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

Deadphish42 Author

Level 1

5 points

Oct 17, 2013 7:53 AM in response to RobboHuddo

Thanks RobboHuddo,

So far everybody that has posted there specs thats having the problem also has a fusion drive.

Thanks for sharing,

Deadphish

Clambake

Level 1

4 points

Oct 18, 2013 10:51 PM in response to Deadphish42

Just got new 27" iMac 1 TB fusion drive 3.5 GZ i7, had read this thread and was hoping I would not suffer the same problems but nope, I'm in the same boat, snap crackle pop output with iTunes and Logic X. Also my Presonus AudioBox no longer works because it likes usb 2 and the imac only has usb 3, but I digress. Unplugged the AudioBox and straight headphone from the mac, snap crackle pop.

Please Apple, fix this. If I have to send it back I will be reordering a iMac without a fusion drive.

Pancenter

Level 6

14,782 points

Oct 18, 2013 11:06 PM in response to Deadphish42

Deadphish42 wrote:

Thanks RobboHuddo,

So far everybody that has posted there specs thats having the problem also has a fusion drive.

Thanks for sharing,

Deadphish

Wonder how long it will take Apple to figure this out. It's being sold with the drive, surely the hardware was tested?

Oct 19, 2013 7:40 AM in response to Pancenter

Hi Deadphish42, I'm having the same exact clicking/clipping sound from all sound output (only when I have Logic X running). Just got my new iMac 2 days ago. Here are the specs:

27" iMac 14,2

3.5 GHz I7 Processor

16 GB Memory

3TB FUSION Drive

Deadphish42 Author

Level 1

5 points

Oct 19, 2013 8:07 AM in response to PeteTheHeat4

Hi Pete and Clambake,

Sorry to hear about the problem. I was supposed to post my results last night but I had trouble logging into the site.

What I have tallied up so far is a total of 6 of us including myself with the snap crackle pop (scp). All of us either have the 1TB or 3TB fusion drive. Art of Sound is the only person on this thread with a 2013 iMac that is not experiencing the issue and he is the only one without a fusion drive. I'm not saying that is the problem but If anybody has a 2013 iMac without a fusion drive and is experiencing the problem they havent chimed in yet.

I expect a replacement sometime next week. Unfourtunatly I'm expecting the same results.

I have notified apple of my findings and sent them a copy of this thread. I don't much about the fusion drive or how it works. Art of Sound seems to have some good knowledge on this thread.

I'm almost ready to get my credit card out and buy a 2nd 2013 iMac without the fusion drive just to test the theory. Or if anybody lives near a Apple store. I don't know if they have the fusion drive models in the store but if they do I would be curios to see if the problem persists on the instore models.

Thank you everybody for posting your specs. I will post my results with the replacement as soon as it comes,

DeadPhish

Deadphish42 Author

Level 1

5 points

Oct 19, 2013 9:01 AM in response to Pancenter

Hey Pancenter,

I know I don't get it. Apple has to know they have a problem but there still sending out machines that don't work. I think Apple should replace all our machines with a 1TB flash storage and a 2TB external drive for all the trouble they have put us through. Thats if the flash storage works. Anybody have a machine with Flash Storage?

DeadPhish

Deadphish42 Author

Level 1

5 points

Oct 19, 2013 9:46 AM in response to Clambake

Hi Clambake,

I think the time has come for us to upgrade our audio interfaces. I have a Inspire firewire 400 that has always worked great for me but now with firewire no longer a option I have to use a thunderbolt to firewire 800 adapter and then a firewire 800 to firewire 400 cable to hook it up. I've been looking around but there doesn't seem to be anything new out there. I was hoping Apogee would release a thunderbolt model but i'm guessing you wouldnt get anything with more than two inputs for under $500, Apogee makes a nice interface but you pay for it.

I'm looking for either a USB3 or Thunderbolt interface with at least 4 inputs with preamps in the $300 range.

I don't know if you noticed or not but the new iMac no longer has a line input. I used to use that input to send the signal from my analog Mackie mixer using the mute 3/4 feature and panning all the way to the left and right. It was just nice to have the option to be able to plug my old school gear into the computer without using up 2 inputs on my interface.

I got that interface almost 4 years ago and it only cost $99 at Guitar Center.

If anybody has a recomendation for a new interface please drop me a line. It would be greatly appreaciated.

Thanks,

DeadPhish

Oct 19, 2013 11:09 AM in response to Deadphish42

Afternoon Deadphish,

Firstly, thank you for working hard to get this issue recognised and resolved...

Nice work!

Anyhow...

Just a couple of points.....

1) The number of people who have a 2013 iMac and a Fusion Drive and who mainly work with Audio... would be relatively small and so, given the number of Devs and Beta testers of the Audio side of OS X, is quite small also and the percentage of them that would have a 2013 iMac and a Fusion drive would be tiny indeed.... I'm not surprised this issue was not picked up sooner until Users started to report it.... and more 2013 iMacs with Fusion drives were sold. (if indeed it is the Fusion drive and controller/Bus that is used specifically in a 2013 iMac.. that is the cause of this issue)

2) I would avoid USB3 for Audio interfaces.. (actually any USB 2/3 audio devices simply because of the load they place on the CPU when used for anything other than midi only or intermittant HD use...)

In fact FW400 interfaces such as the Motu range.. work perfectly fine stilll... because they are well designed and have high quality and stable drivers... and you can use them via a Thunderbolt to FW adaptor.. so long as you place them at the end of your FW chain...

What i mean by that is.. put any FW800 devices such as EXT HDs.. first in the chain and then connect the audio interface last.. This ensures all FW800 devices continue to work at FW800 speeds and the FW400 device will not slow them down.

Your chain would then look something like this...

Mac -> Thunderbolt Port to FW Adaptor -> FW800 HD #1 -> FW800 HD #2 -> FW400 Audio Device

If you placed the FW400 Audio interface earlier in the chain... like this...

Mac -> Thunderbolt Port to FW Adaptor -> FW800 HD -> FW400 Audio Device -> FW800 HD #2

Then anything after it in the chain would only work at FW400 speeds... such as the FW800 HD #2 in the above example..

Thunderbolt devices/interfaces are still too expensive in my opinion (when comparing the perfomance to cost ratio with an equivilant FW device) and given how well FW works and continues to work very well while placing little additional load on the CPU when doing so... FW devices still tend to be the best value for money while still producing great performance over all... in my opinion.

Oct 19, 2013 11:22 AM in response to The Art Of Sound

Oh.. and as an aside,.. one of my clients who has this issue and has a 2013 iMac and 3TB Fusion Drive running the Gold Master of Mavericks.., got a response from the OS X Dev team confirming they are now aware of the issue and are looking into it.... so that's good news at least.

Deadphish42 Author

Level 1

5 points

Oct 19, 2013 11:33 AM in response to The Art Of Sound

Hi Art of Sound,

Thanks for the input. My Firewire interface has always worked good for me. I guess if its not broken theres no reason to fix it. Maybe when the Thunderbolt interfaces start to hit the market the older Firewire ones will go for cheap. I do need to upgrade to keep the same configuration I had before since they took away the line input on the iMac. Do you have any Firewire 800 or 400 suggestions with say 6 ins and 4 outs or so in the $3 to $4 hundred range I could check out?

Thank you for all of your input through this thread it has been much appreciated,

DeadPhish

Deadphish42 Author

Level 1

5 points

Oct 19, 2013 11:34 AM in response to The Art Of Sound

That's Great News Thanks!!!!

Oct 19, 2013 11:51 AM in response to Deadphish42

Personally, I have never used anything but Motu gear.... so maybe someone else has a recommendation within that price range (Though you can pick up used Motu Ultralite Mk2s for under $350... and I use several of those here without any issues here) and my original Ultralite Mk1 which is almost 8 years old now.. still works like a charm!

Deadphish42 Author

Level 1

5 points

Oct 19, 2013 12:12 PM in response to The Art Of Sound

Thanks I'm going to look at some Motu gear now.

Pancenter

Level 6

14,782 points

Oct 19, 2013 1:39 PM in response to Deadphish42

Even though I use mainly RME and Presonus hardware I know from past experience how well the MOTU gear works. Most of the touring Broadway shows that come through town and use audio/MIDI hardware use MOTU Firewire devices, never USB. MOTU writes great drivers for their hardware and it makes a huge difference in CPU efficiency.

Deadphish42 Author

Level 1

5 points

Oct 19, 2013 1:43 PM in response to Pancenter

I was just looking at the MOTU track 16 and I like that one a lot it would suite all my needs and more.

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clipping sound on new iMac when Logix X is running