Focusrite Liquid Saffire 56 problems on brand new iMac

Tay, I'll try and clarify a few comments you made...

After a long chat with Apple over the phone, they claim that it is down to the manafacturer to ensure that their products work with Macs and OS X - bloody ridiculous! Therefore, I'm inclined to agree with the other people on it that it MUST be to do with the Fusion Drive in the iMac

There are two different issues.. One which is related to iMac 2013 models that have a Fusion Drive fitted.. and another issue relating to incompatible Audio drivers which produce a similar effect in terms of craskles/pops and clicks..

The FD issue is clearly idenified by disconnecting an Audio Interfaces and simply playing a song in iTunes via the internal Audio system in an iMac. If you get crackles and pops then you have the FD issue. If not and it only happens when uou use your Audio Interface then you have an Audio interface Driver issue...

Ben's issue actually sounds more like a driver issue than anything otherwise everyone would have these same issue using LPX, which is n ot the case... but it could aslo be the FD issue if it happens without the use of a Audio Interface.

Don't ask me how on earth a hard drive has got anything to do with an audio interface - it's madness!

Both the Audio Data and Data from the Fusion Drive are seemingly using the same i/o bus.... overloading the bus and as the FD data apparently takes precedence over the Audio data, this results in the Audio data being delayed.. or 'skipped' causing pops and clicks and crackles etc...

Its odd you had the same issue with a Motu as I am running various different Motu models here under Mavericks without issue, using the latest drivers Motu released... but what you are describing does sound like a driver issue for sure if there is no issue using internal audio and iTunes...

Was the Motu connected via USB or FW?

Here's how to disable the features - go back to Mountain Lion! 😉

Hah- too late for that. If I had to I would - instead i think it's time for a new Mac - my workstation is setup so i need not run into such issues and can record quickly. Trooubleshooting is my "job" outside of the music thing so -yes annoying to deal with (esp since a 4g g5 with LS8 elsewhere works great)

All audio folks should check and double check with manufacturers before upgrading - 1 or 2 plug ins not working is better than 1 or 2 interfaces or whole outboard cards not working.

so - reinstalling the OS is next on my list! I've done similar "re-dos" for others in similar situations as well, I have a lot of patience except when it comes to MY workstation...

So thanks Art and others!,

i still make music despite all this craziness...

Message was edited by: Benjamin Lowengard1

The Art Of Sound wrote:

Both the Audio Data and Data from the Fusion Drive are seemingly using the same i/o bus.... overloading the bus and as the FD data apparently takes precedence over the Audio data, this results in the Audio data being delayed.. or 'skipped' causing pops and clicks and crackles etc...

Similar to my first post about this... I said it sounded like the old Windows 95-ME problem of the audio system and the HD controller sharing the same IRQ (Interrupt Request).

Seems like a firmware fix for the computers in question could possibly remedy the problem.

Tay

FW! Well that is really odd.. as again, all my Motus work fine under FW.... I had an issue with a Motu Hybrid when I tested it using USB but not via FW at all...

Were you using the latest Motu drivers at the time?

Pancenter +1

It does sort of remind you of that doesn't it!

One of my clients is supposed to be having a conference call )which he has invited me to three way with him) later today with the Engineering team about the FD issue and I will update with more info once I listen in and see what they say.....

Tay,

Motu Ultralite MK1? Or an older model than that?

My Mk1 is working fine here with Mav..

tay07600 wrote:

I believe that it's a Motu 828mkII

Probably just needs a reset.

- Unplug the firewire

- press the button "setup", turn full right until "factory default"

- push select

- confirm with "value"

- Power off the interface and plug the firewire cable back in

- Power the interface back on

The Art Of Sound wrote:

Pancenter +1

It does sort of remind you of that doesn't it!

One of my clients is supposed to be having a conference call )which he has invited me to three way with him) later today with the Engineering team about the FD issue and I will update with more info once I listen in and see what they say.....

I'll be interested to hear any info you have to share.

It's not really the same as the old IRQ problem but is does seem like the FD and audio are stepping on each other.. maybe both trying to access the same memory address.

I must say I'm a bit confused...

I personally don't have any problem with the built-in speakers and iTunes... BUT is it really only a driver issue if I had about the same problem with two different interfaces, one USB and one Firewire ? (Well not exactly the same identical problem, with the USB one it was distortion, with the firewire one, it is no audio at all, or 10 seconds of audio then nothing).

One thing that I didn't mention, I noticed a few pops when working in Logic Pro X with the built-in audio, BUT very subtle ones and seldom. Nothing anoying, but I was wondering if it was actually normal or not. I thought it was simply the cpu and believed there was nothing to worry about, especially since i don't have that in itunes. But now I'm really confused. I hope I don't have to replace my Mac, I really don't have time to install all my files and applications again..

And if it is the Mac, what can I do, as tay07600 mentionned, replacing the Mac by another one (with same configuration) won't probably change anything..

I wrote an email to Focusrite explaining everything, waiting for their answer.

I wrote an email to Focusrite explaining everything, waiting for their answer.

I've contacted focusrite about the issue and all they really said about it was that they're aware of the problem with fusion drive computers and are working to find a solution for it. However, they didn't mention anything about a timeline for it.