Q: clipping sound on new iMac when Logix X is running

Using a hub also crossed my mind after reading about the power levels of the usb. I will try this later today when I get home and see if it solves the issue with my Apogee ONE as well. I also have the fusion drive so I can test if it affects the audio recording as well.

It's still a ****** solution, but better than nothing for now.

I have actually used my One with my iPad through a powered hub before for power reasons. And now the second revision of the One has it's own power supply for the same reason. So the question is if some interfaces just require more power than is supported on USB3? In that case, there will never be an actual fix I guess?

Brent,

Makes total sense!

Nice bit of lateral thinking......

...and i can confirm the same method (using a powered USB hub resolved the issue using my client's Duet 2 and my 2013 iMac that does not have a FD fitted.... No more dropouts.

Again, it's worth pointing out this isn't likely to fix things for those with Fusion Drives because of the different nature of that issue and the fact it affects internal Audio as well as external interfaces... but for those using an external Audio/Midi interface via USB.. via a USB3 port, it has to be worth a shot at least

Again.. well done Brent!

Cheers..

Nigel

Hello,

Unfortunately, I can confirm, that the problem has not been resolved with an USB2 interface on my Fusion Drive 2013 iMac.

So the question is if some interfaces just require more power than is supported on USB3? In that case, there will never be an actual fix I guess?

Well.. that's a good question....

I can say that some Interface Devs fixed the USB3 problem with their USB2 interfaces.. by implementing some changes via firmware/driver updates but others had to release hardware updates to their interfaces (Mackie Onyx for example) leaving those with the older revision of their hardware.. 'out in the cold' so to speak. I assume it depends on.. to what degree the loss of available power, affects the device in question... and of course, how the device was designed in the first place.

fishmax2912 wrote:

 

Hello,

 

Unfortunately, I can confirm, that the problem has not been resolved with an USB2 interface on my Fusion Drive 2013 iMac.

Yes.. I'm not surprised as the FD issue has a very different root cause...

The FD issue is seemingly all about bus load and data communication interuptions cuased by an overloaded bus.... which wouldn't be fixed by providing extra power to the interface.

Sorry!

Just FYI, and for what it is worth: I have found that creating an Aggregate Device in the System Preferences --> Sound panel helps with, but does not eliminate, the distortion. It does not, however, help with the brief sound dropouts. I should add that I am only using iTunes and Amplitude 3 at the moment.

[System: late 2013 iMac with FD; Apogee FireWire Duet connected with FW 400-->800 cable and FW to Thunderbolt adapter]

poinggo wrote:

 

Pancenter wrote:

 

Do the Firewire Duets have any problems?

 

Yes. I have both an Apogee ONE USB and an Apogee DUET Firewire (400) and both have issues although with different symptoms.

 

The ONE USB after a few seconds of recording audio starts to induce noise and distortion. Much like what you would get with lots of fuzzing.

 

The Duet Firewire after a few minutes simply stops working. Sound simply cuts off with a large crack noise and then silence.

 

Note:

 

Duet Firewire was connected with a Thunderbolt to Firewire cable from Apple and then a Firewire 800 to Firewire 400 cable.

 

Duet USB was connected directly to the Mac.

Hmmm.. accoding to Apogee the ONE-USB should not have much, if any problems because it only has a single input.

And the Firewire problem is also perplexing. Since it's not a USB power problem it has to be related to the FD or Haswell processor?  Any ideas AOS?

And the Firewire problem is also perplexing. Since it's not a USB power problem it has to be related to the FD or Haswell processor?  Any ideas AOS?

I would guess... Absolutely to do with the FD issue as that can affect any audio interface with whatever form of connection... and as poinggo has a 2013 iMac with a FD fitted,(iirc) this would explain their issue...

One of the other current audio issues affects USB2 devices when used with USB3 ports and those ports can be found on Macs that don't have FD fitted...as well as those that do.. hence why somepople may have a combination of both the FD issue and the USB2/3 issue on the same Mac!

Bottom Line

We bought machines that do not do what was expected.

We are flailing trying to second guess how that happened

It is not our resposability, we were fullfilling our roll as consumers

Pick up the pitch forks and torches, it is time to storm the castle

No more mister nice guy

as a matter of fact i agree with you.

i tried using my hub yesterday and it just make everything ten times worse for some reason. and then i started thinking "what am i doing". i think the solution to the problem is to put pressure on apple to be honest (let audio news sites know for example)

there are both current owners of these machines, and future ones, that don't even know about this issue (other than experiencing of course). it's unreasonable for apple to not even officially acknowledge the fact that there is a problem. and until they do, we cannot count on it getting fixed.

From the conversations I've had with Apple Care support, Apple's line is that it's up to third-party manufacturers such as Apogee to contact Apple to get the fixes started. Granted, the right hand may not know what the left hand is doing, but that's what I've been told.

I just hung up the phone after talking to Apple Care.

As I said before, I opened a case with them. They sent me an app that collected all my system info. This info was then forward to engineering and just now I got my answer back.

"There's nothing wrong with your iMac. It's up to the audio card manufacturer to fix this problem."

I'm really ****** with this behavior from Apple. Pretty much the same I would get if I bought an assembled pc in some corner store.

That's the end of the line as far as I'm concerned. There's no other option but to return this thing :/

Hi,

I've just sent an email to the best italian Apple Blog to inform them about this issue.

Now they're looking for more info and I hope they will make a post on their blog.

We need to spread the word in order to scare Apple.

Anyway, I'm really disappointed...

I've just sold my Mac Pro 2010 and now I can't work with Logic or any audio app.

I'm losing money... and my patience, too.

spanck,

What are the specs of your new Mac please?

Again to clarify...

1) If you own a 2013 iMac with an FD fitted then test with just inboard Audio and if you get crackles/pops and/or complete crash of the audio after a period of time you are likely having then issue with the Bus overload problem. Apple are aware of this and are working on a fix.

2) If you own a 2013 iMac with an FD fitted and you do not get crackles/pops with onboard Audio after a period of time...but you get crackles/pops and/or a complete crash of the audio via your audio interface and that interface is using USB2 to connect to your imac then see issue #3.....

3) If you own a 2012/13 Mac with USB3 ports and you are using a USB2 device and you get crackles/pops/ and audio dropout and/or a complete crash of the audio after a period of time then the issue lies with the Device itself... and the fix for that will have to come from the maker of that device via either a firmware update.. a driver update or both. Note: A temporary workaround fix for this issue, for many people... is to use a powered USB2 hub to connect the USB2 device to and then connect the hub to a USB3 port. Make sure it is the only device plugged into the hub.

Note: If you are using a Mac and you are using FW and not USB2... and you are getting crackles and pops and/or a complete crash of the Audio..., then please report that here... including the specs of your Mac.