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meridiandevv

Q: High pitch squeal related to Firewire audio device after 10.6.2 audio patch

So the recent Mac Pro audio update 1.0 (applied on 10.6.2) has reduced my CPU temperature with audio playback (Presonus Firebox Firewire audio interface) and that is great. Also haven't had any machine crashes (grey screens) recently which is also great.
The problem is that when the Firebox is plugged into the firewire port of the Mac Pro there is a constant high pitched whistle of slightly oscillating frequency. If I unplug the Firebox the whistle goes away in a few seconds.

After prolonged use in a quiet room (the kind of room you need for audio recording / mixing work!) the noise is enough to drive me crazy.

I read a post on another forum with other people having the same problem. Can anyone comment here on seeing the same thing? Is there any known work around or fix for this?

When the CPU is under heavy load (e.g. H.264 compression etc.) the noise subsides only to return when there is normal load (i.e. half a dozen apps running).

Help!
Thanks

Mac Pro Early 2009 Quad, Presonus Firebox, Firewire, 24" LED Cinema, Mac OS X (10.6.2), Mac Pro Audio Update 1.0

Posted on Feb 16, 2010 8:23 PM

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Q: High pitch squeal related to Firewire audio device after 10.6.2 audio patch

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  • by HERALDO_JONES,

    HERALDO_JONES HERALDO_JONES Mar 25, 2010 4:30 PM in response to meridiandevv
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Mar 25, 2010 4:30 PM in response to meridiandevv
    Hi people. I have the same problem here (mac pro early 2009 4x2,66ghz nehalem). I checked with APOGEE DUET, FOCUSRITE SAFFIRE 24 DSP, MOTU 828MK3, TC ELECTRONIC IMPACT TWIN, M-AUDIO PROFIRE 610 and STEINBERG MR816X. Before the audio update all was perfect, since the **** update it is an horror. It is a clearly problem wich comes from the mac pro. We have to put the word in the air and make noise to be listened. My mac pro is my work tool and if I can't use it I'm loosing money. ALL WE NEED A SOLUTION KNOW !!!!!!! (I tried everything, also tried pci-e card sonnet allegro fw400 but it don't give the solution)

    APPLE MAC PRO EARLY 2009, 4X2,66GHZ NEHALEM, 3GB RAM DDR3 ORIGINAL, 128GB SSD SAMSUNG, 2X1TB WD BLACK AND SEAGATE BARRACUDA-7200RPM, 1X SAMSUNG 1TB 5400RPM. OSX 10.6.2 WITH ALL UPDATES.
  • by Samsara,

    Samsara Samsara Mar 25, 2010 5:38 PM in response to HERALDO_JONES
    Level 4 (1,320 points)
    Mar 25, 2010 5:38 PM in response to HERALDO_JONES
    Some hope and info here,here and here.
  • by HERALDO_JONES,

    HERALDO_JONES HERALDO_JONES Mar 25, 2010 5:59 PM in response to meridiandevv
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Mar 25, 2010 5:59 PM in response to meridiandevv
    hello, check this link
    http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=866341
    I've downloaded the undo system in the rapidshare link and IT'S THE SOLUTION. I have tried it with the TC impact twin and Motu 828 mk3 (my personal interfaces) and mac pro are now working well.
    But I have another question...what will happens with 10.6.3 .... I am so scared ...
  • by Notwithstanding,

    Notwithstanding Notwithstanding Mar 28, 2010 11:16 AM in response to HERALDO_JONES
    Level 1 (5 points)
    Mar 28, 2010 11:16 AM in response to HERALDO_JONES
    Macbook Pro 13 inch has the same problem.. with every firewire Audio-interface (motu, m-audio, apogee, ....)
  • by seisend,

    seisend seisend Mar 29, 2010 1:05 AM in response to HERALDO_JONES
    Level 1 (15 points)
    Mar 29, 2010 1:05 AM in response to HERALDO_JONES
    @ HERALDO_JONES

    it is not THE SOLUTION to the problem. And I think many of you may not know this too :

    The Audio Update 1.0 fixes a huge problem with the 09 Mac Pro's. Without this update, your Mac Pro has these problems:

    - Major heat increase by just playing back Audio
    - Major heat increase by just copying data to external harddrives.
    - IF you are using an external Audio Interface, heat increases too even with no audio playback going on (!!) .
    - Huge performance drop while playing back audio/copying data on external devices/having your audio interface connected.
    - Also your Mac Pro is wasting much more electricity power just by doing these things above.

    There is a very big (2000+ post thread) on MacRumors Forums about the Heat/Performance problem too.

    The Audio Update 1.0 is here to fix all these problems !
  • by HERALDO_JONES,

    HERALDO_JONES HERALDO_JONES Mar 29, 2010 5:16 PM in response to meridiandevv
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Mar 29, 2010 5:16 PM in response to meridiandevv
    yes, I know. But if I install the AuDIO UPDATE 1.0 then I can't use my firewire audio interface because I have an infernal pitch squeal.
    Now is avaliable the 10.6.3, can someone wich have installed the AUDIO UPDATE 1.0 tell if installing the 10.6.3 it will fix that horrible sound????
  • by cl-user,

    cl-user cl-user Mar 30, 2010 12:35 AM in response to meridiandevv
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Mar 30, 2010 12:35 AM in response to meridiandevv
    Has anyone measured the precise acoustic frequencies of this bug squeal?
    (I would really appreciate knowing)
  • by seisend,

    seisend seisend Mar 30, 2010 1:41 AM in response to HERALDO_JONES
    Level 1 (15 points)
    Mar 30, 2010 1:41 AM in response to HERALDO_JONES
    10.6.3 does not fix the problem.

    I recommend installing the update though. Replace the .kext files with the 10.6.2 ones after. So your system will be up to date but without the Audio Fix.
    10.6.3 Update through Software Update will install the Audio Update 1.0 automatically !
  • by Wilx,

    Wilx Wilx Apr 7, 2010 1:58 PM in response to seisend
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Audio
    Apr 7, 2010 1:58 PM in response to seisend
    How is this still not fixed? It's a serious flaw, and the noise is constant and very uncomfortable. If it causes any sort of hearing damage then Apple are in for some very bad times...
  • by cl-user,

    cl-user cl-user Apr 7, 2010 10:15 PM in response to Wilx
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Apr 7, 2010 10:15 PM in response to Wilx
    Perhaps Apple probably needs help in coping with this bug.
    It took Apple 3/4 year to address the original 09MP audio bug, perhaps because it was not obvious. This new bug is triggered when the appropriate Mac Pro, appropriately configured, is connected to an appropriate firewire device. How often does that happen at Apple. I image that anyone at Apple who is using a Mac Pro is on the next generation MP and won't be plugging it into any external devices. Hence they won't see/hear this bug.
    Apple has a protective wall around it such that bug reports like this do not register, cannot get through to the appropriate developers.
    It took a lot of people and a lot of public outcry to get Apple to address the earlier audio bug. I doubt that this bug will be addresses until some sort of campaign is started. And at the moment people suffering from the squeal bug seem content to sit back and just hope for a bug fix. I doubt that will suffice to get Apple moving.
  • by CrisisDog,

    CrisisDog CrisisDog Apr 12, 2010 7:26 PM in response to cl-user
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Apr 12, 2010 7:26 PM in response to cl-user
    Just an FYI, I have an older Griffin FireWave that does 5.1 surround by attaching to the Firewire ports on my Mac Pro. I have no squealing or high pitched whine when playing MP3s or multichannel videos in 5.1 mode, but the audio in my games is stuttering like crazy. I applied the "undo" fix to remove the Mac Pro audio update and now the audio in my games is back to normal. Definitely a problem that someone at Apple needs to look into.
  • by gonedeaf,

    gonedeaf gonedeaf Apr 19, 2010 6:22 PM in response to meridiandevv
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Apr 19, 2010 6:22 PM in response to meridiandevv
    my Imac also has this horrible hissi high pitched irritating peeeeeeeee noise coming out of my imac but I think it is related to the Imacs Led screen.
    I also get a terrible peeeeeeeeeeeeee noise when recording with my presonus firebox (digital audio interface)but that is caused by the power source in the presonus firebox and it only happens when using the firewire as an energy source some defect in the internal transformer by being to close to the circuitry........this is my deduction after doing a bunch of trial and error tests......maybe some one else can shed some more lighton this matter
  • by jwloader,

    jwloader jwloader Apr 27, 2010 6:39 AM in response to cl-user
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Photos for Mac
    Apr 27, 2010 6:39 AM in response to cl-user
    When using a bus-powered FireWire external audio interface (RME FireFace 400) my Mac Pro emits a distracting whine which is around 8 KHz (I used Logic's oscillator to match the frequency as best I could).

    The motherboard has been replaced but the problem persists. Not happy, I use my Mac Pro in a quiet studio and it drives me crazy. Not what you expect from a pro computer.
  • by cl-user,

    cl-user cl-user Apr 27, 2010 10:28 AM in response to jwloader
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Apr 27, 2010 10:28 AM in response to jwloader
    Thanks for the frequency information jwloader.

    Yes, it is shameful that Apple don't address this issue, but they apparently do not have any mechanism for either listening to significant problems like this, or handling them.

    It took screaming headlines from major tech web sites for then to listen to the earlier audio bug in 09 Mac Pros. Users had been reporting the bug in detail for nearly a year before Apple responded.

    And their bug fix only fixed the bug for those using Snow Leopard .... and introduced the firewire squeal bug at the same time.

    Exasperating, unnecessary, massively wasteful, easily remedied for Apple and users - but Apple don't seem to have any mechanism for listening ...

    They do have a mechanism for gagging users who ask too loudly for help.
  • by seisend,

    seisend seisend Apr 28, 2010 1:51 AM in response to jwloader
    Level 1 (15 points)
    Apr 28, 2010 1:51 AM in response to jwloader
    I have some "good" news about the problem here in the latest post:

    http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=866341&page=2

    PS. my squeal is around 8KHz too !
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