Jonboyh21
03-04-2008, 02:12 PM
I have recently purchased a Focusrite Saffire for use with Ableton Live on my Macbook (Black Macbook, 2.2Ghz Core 2 Duo, 2Gb RAM). Although I also use Ableton on my PC for production, I intend to use the Macbook with Ableton primarily for dj’ing and hence wanted a solid, versatile, high spec FireWire audio interface that I can take to gigs with me, hence – after much research – I purchased a Saffire. I also use an M-Audio X Session Pro USB Midi Mixer/Control Surface and an external hard drive, which stores all my audio.
The problem that I’ve been experiencing only seems to occur at a very specific moment, and does not seem to occur when I disconnect the Saffire and use the Macbooks internal audio output. Using Ableton and the X Session Pro as a two-track mixer – much like a dj using 2 decks and a mixer – I copy and paste or drag and drop specific audio files (namely mp3’s that I’ve downloaded from the likes of beatport.com) into an empty clip in either one of the two tracks created in Ableton. I commence playback of the audio file that I’ve just inserted into a clip and then select another audio file, which is when my problem rears its ugly head……..
If audio preview is checked in Ableton, the moment I click on another audio track in the browser, playback is briefly interrupted by a small pop/crackle/dropout etc much like one would experience with a buffer overload. If I uncheck audio preview, I overcome the interruption that the preview function caused, although I can no longer copy and paste or drag and drop another audio file into a clip in the free channel in Ableton without experiencing the same pop/crackle/dropout etc in playback.
My Core Audio buffer size in Ableton is set to between 256 - 512 samples as I require as little latency as possible or else the X Session Pro controls lag in real time (when placing more stress on the Macbook and using Ableton for production, this buffer size is more than sufficient to overcome dropouts etc). I’ve upped the buffer size to 1024 samples but the issue stills seems to occur. The Saffire Control software is set to ‘Sound Card’ rather than ‘Track’ so that I can cue/monitor audio files not currently in playback. I’ve even copied the audio files directly to the Macbook hard drive in case the transfer from the external hard drive via USB 2.0 was causing the issue, but to no avail.
If anyone can help, has had a similar issue or knows of a possible solution I’d be very grateful to hear from you as this is now my third external audio interface and second laptop (previous was a Dell), hence I’m a tad annoyed that after having done a lot of research and spending so much hard earned cash I’m still experiencing problems.
Cheers
Jon
The problem that I’ve been experiencing only seems to occur at a very specific moment, and does not seem to occur when I disconnect the Saffire and use the Macbooks internal audio output. Using Ableton and the X Session Pro as a two-track mixer – much like a dj using 2 decks and a mixer – I copy and paste or drag and drop specific audio files (namely mp3’s that I’ve downloaded from the likes of beatport.com) into an empty clip in either one of the two tracks created in Ableton. I commence playback of the audio file that I’ve just inserted into a clip and then select another audio file, which is when my problem rears its ugly head……..
If audio preview is checked in Ableton, the moment I click on another audio track in the browser, playback is briefly interrupted by a small pop/crackle/dropout etc much like one would experience with a buffer overload. If I uncheck audio preview, I overcome the interruption that the preview function caused, although I can no longer copy and paste or drag and drop another audio file into a clip in the free channel in Ableton without experiencing the same pop/crackle/dropout etc in playback.
My Core Audio buffer size in Ableton is set to between 256 - 512 samples as I require as little latency as possible or else the X Session Pro controls lag in real time (when placing more stress on the Macbook and using Ableton for production, this buffer size is more than sufficient to overcome dropouts etc). I’ve upped the buffer size to 1024 samples but the issue stills seems to occur. The Saffire Control software is set to ‘Sound Card’ rather than ‘Track’ so that I can cue/monitor audio files not currently in playback. I’ve even copied the audio files directly to the Macbook hard drive in case the transfer from the external hard drive via USB 2.0 was causing the issue, but to no avail.
If anyone can help, has had a similar issue or knows of a possible solution I’d be very grateful to hear from you as this is now my third external audio interface and second laptop (previous was a Dell), hence I’m a tad annoyed that after having done a lot of research and spending so much hard earned cash I’m still experiencing problems.
Cheers
Jon