Apogee Duet & iMac digital Noise in speakers

This has probably been discussed already but I'm gonna add my 2 cents anyway.
Here's the setup. iMac with Apogee Duet using logic pro.
Powered speakers connected to the Duet with balanced cables.
60hertz noise floor problems not a factor.
With this setup I kept getting this medium hi pitched digital noise from my
speakers when the iMac was on and the Duet was connected to the firewire 400 port.
If I put the iMac to sleep then I would get a low pitched kind of digital gargle.
If I shut the iMac down I would still get the same low pitched kind of digital gargle.
If I ran the same setup off my MacBook Pro and ran it thru the paces i got no digital
noise of any.
After reading some other post about this issue over the past few days I decided to
try what others suggested even though it was hard to believe. I tried it because I
decided shut down the iMac and unplug it just to see what would happen.
When I did the noise went away.
So here's the answer. I bought a three prong to two prong converter. You know
one of the things you use to plug into a receptacle that isn't 3 prong. .75 cents.
I then plugged the iMac into the converter which in effect eliminates the ground.
I then plugged the iMac into the receptacle turned on the computer and you guessed
it. "NO NOISE". no noise at all period.
If you already knew about this then your good to go. If you didn't then there you go.
I didn't believe it when I read it but It really does work.

I am getting a 1 KHz whine through Behringer Truth monitors using M-Audio USB Fast Track Ultra audio/midi interface with an iMac i5 27-inch with LED monitor. The whine occurs continuously from the moment I open Logic Studio or iTunes, when the output is routed through the Fast Track Ultra. The whine does not occur when I use the imac output to imac's speakers. I also get an electronic scraping noise when I use the blue tooth connected magic mouse. I have installed ferrites on the monitor speaker wires with no reduction in the whining noise or electronic scraping noise. I have also ordered the USB with ferrite collar to see if the connection between audio/midi interface and the imac is the source of the noise. I am considering a Hum-X, as well, but I am getting into serious money taking stabs at a problem for which there ought to be plenty of competent technical support. The fact that this whine is at 1 KHz and not lower suggests that I am not suffering a typical ground loop. I am a former Pro Tools user who never had a hum or whine from my Digi and G4, which I am seriously considering recomissioning so I can make music again. I am spending way too much time and money making educated guesses and trying to diagnose a problem that all but kills the utility and purpose of this new system. I too am calling on all great engineers to step up with a diagnosis and solution.

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Duet & firelite drive duet making digital noise

Hi any know of the solution to this problem? I'm working in logic with project files on Smartdisk external firewire drive. I have a 15" Intel Macbook Pro which has one firewire port. I have the duet and external drive daisy chained. I have tracks frozen in Logic as I adjust paning, or send bus all of a sudden I get distorted audio. any advice would be appreciated. I thought at first it might be because I was using firewire hub, but I've taken that out of the chain and still get the distorted audio after making a few adjustments.

Hi widnikprod welcome!
I seem to remember reading about this problem on this forum a while back, don't remember if there were and solutions though.
I guess do the typical first:
Make sure you have the latest software/driver updates from apple and apogee, etc.
But since the hub didn't work, I would look into getting an Express Card 34. This would add a second firewire bus, it would also be handy to have around anyway.
http://eshop.macsales.com/item/Apiotek/EC0002C/
It's so cheap it's worth a try. Connect each to a separate bus and see if it helps. Not sure which macbook pro model you have, but I think even the earliest models had the express card 34 slot.
Good luck!
-delton

Mac OSX Mavericks 10.9 firewire audio problem on RME Fireface 800, MOTU 828 Mk II and Apogee Duet on late 2013 iMac i7

I just got the late 2013 iMac 3.5GHz Intel Core i7 and all my firewire based audio interfaces do not work properly although I upgraded to the latest drivers. iTunes or Youtube can play for a short and then there are unbrearable digital noises.
Apogee Duet is slightly better that can play for a few minutes. Then it may have short pause or digital noises. I need to reset the "Sample Rate" to other values to get it work again.
MOTU 828 mk II and RME Fireface 800 are having the most serious problems. Alternating the sample rate can sometimes help but often I need to reboot the iMac to get it work again. However, it works for only 1-2 minutes before the digital noises.
These are the software/drivers I installed:
- Apogee Maestro 2 version 2.8.8
- MOTU Universal Audio Installer for Mac OS X version 1.6.58373 (8/20/2013)
- RME version 3.19, firmware 2.77
I connect the fireware through Apple Thunderbolt to Firewire convertor.
These drivers are supposed to work with 10.9 but they don't. Anyone can help or share experience?

I've read in other forums that there are two issues that is causing this problem of chopping audio and freezing interfaces. One has to do with USB 2.0 /USB 3.0 issues in OS. The other seems to be an issue with the Fusion drive.
The fix for the fusion drive issue that has been shared online is to either:
Option #1. Don't use the fusion drive and create an external boot drive clone (either SSD or standard HD) and use as your primary drive (completely surpassing the internal fusion drive).
Option #2. Split the internal fusion drive. From there you can use them as two separate logical drives. Load your OS on one of the drives (SSD or HD). http://www.macworld.com/article/2015664/how-to-split-up-a-fusion-drive.html
Before, you do any of the above, make sure that you backup your current system setup.
I just received my imac (2013) with 3TB fusion and I plan on trying option #1. I bought a 3TB external USB drive which I plan to clone after I have the machine running. Once I clone the internal drive, I will test how the machine runs from both the internal fusion and the external to prove if this addresses the audio clipping/stopping problem. Hopefully, Apple will find a fix for this.
It is really a dissapointment that a brand new $2500+ machine and software was not tested to perform something that my 2008 MacBookPro and my home built Window XT machine (circa 2003) did without issue. I wished that I would have checked the forums about these issues before I purchased the machine.
You can do some searches online and find even more detail discussions on this topic.
Message was edited by: Juice5280

Mid-2011 imac and original apogee duet. . .no likey each other?

So I recently got a mid-2011 Imac with Mountain Lion. Years ago I got an Apogee duet, a mac-specific firewire (400)-based audio interface for audio recording. I'd been using it with my 2008 imac just fine. When I hooked it up to this new one (today was the first time), I discovered that at reasonable input recording levels, I was getting some very nasty static-y/interference sounding mess. It's got to be the imac/apogee combo because I had all the audio stuff turned off and unplugged. I was simply monitoring the input signal via Adobe Audition. If you think it was noisy BECAUSE nothing was plugged in, it was just as noisy with a Sennheiser G2 wireless lav hooked up. I have tried going directly from the duet to the computer with a firewire 400 to 800 cable. I have the newest update for the Apogee/Maestro software for Mountain Lion. Anyone have experience with this stuff? Thanks.

Hello,
Long shot, but...
Open Audio Midi Setup in Applications>Utilities, see the input & output options & KHz setting there, some things will change it for their own use, then not set it back.

Apogee duet 2007 can't be loaded into new imac

just got new imac and upgraded to logic 9. trying to set apogee duet, prompt says it's too old for snow leopard. went to apogee site and downloaded new driver but still won't work. running apogee through firewire 400 into Glyph hard drive in order to get to imac. not sure if that's the problem or what. any help is greatly appreciated

Running through the glyph should not be an issue, but check and then download the software again from Apogee - just check you have the correct one. Note: you don't download a driver - there is no driver for the duet; you download new Maestro software - this works directly with core audio on the Mac which is why it integrates so neatly. Worth a try (when does the message appear and what does it say exactly?).

Can I use my apogee duet fire wire with an new iMac?

Hi! I'm recording with my mac Book Pro, Logic Pro X and an Apogee Duet Fire Wire. Now I would like to work with an iMac.
Can I still use my Apogee interface and Logic Pro X on both computers?

Yes, you can switch between the two Macs. If your iMac does not have a Firewire 400 port. You may use a Firewire 400-800 cable or even a 400-800 cable with Firewire to Thunderbolt Adapter.

Updated: Firewire audio recording on brand new iMac makes weird digital noise

I am running Ableton Live 8 Suite on a 2011 Entry level iMac. i am using an Maudio Firewire 410 with a FireWire 400 to 800 cable. recently when i record audio (say from a guitar) the audio will cut out and be replaced by a wierd low freq digital noise. i uploaded a clip of it. its not just static. it will come in and out as i play.
http://cl.ly/3f3R2H2z3H3K3F3z1P3d
Things i have tried:
-different guitars
-Maudio FireWire Solo (different interface)
-uninstalled and reinstalled the driver
-Different firewire cable
-turned off Bluetooth on computer and Bluetooth devices
-turned off airport
when i restart the interface or computer it works for about 5-10mins then cuts out again...
but i still get normal audio through it (iTunes, internet, even Ableton)
it seems to be isolted to just audio input. i had multiple tracks playing in Live. my input was working fine but when it punched in to record it morphed to the weird digital noise.
i could record a single channel fine with nothing else playing but recording with multiple channels playing seems to "lock up" the audio though i am only using 25% CPU...
is this something with my iMac or Lion? i changed out interfaces, cables, and drivers....thats the only thing i can think of…
any thoughts from you smart people out there?

ok so i tried a differnet cable and the same thing happened...
i had multiple tracks playing in Live. my input was working fine but when it punched in to record it morphed to the weird digital noise.
is this something with my iMac or Lion? i changed out interfaces, cables, and drivers....thats the only thing i can think of...

Infamous noise problems with Apogee Duet on 2013 Macbook Pro

Hello everybody,
I just wanted to report that my new Apogee Duet (for Mac/iPad) is making the infamous crackling / popping noises on my new 2013 15" Macbook Pro. What's important to note is that this machine has an SSD drive and NOT the fusion drive (which has been said to cause these noises with various audio interfaces). Through some research on this site some people have suggested that upgrading to the new beta version of OS X 10.9.2 fixes these problems. I also heard that changing the sample rate to 96Hz in Maestro 2 helps. I will try each of these solutions and report later on.
This is a serious problem which has rendered GarageBand to be more like GarbageBand.

Hello rahnfromny. <edited by host> There is now a possible solution to your issue.

Mac Mini Apogee Duet A/V ampli: usb noise

Hello,
I have a problem using the mac mini with apogee duet to listen music through my AV ampli.
The problem is a disturbing noise. I think it is an interferrence coming from the duet card. This sound is very similar to the sound of a fax and it modulates together with the change of duet operations.
In order to stop this hum from the ampli I can only take off the firewire cable (but I have no sound of course) or I have to take off the adaptor minidisplay- vga that goes to the lcd.
The strange thing is that I also have a second monitor connected to the mac minii and it is also producing a noise (different though). In this case the noise seems more related to a ground loop.
Indeed, the monitor electrical plug has a ground. The LCD one has no ground.
So, if i unplug the monitor the hum stops. If I unplug the LCD, of course no change.
Can somebody help me on this? I contacted Apogee and they suggested me to lft the ground to the mac mini power plug. I was a little bit surprised abut this.
Anyway, I tried to have all plugs near in the same outlet.
Thanks for your help.

Hi,
Sorry I don't have an answer to your question but I have a question for you on a related topic. I notice you have a Mac Mini. The Apogee Duet requirement is for a Mac G4 or G5 with 1 GHz processor speed and 2 GB of RAM. I meet those requierments except that I have a Mac Mini (same as you). Other than the ground loop, have you had any problems running the Duet with a Mac Mini?
Thanks,
Jeff

FW problem with Apogee Duet, Yamaha monitors, and external FW800 HD...

Recently purchased an Apogee Duet and Logic Express 8. Love it so far but there's a cracking noise coming out of the Yamaha monitors when I turn on the external HD via FW800. The Duet is connected via FW400.
It'll be nice to solve this issue. The digital/cracking noise is annoying. It's almost unworkable. Additionally, I use the external FW800 as my recording drive so it's crucial. I guess the FW bus is overloaded. Is an express/34 card the only option? If so, any recommendations.
Besides this, the Duet sounds awesome w/out the FW800 HD plugged in.
Thanks, mT.

I'm having the same issue -- lots of crackly digital noise coming through my studio monitors (but not through the headphones). The noise, I find, is particularly loud when the 48v is on. Is that the case with you? I initially discovered the issue while trying to record with an AKG C 451 B condenser. When the mic was getting phantom via the Duet, I was getting digital crackling. However, when I put a preamp between the condenser and the Duet (in this case a UA Solo/610) and had the preamp supply the 48v, the crackling was gone. So: is this an issue with the FW or an issue with the Duet's phantom power?
(I'm using the Duet with Logic Pro 8)

What connectors do I need for my ipad so I can connect it to my apogee duet 2 interface essentially using the ipad as an instrument utilizing a few of the synth and drum machine apps to record tracks into Logic on my Mac?

Ok, so I completely feel like this is a stupid question for those of you already in the know and recording tracks onto your Computers DAW from instrument apps on the iPad and other i devices. I can not seem to find out exactly what connector or unit I need to be able to connect and use my ipad as a instrument to record tracks onto logic. I have an ipad2 that I want to connect to my apogee duet 2 interface which is obviously connected to my Mac. I know Logic comes with plenty of drum and synth options but I still want to be able to use beatmaker, jam up pro and the sunrizer synth apps on some of my tracks. I do have the camera conversion adaptors. So my question is, do I just run from the camera adapter in the ipad into the midi port on my apogee interface? (I'm new to and still learning about midi) Or is there a special 30 pin cable I need to get that runs from the ipad into the XLR or quarter inch in the break out cables on the apogee? I did find one cord out there that plugged into the ipad and had left and right XLR connectors but my duets break out cable only has two inputs each is their own channel. Also , if the cable I need isn't midi and does connect to the breakout cables, do I set it as an instrument or as a mic in the apogee software? Or am I completely way off base and needing something different all together. Any help would be much appreciated!
I have a fare amount of experience when it comes to recording, set up and the flow of standard instruments, using external hardware and plugins. But the last few weeks I spent a lot of time programming some great beats in beatmaker on my ipad and I want to track them into Logic. It seemed like no matter how I worded the questions when researching what I thought was and should be simple to figure it out, it just took me to answers I wasn't looking for. Thank you ahead of time. Like I said I'm just starting to get out of my comfort zone and learn about midi and the more digital side of things. So sorry about any ignorance concerning that side of things.

The new Apogee Duet for iPad and Mac, is compaible with iOS devices and includes a USB Midi input. This sounds like the perfect solution for your workflow.

Best way to disconnect firewire audio interface (power down apogee duet)

This may seem like a really naive question, but I am brand new to firewire as well as Macs, so forgive me.
It doesn't seem healthy to just leave my Apogee Duet powered via the firewire connection when I'm not using it for a length of time (ie - doing graphics rather than music). With any and all software that had been using it closed down, and my system prefs for audio back to non-duet input/output for audio, can the firewire cable to it just be disconnected, cutting power to it? Or should I power down the computer, then disconnect, and power back up?
Uh, and I guess I'm posting this question here because it seems more likely for there to be a number of Duet and/or audio firewire interface people here...
Thanks,
Apple

hi,
you can leave it active.
won't damage anything.
in fact, it might stop damage.
only thing i find is, if i switch the mac off totally, i get a ground loop (or lack of)occurring to my pwr amp/monitors.
you could yank the FW cable but it'll produce the loop (hum).
if your are using small; speakers, you might not hear this, because it's low, but it's still there.
DR9.

To those with APOGEE DUET. Why not use S/PDIF?

I am interested in the best quality recording. My mac pro has S/PDIF which I thought would be ok to use. Is the Apogee Duet better? And why? Or is the S/PDIF as good?
I always thought people got the apogee, because they didn't have any good audio connection like s/pdif

Perplex1 wrote:
I have a korg m3 in which i want to record to my computer. Currently i have the korg's spdif out to my macpro's spdif in. I want to know if it would be better quality to record with an apogee duet.
If you're only going to record the Korg, then s/pdif should be fine.
However, if you want to record anything without a digital output (voice, guitars, sleigh bells...etc) you would need to have a front end mixer with digital output otehrwise you would end up using the Mac's analog in which is cr@ppy by any standard. Here is where the Duet comes in, the Mic preamps on the Duet are high end, to purchase a Mixer with a set of mic preamps as good as the Duet's would set you back far more than the cost of the duet, plus the Duet has high impedance inputs for guitar/bass.
Audio interfaces, including the Duet have their purpose, otherwise 90% of the people in this forum wouldn't laying out money for them.
pancenter-

What am I doing wrong? No playback output - Apogee Duet / Logic Express 9

I have an Apogee Duet, using Logic Express 9.
I am getting NO output of anything when playing back a recording.
While recording a guitar thru Duet, I get output from my speaker (hooked up to 'OUT R" output of Duet). Logic Express 9 hears the input and the recording appears to be present.
When I attempt to playback I get NO sound whatsoever.
I have rechecked all my Preferences in both Logic & the Mac Sound System Preferences.

Tried all of the above. No change.
Seems the problem is that on the Maestro Mixer - I need the "To Hardware" set to "None". Why is this? When set to "Out L-R" I get nothing any time from Output except while playing something into the Duet inputs.
I also tried playing a Youtube video and an iTunes song and I get nothing from the Duet Output. I have tried Headphones through the Duet Headphones output jack. I have tried powered speakers thru both the Output-R and the Headphones output.
When I plug a guitar in the Duet Input, I get sound from the Duet Output as I am playing.
Only when the "To Hardware" is set to "None" do I get sound outputting from computer. Can someone tell me what's going on? What's the Out L-R for then? Obviously I am really really new to all this.
Here are some of the settings I have:
MacBookPro
System Preferences / Sound / Output / "Duet (0612) - Firewire
Settings for the selected device: "The selected device has no output controls:
Output volume set at 50%
No Mute checked
Show volume in menu bar - checked
System Preferences / Sound / Sound Effect
Play sound effects through = Duet (0612)
System Preferences / Sound / Input / Duet (0612) - Firewire
Maestro Mixer - Duet (0612)
To Hardware = None
(When set to Out L-R is when I get no sound)
Maestro Control - Duet (0612)
When OUT Mute is engaged - both Speaker and Headphones checked
When OUT Mute is not engaged - nothing checked
Logic Express / Preferences / Audio / Devices
Core Audio
Enabled - checked
Output Device = Duet (0612)
Input Device - Duet (0612)
I/O Buffer = 256
Universal Track Mode, 24-bit Recording, Software Monitoring - checked
Logic Express / Preferences / Audio / IO Assignments
Output / Stereo / Output 1-2 (Stereo Output)
Logic Express / Options / Audio / Open Apogee Control Panel
Output = -28dB
Level = Line -10dBV
Mute - not checked
Mute Behavior - Mute Main Output & Headphones
Meter / Display shows - Input
Overload Hold - 2 seconds
For what it's worth, my sole focus for the time being is simply recording audio (either vocal and drums mic'd through XLR Inputs or guitars/bass through Instrument Inputs) and mixing. I am not interested in software instruments, although I might try and add an effect to a guitar at some point.
Not getting playback after recording something has been driving me nuts.
Thanks

2nd Apogee Duet

I currently have and Apogee Duet and love it. I have the chance to buy a second one for a great price, but seeing that I only have one firewire port on the Imac I am not sure if there is a way to use two simultaneously. Would daisy chaining work or would I be compromising something?
Thank you,
Paul

that would be a quartet. Unfortunately I dont think they can be set up as an aggregate officially

Apogee Duet & iMac digital Noise in speakers

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