Apple Logic Pro /LogicExpress Discussion

On Feb 1, 2007, at 9:51 AM, tristanjove wrote:

> I use my system with a Focusrite Saffire, generally it works fine, but
> sometimes I boot it up, or just wake it from sleep and re-boot logic,
> and I get a nasty digital crackle through the output when I play
> recorded sound or when I input sound. Sometimes the sound disappears
> completely, and once I had bad crackles with about 500ms latency on  
> the
> input signal.
> Re-booting Logic doesn't solve the problem. I solved it once after
> several re-starts of the Mac. But what seems to solve the problem  
> is to
> open the Saffire folder in Applications, and run the Firmware Updated.
> Then when I re-boot Logic it works fine.
> Can anyone tell me what's happening, and what exactly is "firmware",

My understanding is that firmware is basically the operating system  
of the hardware.  So when you update the firmware, you are  
downloading code from the web and uploading it into your Saffire  
unit.  You should only benefit from a firmware update when there is a  
new version of the firmware to upload to your hardware.  I can't see  
why running the same update would repeatedly fix the problem.  It  
could be that you are rebooting the Saffire when you update and it is  
just that that it temporarily solving the problem.

I bought an Alesis io/14 that showed the exact same symptoms, and  
updating the firmware did not fix the problem, so I returned it.  I  
don't have the patience to deal with temperamental equipment.   
Fortunately there's enough stable stuff out there (MOTU, M-Audio)  
that I don't need to.


Gregory