Level 1

5 points

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

998 replies

Pancenter

Level 6

14,782 points

Jan 3, 2014 5:31 PM in response to The Art Of Sound

The Art Of Sound wrote:

Simon,

Yes.. from what I gather.. you just need to clone the entire Fusion Drive to a separate drive.. and then when this whole sorry mess is fixed, you can clone the external drive back to the Fusion Drive...

Hi Nigel,

Got to thinking about this, I wonder if the Fusion drive software still loads even though the fusion drive array isn't the boot drive. I realize it wouldn't recognize the FD array but it would still be loaded and running in the background. I think a couple of people still had problems even when using a separate external drive but that could be attributed to other possibilities.

Jan 3, 2014 5:46 PM in response to The Art Of Sound

Thanks Nigel - those drives aren't that expensive I guess so I might give it a go.

ges8ges

Level 1

9 points

Jan 3, 2014 6:13 PM in response to ollywooddisco

Seems like they should at least acknowledge it and let users know they are working on a fix. In my conversations with support they seem to know nothing about it until I point them to all the online discussions going on.

ollywooddisco wrote:

Just installed maverick after apple surport refused to aknowledge they have this problam. Still not fixed. Blows my mind how a company this big, where a large proportion of the music industry and media use macs, that they still have not ironed out this problem. Gutted. AVOID purchasing new macs untill they have.

ges8ges

Level 1

9 points

Jan 3, 2014 6:16 PM in response to The Art Of Sound

The Art Of Sound wrote:

Simon,

.. SuperDuper! as the cloning app...

I got this note back from makers of SuperDuper when I asked about using it with Mavericks:

Yes. The minor problems we've found will be corrected in a future update, due soon (and free).

Dave Nanian

Shirt Pocket

But I'm guessing if they say minor problems it wouldn't preclude using it with OS X 10.9.1

Jan 3, 2014 7:55 PM in response to Pancenter

Pancenter wrote:

Hi Nigel,

Got to thinking about this, I wonder if the Fusion drive software still loads even though the fusion drive array isn't the boot drive. I realize it wouldn't recognize the FD array but it would still be loaded and running in the background. I think a couple of people still had problems even when using a separate external drive but that could be attributed to other possibilities.

Hi,

From what I understood from a client of mine (but not first hand as i dont have a FD in my iMac...)

He saidin one of his mesages to me... "If the FD isn't accessed/mounted then the problem doesn't occur... "

Can you unmount the FD after starting up and booting to an external I wonder? Would that in effect, resolve the issue because then the FD software wouldn't be doing anything and may even unload?

I need to get in touch with him and ask him exactly what he meant and did.. but he is currently out of the country on a volunteer project in Kenya.. and I cannot get ahold of him until he returns... and I don't know exactly when that will be.

Jan 3, 2014 7:59 PM in response to ges8ges

ges8ges

Ah! It's the 'copy job' scheduling routine that is a bit wonky under Mavericks...

http://www.shirt-pocket.com/blog/index.php/shadedgrey/comments/mavericks/

I don't use it as I back up and clone manually so thats why i never noticed any issues under Mav..... as simple cloning works great still

Nigel

Jan 4, 2014 12:00 AM in response to Deadphish42

I purchased this Thunder Bolt extrenal drive houseing setup from OCW http://eshop.macsales.com/item/OWC/MESRTBT0GBK

I got it with out drives because I had some I could install. I Cloned my Late 2013 27" iMac 3TB fusion drive to it using Carbon Copy Cloner.

I shut down and restarted the iMac while holding down the option key, selected the external drive and booted it up.

My Focusrite Saffire Pro 24 DSP connected via firewire through an Apple Firewire to ThunderBolt adapter now works great.

Prior to this the Saffire Pro would work for about 5 seconds and then nothing.

For now this will work for me and when the Apple fix comes I can install and test it on the fusion drive without disturbing what is now working 8-)

ges8ges

Level 1

9 points

Jan 4, 2014 8:37 AM in response to donfromsalt lake city

I have to believe that Apple will fix this, but it is good to know that if I have to, I can boot off an external drive.

For now I'm able to do some recording with my old Cakewalk UA-25 EX. This is USB 2 and for some reason it mostly works. I just occasionally get a short burst of noise. I haven't really loaded up a lot of stuff in Logic Pro yet so maybe that is why this is working, but with the Focusrite and also the Saffire it was terrible.

Don't know why this old USB interface is mostly working.

I have an appointment to drive 4 hours to SLC and swap my iMac on Monday. Tuesday is the last day for exchanging. But I think I'm going to hang on to this iMac and hope for a fix.

gsfromMoab

Jan 4, 2014 8:48 AM in response to Deadphish42

I got an Apogee Quartet a month ago, with the plan to buy an iMac (my first). I've been using it with an iPad in the meantime.

I was planning on getting a 27" iMac with the 1TB 7200 rpm HDD and using logic.

Anybody with this model iMac successfully using an Apogee with USB?

Deadphish42 Author

Level 1

5 points

Jan 4, 2014 11:03 AM in response to ges8ges

He ges8ges,

I know a 4 hour drive is a very long time to exchange a mac but it will buy you another 2 weeks to give it some more thought. I replaced mine 3 times before I finaly decided to do the 4 replacement with a SSD. Also I set up Fed Ex returns with Apple. They would send me a RMA slip and I would give them a CC # and they would put a hold on the CC for the price of the exchange until they got the old computer back and they would ship and new one in the meantime. The process takes a little time because you have to work with like 3 different departments in Apple. But all in all it takes about a month for each new computer to show up at your door then you have two weeks to send back the old one before they process the charge they put a hold on your CC for. This worked well for me because once I learned how to boot of a externial drive I just kept every thing loaded on that and when they would send a replacement I would plug it in open garage band hear the snap crackle and pop, plug in my externial and boot off of that everything would work fine I would pack up the old computer and drop it off at the nearest fedex pick up (taking my time of course no big rush when they give you two weeks and your data is already on a externial boot drive). Then call apple support and let them know that the new computer doesn't work either and they would start the entire process over again. It actually got pretty comical I learned alot about how everything is supposed to work with Apple's administrative department and it's bad there all split up into small subsections that don't seem to communicate at all. As a matter of fact communication seemed to be Apple's biggest problem during the the whole process. In the end Apple made good on all there mistakes and I got what I wanted. One peice of advice is to keep track of all your comunications with Apple and if you talk to them on the phone try and follow it up with a email recaping your conversation so its on the record.

Good Luck & Let us know how it turns out,

DeadPhish

Jan 4, 2014 10:22 PM in response to Deadphish42

Exchanged my FD Imac for SSD and now all works as it should. Glad i found this tread before the 14 day exchange deadline. Thanks!

Jan 5, 2014 2:09 AM in response to Deadphish42

Well I went to The Mac Store and explained the Logic/Fusion Drive issue with the people there (Which they never heard of, of course) and said that I wanted to return my computer with the 3 TB Fusion Drive (completely within the 14 day no questions asked return policy)and then order a new machine with a 3 TB Serial Drive. And here's what they told me. First they said that since my computer was a custom built machine I could not return it for any reason. Apple does not accept returns on custom machines. "I know right!!?" If I spent $2,000 on a regular one they would take it back with open arms, but if you spend $4,000 then you are SOL. Then if I was to purchase a hard drive on my own and bring it to them then they "might" be able to install it for me for no labor charges. This new drive is less expensive than the one I had put in when I bought it. They said that they would be keeping my Fusion drive and no compensation or refund would be given. Ok so basically I just spent $4,000 dollars on a machine for the sole purpose of recording that doesn't work. Then if I shilled out another $300 they might do something for me. I can't believe the lack of customer service I experienced. You ever see Michael Douglas in "Falling Down." That's what this feels like. So I bought a 1 TB LaCie Thunderbolt External Drive from Sweetwater ( who have the greatest customer service on earth by the way) put Mavericks 10.9.1 on it, put Logic Pro X on it and installed the Saffire pro 40 software on it. And you know what? It works fine. No audio drop outs, no clicks,pops just smooth audio recording. **** you Apple. I hope Steve Jobs haunts your families.

Jan 5, 2014 2:40 AM in response to Deadphish42

Hi all togehter

I am voice over talent and I do have this awful problem as well.

I do have a late 2013 Core i7 27'' iMac, Mavericks 10.9.1, 3 TB FD, 32gb Ram connected via FW/TB adapter to my Apogee Duet FW and cant really work.

Pretty sad after spending more than 3'000$!

I just spoke to Apple Care and the guy was aware of the problem and pretty friendly.

The shock was, that he couldnt give me a solution other than waiting for 10.9.2, which should solve the problem. But this could take weeks..

He told me I could change to a HDD or SSD, but they wouldnt pay anything.

Splitting the whole thing is not what I am looking for.

When I asked him, if they at least could send me the Beta version of 10.9.2, as I dont want to get a developer and pay another 99$, he told me

they cant do that, but with a quiet voice he told me, there are other possibilities to get to 10.9.2

I just downloaded it now..

I know its not the way to actually do it in a legal way, but come on Apple, people cant work, and on Monday the year really starts!

What else should we do?

So, after testing sound on Adobe Audition, iTunes, VLC player, Divx Plus Player and Quicktime Player (7.6.6 and 10.3) I must say the problem is gone for 99%.

In Audition I could record and edit without any problems.

iTunes, VLC, DivX and QT 7.6.6 is perfect too.

When I was playing back an mp3 or mp4 file on QT 10.3 I had little clicks, very little, but still not completely perfect. But maybe that has something to do with that QT version.. dont like that player anyway..

So I defenetly can work like that.

Only thing is: I didnt work longer than 30 minutes, so I dont know how it is for longer sessions, but I am positive.

Hope that helps.

If anyone wants that BETA of 10.9.2 just tell me.

Cheers

shnicshnac

Jan 5, 2014 4:39 AM in response to Subterranean Jack

Subterranean, that simply doesn't sound right.

Can you call Apple directly and ask? Or try another store.

What country are you in?

Jan 5, 2014 9:56 AM in response to Simon Edwards1

Hello Simon, I am in America. Apparently there was a section on the receipt that I signed saying that I would not be able to return the machine. When they told me this I literally asked them to show me and sure enough there it was. He said that Apple would not let them return this computer to them so they do not accept returns on"CTO" or custom machines. I ordered this computer in person from The Mac Store, not from An Apple Store. I don't know if there is a difference but it sounds insane to me as well. I do intend to call apple.

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clipping sound on new iMac when Logix X is running