# Apogee Ensemble to new iMac. No Firewire.



## AC986 (Nov 17, 2013)

On the new iMac there is no Firewire connectivity. There is a software download for Ensemble/Mavericks and I have done all of that. 

So. Do I just get a Thunderbolt to Firewire connector from the Apple store? Or is there another option, or even such a thing as a USB 3 to Firewire connector that would be better?

TIA>Adrian.


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## AC986 (Nov 18, 2013)

No one knows?


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## Nick Batzdorf (Nov 18, 2013)

Thunderbolt to FireWire adapter.

I've never heard of USB to FW.


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## AC986 (Nov 18, 2013)

Thanks and I will get one tomorrow.


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## Nick Batzdorf (Nov 18, 2013)

I'd suggest buying it at the Apple Store, where you can return it, just in case it doesn't work. But I think it will.


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## AC986 (Nov 18, 2013)

Yes I will. I have an Apple store just a few miles away.


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## AC986 (Nov 20, 2013)

Well I bought a Firewire to Thunderbolt adapter and a Belkin Firewire 400 to 800 cable because that is the only way it would fit both the Ensemble and the adapter. 

I now get sound from Logic Pro 9 fine for about 5 minutes and then it just distorts. I have buffer set to 256. The distortion isn't just for a second but permeant until I switch Logic off and reload it again. Obviously something is wrong that I don't seem to be able to fix.

Anyone any ideas because I could do with some help on this one.


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## Nick Batzdorf (Nov 20, 2013)

Contact Apogee tech support. Something's buggy if it works fine and then loses contact.

Well, I suppose you could check Audio Midi Setup for a clocking issue - it's conceivable that it could be on internal sync and drifting on time - but that seems unlikely.


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## bassic (Nov 20, 2013)

I had Apogee Ensemble with the same problem. It turns out it is a FW chipset problem. Older Macs used TI chipset which worked ok. But newer ones use Agere FW chipset, which cause gliches, droputs, etc. The easiest solution is to connect Ensemble's FW through some other device which uses TI chipset. Since FW can be daisy chained, it will pass the signal through. What I did was to connect Ensemble's FW to external FW hard drive (with TI chipset) & then connect the other FW port from ext. hard drive to my Mac's FW port. This solved all of my issues. 
Hope this helps. :D


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## AC986 (Nov 20, 2013)

The iMac doesn't have any Firewire ports.


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## KingIdiot (Nov 20, 2013)

bassic @ Wed Nov 20 said:


> I had Apogee Ensemble with the same problem. It turns out it is a FW chipset problem. Older Macs used TI chipset which worked ok. But newer ones use Agere FW chipset, which cause gliches, droputs, etc. The easiest solution is to connect Ensemble's FW through some other device which uses TI chipset. Since FW can be daisy chained, it will pass the signal through. What I did was to connect Ensemble's FW to external FW hard drive (with TI chipset) & then connect the other FW port from ext. hard drive to my Mac's FW port. This solved all of my issues.
> Hope this helps. :D



WOAH! I'd never even thought of doing something like that! I always thought you were hosed if you didn't have a TI or a PCMCIA/Exprescard slot!

and I can't believe they screwed up firewire audio on new macs even with the adapter!


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## Nick Batzdorf (Nov 20, 2013)

Wow.


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## gdoubleyou (Nov 20, 2013)

Do you have the fusion drive?

There's a long thread at Gearslutz about the new iMac and audio issues.
An Apogee tech has joined the thread, and offered workarounds for audio issues.

Also seems to be issues updating Apogee firmware via USB3, some have success using powered USB2 hubs.

It's been quite a while since Macs stopped using TI firewire chips, I've never experienced any issues with my firewire devices with the newer machines.

:? >8o


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## AC986 (Nov 21, 2013)

Yes it does have an FD.

Thanks for the heads up. I just went to the forum and found the subject and basically read through all the pages. That's a total mess! :lol: 

So I have wound up for the time being, with a computer that is totally hopeless for any kind of music production by the sound of it. Disappointing and with a bit of luck Apogee and Apple will get to grips with it.

Apogee states on its website that the Firewire to Thunderbolt adapter works. It does, for about 3 minutes. It's not just Apogee either apparently. Some say it's the Fusion Drive that causes the problems but no one is sure.

So, bottom line to anyone who is reading this.

*If you are about to buy a current late 2013 iMac with or even without a Fusion drive for music recording via Logic for example. then DON'T if you are using particular audio units like Apogee's, until they have sorted this problem out. That could take some time, but hopefully not. But at the moment it's not worth the aggravation.*

I have opened a support ticket with Apogee and have yet to get a response although it's only been one day.


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