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  #11  
Old 04-05-2019, 12:32 PM
rwbreck rwbreck is offline
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Default Re: 2019 iMac i9 + PT 2018 + Mojave

My old personal computer- not my work one- is an ancient 2010 MBP. It wasn't a matter of troubleshooting, it was simply not powerful enough to handle any but the simplest/smallest sessions, plus it lacked any modern interface for peripherals (pre-Thunderbolt). There were not issues per se, it was just time to upgrade to a newer and more powerful machine. I have done all the system optimizations recommended by Avid, except for temporarily disabling Spotlight indexing.
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  #12  
Old 04-05-2019, 12:41 PM
Darryl Ramm Darryl Ramm is offline
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Default Re: 2019 iMac i9 + PT 2018 + Mojave

Gotcha, sorry I blanked on the old computer, must have been confused by another thread here. I would focus on getting the iMac Pro to work, lots of us have been running on Mojave for a while, and with disabling hyperthreading it seems able to handle decent plugin workloads. Lots of posts on DUC about how to do that.

I would focus short term to try to identify where clicking is coming from (make sure it’s not accidentally recorded in your audio already). Because you are screwed with that. Double check “ignore errors” is **not** checked.
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  #13  
Old 04-05-2019, 01:05 PM
rwbreck rwbreck is offline
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Default Re: 2019 iMac i9 + PT 2018 + Mojave

Ohhh yes, when I briefly selected "ignore errors" just to experiment, it got real ugly... not *that* kind of clicking. Also definitely not originating in source audio as I've been working on this project on other computers (also recorded the project myself) and the clicking is new with this machine.

However, disabling hyperthreading has made CPU performance much much better. Wow.

I suspect the clicking may be on the Antelope end of things. It reminds me of the clicking I would get when using my Orion via USB with my old, pre-TB machine. According to Antelope, their USB drivers use a very high percentage of the USB chipset bandwidth, so when I would hear the clicking on my old machine I figured it had something to do with the USB chipset not being able to handle all the data in realtime. Using my work machine via TB, I didn't have the same issue. Opened a ticket with Antelope support to see how to maximize compatibility with Mojave, if I can get the clicking figured out this machine may end up being the solution I hoped it would be after all. Still can't believe what a difference disabling hyperthreading made!

Last edited by rwbreck; 04-05-2019 at 01:20 PM.
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  #14  
Old 04-05-2019, 04:31 PM
Darryl Ramm Darryl Ramm is offline
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Default Re: 2019 iMac i9 + PT 2018 + Mojave

If you suspect the interface... test with Built-In Output as suggested before.

And make sure you are not using aggregate IO, including unintentionally... that’s an easy way to get clicks.

And what is the clock source? Pro Tools/internal? Double check.
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  #15  
Old 04-06-2019, 06:00 PM
rwbreck rwbreck is offline
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Default Re: 2019 iMac i9 + PT 2018 + Mojave

Unfortunately it appears that the built in output only supports sample rates 44.1 and 48... this is new to me (the particular session I'm working on is at 96k). Fairly certain I've edited on headphones plugged into headphone jack on old machine using built-in output as playback engine and run sessions at 96k, but anyways... not using aggregate device. Clock source in PT says "See Control Panel" which is presumably referring to my Orion Studio control panel. The Orion is serving as the clock master.

I spent like an hour and half or two hours screen sharing with Antelope support (who were awesome- they officially don't support my interface on this OS but took the time to help anyways) and they tried a ton of different combinations of firmware versions, Thunderbolt drivers, etc. and the interface appeared to be cooperating with the OS by their testing, however the clicking didn't go away. In the course of our testing, it appears that using the interface via USB removes the clicking.

Our next step is to try swapping out the Thunderbolt 3-2 adapter (mine is Apple brand) because those apparently are known to cause problems sometimes, so I ordered another of a different brand that should arrive tomorrow. Curious to see what happens when I swap it out.

Thanks for all the suggestions and helpful things to be thinking about so far!
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  #16  
Old 04-06-2019, 07:05 PM
Darryl Ramm Darryl Ramm is offline
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Default Re: 2019 iMac i9 + PT 2018 + Mojave

Pretty sure your Mac supports 96kHz (and faster). With Pro Tools not running what sample rates are shown in Audio-MIDI setup. Try setting the sample rate there and try again.

Worse case reimport the existing session and try it at a slower sample rate... you are trying to just debug where the clicking is coming from (but sounds like you may have already).

The Apple TB3-2 adapters are pretty much considered state of the art/benchmark for others. I not aware of them having issues... not saying they can’t.
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  #17  
Old 04-07-2019, 04:52 AM
Loudnoize Ent. Loudnoize Ent. is offline
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Default Re: 2019 iMac i9 + PT 2018 + Mojave

rwbreck, I'm also interested in the new iMac 2019 8 Core i9.The specs are pretty impressive. I did notice from your System Details that you have 8Gb's of ram installed. If I were you I would add 32 GB to your existing 8. 8 just isn't enough any more to run a loaded session, like you have in your image. You'll notice a big difference in performance.

Btw, it was mentioned a couple times in this thread. This isn't a iMac Pro model.
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  #18  
Old 04-07-2019, 05:47 AM
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John_Toolbox John_Toolbox is offline
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Default Re: 2019 iMac i9 + PT 2018 + Mojave

Compared to the iMac pro, everyone has told me the standard iMac has fan noise issues. Just curious, is this still true with this new i9 model, or does it run cooler/quieter than its predecessors that used the same case design?
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If a MIDI event triggers a sample of a tree falling and there's no one there to hear it, does it make a sound?
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  #19  
Old 04-07-2019, 08:37 AM
AlexLakis AlexLakis is offline
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Default Re: 2019 iMac i9 + PT 2018 + Mojave

FWIW, I'm running Pro Tools 12.6 on a 2018 Mini with the latest Mojave (10.4.4, I believe?) with Apple TB 2/3 converters on each interface (Slate VRS-8) with a lot of the same plugins you are using with zero issues. I can track at a buffer size of 64 with a lot of plugins going and mix at 1024 with a lot of headroom. The key for me was disabling Hyperthreading using the utility from another thread here on the DUC.

Edit: Oops, I missed you all ready tried the Hyperthreading thing...Have you tried upgrading to the latest version of Mojave? The latest version says it fixes issues with USB audio devices...Maybe it would help?
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  #20  
Old 04-07-2019, 11:12 AM
Darryl Ramm Darryl Ramm is offline
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Default Re: 2019 iMac i9 + PT 2018 + Mojave

Quote:
Originally Posted by Loudnoize Ent. View Post
I did notice from your System Details that you have 8Gb's of ram installed. If I were you I would add 32 GB to your existing 8. 8 just isn't enough any more to run a loaded session, like you have in your image. You'll notice a big difference in performance
Oh dear, well spotted.

To the OP: I hope you really do not have only 8GB installed... not on a new i9 class system.

This iMac is really a laptop hiding inside and so has a mobile i9 CPU with only two memory channels (not the 4 in a “real” desktop i9). It has two DIMM slots on each memory channel. You have to keep both those channels populated with identical DIMMs configurations. So could, as suggested above, keep your 2x4GB DIMMs and add 2x8GB DIMMs, but if me I would probably buy all new 4x8GB DIMMs and get 64GB. That iMac actually supports up to 128GB if you want to go crazy. Buy from OWC or similar high quality seller.

Lots of memory always helps, modern Pro Tools systems requirements is 16GB, it’s possible but a challenge to run on less, being able to throw lots of stuff at disk cache is great, even a web browser (cough Chrome) nowadays can easily burn 8GB.
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