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

Oct 16, 2013 7:18 AM in response to RobboHuddo

Hi Guys,


I'm just trying to tally things up. The way I read it Myself(deadphish), RobbooHuddo, and Duzbelle all have 27" 2013 iMacs with sound problems (snap crackle pop)

But on the bright side Art of sound has a 27" 2013 iMac that the sound is working fine.

Please let me know if I left anybody out. I want to send a copy of this thread to the Apple rep taking care of my replacement.


Thanks Guys,


Deadphish

Oct 16, 2013 8:09 AM in response to Deadphish42

Deadphish,


Right, I have both a 2011 and a 2013 iMac and neither demonstrate this issue.... (as well as several other Macs of varying ages and models and none have this issue)


But, as I said, it doesn't appear to be limited to one specific model of Mac... which means, to me at least it is more likely to be a software issue of some kind, rather than a hardware issue relating to a specific model of Mac... and my best guess, given the type of issue it is, is that it's some kind of CoreAudio issue within OS X...


It reminds me so much of the GUI lag issue that was going on with Logic Pro 9.... that affected some people and yet not others, even when users were using identical hardware... and apparently identical software configurations (though as it turned out, that problem was likely caused by faulty updates that didn't fully 'take')


The fact You and I have basically identical hardware and yet you have this issue and i don't probably confirms this thought... but of course there is a chance that you do have some faulty hardware and once replaced, your issue will go away... Time will tell... It also could be a hardware component tolerence issue.. and maybe my 2013 iMac doesn't have this issue because a component or componenents in my iMac are "working better' than yours.....


However, It does confirm it's not a hardware issue that is present in all 2013 iMacs.. and it is an issue that affects different models of Macs too....


So far, thats all I've got! 🙂


Let's see what happens when you or others here, get replacements and see if that changes thing..

Oct 16, 2013 8:20 AM in response to Deadphish42

No problem Deadphish....


Trying to keep track of everything going on around this and other forums.., can be a real pain! 🙂


I should also say, that there could easily be several different issues, that produce similar consequences but have different root causes.. so nothing is certain, by any means so at the moment, much of this is just pure guess work!


Cheers!

Oct 16, 2013 8:23 AM in response to Deadphish42

Hello folks - a fresh apple user here.


In pursuit of portability, I recently (last week) purchased a MacBook Pro and installed Logic Pro X. I am experiencing the same problem on audio tracks - software instruments/drummer seem fine on playback but audio tracks have a persistent crackle all through.


Very interested in The Art of Sound's advice because I have it hooked up via Firewire (another reason for the MacBook) to a Mackie 1220i with a serial number that corresponds to the advice that no driver is required on the page with the following link http://www.mackie.com/products/onyxiseries/drivers/ .


It looks as though it may have something to do with Core Audio - whatever that is - but it may be an external interface compatability problem. Apple Care are looking at it but at the same time I think I am going to knock on Mackie's door (very Loud 😉).


Maybe Apple should take a leaf out of Avid's book and produce their own compatible audio interface.

Oct 16, 2013 8:41 AM in response to Spec3

Spec3,


Yes, your well documented issue is, without a doubt, caused by your Mackie because the ealier model you have and it's design flaw, results in exactly that issue and cannot be fixed by drivers or a firmware update because Mackie didn't provde for such things when they initially designed that version of their Mixer. The later updated version of their Mixer does allow for drivers that can then fix the problem.... This is why there are many very frustrated and annoyed Mackie owners..... out there... because they must either not upgrade to Mountain Lion or buy new hardware.


Your issue isn't related to CoreAudio.... but an issue regarding how a piece of hardware wasn't correctly designed...(as per Apple's guiidelines) and so as i said in my previous post, this is one example where the issue seems similar but has an entirely different cause...

Oct 16, 2013 8:42 AM in response to Spec3

Hi Spec 3,


The issue I'm having can be reproduced by just playing a apple loop. Its easier to detect with bass loops. I was running nothing but the OS and Logic X with nothing plugged in but the power cord.


Do you get the snap, crackle, and pop just playing a apple loop or only on recorded tracks? If its only on your recorded tracks it does not sound like the same problem but a issue with your Mackie interface.


That's my uneducated guess.


Thanks for sharing,


Deadphish

Oct 16, 2013 9:00 AM in response to Deadphish42

Thanks Guys,


All the tracks I have laid down with Loops, Drummer and Software are fine - which seems to point the fickle finger of fate in the direction of this Mackie alongside me.


It seems I am nearer to the cause of the problem but it does not give me much comfort if there is a fundamental proble with the AI.


I have raised it with Mackie and will now stop hijacking this thread. 😊

Oct 16, 2013 9:18 AM in response to Deadphish42

Deadphish42,


I sent back the first iMac for the same audio clipping/interrupt issue. Btw, both machines are the brand spanking late 2013 iMac. After exhaustive troubleshooting with the first one, I sent it back and received the replacement quite quickly. But like I said in my previous post, I started as plainly as I could to look for the problem and did quite quickly find it before loading any of my software onto it.


Interesting tidbit for our discussion here, one of the most perplexing aspects of my troubleshooting on the first machine was that when I opened a synth (I think it was ni massive) in standalone mode, I could NOT reproduce the problem. But when I opened same plug in logic OR ableton I got the problem again. This was perplexing because every other thing I tried was consistent: clipping happened with an apogee interface, with just built-in output, plugged into a wall socket on a different breaker, with logic plugin, with third party plugins, when recording audio, etc.

Oct 16, 2013 10:13 AM in response to duzbelle

Hi Duzbelle,


When I got my new 2013 iMac I loaded Aperture on it first then Logic. And thats when I first noticed the problem I called Apple care and went through all of there trouble shouting and with no luck they decided to reformat the computer and reload the OS. Before I did so I coppied a few of the apple loops to a thumb drive and after the computer was formatted tried playing those loops back through quicktime and they seemed to play fine. I only did a quick check though, thinking back I should have been more thourogh. I then loaded logic and when I tried to play those loops in quicktime now I got the snap crackle pop. Your saying your having the same issue with Live also? I didn't even get that far I also have a liscensed copy of Live 9 Suite that I didn't even get to yet.


What do you think Art of Sound? You seem to have the most knowledge and experience with these things. I should be getting a replacement by the end of the week what would you do with it first to make sure everything is functioning as it should. I didn't run a Hardware test on it (i probably should have).


Thanks guys,


Deadphish

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clipping sound on new iMac when Logix X is running

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