Logic Pro X audio interface

thomasross20

Jal, I read focusrite isn't good for guitar

Jalapeno

Mac Mini/MBP - Apogee One, Garageband, but I hardly ever touch it (I have Ligic, but so far it's unused) - I wen't this way because everything I had was inoperative under Windows Vista (and early on under Windows 7)

I Use a Scarlett 212i on my PC but so far just audio out.

Jalapeno

Focusrite stuff is usually bloody good - I would be using it via an old PoD XT Pro as a preamp though so I wouldn't know

thomasross20

Apogee one? That's what I'd like but read it (or the cable) was prone to breakage??

Deijavoo

I have a Firewire Apogee Duet and it's great quality for what I use it for but now Apogee have pulled support for it on the latest software Apple use.

Little things like that will make me buy elsewhere next time.

Haych

The NI thingy I was intending to buy isn't in stock at Cardiff yet so will have a wander in and see what else they have and maybe order the NI interface online if nothing else tickles my fancy.

I did a bit more digging last night, though, and there might be a way of getting the FW410 drivers working on El Capitan. What I don't know is whether the driver needs to be present before the OS is updated. 

I've just reinstalled the OS on a new SSD - I still have my old system on the HDD so can experiment and see what, if anything, works.

If I can get the FW410 working I'll stick with that for the time being. 

Watch this space.

thomasross20

Deijavoo;912652" said:

I have a Firewire Apogee Duet and it's great quality for what I use it for but now Apogee have pulled support for it on the latest software Apple use.

Little things like that will make me buy elsewhere next time.

Oh really?
Hmmmmmm

All I hear is of you have apple, get apogee.

Apart from complaints about drivers and support the KA6 sounds a decent bet.

And if I thought the line6 ux1 had a chance of working I'd consider that as have had no problems with the old one on windows and software was included.

Emulation software... There seems to be no consensus on the "best"

Deijavoo

Yeah, it's a bit of a pain in the arse as I've been using it for recording recently, half way through and keep getting notifications to upgrade my software. Just feel quite let down.

thomasross20

That sucks considering the price of the units.

I know most will tut tut me but the line 6 stuff really seems best value for money

sweepy

Nothing wrong with a UX2 at all, I used one for ages until I needed more inputs, so I went for the Digidesign 003r

thomasross20

By the way, when I was talking about value, I meant that you get POD Farm for free with the Line 6 devices BUT I think anybody can download POD Farm 2.5 for free. Same with free versions of Amplitude and Guitar Rig. I was basically using the free version of POD Farm (well, "Gearbox," the older version) for years! 

thomasross20

Might have been talking crap there as I only seem to be able to run a demo version of POD Farm 2. 

In any case - when running through my UX2 I still get the horrendous crackling. 

Aaaaarrrgghhh!!!

EDIT - and now a couple minutes later the noise is gone. It works. Must get to the root of this.

--> Tried the hum reducer feature and it stills makes my laptop restart due to some error. Piece of junk!!

thomasross20

It appears El Capitan is posing major problems in the audio interface department (not just Line 6). NOT impressed!!

Is anybody else running El Capitan 10.11? 

Seriously, this is absolutely shoddy. I've seen on forums problems with Apogee, NI, Line 6 and other devices - it's a complete mess. All of them mentioning drivers not functioning, sound dropouts, crackling noises, audio pops, you name it. 

Have to say I've never had problems like this with any sort of Windows update with regards to audio devices - basically the OSX upgrade renders any sort of music production useless - you can't work with it. I like this machine, it seems robust but all this pain I've been going through is a software/driver issue. How long am I meant to wait? I can't do anything music-related with it! I've got a 90 day cooling off period and if it isn't sorted out soon I might just hand this thing back, get my £2k and buy a Windows machine. All I've done since I bought this is try to sort out audio issues and find compatible bits of hardware but it turns out no matter what I buy, there's a high chance of it not working due to the OS. Complete waste of my time - I've never played guitar so little!!

I finally try an Apple machine and I choose the time when the OS can't function with USB audio devices. Unfortunately it'll be enough to put me off for life. SO gutted as otherwise it's a great machine, but I'm not sticking around when I can get £2k back, spec out a windows machine and get on with recording. 

WHAT A JOKE!!!

ChrisMusic

Sounds like a re-run of the issues with print drivers when OSX was originally launched.  Way to go Apple, alienate a large part of your professional user base (again).

Why not run the previous OS until the issues are sorted (probably in 10.12 !)

FYI ~ I am still using 10.9 on one machine and Snow Leopard 10.6 on another.  I have a large investment in both software (and development time) that won't run on anything after that, so I have some serious legacy issues, which I never used to have with Apple since my first Quadra 900 in 1991.

thomasross20

Just one of many articles on just one of the issues caused by this:

http://audiophilereview.com/cd-dac-digital/apple-messes-up-usb-30-audio-big-time.html

Also check the Apple discussion forums and any discussion forum for an affected USB audio device (generally Googling "apple audio crackling USB audio" will come up with results). 

GUTTED. Actually thinking about returning this tomorrow. What's really going to happen in 90 days (my return period)? I've got an unusable machine here. 

I  mean seriously gutted. I was getting used to the idea of having this nifty laptop, working in the bedroom or wherever I wanted on my audio & video. In the end I've spent just about every hour looking at this program or that and trying to diagnose this problem. So I've spent FAR less time playing music than ever. I could sell this, go back to the basic Windows machine and stick with my trusty Toneport to finish the album (and maybe forevermore). As for video editing, I'm sure there's something I could do. Light works, it seems, really requires a souped up desktop. It works much better on the MacBook Pro but it's still not good enough. I reckon if I just go with a less intensive editor I might be alright in the end. 

I'll eat my hat and apologise if I've blown things out of proportion but I can't see me waiting for some fix that may never happen. Apple have seriously let me down here after everybody saying how great they are for AV work. Pretty sure I'm going to hand this back first thing tomorrow morning. 

thomasross20

ChrisMusic said:

Sounds like a re-run of the issues with print drivers when OSX was originally launched.  Way to go Apple, alienate a large part of your professional user base (again).

Why not run the previous OS until the issues are sorted (probably in 10.12 !)

FYI ~ I am still using 10.9 on one machine and Snow Leopard 10.6 on another.  I have a large investment in both software (and development time) that won't run on anything after that, so I have some serious legacy issues, which I never used to have with Apple since my first Quadra 900 in 1991.

That word professional. There are many (whose income depend on things like this to work) who are raging (check the forums yourselves). True, I could roll back the OS, but I just think this is a major joke. 

-> Am I being harsh? Should I just roll back the OS?

I don't think so. I shouldn't have to after spending £2000 on a  new laptop largely for this dedicated purpose!

thomasross20

I'm doing a factory reset on this piece of garbage now and handing back first thing tomorrow morning. 

The problem threads have been going on for months. 

littlegreenman

thomasross20 said:

go back to the basic Windows machine and stick with my trusty Toneport to finish the album (and maybe forevermore).

If that "just worked" for you in the past and you're happy with the sounds then is there really a need for a £2K laptop and a bunch of new gear? If what you have is doing the job and sounds good to you then why splurge?

I still use the L6 Guitarport I've had for about 10 years (using a Blackstar Dist-X pre-amp pedal into pod farm cab sims mostly, and a few LePeu jobbies), ditto Sonar LE (10 years old if it's a day).

I upgraded to a better PC with 4Gb and W7 about 5 years ago to go x64 with some VST's, and it's been rock solid. I still put a SM57 on my Laney into the Guitarport when I want natural feedback in the room though! Emulation is great, but there's times when only real speakers will do.

Is it as pro-sounding as spending a bundle on room treatment, high-end mic's and pre's, a silent PC, etc? An Axe-FXII/ Bogner Shiva? Nope. But then I'm just a hobbyist, so I can live with the limitations. Think about what you want to achieve as an end result and go from there.

thomasross20

OK I'll list the reasons as I know people will get on my case (and I'm NOT getting on yours!) here. 

To be honest, I shouldn't have the need - I can spend my money as I see fit.

- I wanted a laptop because I've been waiting until the main room is free at night to record. So I've been up until 2am in the morning for MONTHS and it's killing me. A dedicated laptop meant I could work anywhere. 

- People kept on telling me I should use Apple as it's the best for AV work. Windows can be a little "buggy" so I thought "let's try this."

- I was having serious issues with Lightworks video editor basically not being able to display video playback. I can't fit a graphics card to my machine so I thought getting the MBP with AMD card sounded a good option considering the above two points. 

- I was having some audio glitching on my Windows desktop but I'm going to just up the RAM and see if that helps. Again, a nice new laptop with more powerful specs would have helped (and in fact it does as I ran the same projects and got no glitching). 

This whole experience has completely sucked and I hope John Lewis honour their promise regarding the refund / return.

It's so frustrating as there seemed to be very little bloatware and everything seemed to run fluidly, but to have your bl00dy USB ports not functioning properly is just a total joke!! And the issue has been live for MONTHS with no resolution!

Heartfeltdawn

Nah, nobody will get on your case. It's shitty that you've spent a fair chunk of cash and ended up with something that isn't working as it should. 

I'd return the Mac, get your money back, and then start a new thread. Detail everything about what you want to do, the room situation, the gear you have now, and really get a kit list down pat.

With the audio glitching on Windows, was that running Lightworks/video or just audio apps? Is it a desktop PC that's had all the usual tweaks to reduce/eliminate glitches? On my last two motherboards, the NIC was the culprit. One BIOS update later, tweak the power management to top performance, and bang all sorted.