Massive problem with audio interface

Hi Bob - I use a "OSX class compliant" audio-interface as stated on the Allen & Heath website (it's a QU-16 - which is a digital mixer that includes the requirements to work as audio interface via plug and play as well). They are also stating compatibility for OSX 10.9 by the way.

Connecting the Qu-16 directly to the iMac USB3.0 port or using a Hub inbetween does not make a difference by the way. I have not installed any other USB-Drivers.

But as I said it was worse with 10.9.1 and my hope is that the next version of 10.9.2 solves all other edge cases with external audio.

-act

Hi actraiser75 and everybody else!

Great to hear that it finally seems to go in the right direction.

Actraiser75, have you reported your remaining issues to Apple?

//L

I thought I would add my computer to the list to further confirm an issue with my computer too.

iMac 27", i7 3.5, 16GB RAM, 4GB Graphics Card, 3TB Fusion Drive.

I have been experiencing the same problems with my Apollo Quad interface. It will work fine for about 20 seconds before cutting out completely. The only way I can get it to work again is to reboot the interface. I also have a problem where when I try to configure the firewire bandwidth in UAD Console the whole computer shuts down and prompts to restart. It's apparently due to a "Kernal Panic" of some sort. I sent a detailed letter concerning the problem to Universal Audio this afternoon but found this fourm that pretty much answers all of my questions.

I have an oppointment at a local genius bar tomorrow afternoon and I will let them know all about what's going on with these fusion drives.

It seems like for things to work right you can only pick one, SSD or HDD.

If all HDD works, do you guys think that going all SSD will fix the problem too?

Thanks, Andru

Adding my brand new Haswell i7 iMac to the list.

3.5GHz Quad-core Intel Core i7

8GB 1600MHz DDR3 SDRAM-2X4GB

1TB Fusion Drive

NVIDIAGeForceGTX780M 4GB GDDR5

Using an Apogee Duet 2 USB interface. Starts out fine, sounds like it falls out of sync after 20 minutes or so, with popping and clicks. Only solution is to re-plug the interface, or instead I've been resetting the sample rate in Apogee Maestro.

Contacted Apogee first, who confirmed that there's a problem and they're working with Apple on a fix.

Went to the Genius Bar over the weekend with an appointment, and all they told me, coldly, was I had 3 days to return the machine for a full refund, and refused to acknoweldge any known problems. They sure got REALLY excited though when I suggested exchanging my iMac for a new Mac Pro. Boy did their faces light up!

C'mon Apple, at least let us KNOW you're trying. We're loyal, just work with us.

I thought you had 14 days for a return.

I purchased it back at the beginning of November, apparently in time for some sort of extended return policy just for the holiday season. Took me by suprise too, but they told me I have until the 7th for a full refund.

Ah... I have one on the way with 1TB fusion drive. I only have USB speakers, so perhaps I will not have an issue. Sort of regret not going with the SSD.

Bob

Yep, I've got to decide by tomorrow if I'm returning it. I like it in every way except for this audio issue. I've spent hours installing and getting everything set up.

But maybe I can just clone it all to an external drive and then clone it back if I get a new iMac?

I'm 90 percent confident that the problem will be resolved but what a drag if it is not and I don't exchange. It's a bit of an extra p.i.t.a. because I have to do it all by mail/Fedex since I am 4 hours from an Apple Store.

Here's a question. I understand the 'no questions asked' return period. But if there is a problem with Apples hardware/software that prevents the machine from being used for it's intended purpose, wouldn't they be obligated to replace it anyway, even after the two week period?

Chris Bedrosian wrote:

I purchased it back at the beginning of November, apparently in time for some sort of extended return policy just for the holiday season. Took me by suprise too, but they told me I have until the 7th for a full refund.

Well guys, i sent a mail to Focusrite(I have the Saffire Pro 14), saying that i had problems, and then that I have Fusion Drive.

The answer from Focusrite:

Hi Marc,

Thanks for the email, sorry to hear you are having some issues.

It is very likely that you issues here is being caused by having a fusion drive fitted to your mac. We have seen a number of reports from people using various audio interfaces (from other manufacturers as well) who are reporting audio issues when using the Apple fusion drive. We are currently assisting Apple in investigating the cause of this.

There are a few ways around the problem. The first would be to downgrade OSX from 10.0 to 10.8. The second would be to "split" the ssd part of the disk and then normal hard disk, this is documented online. The third option would be to change the fusion drive for a standard hard disk. Unfortunately this issue is out of our control, as it is a problem with the fusion drive on OSX 10.9 and will need to be fixed by Apple.

So, I think is a good thing that Focusrite and other brands know of this FD problem, so they can make pressure to Apple to fix it.

Keep sending this post to http://www.apple.com/feedback so they can hear us!

Just curious, but isn't there an Optical out on the new iMacs?

Headphone port

Headphone/optical digital audio output (minijack)

Could that be hooked to the optical in of an audio interface like a MOTU or something?

I suppose that might help with playback, but I don't think there's an optical in (or any kind of audio in) on the new iMacs... And that's a huge problem.

Bob

I've had it. Bought my 27" iMac with 1TB Fusion drive 2 weeks ago and have not been able to use it with my Focusrite Saffire Pro for more than 90 seconds of "Any" kind of audio playback from any source on the iMac until I restart the Saffire. I am returning this beautiful machine tomorrow. But before I do I have responded to Apple's Support survy as follows:

Q. Is there anything that the Advisor could have done better to resolve the issue during the call?

I'm not sure. The problem seems to be that Apple doesn't care much about those of us that are trying to use Apple products as a DAW (Digital Audio Workstation). Perhaps Michael didn't check with others on the team with specific knowledge of the problems that are widely reported on your discussion forums (since October) or maybe there simply isn't anyone with such knowledge because the company doesn't care about this much smaller market. Whatever the case, I bought my iMac to process audio and the brand new (beautiful) machine was unable to manage that (one of MANY different vendors and products that have this issue according to the very lively posts to your forum.) Search your forum for "Massive problem with audio interface" to see the many folks you are disappointing. I'll be returning my iMac tomorrow for a refund and (reluctantly) start looking at PC options.

I have just got this back from Apogee inregards to the Duet 2 iOS:

In the last few days we've had great success with using our USB devices at sample rates of 96k and above. Lets change the sample rate of the device or create a session at a sample rate of 96k or above and see how your unit reacts.

Hi Wattsy69 and all others...

I just tested to change my Motu Track 16 interface from 44100 Hz to 96 kHz and it was an improvement.

But, it does not fix the problem. When I used it on 44,1 kHz my interface stopped woking after 10-15 seconds after I started to play sound through the interface. When changing to 96 kHz it keep on working - But with glitches and pops.

One interesting observation that kind of confirms the relation to the FD is when I was scanning documents the sound output was completely muted during the scan. Another this is to open the activity monitor and look at the disk activity. When there is activity on the disk you will have clicks, pops and dropouts.

I really think Apple should take their responsibility and at least confirm that they are working on a solution. Oh, just now my iPhone 5S restarted without any reason - Is Apple losing it? The quality clearly has dropped the last year.

//L

My USB interface previously ran stable for years on a late 2008 iMac with Snow Leopard.

I'm now also having massive audio problems with Motu Ultralite Mk 3 Hybrid connected on USB after purchasing a new late 2013 iMac. External audio is basically unusable for both input and output.

Setup:

Late 2013 Apple iMac. 3TB with Fusion drive. Mavericks 10.9.1. 3.5GHz Intel I7. NVIDIA GeForce GTX 780M 4096 MB GPU

Motu Ultralite Mk 3 Hybrid. Latest Motu drivers 1.6 59200. Latest Motu firmware v 1.06

Connected via USB cable

Playback from iTunes produces bangs and pops every few seconds/ minutes.

Logic is also unstable, but that is almost certainly unrelated.

Output quality improves marginally at higher bit rates (96KHz 24 bit), but it is still unacceptable with long drop outs.

Case opened with Motu, who claim this is a known problem with Apple core audio with cards from multiple vendors. Motu say they are waiting on Apple for a fix.

I'm waiting for a firewire 800/400 cable to arrive in the post to see if that helps at all.

Very disappointed in Apple's QA for such a major bug to still be around after a 10.9.1 release.

This was not a cheap machine (maxed out cpu/ disk/ gpu/ ram/ everything).