At a recent gig, we had an unusual experience that I’m hoping someone can help explain — both to avoid it in the future and to share the learning with others here on the forum.
Our setup:
FOH: PreSonus StudioLive 24 console mixer
Stage box: StudioLive 24R
Playback: iPad running StageTraxx with multitrack via USB connected to the 24R
Sample rate: Everything set to 44.1kHz (console, stage box, StageTraxx internal setting, and all backing tracks)
This setup has worked flawlessly at previous gigs. However, this time something unexpected happened.
After finishing the first set, we left the stage. Both the mixer and stage box were left powered on, as well as the iPad connected via USB. When we returned for the second set, we discovered that the stage box had accidentally been turned off while we were away.
We turned the 24R back on and started the next song — but it played noticeably slower and at a lower pitch. We tried the next track with the same result. Realizing something was off, we aborted to troubleshoot.
We disconnected and restarted the iPad, reconnected the USB cable, and relaunched StageTraxx. After that, playback returned to normal and the rest of the gig went fine.
Does anyone know what might have caused this?
My theory is that it has something to do with the sample rate — perhaps a mismatch or sync issue when the stage box was powered back on. It seemed like StageTraxx was interpreting the tracks incorrectly, possibly thinking they were at 48kHz and slowing them down to match 44.1kHz (or the other way around). The playback speed and pitch were both reduced by about 10%, which would be consistent with a 48→44.1kHz mismatch.
Since then, I’ve made it a habit to only connect the iPad via USB as the last step, after everything else is powered up and ready. I also make sure to fully quit and restart StageTraxx before we start the set.
Would be interesting if anybody can explain.. :-)