Massive problem with audio interface

Alex,

I have now gone through 2 2013 27"iMac's with i7's and 3TB fusion drives and have tried both Focusrite 6i6 and ProAudio interfaces to the exact same problem. I purchased this iMac to produce videos and record voice overs for my business but can not use these computers because of this problem. Funny part is I can use all the same gear on a 2013 MacBook Pro retina with No problems!

While I can split the fusion drive or boot from a Carbon Copy clone of the drive and the problem goes away this is JUST NOT ACCEPTABLE! Why did I spend close to $3,000 for a top end iMac to have to come up with work arounds to use the computer?

I have returned 1 and Apple swaped it out no questions asked, the second one came on 11/20, I kept my fingers crossed but 10.9, 10.9.1 did not fix this problem so number 2 has been brought back to Apple and they are trying to fix it. At this point I don't want it back, there clearly is an engineering problem with USB and the Haswell chipset in combiniation with the fusion drive. I have been wiithout my $3,000 purchase now on and off for almost a month and ordered a MacPro to replace this lemon. If they don't refund then yes I agree a Class Action Lawsuit is in order over this.

While yes this does work (I have tried this on 2 different 2013 27" iMac's) along with booting from an external HD, I'm sorry but this approach is just not acceptable to me personally. I purchased this computer for my business and this has had signifcant impact on my ability to produce video with voice over audio reliablely. For the $3000 I spent on this iMac this type of problem should not exist and I am curious why would you settle for a product that has an obvious issue that is very wide spread based on all of the numerous posts in this thread?

Here is something else for you to try - Play music through your audio interface and while music is playing copy or move seveal large files to a USB drive connected to the back of your iMac. Make sure the files are big enough that while the audio plays and continues to get worse and worse to the point that it stops playing all together. At about that time you should see an OS X Communications Error and that external drive will be forcibly ejected AND the content will be corrupted on the drive!

To me these independent but common (USB Interface) problems suggest there is a serious issue either in the Haswell chip itself or how the logiic board and I for one don't want to get stuck with someting that I spent so much money one. Just my $.02 and Good Luck

William I could not agree with you more. It's total bull and a bigger issue is that apple is more concerned with adding FaceTime audio and fixing minor bugs that's most people don't notice than fixing this major problem. It's not a common house hold problem that they deal with every day with customer service. I made a YouTube video addressing this to just for the simple purpose on trying to spread the word so more and more people can complain . I want my speedy fusion drive to run without these issues, but for me I only have 4 options. Return the imac which I don't want to do, exchange for a normal serial ata hd which I pretty much already have when splitting the fusion so why do that. Exchange for an ssd but I can only afford either a 256 or at most the 5 for an extra $300 which ***** and it doesn't leave me much space to work with and there's no way I'm giving apple $1000 for a tb . Or split the fusion like I did and return to it when the issue is resolved if ever . But once again you couldn't be more correct this is as unacceptable as it gets . That's why I encourage people to complain and write letters and emails and just complain as much as they can so apple gets it fixed. I feel sorry for all of us with this problem. These macs are way too expensive to have these problems and we don't deserve this. SPREAD THE WORD PEOPLE !

Just to add a complication to this. In November I purchased the 27" iMac with 3TB FD - the very same machine that most folks here are reporting issues with. After reading through all the posts, two weeks ago I decided to try something else. I returned the iMac and spent an additional $600 to purchase the latest Macbook Pro Retina with a 1TB SSD. Great machine but guess what, I still had the same issues with my Duet 2 iOS through the USB 3 port. What this proves is that although there may be an issue with the FD, it is not that alone. The issue is definately also related to USB 3. I have found that using a powered USB 2 hub appears to have resolved the issue for the most part. Not completely though. For example, I can switch to play a new video in Chrome or Safari and find that there is no sound. I go into sound settings and see that the Duet is now showing Unknown Device. This rectifies itself after some time. So now I have 2 days to decide if I want to take this back, get the original iMac again, and try the FD splitting fix. I am leaning towards doing this and waiting for what hopefully will be complete fixes in 10.9.2. Any one have any additional thoughts?

have some information that could be interesting for the most of here...

nothing has changed after the second tarnish by apples service provider (with the motu ultralite and the studio monitors for simulate). the provider heard and confirmed the problem immediately. He called me via phone two days later after testing the components with the apples inspect and test program. but it came at exactly the same statement as the first time. there is no error to find. he said i should be contact apple care.

from then it has become ridiculous. i have phone more than an hour with apple care and I explained that I would have a technical solution for this problem. finally, I have also paid money for the fdrive option. the esiest way would be split the fdrive but this isn't that what i like to have. the convesation goes on and on...

apple care has made me at the end the following proposition. which was more than just embarrassing

I could easily expand the disk from the service provider. but the costs would willing to expend by my self and i could be sell my ssd disc.

häää? this was to much for me and i detect the people from apple care could not hear to what you say and they have so good as no technical skills. next time i renounce and save my money. when me offered those solutions.

the problem with the fdrive still excist since late 2012. this offered as the first iMacs with this option. now we have 2014. i pay extra money for the fdrive but can't use this option. almost two years and nothing has happend.

this is an unreliable crap. Inbuilt drives that don't work for audio. and it looks like nobody at Apple actually tested them nothing clear. my oppinion is apple know about this issue up from the first time...

I recently experienced exactly the same issue with a late 2013 iMac with a 3TB Fusion Drive whilst using a Universal Audio Apollo interface.

As I'm a musician and rely on my Mac for my work, I registered with the developer program as I heard that the newest beta fixed this issue.

I'm pleased to report that all of the issues concerning audio interfaces have been resolved with 10.9.2 for me.

I have tested both my FireWire and USB interfaces and they both work perfectly now!

Hopefully Apple should release this software update soon.

That's amazing to hear, as a developer I know you don't know anymore than most but did you have an idea of when we are likley to get the public 10.9.2 update?

Hi Paul,

I was having the sound drop out problem as well but using the SATA drive.

Not that we should have to do this but.

I'm using the duet 2 iOS as well.

I'm maestro 2 send the audio out to the mixer.

Then go to mixer and change sample rate (think that's it) to 96k

See if this stops the sound drop out.

I have found this fixed the problem enough for it to work with no sound drop outs.

When I put the mac to sleep then wake up, looks like the Duet re connects.

The apogee logo comes up on the LCD.

Worth giving it a go as it fixed as I said on my SATA HDD.

Thanks Wattsy - I'll give that a try now. I have to decide today whether I want to go back to my original iMac with either the 3TB FD, 3TB 7200 HD, or a 1TB SSD. I like the Macbook Pro but don't really need a portable, and the extra horsepower in the iMac is probably better. I guess I'll call the Apple Store and check they have one in stock. From the few recents posts I've read it looks like 10.9.2 fixes the issues - it's just the problem of not knowing when it will be available.

Hey Guys

I do have the BETA of 10.9.2 and everything works fine on my side.

I am working with Apogee Duet Firewire with a late 2013 iMac, corei7, 32gb ram and 3tb FD.

If someone wants the BETA, give me your mail and I'll send you the link.

cheers

shnicshnac

Just bought a new iMac 27" with a 1 TB fusion drive and was saddened when it arrived to find that I had massive issues with my Focusrite Saffire Pro 24 DSP. Audio dropouts happening every 30 seconds or so.

Foolishly, without doing much research, I went out and bought a Focusrite Scarlett 2i2. While the dropouts had stopped, I'd run into distortion/clicking/popping every few minutes. Not usable.

I bit the bullet and updated to 10.9.2 beta, and plugged the Saffire Pro 24 DSP back in. It seems my issues with that interface are resolved. Been running for about an hour now and haven't had any dropouts.

I'm going to plug in the Scarlett 2i2 in a bit and try that unit. Will update the group when I know whether or not the clicking/popping on that unit has been resolved.

Good luck to you all--it seems like a resolution is finally on it's way!

Yes please do as much testing as possible .. Maybe with multiple plugins and max out the track limit . If this is the case I have to figure out how to refuse my drives since I split the fusion. Do you have a dev account or just installed without one . If without one could you point me in the right direction as to how to install beta. Normally I wouldn't ask to do so but since apple has caused all of us a big delay on our production and work and hobbys they could kiss my @ss right now I'm going to update without an dev account if it fixes the fusion issue

OK GUYS .. so far these guys are correct . i have re-fused my split fusion drive and found 10.9.2 and updated and i tested recording 5 vocals with an instrumental playing . used heavly plugins and not one problem for me to report . it wasnt heavy testing but it sounds good and im confident it will stay this way. i backed up my system to external hd with time machine . fused the 2 drives back to how apple had them in the first place. restored back to my fusion, than updated to 10.9.2 after fully restored and up and running . because apple screwed me and all of us up for so long and did nothing to help me after 4 days of communication i am going to share the link to the beta 10.9.2 where i d.loaded it becuase people deserve to have their audio working properly. i dont have a dev account or anything and there is no checking for a dev registration by apple unlike the ios7 betas. here is the link you dont extract it you just double click it and run it but remember do this after you are re-fused if you split your fusion already. if you didnt split your fusion and you are still on your fusion drive the way it came out of the box than you dont have to do anything but install and restart when your fully installed . check your about mac and it should say 10.9.2 or go to your imessages and click on somebodys name and the top right corner there should now be a phone icon for facetime audio which i tested and works perfect also. im very happy my computer is running back the way it was suppose to from the start . speed of fusion and clear audio . heres the link once you click it it will just download . once again i usually dont condone betas without dev registration but in this case it need to be done.

http://goo.gl/zYwcMm <<<link

Jumping in on this thread. I have some interesting data. I'll be as concise as possible...

I just received my new (late 2013) Macbook Pro 15" Retina 2.6 i7, 1TB flash, full-spec, $3299.

Using Behringer U-Phoria UMC204 96kHz interface

Interface worked well on my mid-2009 MBP, which I was finally upgrading.

As you probably expected, falls on its face with the new MBPr (on either USB port)

Connects and is recognized immediately as a Behringer UMC204 by the system.

Output test with iTunes: plays crackle-noise for a few seconds and then goes silent.

Output via Safari, YouTube video: plays crackle-noise for a few seconds and then goes silent.

Connection test with Garage Band: Gets dropped after a few seconds with message "no longer available".

No change with powered USB hub.

No change with passive USB hub.

Also of note: About this Mac/More Info/System Report/Audio gives this message:

"There was an error while gathering this information."

Spoke with Apple Care, level 1 rep (friendly but clueless) and supervisor (friendly but unable to help).

Told to take entire setup in to local Genius bar and test against other new machines for possible hardware problem with my specific machine.

I did so today.

Interface failure on 15" MBPr 2.0

Interface failure on 15" MBPr 2.3

There was no 2.6 unit in stock for me to test.

Neither of the in-store machines had the error message I get in my System Report, but behaved identically to mine.

We decided to test an in-store Apogee ONE interface.

==> Worked immediately on all machines tested! <==

Very interesting.

This doesn't help me (or any other audio pro) but it does cause me to question what Apogee is doing with firmware or architecture or whatever that other manufacturers are unaware of.

Obviously, my issue is not with a Fusion drive.

(I use a Seagate hybrid in my 2009 MBP, and new model is 100% Flash)

I don't know if my issue is with USB3, or Haswell/Crystalwell, or both.

Nobody else seems to know either.

Maybe Apogee engineers know.

Hopefully Apple will know soon, and from this thread it sounds like 10.9.2 could be the answer.

The Genius is escalating my case to Apple's engineering department.

One final comment for the few people in this thread who feel as though they have not been heard by Apple:

Clearly, this is a major headache that has cost us time, money and trust.

In my business, I wouldn't be able to sleep if I sold my customers something that performed as horrifically as this.

But I must say that everyone I spoke with at Apple seemed to take this problem very seriously, and while not acutely aware of the ins-and-outs of pro audio (no pun intended) I did not detect any diminishment or invalidation of my problem as a "minority" or "boutique" issue.

After all, Apple sells Logic and includes Garage Band with every Mac.

They also want their stock to go up.

And we tend to spend money.

Your situation seems a little more complicated than most of us . Stupid question did you update all your drivers to compatible mavericks drivers? Try the last post I put up before yours . It's the 10.9.2 update for mavericks . Just download , double click and run the installation and reboot. Don't extract . Might help and runs smooth. Hope this helped