focusrite saffire 6 usb 1.1 and mac - big issues

[Diffaith]

hi,

i have been using a focusrite 6 usb 1.1 with windows laptops running ableton for years - there have been no problems when the right driver was installed.

I'm just switching to mac right now, & so far, it's a disaster. i have a macbook pro from mid 2012. after checking on the focusrite website, i decided to have os x 10.10 (yosemite) installed, and not the latest os x. for os x 10.11 there is only a beta driver available for my soundcard, i wanted to make sure there will be no problems.

after installing the driver from the focusrite website on my mbp, the focusrite was recognised, but no audio came out. subsequently, the os x crashed several time. i had to send the laptop back to the shop - they say the os x has been damaged by the crashes & needs to be installed again. luckily, they are quite helpful!
they ask me which os x I'd prefer this time. what experience do people have with the focusrite 6 usb plus a mac? it's the 1.1 version, means it's not plug & play. you need a driver for it.

thanx

Uli

*

[jlgrimes]

hi,

i have been using a focusrite 6 usb 1.1 with windows laptops running ableton for years - there have been no problems when the right driver was installed.

I'm just switching to mac right now, & so far, it's a disaster. i have a macbook pro from mid 2012. after checking on the focusrite website, i decided to have os x 10.10 (yosemite) installed, and not the latest os x. for os x 10.11 there is only a beta driver available for my soundcard, i wanted to make sure there will be no problems.

after installing the driver from the focusrite website on my mbp, the focusrite was recognised, but no audio came out. subsequently, the os x crashed several time. i had to send the laptop back to the shop - they say the os x has been damaged by the crashes & needs to be installed again. luckily, they are quite helpful!
they ask me which os x I'd prefer this time. what experience do people have with the focusrite 6 usb plus a mac? it's the 1.1 version, means it's not plug & play. you need a driver for it.

thanx

Uli

*

This is a common problem when switching OS.

One audio interface might work great on one OS and horrible on the other. I had this happen with my AudioBox 1818vsl. I bought it while I was on PC (knowing I was going to transfer to Mac because the Mac didn't have PCI). The Audiobox 1818vsl worked great on PC. When I converted to Mac, I got pops and clicks in Audio. The problem was due to the vsl software's bandwidth problems on Macs. To fix the problem I had to use the device as a generic audio device which meant I couldn't use most of the touted features of the interface. They came out with a beta driver which I think worked but I eventually switched to a new interface that works great on Mac (not even supported on PC though). I think it took also Presonus a while to correct the vsl bug on Mac.


I think though that some manufacturers test their products extensively on one OS and not as extensively on the other. Also Macs tend to update their OSs on a yearly basis, and new OSs can cause issues.



Don't have much help for you though, but you mentioned that your device isn't plug and play. You could try plugging it up with no driver and you might still be able to set it up as a generic audio device. Sometimes the problem isn't the interface itself but like the additional dsp mixing software that integrates with most audio interfaces. In many cases you will lose features that might have been the reason you bought the card in the first place but, you still will be able to do music.

If you got the cash you also can look into like a $100 interface but it sucks having to get a new interface when switching OS especially when the box tells you it works on both platforms.

[serge_a_storms]

I've just moved over to a Mac from Windows and also use a Saffire 6 USB. My Mac came with El Capitan installed. Having no reference point with OSX I couldn't say if it's better or worse than earlier versions. However, there is a dedicated driver (for El Capitan) available for the Saffire 6 USB from Focusrite and I have no problems what so ever.

Hope that helps.

[Diffaith]

thanks for the feedback jlgrimes & serge_a_storms!
indeed i find the idea of having to get yet another piece of new gear - just because i bought a mac - quite silly. i use the saffire only for playing audio, without any additional software from focusrite, but I don't think i will get anywhere without the driver.
focusrite support, after explaining the problem to them in detail, have only managed to point me to the dedicated driver for 10.9 & 10.10, & reminded me to tick the saffire in my audio settings. they claim they are not aware of any issues whatsoever.
my problem was not simply that i received no audio, but that the whole OS X actually got destroyed!
so, serge_a_storms, from what you say it should be possible to have el capitan installed & use the latest driver & everything will be fine. if that doesn't work, it seems i will have to return the computer!
all the best from berlin,
Uli

[serge_a_storms]

so, serge_a_storms, from what you say it should be possible to have el capitan installed & use the latest driver & everything will be fine. if that doesn't work, it seems i will have to return the computer!
all the best from berlin,
Uli

Yes it is.

[Stromkraft]

back to the shop - they say the os x has been damaged by the crashes & needs to be installed again. luckily, they are quite helpful!

Really? OS X damaged by crashes up to the point of having to re-install? Nope. You might need to do repairs after heavy heavy crashes up until OS X 10.10, but that's it. I remember doing that back in 2005.

I'd change shop as they don't know what they're talking about.

If you actually get a smoked OS installation you must have hardware problems, like a bad disk or even motherboard. That I can believe.

[Diffaith]

thanx a lot Stromkraft as well!

i've just talked to them at the shop, asked them to pay me back my money. they firmly insist that nothing is wrong with the computer, & that it's me who caused the destruction of the OS by doing the wrong thing. i said that i cannot accept that. will have to wait until monday now, for the management's decision apparently. i guess i'm going to raise hell if they still don't want to believe it then...

i may add that it's a second hand laptop that i bought last week, in a shop here in berlin.

can you really fuck yosemite up by reading your email & installing an official focusrite driver??

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[Stromkraft]

can you really fuck yosemite up by reading your email & installing an official focusrite driver??

No.

There are MacBooks out there that have motherboard issues or other problems. Usually you can research each model by the specific model name. Everymac is a good place for getting those. Even if it would be an older slower model, most should at least work until Live says it's overloaded.
Whether the Focusrite interface is healthy enough would have to be tested on another machine. If it stands up on another machine, then it must be assumed to be al-right.
I've had to get rid of specific audio interfaces in the past though because they just wouldn't work for me (as far as I know they kept working for the people I sold them too). Those things happen.

Anyway, my simple thumb of rule is if a Mac doesn't work right away with clean installation then something is wrong with it (or in some cases my assumptions about it) or the gear. It helps to try out each piece of gear in isolation, so you feel confident each piece is working.

[Diffaith]

well - i didn't even get as far as installing live.

regarding the focusrite soundcard, i've been using it for five years now with my windows laptop, without any issues.

of course i could still try installing that driver on my friend's mbp (similar model, mid 2012). or i could bring the focusrite down the shop & let them install the driver. see what happens.

but i guess your rule of thumb is probably the answer. mac doesn't work straight away: not for me.

what a pity, since i had been looking forward to finally producing again. now i'll have to go on the computer hunt again... so far my standpoint has been that getting a new, new mbp is a little over the top.

[fishmonkey]

they say the os x has been damaged by the crashes & needs to be installed again. luckily, they are quite helpful!
they ask me which os x I'd prefer this time.

it's possible that the driver is causing problems, however at most that would require finding and uninstalling the driver, it does not require a complete reinstall. the shop don't know what they are doing. in 90% of cases when a tech says "i need to reinstall the system" it means that they don't understand the problem well enough...