clipping sound on new iMac when Logix X is running

I just got the new iMac that was released two weeks ago yesterday. All I did was set it up with Logic X, Main Stage, and Aperture all from the app store. nothing else was put on it. I opened up logic just to check it out and see how much faster the performance would be. I just wanted to give it a quick test and played some apple loops I immideatly noticed it was making a clipping sound randomly. The meters were not peaking everything was in the green and if you turned down the gain the clipping just got quiteter. I called apple support thinking it was a hardware issue. They had me do some trouble shooting like playing the same loops through quicktime and the clipping persisted. they also had me play a youtube video to see if I could hear the clipping. It wasn't as noticible but it was there. Apple decided that it would be a good idea to reformat the computer tomorrow and start over. Sounded fine to me seeing how I didn't have much installed yet. I did a little more trouble shooting on my own after I got off the phone with apple. First I made a copy of three apple loops and put them on my desktop then restarted the computer. Then after a fresh restart and nothing running I opened one of the apple loops off the desktop with quicktime player and it sounded great no clipping. Same with You Tube. I then opened Logic Pro X. Did nothing with it but minimize it. I then went back to quick time player and tried to play the loop again. This time the clipping was back. Same with You Tube.

My conclusion for some reason when logic is running the audio makes a random clipping sound no matter what audio program you play the audio through. (Clipping sound comes out of the internal speakers as well as headphones)

All of my software is up to date.


I am running:


27" iMac

3.5GHz Intel Core i7

16 GB 1600 MHz DDR3


If anybody has experienced this same problem or has any recomendations they would be greatly appreciated.

I am going to reformat in the morning and try and start again.

I will post my results


Thank you,


Aaron

iMac (27-inch, Late 2013), OS X Mountain Lion (10.8.5)

Posted on Oct 8, 2013 11:22 PM

Reply
998 replies

Nov 21, 2013 2:50 PM in response to Wound

Wound,


The FD issue affects all OS X versions that can run on 2013 iMacs (i.e Mountain Lion and Mavericks)


It is a problem that is specific to that iMac year model and it's implementation of FD as it doesn't affect Mac Minis with FD nor 2013 iMacs without FDs no matter what OS X version is installed.


I believe a fix for the issue will be found and provided at some point.. The real issue is simply when... and that is a very much unknown answer at this time.


FWIW, Two of my clients are sticking with the FD versions and are both using the Ext Drive workaround until such time a fix is released by Apple. The other client with this issue decided to exchange his iMac for one with an 256GB SSD fitted and is using FW800 external drives via the FW to TBolt adaptor to provide additional disk space and appears to be very happy with his choice.


Hope this helps in some small way....

Nov 21, 2013 2:56 PM in response to Clandestyne

Clandestyne wrote:


For me with my imac 21 with FD it was the same before I changed to mavericks



Hey Paul,


Yes.. the OS X version (ML or Mav) has no bearing on this issue it seems...


As mentioned I am returning the 21 FD for a 27 7200 hdd. and with the post from focusrite hope to have a rock solid performer with my Scarlett 2i4 before too long ... Fingers crossed


Indeed! it's good to see Michael's post reassuring their customers that they will be focusing and putting more resources towards 'zero day compatibility' from now onwards...

Nov 21, 2013 4:00 PM in response to Wound

Motu I think had told me it was just under mavericks but I see that is wrong now or I misunderstood them.


The Motu Traveller driver part of the problem is only related to Mavericks... (This is the issue Motu are working on... and seeking help from Apple to resolve)


However,


The FD issue is not related just to Mav but to ML too...(This is the issue Apple need to fix...) and affects all Audio Interfaces of any type/brand as well as Internal Audio.


The two issues are not related though they both produce similar symptoms..


You just so happen to have both issues because you have the combination of a 2013 iMac with FD and with Mavericks installed along with a Motu Mk1 Traveller...


That's probably where the confusion arose from...

Nov 21, 2013 6:19 PM in response to Wound

There is no FD and Firewire issue....


There is the 2013 iMac with FD issue which affects the internal audio and any external Audio Interface... be it FW or USB2. This is awaiting a fix from Apple to resolve..


Then.. in your case it seems there may also be a Traveller Mk1 driver incompatibility with Mavericks issue.... This is what I assume Motu are working on.


These two issues are not related... Unfortunately you may be suffering from both... because you are using an 2013 iMac with FD and you have a Mk1 Traveller which may or may not have a driver issue with Mavericks.. (The driver issue is yet to be confirmed..by Motu as far as i am aware)


If it turns out there isnt a driver incompatibility issue between your Mk1 and Mavericks.. then you are simply suffering from the one issue.. the 2013 iMac with FD fitted audio bug... and again, you are waiting for a fix from Apple to resolve this.


===========================


So.....


To find out if you really have a driver incompatibilty issue between your Mk1 and Mavericks.. use the workaround for the FD issue to test.


Create and boot from an external Maverick OS X HD and then test your Mk1.


If you have no issues with Audio via your Mk1 then the drivers are fine and you are simply suffering from the 2013 iMac with FD issue.. and you are waiting on Apple to fix it.


However, if after booting from an EXT OS X disk you continue to have issues with Audio via your Mk1 then you also have a problem with the drivers and Motu will need to address this...


==========================



Additional: The other common issue (that i think you are getting confused about) is the USB2/3 issue with certain USB2 Audio Interfaces.. and Mountain Lion/Mavericks along with any Mac model that has USB3 ports...which normally is fixed by a driver update from the AI's Devs... This issue does not affect any FW Audio Interfaces... just some USB2 Audio Interfaces.

Nov 21, 2013 6:34 PM in response to Wound

Great!! (Kind of...)


That means there is no issue with the Motu drivers.. which I expected there not to be...based on the quality of their drivers in the past.


So yes, you only have the 2013 iMac and FD issue and you are simply waiting on a fix from Apple along with the rest of those who also have a 2013 iMac with FD fitted..


Fingers crossed the Apple fix will not be long coming.....

Nov 21, 2013 11:58 PM in response to The Art Of Sound

Hi Art,


I must thank you for making sense of many of the threads I have been reading over the last 48 hours!! Been reading your posts and listening to your tunes too :-)


I just treated myself to the not inconsiderable purchase of a 27" iMac 3.5GHz i7, 8GB ram.... and you know what's coming next... 3TB FUSION DRIVE! It looks like that is what we have in common.


And like the other good people here I have had audio problems from the outset. It was only running the Mavericks OS it came with, and Logic Pro X. I installed Chrome to watch YouTube tutorials and I spent a day trying to work out if that had caused it... I have a Scarlett 2i2 USB interface and I thought that must have messed things up... I tried the fix mentioned on other threads to remove the Scarlett file... I updated OSX... basically i've wasted a lot of time, lost a lot of sleep and sprouted some more grey hairs - exactly what folks said never happens with a Mac :-)


This machine has been bought solely for audio recording/editing work (possibly some video next year)... so this is absolutely critical to my keeping the machine or not. I've only had it since Monday (4 days) and it looks like it will have to be returned... not 'fit for purpose' and I am very unhappy that anyone let me buy it considering this fault seems so widely reported already!


I was thinking of buying a 7200rpm drive iMac, as this is a feature I'd have looked for in a PC as well. I also read some of your posts before buying the iMac, where you talked about the 7200 drives as 5400 seems to be on most machines, which made me think that was the way to go... but some 'genius' persuaded me that the Fusion drive was going to be better - 'best of both worlds' blah blah... And I believed him (well he had a blue t-shirt and everything!!)


As you seem to have quite an insight into this stuff and I have never had any previous dealings with Macs or Apple... how likely is it that they will resolve actually this issue? Especially as it seems hardware related.


Thanks for all your posts so far - VERY helpful for the rest of us :-)

Nov 22, 2013 1:14 AM in response to Damian74

Obviously not enough testing was done using the fusion drive. The question is, will the FD software that's evidently causing the problem be rewritten to be more efficient and not cause audio dropouts or will the OS be fudged to compensate for the FD software by buffering the audio path.


If you care about efficient/stable audio recording I can't see the how adding another chunk of software between digital audio I/O and writing/reading from disk storage can be a good thing. Even if they got it working I doubt if it will be as efficient as writing to a standard hard disk.


Usually these kind of fixes are bundled with other fixes/improvements and come as an OS update.


Good luck all-

Nov 22, 2013 1:45 AM in response to Pancenter

Hi


As in common with a few others I am also new to mac and have the same problems FD and us. Etc.


I opted to return the mac and re order a non FD unit with 7200 rpm drive , I have been given very strong inference from apple pro apps types and senior people that 7200 hdd would be the way to go for now and without them being able to see whats around the corner they gave me the nod to change. Obviously people at apple weren't going to criticise openly the FD to a customer but I could see which way they were pointing me.


I really liked the boot speed and launch speed of the FD but that's not everything.


This has been my experience so far , if the fix does come and all things are solid I will maybe have made not such a good choice to change, we will see. I would advise others who still can change to have a good think and weigh up the options to prevenent more unhappiness


Thanks

Paul

Nov 22, 2013 2:14 AM in response to Deadphish42

Hi all


I was planning to buy the new iMac 27". I certainly would have buyed the one with FD, but thanks to you guys, I won't! However, I'm still not sure if I would have any troubles making/recording music.


I have a RME Fireface 400 and I was planning to buy the new iMac 27", i7, 16GB RAM, 1TB ATA (or is SSD better?), Logic X.


Can anyone tell me if that would work? BTW: the Fireface is connected through firewire/TB for those who don't know the FF400 😉


Thanks for all the posts, it helped me a lot!


Have a great day, cheers

This thread has been closed by the system or the community team. You may vote for any posts you find helpful, or search the Community for additional answers.

clipping sound on new iMac when Logix X is running

Welcome to Apple Support Community
A forum where Apple customers help each other with their products. Get started with your Apple Account.