FW-1884, G5, Clicks and Pops?!

M

MrBlackthorne

Funkmaster
Hey All,

I posted this over at the tascam forums as well, but I figured I'd try to reach a different audience by posting here, as well.

I'm getting clicks and pops with my FW-1884 and my PowerMac G5. I have Logic Pro 7 and OS X 10.4.8. I also have an M-Audio Octane hooked up to the 1884 via ADAT. The clicks and pops happen regardless of whether it is hooked up or not. They happen at all latency & buffer settings.

I know this issue is specific to the G5, because I hooked up my old B&W G3 (upgraded to G4) with the exact same software and didn't notice any clicks or pops after recording about 30 minutes of different tests. The old B&W didn't even click at the lowest latency settings... Go figure. The G5 is a dedicated DAW with almost no other software on it. The G3 has a ton of stuff on it and until today wasn't even set up as a DAW.

I noticed some posts that mentioned it could be the G5's built-in Firewire. Has anyone had any success using an add-on card? Did it solve the clicks/pops? I'm thinking of trying this, but I don't want to waste the cash if it's not the problem.

Any input would be great. Thanks,

Rick
 
Have you updated to the current drivers and Firmware revision?

Have you updated your OS and hardware firmware for the G5?
 
I know that the FW-1884 is updated to the latest driver and firmware. Actually, just as a test, I downgraded the driver to the previous version. That reduced the amount of clicks and pops I was getting, but didn't elliminate the problem.

I was wondering that same thing about the G5 firmware. I did a search on Apple's website to see if there were any recent firmware updates released (I do remember installing one when I first bought the system, but that's it). I couldn't find any for my model, but maybe I'll take another look, just to be sure.

Thanks for the suggestions.

Rick
 
OK, here's an update on this issue...

I bought a fairly cheap after-market Firewire card from NewEgg. The card worked great right off the bat without the need to install drivers. It unfortunately did not solve the clicks and pops issues. That's OK, though, because I could use the extra ports.

Playing around with a few more settings, I decided to try turning off the 2nd processor using the "Processor " System Preference panel (this is a dual 2.0 GHz system). So far, I've recorded about 15 minutes of test recordings and haven't noticed any click or pops.

So, if this has solved my problem, does this make any sense to anyone here? Why would using the 2nd processor cause digital clicks and pops?

Appreciate any help. Thanks,

Rick
 
Have you checked the compatibility of your software with dual processors? I remember when Cubase couldn't support HyperThreading (since been patched).
 
As far as I know, Logic supports multiple processors. Seeing as it is an Apple product, it doesn't make sense that it wouldn't work with one of their fairly high-end systems. I believe that it may be an unpublished incompatibility with the FW-1884 and multithreading. I'm going to google and find out. I've done tests using my MBox with Logic Pro and haven't seen the same results I'm seeing with the FW-1884.

Thanks for your help,

Rick
 
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