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

Feb 9, 2014 8:32 AM in response to K5

Latest update (see below for set-up):


1. Simple iTunes playback is nearly flawless, although an occasional click appears.


2. Playing my bass along with songs in iTunes using Amplitude remains problematic; still lots of clicks and little hiccups. When I use a sound enhancer such as Amarra, the problem increases by several orders of magnitude.


3. If I hit a note too hard and clipping occurs, then that seems to stress the system even several minutes afterward, and increases the probaility of more clicking.


In my view, the problem remains unsolved by 10.9.2. It is at least bearable, but for a system this expensive, that's not really satisfactory. My hope is that others here have a better outcome, based on how they use their computers for audio.



Set-up: 27" iMac, 3.4 GHz i7

3TB Fusion Drive

16 GB RAM

Apogee FW Duet with Thunderbolt adapter

OS 10.9.2 beta, Build 13C39

Feb 9, 2014 10:48 AM in response to K5

Good news. The latest update (January 2014) for the Apogee Duet fixed my audio dropout issue completely. Now I've had the Duet plugged in to the iMac's USB port without a problem in days of intense use. My iMac uses a 7200rpm drive so I've not experienced audio distortion issues ever. Don from Apogee told me that the audio distortion issue is actually now fixed... you guys will just have to wait for the next Mavericks update which will fix that issue.

Feb 15, 2014 8:43 AM in response to Deadphish42

Hi, friends and colleagues in misfortune ... I'm from Russia , Samara ... Immediately apologize because it is very difficult to communicate in English

I think that to spend more than three 3000 greenbacks and encounter such a problem , it is speaking in Russian , to remain with the nose 😉

I December 2013 iMac i7 3500 FD. If I knew would never fly with this thing . Better would have bought with the usual 7200 . I understand that this is the issue .

So we are waiting for the update 10.9.2 . But still, what to expect from the weather by the sea😕 . While working in this way :

Recording occurs through Saffire PRO FW through TB. Interestingly, the recording is done without problems.

But the play goes through the internal output iMac. Because playback stops when going through Saffire PRO. The sound quality is certainly worse. But do not need to reinstall and share ... So , I'll wait for the update .

Mar 5, 2014 8:17 AM in response to Deadphish42

Thanks everyone who puts time and effort in sharing and helping with resolving these issues.


I accidentally stumbled upon this thread while researching audio interfaces, I've been reading through about half of the thread but still not figured out what might be a solution for me. Like many other posters here I have a late 2013 iMac. But unlike some others, I don't have a fusion drive, just an SSD.


Model name: iMac

Model identifier: iMac14,2

Processornamn: Intel Core i7

Processor speed: 3,5 GHz

Memory 24 GB

Boot ROM Version: IM142.0118.B00

SMC version (system): 2.15f2

512 SSD (NO FUSION)


I'm looking for any advice, helping me chosing a combination of products that might let me get an audio interface working. If I understand everything right, I will be affected by the USB3-issue, which can not be resolved with a software update.


Is there anyone out there who has the same setup (without a fusion drive), and who got an audio interface from a particular brand working with (or without) an USB-hub from a particular brand?

Mar 5, 2014 12:41 PM in response to Deadphish42

I'm in kind of the same boat as erikhj. I bought and returned a Fusion Drive 2013 iMac a couple of months ago, but I'm really in need of a new computer. And since 10.9.2 has been released I was wondering what the chances are of getting an audio interface working at this point in time. This time I will not be getting a Fusion Drive though, but a SSD.


So my question is this: 2013 iMac with SSD; will it work with an external audio interface?

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clipping sound on new iMac when Logix X is running

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