VO-BB - 20 YEARS OLD!

georgethetech

Over the last year or so I've had a rash of clients who had once relied on the believed "most stable" audio interface solution for Mac, Firewire, experience a tremendous amount of issues. I won't begin to list the names, but there are a least 6 that come to mind. Some were using the once beloved Echo AudioFire2, others using the (also once beloved) Mackie Onyx 820i mixer. Audio glitches that can't be caught until playback, which in the case of long-form narration jobs like audiobooks, is WAYYY too late. Almost of these users are recording with TwistedWave.

Has anyone else experienced this lack of firewire stability with other DAW's?
Is it TwistedWave, Mac OS, or the hardware itself? I've NEVER been able to get to the bottom of this. My solution is to plug a Lexicon Alpha USB interface into the mixer and move on, which works every time.
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George Whittam
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Lance Blair · M&M Joined: 03 Jun 2007 Posts: 2281 Location: Atlanta

I'm using a PC Laptop, but I have a feeling my experiences with it might help.

Recently, my HP Desktop was basically killed by Windows 8 freaking out. So, I just booted up my old XP Windows PC, and plugged in my old Audiofire 2 that had been sitting in its box for a few years and got to it.

It sounded great. I had missed that Audiofire 2. I had ditched it for a faster computer that didn't have firewire. But I had a lot of dropouts with the AF2 this time. Maybe like one every five minutes. I had a few dropouts when I was using this laptop before, but now it was a nuisance! I updated the drivers and it still didn't work right.

I record on Adobe Audition 3. The dropouts were horrible when I used the Temp Folder on the laptop. When I put the Temp Folder on an external drive, it improved a bunch, but it still had dropouts now and then. Once I hooked up a second external drive for the secondary Temp Folder, I haven't had a dropout in months.

I know in the PC realm that you have to have a Texas Instrument firewire chipset in the computer or go home (this laptop has one). It just won't be reliable in most cases.

Hope this is somewhat helpful.
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Bish · Posted: Fri Nov 01, 2013 10:55 pm Post subject:

I'm using a Mac Pro with Snow Leopard and an Apogee Duet. I'm using either Audition (5.5) or SoundStudio 4. For the most part this has been flawless. The only time I have ever had an issue with it is when I used to run an iSight camera as well. I was told that it was a known problem that the Apogee Duet didn't play nicely when the Firewire iSight was connected. Since I changed to a USB camera for Skype, there have been no issues. Well, apart from the fact that if you accidentally disconnect the Firewire cable from the Duet, The Apogee Maestro software crashes... but I think that's because the Maestro software is a tad flaky anyway.
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captain54 · Lucky 700 Joined: 30 Jan 2006 Posts: 744 Location: chicago

I ran a Digi 002 and Mac Mini 08' for a couple of years with ProTools, Twisted Wave and Logic.. never an issue... with or without an external drive.
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Bruce · Posted: Sat Nov 02, 2013 8:13 am Post subject:

About 12 years ago I got a MOTU 828 Firewire device and several years ago upgraded to the 828 MkII. These have all gone into a variety of Macs over the years... lately a Mini. I've used their free software, Audiodesk, almost exclusively and it seems to work fine. The only glitch (instability) I had is when a Firewire cable when bad. Everything acted strangely and the eventual replacement of the cable fixed it.

I purchased Twisted Wave a while back so that I could take your video class on mastering for Audible and I think I've got that down (they're accepting my books), but I have found it really strange in comparison to my current software for recording fresh material. I think I need to take some lessons and ask some probing questions.

B
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todd ellis · Posted: Sat Nov 02, 2013 9:20 am Post subject:

I'm on mountain lion, audition cs6 and motu 896 firewire and have had no problems.
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FinMac

Had a Focusrite Pro 14 firewire, with mac mini and TW.

System would often crash (when the internet was open).

Got the Audient iD22 Smile

(usb 2) and perhaps the system has crashed twice in a month, and I think that was internet related, not the interface!

Now I am a happy camper!

Mac
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Rob Ellis · M&M Joined: 01 Aug 2006 Posts: 2385 Location: Detroit

Mac Mini with Apogee Duet here....have been quite satisfied with it.

Also have a MOTU Ultralite MK II that has performed flawlessly.

bransom · DC Joined: 06 Nov 2008 Posts: 650 Location: St. Louis, MO

George,

I'm one of the Twisted Wave and Echo Audiofire2 users that had a ton of problems. Not initially — initially it sounded great — but after a while. I never did figure out what had changed. A Snow Leopard update? The phase of the moon? I do mostly long e-learning things and it was killing me. I finally gave up and got an M-Audio c-400 USB interface and the problems went away.
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Monk · Posted: Mon Nov 04, 2013 7:50 am Post subject:

I'm on a MacPro running OS 10.6.8 using a MOTU 2408mk3 via firewire to a dedicated PCIe card.

No problems at all with ProTools 10.3.7, not even a stutter.
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Velfin · Posted: Tue Nov 05, 2013 7:04 am Post subject:

I'm on a Mac (Mountain Lion) running Twisted Wave with my Duet connected via firewire and haven't had any problems. Well, with that part.
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georgethetech · Posted: Tue Nov 05, 2013 8:43 pm Post subject:

So far, it seems that Digidesign and MOTU Firewire drivers are more stable than Mackie and Echo Firewire drivers, good to know...
_________________
If it sounds good, it is good.
George Whittam
GeorgeThe.Tech
424-226-8528
VOBS.TV Co-host
TheProAudioSuite.com Co-host
TriBooth.com Co-founder

TLynch · Joined: 16 Jun 2012 Posts: 11 Location: DMV (DC, VA, MD)

I have a 2006 model MacBook Pro running Snow Leopard 10.6.8 and a ProTools LE8. The MacBook Pro is getting to the point where fans and battery need to be replaced, but I have my microphone isolated in another space with some sound absorption. I was interested in the Mac Mini when reviewing new computers. Considering everyone here has it and likes it, I will be looking even further into it now when I get to the point I have to upgrade. The extra space on my desktop would be really nice.
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Bruce · Posted: Wed Nov 06, 2013 11:38 am Post subject:

A bonus with the Minis, if you already have a decent monitor and keyboard/mouse, all you need is the $700 Mini. A bargain for a Mac.

B
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I'm not a Zoo, but over the years I've played one on radio/TV. .

Rick Riley · Posted: Wed Nov 06, 2013 4:36 pm Post subject:

MBox 3 Pro into Windows 7 PC. One of the reasons I went with the MBox 3rd Gen Pro is because it IS Firewire as opposed to USB. It's been used all day, six days a week, for over two years, no issues.
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