clipping sound on new iMac when Logix X is running

Hah!....

Guilty as charged huh!

😀

Pancenter wrote:

kennylovrin wrote:

hi

in anycase, the soundcard works without driver as well, so i suspect the driver package is nothing more than the maestro control panel which i don't actually need. it is installed however.

That is correct. Much of the Apogee hardware is system compliant and the only software installed is the maestro panel.

Indeed.. but there lies the rub as they say.. No drivers? Then it becomes much harder to update/fix things if anything changes OS X wise, if the original design of the hardware didn't follow the guidelines exactly as Apple laid out.. (See Mackie Onyx 🙂 )

The Art Of Sound wrote:

Pancenter wrote:

That is correct. Much of the Apogee hardware is system compliant and the only software installed is the maestro panel.

Indeed.. but there lies the rub as they say.. No drivers? Then it becomes much harder to update/fix things if anything changes OS X wise, if the original design of the hardware didn't follow the guidelines exactly as Apple laid out.. (See Mackie Onyx 🙂 )

The Apogee method seems to be firmware updates to keep their hardware up to date while using the Apple supplied Firewire and USB interfaces.

As you mention, If the device can't accept firmware (Onyx first edition) the purchaser is sol.

That's why I like companies like MOTU and RME, both companies know how to write great drivers. The old RME PCI card in my retired G5 could run many tracks using a 32 buffer setting.

Hey Guys - I have the same problem with bitcrushed audio on a late 2013 iMac with 3TB FD and an external audio interface. I tend to try seperating the fusion drive back to SSD + HDD with the methods referenced in this thread.

However, I have one question on getting the files back on the system afterwards. Currently I have one Time Machine Backup which holds the system and applications currently on my Fusion Drive. How would I restore this back to the seperated disks since this backup is too large for the SSD (lots of VST-Libraries etc).

Is it possible to restore the operating system back to the SSD and the rest to the HDD? Or do I have to reinstall all VSTs again (I am already scared of the 13 DVDs of the Synology Piano Library - took me 2 days to install that in the first place.... )

Hey all,

I just bought a 27" Imac with 256gb SSD and use a Duet for ipad/mac. The problem I'm having is if I use logic pro x, youtube or itunes through the duet with either headphones or speakers after roughly 30 minutes it stops working, which crashes logic and when I check system preferences the duet turns into an "unknown device". I have to unplug the duet and reinstall it in order for it to reappear....

Im running Mavericks, updated all the duet software and drivers, spoke to both Apogee and Apple and found no solutions as of yet. It seems it's a USB 3.0 issue. When I use the duet on my older 21" imac that has USB 2.0 ports it works fine. I upgraded to the new quadcore i7 Imac in order to handle Komplete 9 and all my third party plug ins that used to overload my old imac but did not foresee something like this happening. I'm kind of stuck here until a solution is found.

Beefus

This is a known Apogee driver/firmware and USB3/Mavericks incompatibility issue and it will require Apogee to release updated drivers/new firmware for the issue to be fixed..

Art of sound,

Thanks for the info. I had a feeling it might be the case. Your posts are very helpful....Cheers!

You are welcome Beefus....

Hopefully the updated drivers/firmware will not be long coming for you and the others that are waiting... but at this time, nobody knows for sure when that might be so. The good news is that, at least Apogee do tend to actually release new drivers etc.. within reasonable timeframes unlike some other companies that either release them months later or never do so and expect you to buy new hardware from them instead!

Just to share: Last week I returned a late 2013 27" iMac with 1TB FD, 32 gigs of ram. I encountered the audio issues described by others. I've been using Apogee converters such as Duet, Rosetta200/DA-16x since 2010 without any issues on a 2010 Macbook Pro until upgrading to this new iMac. I talked with Apogee and Apple at length about the audio issues. Apogee attempted to advise and help, but ran out of ideas. They were great, tried hard to solve the issues and did not attempt to pass the buck. I then contacted Apple. The experience with them was a bit different. As always, the folks at Apple and Applecare are very nice and respectful. After I described the issues, they had me do all the low level troubleshooting that we already know doesn't work. Restarting, unplugging the power, pram, etc. They put me on hold for about 10 minutes for research. After that I was astonished to learn (at least with the Applecare rep I was on the phone with) that Apple was totally unaware of ANY noise problems with the iMac. I attempted to offer my numerous troubleshooting paths over 7 days of trying practically everything. I offered to email a 10 second audio clip of the clicks, static noises and distortion, from upgrades, downgrades, use of external boot drives, etc. I told them about the lengthy threads online that are growing fast, especially on the Apple support site. They were, for lack of a better way to put it, uninterested. I was told "it could be anything, and it could be your converter." Okay, fair enough. They are on the phone so it is hard for them to diagnose this. But, the fact that they didn't really care about the info I had gathered made it clear that no database of notes was available, or that they were taking notes re my case. I was gently being sent on my way to deal with and perhaps fix what I've already determined to be properly functioning converters.

You may disagree with my holding Apple to fix this problem, and that's fine. However, Apple is the powerhouse here (not the tiny converter co's). Apple has the tech muscle to fix this fast IF they are listening to those who reach out to Applecare.

Yes, there are folks who've somehow found a good machine. Maybe it is software, maybe it is the fusion drive, maybe it's not the fusion drive and just a bad solder on the logic board. I wasn't about to play iMac roulette, hoping to land on a good machine. This made me wonder how dependable one of these "good machines" could be. What if a deeper hardware defect exists, and heat and time exposes the issues in the future. Then what? Yes, some folks are being told that Apple is aware of the problems. But this totally conflicts with the info I received last week from Applecare when they told me that they were unaware of any audio issues with the late 2013 iMac. As a result, I got a full refund.

Thanks to all who have posted their info. That, along with the lack of acknowledgment from Applecare helped me to understand that I had to return the machine. Outside of whatever the fix will be, really, my main concern is larger. I got the impression that Apple did not listen. From what I've been reading on these and other boards they don't appear to be listening to you, either.

I truly hope I am wrong and that they are listening. Right now there's no way to confirm this. If you haven't already done so, be proactive and call Applecare to voice your frustrations because Apple truly is one of the greatest companies on earth. Post what Applecare tells you. Would be interesting to compare and contrast what they say.

I think Apple is a giant company with several layers of employees, some totally clueless & others knowledgable about our situation. From other threads & users it seems Apple is aware of the problems and are working on a fix. This is an email I got from Apogee: "Thanks for your email. From what I understand, there seems to be some sort of hardware issue with the very newest iMac (released 35 days ago) that is affecting many brands and models of USB interfaces, not just the Duet. We are in testing and talks with Apple to address this issue as soon as possible."

So it appears something is, in fact, being done. I may have to scrap this mac too, as you did, because these problems are just not working out for me. I never got audio distortion before, but have started to. Only today did I get distortion. Weird things to do with the sound keep popping up. Disconnects keep happening. I haven't called Apple yet, but that's my plan for tomorrow.

Using GarageBand instead of Logic but I found your post extremely helpful. Thank you.

I'm using Mavericks. Fusion Drive. Late 2013 iMac. 32GB RAM and top of the line processor.

Line 6 Tone Port KB37 and DI-Gold audio interfaces. Updated Mavericks compatible driver.

Intermittent crunching sound when recoridng using GarageBand (version 6.0.5 and current version) and unacceptable amounts of latency when recording real instruments. No problem with software instruments. Resolves for one or two tracks after switching interfaces then occurs again. Shutting it down resolves the issue on restart, but again occurs after recording a track.

Never had similar problems using a MacBook Air and 4GB ram on Moutain Lion. Don't know if its a Mavericks specific issue or Fusion Drive, but given all of the helpful information above I believe it's Fusion Drive related.

Applecare senior tech made me try to partition off a small amount of the fusion drive. Interestingly, Disk Utility wouldn't complete the repartition of the FD and hung up while trying to remap the sectors. Ended up having to wipe the thing and reinstall the OS.

Installed only GB and left everything else off. Same problem. Ran hardware diagnostics and found nothing. The tech took the info on the computer using capture data and scheduled a call back for a couple of days from now. If they don't come up with a good solution I may dump the fusion drive entirely and just request at good old fasioned spinning disk, unless I decide to take The Art of Sound's advice and just wait for the update. But I am slightly dubious of the seeming lack of knowledge on the part of the senior tech. He didn't acknowledge the problems in this post, but I'll stay hopeful for now.

Will post when the tech calls me back - hopefull with a solution.

Good luck.

Good info, Acrophilia, and I agree.

Are you within the 14 day return window? I didnt want to test their refund policy, although you'd think Apple would make an exception.

acrophilia wrote:

If they don't come up with a good solution I may dump the fusion drive entirely and just request at good old fasioned spinning disk,

FYI... the Fusion Drive IS a spinning disk.. and not a very fast one at that. The main storage area of the drive is just a standard 5400RP disk drive. The Fusion Drive does not offer audio enthusiasts any distinct advantage, plus the SSD part of the drive is only (correct me if I'm wrong) 128GB. The Drive itself is seen as a single logical volume through the use of Apple software, which means yet another layer of software is between your DAW and the storage medium. :- / That can't be a good thing.

Sorry, I meant this reply for brentonius above. Are you within the 14 day return window? I didnt want to test their refund policy, although you'd think Apple would make an exception.

@Zooomin: The first time I called AppleCare I had the same experience as you. They guys I spoke with weren't aware of any issues with new iMac, and kept saying it was a issue with third pary drivers and devices. Then I made some test only using the built in audio and applications that came with the computer (Garage Band, iTunes and Quicktime). I called AppleCare again, because the same sound issue with clicks and pops still occurred, and suddenly they were very understanding. Now I'm bringing it to a service center, so they can see (hear) it for them self and remove the fusion drive software. I will report back.