1 Topic by colin (edited by colin 2018-12-12 15:56:45)

  • colin
  • ADAT user
  • Offline
  • Registered: 2018-12-12
  • Posts: 11

Topic: Fireface 800 glitches in Mojave

Hi,

Forgive me, I know there are a few threads which mention this but no answers as far as I can see and just wanted to document my experience.

Just upgraded my old Mac Mini to the new 2018 model. So had the expected connection issues which I prepared for and bought the Firewire 800 to DisplayPort, and DisplayPort to USB-C adapters.

Then managed to get the reliable old Fireface 800 connected, installed the latest driver and did the 'Microphone/Security' tweak to get it outputting audio very late last night. Great!

Today though the first studio session, just mixing some tracks in Logic which I have been working on for some time. The project isn't particularly large and is stored on SATA drives. Started glitching (dropouts really) within a few seconds of playback and then every minute or so, often with a long pause before audio kicks in again.

- Testing began with a restart but same thing on reloading.
- Switched to iTunes playing single stereo tracks (obviously), same result.
- Back in Logic, tried increasing the buffer size until it was at max.
- Switched to 32bit mode.
- And set Multithreading to Playback only. No change.

Then loaded a similar project (same artist and similar track count) from some new SSD drives I have installed. Same result again, so it's not the drives and Logic's meters etc. aren't stalling during these glitches, so I don't believe it's CPU or RAM related - both are much improved in the new Mini and RAM is up to 32GB from 8GB running these projects.

So I guess the latest drivers aren't quite ready for Mojave still? It surely has to be an interface/driver issue based on my tests?

The last thing is to make sure Mojave and Logic are fully up to date...

What's the latest please?

Many thanks,

Colin

_____

Mac Mini 2018 - 3.2Ghz Intel Core i7, 32GB RAM, Crucial 2GB SSD Drives. MacOS Mojave 10.14
RME Fireface 800 (with Apple adapters to USB C)
Logic 10.3.2

  • Registered: 2018-12-02
  • Posts: 93

Re: Fireface 800 glitches in Mojave

Welcome to the party!

https://www.forum.rme-audio.de/viewtopic.php?id=27964

I also have now audio dropouts, and strangely disc overloads every now and again, It takes me ten attempts to render a song in the DAW as well as all the other problems in this thread, don't expect any answers

www.yila.co.uk

iamyila's Website

  • mjfe87
  • mjfe87
  • S/Mux specialist
  • Offline
  • Registered: 2011-06-21
  • Posts: 288

Re: Fireface 800 glitches in Mojave

Hi Colin, initial threads and users pointed the finger at the battery manager on 2018 MBPs.  However, then users found the same issue affecting the new Mac mini, so there was speculation about USB-C being the issue.  However, if you're talking about the same issue it seems it affects Firewire as well so it's not unique to USB (or RME) devices.

The latest log reports have identified an OSX 'timed function' running every 30 minutes to retrieve the time, which affects RME devices with drivers and those in class compliant mode.  It's not specific to DAWs either as playback through YouTube, Spotify etc also glitches, as does recording. Currently our 2010 MBP is more reliable for multitrack recording than our 2018 machine.

We need to unite in complaining to Apple with Console logs and other reliable methods for diagnosing the problem. I'm hopeful it will be fixed because a) it affects Apple's own drivers and b) the company sell Logic Pro, but we need to speed this process up. As it stands none of the company's latest machines are viable options for professional audio.

Eastwood Records
www.eastwoodrecords.co.uk

mjfe87's Website

  • colin
  • ADAT user
  • Offline
  • Registered: 2018-12-12
  • Posts: 11

Re: Fireface 800 glitches in Mojave

That's really interesting (and mildly depressing) thanks guys. Maybe I will take this to the Apple forum then, haven't checked there yet. Can I quote you?

Cheers

C

  • mjfe87
  • mjfe87
  • S/Mux specialist
  • Offline
  • Registered: 2011-06-21
  • Posts: 288

Re: Fireface 800 glitches in Mojave

colin wrote:

That's really interesting (and mildly depressing) thanks guys. Maybe I will take this to the Apple forum then, haven't checked there yet. Can I quote you?

Cheers

C

Please do, and let us know what you hear.  The more of us who chip in the better.  I understand from MC's latest post in another thread that it's not just the timed function that's taking priority over audio, I think it may be a number of OSX features.

Eastwood Records
www.eastwoodrecords.co.uk

mjfe87's Website

  • colin
  • ADAT user
  • Offline
  • Registered: 2018-12-12
  • Posts: 11

Re: Fireface 800 glitches in Mojave

Have reported and expecting a callback from Apple Support. Could be interesting... will keep you up to date.

7 Reply by colin (edited by colin 2018-12-14 18:08:13)

  • colin
  • ADAT user
  • Offline
  • Registered: 2018-12-12
  • Posts: 11

Re: Fireface 800 glitches in Mojave

No, bouncing it back to RME insisting it has to be a driver issue. And to be fair RME have yet to respond or qualify the Fireface for use with Mojave or via USB-C.

Though it does upset me because I checked this forum prior to purchase and found information from RME Support saying that it would work using the relevant adapters. So at the moment I have a new computer and another £100 worth of adapters which don't work.

8 Reply by mjfe87 (edited by mjfe87 2018-12-14 18:13:26)

  • mjfe87
  • mjfe87
  • S/Mux specialist
  • Offline
  • Registered: 2011-06-21
  • Posts: 288

Re: Fireface 800 glitches in Mojave

colin wrote:

No, bouncing it back to RME insisting it has to be a driver issue. And to be fair RME have yet to respond or qualify the Fireface for use with Mojave or via USB-C.

Though it does upset me because I checked this forum prior to purchase and found information from RME Support saying that it would work using the relevant adapters. So at the moment I have a new computer and another £100 worth of adapters which don't work.

You have to insist to Apple that a) the problems persist through the ADI-2 Pro FS, which is class compliant and uses Apple's own drivers by definition; and b) other forums have reported this problem e.g. MOTU, Gearslutz etc.

Once you talk to the right technical person on the phone they'll ask you for Console logs etc at which point they'll see it's features specific to OS X and the latest Apple hardware (T2 chip etc) that are causing the dropouts. Older MacBooks running Mojave will work with the Fireface as advertised...

Eastwood Records
www.eastwoodrecords.co.uk

mjfe87's Website

9 Reply by colin (edited by colin 2018-12-14 18:33:09)

  • colin
  • ADAT user
  • Offline
  • Registered: 2018-12-12
  • Posts: 11

Re: Fireface 800 glitches in Mojave

Thanks. I can reopen the case and add that information but would be most interested to hear from someone at RME who have yet to respond??

The Apple guy I spoke to said he used to work in audio for ProTools but I agree was quite dismissive. He didn't leave me anywhere to go but the above is useful information again, thanks.