Crackles with Soundsticks in Panther

eugeneeugene
Posted:
in macOS edited January 2014
Is anybody else getting crackling from their USBAudio devices when playing audio and also doing something that my spike processor usage like launching apps? It's really annoying and it never happened in Jaguar and earlier.



This isn't really a support question because I don't think it can be fixed without a software update that doesn't exist yet.

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 19
    stupider...likeafoxstupider...likeafox Posts: 1,618member
    I've been getting crackling and sometimes blasts of static through my M-Audio Sonica (a USB -> digital out).



    I *did* experience it under Jaguar, but it appears to be much worse under Panther and I notice it when I am making heavy use of the internet rather than processer usage.
  • Reply 2 of 19
    murbotmurbot Posts: 5,262member
    Hmm... I hooked up my SoundSticks to my G5 the other day, and haven't noticed any crackles yet.



    :shrug:
  • Reply 3 of 19
    cam'roncam'ron Posts: 503member
    i dont know if this is relevant, but i hope so. i have the jbl creature speakers and they were sounding like shit, so i read the troubleshooting to see if there is anything i could fix. if the speakers are too close to the monitor they can sound shittier for some reason, so try spreading them out a bit. sorry if that doesnt help, hope it does though.
  • Reply 4 of 19
    eugeneeugene Posts: 8,254member
    Ah, it's worst than I thought. It's not just USBAudio, it's just flaky USB in general. I just tried saving the new In America trailer from the Apple website, and not only did my sound crackle, my mouse pointer froze and jumped.
  • Reply 5 of 19
    xoolxool Posts: 2,460member
    My soundsticks have been problem free with my G5. This is true for Jaguar and Panther.



    The experience with my Rev A Ti 500, however, has not been problem free. Under Jaguar (various versions) I have experienced sound loss during heavy airport (streaming iTunes) or CPU load (Diablo 2 slaughterfest). I haven't played with the combo under Panther. The problem might have existed with Cheetah too, I don't remember.



    The G5 obviously has much more bandwidth and CPU cycles to spare and I'm sure that is why it is happier. My question is, how do the Soundsticks-era machines fare? If my Ti has issues, what about 350 MHz iMac DVs and 400 MHz cubes?
  • Reply 6 of 19
    eugeneeugene Posts: 8,254member
    My Mac is a Power Mac G4 2x1000 MHz. It never had these crackles and pops under Jaguar. The mouse never skipped either.
  • Reply 7 of 19
    cybermonkeycybermonkey Posts: 604member
    Just a though but have you tried changing your USB devices around on different ports? Do you have a powered hub that you could plug some into? Some USB devices just dont play correctly. When i was using windows(almost a year ago now) i had about 7 devices that all worked fine in ME, then when i upgraded to XP it would only recognise 3 of them. After a reshovel of devices i got 5 working, i ended up buying a belkin powered hub to solve the problem. In windows the problem was caused by the XP kernel, so maybe its the same issue in panther??



    Like i said its just a thought.
  • Reply 8 of 19
    eugeneeugene Posts: 8,254member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by cybermonkey

    Just a though but have you tried changing your USB devices around on different ports? Do you have a powered hub that you could plug some into?



    Both devices I'm having problems with are powered externally. My MX700 has an AC adapter, and the speakers are obviously powered. Why should I need to follow these suggestions when they worked flawlessly with the previous version of OS X?



    It's the worst when I try to play sounds while contennt indexing or doing a massive "grep -r" ... At that point, sometimes the pointer just stops altogether and I have to hot-plug my mouse's USB connector again.
  • Reply 9 of 19
    sonofsylvanussonofsylvanus Posts: 579member
    Iv'e had crackling on my SoundSticks + PB under Jaguar and track pad skipping. Only during heavy use though. But this problem pretty much went away after I upgraded to 10.2.8 (no Panther yet). But if this problem still occurs under 10.3, maybe it was just restarting the computer that helped in my case?
  • Reply 10 of 19
    cybermonkeycybermonkey Posts: 604member
    Did you do an upgrade from jag to panther or a clean install?



    Some people are having problems with USB kernel panics on dual boots with jag and panther and upgrading with usb overdrive installed. have you tried a clean install?



    I have the same mouse as you which is plugged in me ADC monitor, i've just switched it to the keyboard and it stopped working. how usb got popular is beyond me.
  • Reply 11 of 19
    eugeneeugene Posts: 8,254member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by cybermonkey

    Did you do an upgrade from jag to panther or a clean install?



    Cleaaaan install. I didn't even archive and install on this machine.
  • Reply 12 of 19
    cybermonkeycybermonkey Posts: 604member
    You can try this m8. the 10.3 version is at the bottom of the table.
  • Reply 13 of 19
    max powermax power Posts: 13member
    My soundsticks would either not work or freeze my G5 when my OS was at 10.2.7. Then after I upgraded to 10.2.8 it worked great, with an occasional drop out here and there. Now on Pather it works perfectly, and all I did was an upgrade.....so I am assuming that many of the problems stem from Jaguar. Also it seems to me that certain printer drivers are causing conflicts with some other programs under Panther. Especially usb 1.0 products like soundsticks and webcams.
  • Reply 14 of 19
    the generalthe general Posts: 649member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Eugene

    Ah, it's worst than I thought. It's not just USBAudio, it's just flaky USB in general. I just tried saving the new In America trailer from the Apple website, and not only did my sound crackle, my mouse pointer froze and jumped.



    what are you saving your movie to? are you using a USB HD or zip drive?
  • Reply 15 of 19
    eugeneeugene Posts: 8,254member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by The General

    what are you saving your movie to? are you using a USB HD or zip drive?



    Internal IDE HDD.
  • Reply 16 of 19
    the generalthe general Posts: 649member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Eugene

    Internal IDE HDD.



    Ok just checking, reason I ask, I have soundsticks and have no problems, also have Ms Mouse.. only time I have seen similiar problems is when saving to usb zip drive.. (eww)
  • Reply 17 of 19
    whisperwhisper Posts: 735member
    I might have a similar problem. A couple days ago, I started getting tons of surface noise out of my USB audio I/O device. The only way I've been able to fix it is to plug it into a different USB port. I should note that my mouse and keyboard seem to work fine off of the same USB port that gives my audio trouble.
  • Reply 18 of 19
    mr beardsleymr beardsley Posts: 365member
    Doesn't USB have to be moderated by the CPU and that's one of the reasons that firewire is superior? Maybe your problem is symptomatic of what happens to USB under heavy load.
  • Reply 19 of 19
    whisperwhisper Posts: 735member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Mr Beardsley

    Doesn't USB have to be moderated by the CPU and that's one of the reasons that firewire is superior? Maybe your problem is symptomatic of what happens to USB under heavy load.



    I can't speak for the other guy/gal, but all I was doing was listening to iTunes. On a Dual 800 G4. And the noise isn't affected by anything I can think of doing. (Although you're right about USB needing lots of CPU intervention.)
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