Focusrite Liquid Saffire 56 problems on brand new iMac

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.

I see.. And did they say if they suspect the problem comes from the mac or from the interface drivers ?

So you have the same problem as me, you have normal sound with the built-in speakers, but none with the interface, or you have sound for only a few seconds ? And you also have a 2013 FD iMac ?

They didn't mention what they thought the source of the problem was. They did mention that it's happening with several firewire interfaces from many manufacturers, not just focusrite.

I have a late 2013 iMac with a 1tb FD. I'm using a Saffire Pro 40 and can get audio no problem for as short as a couple seconds to as long 10 minutes before it cuts out. The only way I can get audio again is restarting the interface. I have absolutely no issues using the built in iMac audio speakers.

GioRamirez wrote:

They didn't mention what they thought the source of the problem was. They did mention that it's happening with several firewire interfaces from many manufacturers, not just focusrite.

I have a late 2013 iMac with a 1tb FD. I'm using a Saffire Pro 40 and can get audio no problem for as short as a couple seconds to as long 10 minutes before it cuts out. The only way I can get audio again is restarting the interface. I have absolutely no issues using the built in iMac audio speakers.

And you are using Maverics?

And you are using Maverics?

Yes I'm running Mavericks.

It's possible that Mavericks alleviates the problem somewhat, especially with built-in audio.

Whether it's your audio interface/drivers or the iMac/Fusion Drive combo, it's been a rough ride for recent iMac/FD purchasers.

I just wanted to add some more detail here: I'm highly suspect of Logic behaving nicely in Mavericks, at least in "under 8 gig" RAM limited machines such as this "supported" iMac I'm using right now. It loses audio sync (that could be a firewire/logic issue- my focusrite works perfectly but logic unsyncs itself from it)

Yes I did reinstall Mavericks. That fixed a lot of slowness and that crashed UI weird behavior, in general. However 1 drum track and 4 midi tracks into something:

Date/Time: 2013-11-10 09:37:24.454 -0500

OS Version: Mac OS X 10.9 (13A603)

Report Version: 11

Crashed Thread: 0 Dispatch queue: com.apple.main-thread

At this point, don't expect any Apple cheerleading from me - I am pretty unhappy at how this is playing out -

it's very obvious (to me at least) that I need to try to shut down all the "napping" going on. I AM used to troubleshooting (mostly with Cubase not Logic -which had previously been very stable) but the crash reports crash an a variety of places - so I think there is a larger problem. Mountain Lioners- don't upgrade to Mavericks yet.

Hey guys I'm running the exact same problem with new iMac 27 with1 tb FD and saffire 56 , so I called the apple care told them about the issue and also this blog but they told me it has nothing to do with fusion drive , so they told me to return the I Mac and I did and tomorrow the new one will arrive, unfortunately I just saw your posts that it's still gonna have the problem fingers crossed it won't .

I just wanna mention one important thing that my room mates also bought the 21.5 inch 2013 iMac but they don't have the fusion drive ,they have regular ATA ones so I tested my saffire with that it and it worked totally fine!

And I told that to apple guys they told me that they are the experts and it has nothing to do with the fusion drive

So I'm gonna wait till tomorrow to get my new iMac and if it's still have the problem I'm gonna call them again and this time won't be speaking nice !

Also I have 2 other MacBook pros one is 2009 one 2012 and both have mavericks on them and they don't have any problem as we'll so I'm obviously blaming apple for the problem.

Sorry for my long post I thought I should share that with you guys.

Could you post a link to this gearslutz-topic, please?

http://www.gearslutz.com/board/music-computers/877537-potential-audio-problem-ne w-imacs.html

There's a huge topic in these forums discussing the Fusion Drive (as well as other) problems.

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/5428602?answerId=23785068022#23785068022

Not sure whether this helps or hinders, but I have an iMac with Fusion drive running Mavericks, and a Presonus Firestudio interface. This box runs off the thunderbolt-firewire adapter.

I have those symptons: sound cuts out after a period of time, usually a few seconds, sometime a minute or two. Except on two occasions, it has worked with a hitch for hours.

I've checked and reinstalled everything. Problem remains.

I booted up in my 10.8.5 drive, and it all worked without a problem.

While I've been researching this problem, it seems to be more than one brand of audio interface, and a Mac with the new Haswell chip and/or SSD memory.

I don't have a solution.

Hi guys, here’s some more information regarding Mavericks compatibility:

Please do get in touch with our support team if we can help you with anything further.

Well, it's not the OS that is the issue. I had the problem on my 2013 iMac when it still had Mountain Lion. The issue clearly only exists with the fusion drive.

cerstrand,

You are correct in regards to the 2013 iMac with FD issue ..... which affects both ML and Mav...

But... there is another issue regarding certain Audio Interfaces and incompatibility problems with Mavericks..

This is the issue that Michael is aluding to.....

And... of course.. some people could have both issues!

Hi there lads.

I got new iMac 27" 16GB/1TB FD/OS 10.9 Mavericks and Focusrite Saffire PRO 40 (SaffireMix Control 3.3), I had problem with sound dropping after couple of seconds and only way to get it back was to restart interface. If u have that kind of problem its not FD or thunderbolt fault its Mavericks. After I reinstaled the system and downgraded to 10.8 Mountain Lion. I have no problems at all with sound interface.

Probably problem lies on Saffire drivers side (on the website they say that divers are compatible only with OS 10.6, 10.7 and 10.8),we have to wait until Focusrite release drivers for OS 10.9

Hope it will help some of you.