which is a shame because the preamps and headphone amps are beautiful, and the small form factor is why I bought it. Bummer :(

Sorry to hear you're having these issues. I've been running mine back and forth between a MacBook Pro and Windows 11 desktop with no such issues. Which DAW are you using, sorry if I missed that earlier. Could maybe be your particular unit. If it persists you might have a reasonable enough case to get a fresh unit.

I wish I had your experience as this unit has everything I've wanted for a long time. I use Reaper and ProTools at home (tried both). I've tried adjusting the buffer but I know that's not the problem for such a light recording session. The sound occurs randomly while listening to music on my computer too. I'll try it once more on my newish iMac upstairs. I don't want to give up without exhausting all possible culprits. It would otherwise be a very valuable piece of kit for my personal needs, the preamps alone, wow. For the past 20 years I've owned RME and Prism units, and at work there are several UFX, and this is the first time I've had this type of problem. The Neumann rep has gone silent, so I think maybe they are deciding what to do. It better be fast as my return window is closing.

One last thing I should mention...
At first I thought I was just forgetting to turn off phantom power at the end of my sessions, but I now am certain that the unit will sometimes start with phantom power engaged.

This is my correspondence with Neumann when I reported the issue.
"WIth the aid of my colleague, we were able to reproduce this.

If you enable the preamp module for a mic input, press the lock button for Mic 1, then reboot the interface Mic Input 2 will come back on with Phantom Power engaged, despite it being off initially. This is a bug and I will report this to the development team."

However, on my unit, once in a while I will turn off phantom for my stereo pair, turn off the unit, then the next time I turn on the unit the 48V is engaged for both channels. I didn't accidentally hit the "lock" or anything. I actually recorded it this time with my phone and am sending the video to them.

I think I just have a bum unit and have returned it, but I'm hoping someone else will read this if they are experiencing similar issues.

Please be careful if you are using ribbons!!!!

Hi,

Want to mention that I experience the same issue with the random pops and clicks. Not when I'm using it just in Windows, but when I have my DAW open, sometimes a random pop happens. Also when I'm not recording.
Although I'm very happy with the unit overall, I'm seriously considering returning it after encountering this issue. Should not happen with a €2000,- device.

Just got of the phone with a rep from Neumann, 20 min. after submitting a service request. He gave some tips to at least monitor the problem and ensured me that, no matter the return period, they will take care of a return in case that is needed.
I must say, this really helps the way I feel about this product/company and shows that they take their customers seriously.

The tips I got:

- Monitor audio during session with DPC latency tool
- Send them logs of sessions where the issues occured

Hopefully we'll make it work.

I would pay attention to whether or not any other apps apart from the main DAW are set to output to the Neumann (Spotify, web browser, etc) and whether or not them accessing for output then plays into the bug.

Yeah, i think you're right. Did a session yesterday with no problems at all. Probably a background app or another connected device or something that caused the problems. I will continue to share updates if I have more info on what caused the issue.

I want to add to this comment and say that I have the same issue. I'm running my DAW on Windows, and when running the project on ASIO mode, it's performance is phenomenal, but I get a single POP or CLICK noise on my DAW 1 channel, sometimes on DAW 2, and the timing of the pops are random. I have high hopes for this card, it has EVERYTHING I want, but these weird sounds shouldn't be the case for a high end audio interface. I contacted Neumann support for this issue, and they mentioned it was a latency issue and proceeded to share with me the manual on DAW routing. I've replied to them with this video, I'm hoping there's a driver update that could fix this because I really don't want to return this investment :(
I will try swapping out the cables, and tryin USB C to C as well. Keep you posted.

PC Spec:
Ryzen 9 5900hx
32 GB Ram
USB C to A
FL Studio 21

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1-KH...ew?usp=sharing

Hello new here, i just received my neumann mt48 and I got to be honest for the price tag I’m a little frustrated with what I’m dealing with. First off let me tell you the kind of music I’m making, I’m making electronic Hip Hop indie music. As of right now the Midi compatibility on this thing is absolutely terrible. and if you use a lot of soft synths you probably want to avoid this unit until they get it situated. All my plug-ins are getting drop notes or frozen notes and it’s driving me crazy probably going to have to return it and go back to using my Arturia interface. Second problem is I have a Mac Studio M 1 that is very powerful and I have to run this at 32 samples because the latency on this is atrocious and if I use a higher rate and try to record any of my analog synths I get cracking and popping like crazy. Which is crazy because my cheap Arturia audiofuse is vastly superior in this department and has no problem with any soft synths or recording. It’s absolutely ridiculous that they’re not using thunderbolt. I got to say though the headphone amps on this thing are amazing and put arturias and apollo x8 to shame, I’m using the NDH 30 and seinnheiser 660s headphones and really enjoy them. As many have mentioned, it is very clean to the point of to clean for me. If you’re doing electronic and hip-hop, it is very sterile sounding. Yes the unit runs hot but so does my audiofuse.no big deal. Because this unit is so new i haven’t heard many problems yet so I’m curious is there anyone here that has the new Neumann mt 48 and having midi problems? Think im just gonna return it and wait it out.

I have a MacBook Pro M1 Max. Just got my MT 48 and have zero problems of any kind.

The only thing that caused problems for me was when I used a USB-C to USB-A cable to attach my MT48 to a USB hub. This caused pops. When I used the USB-C cable straight to my Mac everything resolved.

Keep troubleshooting. I hope you can solve this. It’s a superb interface. Good luck.

Are you running SoundID Reference in the project? For me deleting the plugin from the project helped, but I still have the same clicks and pops now and than. I think the video shows the issue perfectly, so very curious what Neumann support has to say. And completely agree that this should not happen, not with any interface and especially not with a device in this pricerange.

Please keep sharing updates!

I have an MT-48 connected to an M1X MacBook Pro running OS 13.6, using Logic 10.7.9. No problems when powered and connected via USB. I also tried to connect (and power it for convenience) from a POE ethernet switch, so that I could control the unit remotely from an iPad. That worked, but I was getting drop-outs in the DAW volume when adjusting the right headphone volume.

I'm curious as to whether, if one were to install the Ravenna driver, if it could run without any USB at all. Probably no advantage in doing that though, unless I had actual AES67 devices.

Some people have had problems registering - I think the published URL is incorrect, it should be
https://product-registration.neumann.com/login

I keep the screen dimmed (Menu > Settings > General > Interface Controls > Display Brightness & Button Intensity). But I wish I could turn it off completely without turning off the unit, or have some sort of standby mode. Sometimes you need the room to be dark, and that thing is very bright.

Thanks for the reply i too am using usb c to usb c have you tried different sample rates? What sample rate are you recording at? Thank you

I too got some crackling when going USB-A <-> USB-C into a hub rather than going straight into the USC-C port on the MBP. It was definitely the hub causing this. Not sure if there is something happening between with the MT48's design and the hub, as I did notice the hub was much warmer to the touch than normal with the MT48 cable plugged into it.

"MIDI problems"...that's not really the case with any audio interface. MIDI is separate; the interface just sees a data stream from the DAW, it doesn't really "know" what's coming into it, it just sees an audio stream. By the time it reaches the driver, there's no midi information involved.

What you describe sounds like some sort of data stream error - it's weird that you're saying a low buffer size works, a high buffer size gets clicks/pops (normally it'd be the other way round). Also whilst some people are very latency sensitive, most DAWs (you don't say what you're using) are very usable even up to a 128 buffer - they often automatically put the soft synth in record down to a low buffer anyway - so it's also odd there's an issue with latency.

Sounds like some problem with the driver for sure, but I don't think it's soft-synth related.

(also - not using TB doesn't necessarily mean issues, plenty of great USB interfaces, TB can be better for high IO counts sure but this shouldn't be an issue).

I've recorded at 48kHz and 96kHz, no problems. Usually stick with 48 kHz though.

For me, the problem was the USB-C to USB-A cable, not the hub. When I plugged the MT48 into my hub with a USB-C cable, everything was fine.