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1010Music BlueBox + iPad 9 + iOS26.3.1 = crackling audio
Recently I've got a 1010Music BlueBox digital mixer / audio interface. Here is the odd thing:
The BlueBox works fine with my old iPad Air that runs iOS 12.x
However when I connect my iPad 9 (iOS26.3.1) I am getting very odd crackling in the audio output. Every about 20 seconds it crackles for a few seconds. Other audio interfaces work fine though.
The BlueBox is connected via a StarTech USB hub that can supply 2.4A per port - more than the BlueBox requires. And I am using a high quality Oyaide Neo USB cable that 1010Music recommends.
I tested both with Drambo and AUM (both 48K sample rate) on both iPads: iPad Air works, iPad 9 crackles.
And I have Liquid Glass disabled on iOS 26.
Comments
Make sure Siri is turned off; Siri has been messing with buffer sizes on recent iOS versions. Try restarting the iPad 9.
I can't speak to your question but I also have an iPad 9 and just wondering if iOS 26 is all good on that with music apps. Apple keeps bugging me to upgrade but iOS 18 has been working so well I ignore it. So do you think it's safe for that ipad?
I have restarted the iPad and it doesn’t change anything. I never use Siri and have Talk to Siri and the suggestions disabled anyway. As there are a lot more Siri related settings my question is if I missed an essential setting to avoid the buffer problem?
I don’t have any problems with 26 and music apps. And sadly I cannot test if the problem with the BlueBox is iOS26 related as I got the device when the iPad was already upgraded to 26.
I think you're good with Siri then. Just keep an eye on the buffer size reported by apps like AUM. The problem with Siri was that it created buffer sizes not a power of 2, values like 251.
That is interesting. Once AUM displayed a buffer size of 279 - and that was with Siri already disabled. Maybe I should set everything Siri related to disabled. A pain because there is no single simple off switch and for some settings you have to get through all apps.
Yes, that's the problem. You might try this suggestion. There's also a lively discussion here.
I came across both threads already and tried the advice. Nothing helps. The odd thing is that my other audio interfaces (Behringer UMC204HD and Tascam US 4x4) both work without problems. And these interfaces and the BlueBox run fine on my (Linux) laptops. I am posting in the 1010music support forum as well but no working solution was suggested to me at the moment. It might be one of those things where you have exactly that audio interface and exactly that iPad and exactly the iOS version that does not work
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I was having the weird buffer size thing continually with no interface at all and tried all the solutions offered everywhere to no avail. Then one day ... it stopped. I don't have a clue what changed. It may have been that I did a full forced reboot, but I really don't know. Might be worth a try though.
I tried the full forced reboot and it did not solve the problem. It still surprises me that it's only the BlueBox that is playing up with crackling audio while my other interfaces work fine with the same iPad. Maybe the way the BlueBox firmware handles USB is not that stable compared to other devices. I hope they will provide a fix.
@catherder could you resolve your problem? I'm facing the same symptoms on my iPad Pro M1, still running on iPadOS 18.7.3. I tried several USB cables, including theirs, to no avail.
All other audio interfaces/mixers tested on my iPad and with AUM cause no issue at all.
AUM set to 48khz, buffer sizes seem to make no difference — audio crackles remain.
The 1010music Bluebox works on my MacBook Pro, yet not without flaws. The Bluebox is running their latest OS 1.2.33.
Unfortunately I couldn’t solve it. I opened a thread in the 1010 Music forum. They are trying to replicate the issue. It might be good if you could leave a comment that you are affected by the problem as well:
https://forum.1010music.com/forum/products/bluebox-compact-digital-mixer-recorder/support-bluebox/61524-bluebox-as-ipad-audio-interface-crackling-about-every-30-seconds-48k-sample-rate
Thanks for the feedback @catherder , and yes, I already left a comment describing the same problem. Also opened an independent thread for reliable USB Audio on iOS/iPadOS in the wishlist section there.
This topic may need more feedback from more users, to end up of importance/priority at 1010music.
Audio crackles are also appearing on my MacBook Pro, running macOS 15.7.5 . . .
It seems to be a sensitive issue — fingers crossed they can fix it.
I saw your comment over at 1010. Thanks for doing this. I hope they get this fixed. From a device in that price range I do expect reliable and fully class compliant USB. But they are not alone: Roland put a really half baked USB implementation into their boutique synth range. And they didn’t do anything to fix it. I love my SH-01A, but the USB is 💩
I completely agree – USB audio has been officially a feature since the end of 2023, and they've obviously never managed to implement it reliably. What really surprises me is that customers accept this without much complaint.
It's the form factor that makes the Bluebox unique, not its price, not its features, and certainly not its reliability.
Roland is a sealed box — they're more than known for doing things the Roland way . . .
On an additional note @catherder , USB audio works crackle-free on the Bluebox when connected to my old iPad Pro 12.9 (2nd gen), lightning interface, running iPadOS 17.7.10.
This confirms that the issue is related to iOS/iPadOS 18/26. However, as these are the latest versions of iOS/iPadOS 18/26, it will affect most users who plan to use the Bluebox with an iPhone or iPad.
I'll post this over at the 1010music forum as well.
I made the same observation: My iPad Air (1st generation) with iOS 12 works like a charm.
I got the bluebox for almost nothing and wouldn’t have bought it for its actual price. Form factor is great, design is robust but USB is bad and I’m sure something like this could be made much less power hungry.
Lucky you @catherder , I paid more than almost nothing — bought it exclusively due to its form factor, as I'll be on a longer trip with performances, hence I still need it to work reliably.
iOS 18 was released in September 2024, so 1010music had about 1.5 years available to look into related USB audio issues. It's not that we were the first to report occurring problems in this regard. Look up forums, and you'll find a plethora of questions, irritations, and complaints.
Can't say if it's about bad engineering, insufficient DSP power, or simply bad audio DSP implementation (or a sum of all), but most likely zero effort has been going into fixing the Bluebox to work properly on iOS/iPadOS 18/26.
Here's a thought. Older iPads, like the original iPad Air, were built to work at 44.1 kHz sample rate. But at some time in the last 10 years, Apple switched to 48 kHz as the standard. We cannot be certain of the actual hardware sample rate being used; your iPad Air may be using 44.1 at the interface. Could you try switching your problem iPad to 44.1 and see if that helps? Remember, only the first audio app can change the sample rate, so a clean start may be required.
The sample rate of the 1010music Bluebox is set fixed to 48khz (such as AirPods) — it's not the issue. According to 1010music, it's about how iOS/iPadOS 18/26 handles the handshake. Yet "all" other class-compliant audio interfaces can obviously handle, so I guess it's more a matter of proper DSP programming.
Quote by 1010music:
"It is in the initial handshake. The iOS buffer gets stuck at its smallest size, regardless of what the other (non iOS) devices request."
None of my other actually class compliant gear acts like that. My buffer only gets forced by a cheap drum machine that is not fully class compliant and requires a driver on windows.
Have you read their forum? The admins do a lot of deflection and blaming of users, the hardware components 1010 themselves chose to use instead of what they should have, and other companies for their own shortcomings.
Well put @justaglove — that's exactly my impression. And looking up the forum, there are a bunch of issues that have never been tackled since their products were launched.
Also agree on the blaming of users (using the wrong USB cable [Jesus]) or Apple by 1010music. I mean, any cheap USB dongle I have here with a crappy audio out or in/out for pennies is working well, with any iOS/iPadOS.
The entire USB MIDI and audio implementation sucks. I can't tell if it's just due to shitty components or due to the lack of DSP programming skills. The form factor is the only reason I'm keeping the Bluebox for now — and better resign from hope of any improvements for USB MIDI/audio.
A user suggested making their firmwares Open Source, and I bet there are folks in the community who may do a better job than 1010music. Who knows, they also might not wanna people to see their code . . .
Pretty much all problems described in the forum are caused by firmware issues and engineering issues. What I don't get is the ignorance towards their users. The 1010music forum is a dead end, it appears. Prove me wrong, and I'd be happy.
I got heavily criticized when making a statement in this direction in the Elektronauts forum, but it seems a bit pointless to argue with fans.
The Bluebox is a great product on paper — but it's plagued by too many problems, and nearly all affect the most basic features (implemented in thousands of ultra low-cost devices), nothing esoteric.
The admin reply to this was essentially "don't worry about it we're using Claude now" and even if it's helping them fix things, that's so tone ignorant when you have tons of upset customers spanning YEARS and just sit on your ass making promises every time NAMM or SuperBooth comes around lol
Light at the end of the tunnel @justaglove ? As long as they are capable of handling Claude, it might be just another matter of years — AI to the front to aid the good case, yay.
Well — Wish customers would put more pressure on them, in their own interest . . .
Hi there, @catherder & @justaglove , I received the following feedback from 1010music in their forum:
We are doing some deeper research into this issue. For me, it works great on an iOS 26.4 iPad Pro (M4) with Logic, Loopy, Borderlands, and a few others. I can confirm that bluebox is connecting properly to iOS. Thanks for your patience while we work on this.
I am currently still on iPadOS 18, but with 26.4, ready to switch. Let me know if this resolves the issue for you guys, in case you're running 26.4.
FYI: I installed iPadOS 26.4 and tested the Bluebox — nothing changed . . . @catherder @justaglove
If you haven’t, you should create a demonstration video for them. They are super helpful to support people for getting a sense of the issue.
Thanks for the hint, and I might do so via their Discord when time allows. USB audio/MIDI problems are a long-standing issue, addressed multiple times by various users — with a lack of priority to get fixed, as it seems.
I already created a recording of the crackling that I shared in their forum. To ease analysis I played a constant sinewave via sinusodu and AUM. I had to play a signal as the crackle doesn’t happen with silence.
Thanks for letting me know @catherder .
I did some further testing (on the latest beta of 26.5). When connecting the Bluebox via any of my USB hubs, which work flawlessly with other devices that provide USB class compliance, the Bluebox continues to experience audio dropouts and crackles.
However, when directly connected to the iPad, it works.
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Edit:
It does not work — the issue remains, also with direct connection to the iPad, it's just less "violent", but it occurs tightly clocked. SO let's call it "reliably" not working.
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This, of course, won't help much, as I usually have additional MIDI controllers and other gear connected to my iPad, both in the studio and for live sets. USB hubs are essential & I wouldn't even think about performing live whilst relying solely on the iPad's internal battery.
I'll see if I can get feedback from 1010music about how they connect the Bluebox to their iPad, as this hasn't been mentioned in the forum yet.
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Edit:
My impression is that they try to sit this out until customers shut up and forget about it.
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