Hi folks,

I just got a shiny new mac pro (8 core 2.26ghz, 6gigs ram) and i want to use it with a Duet, Duende (19inch rack model) and an external Maxtor Onetouch III drive.

If i plug both the Duet and Duende in to seperate ports using fw400 to fw800 cables the sound quickly degrades to low bitrate mush.

If i chain the Duet THROUGH the Duende to the mac pro i get the same distorted noise.

Both the Duet and Duende work wonderfully if i only plug ONE in at a time.

The external fw800 hard drive seems to have no effect if its removed.

I'm using Logic 8 but the distortion sometimes occurs even at the login screen.

I've got all the updates available for OSX (10.5.7) and the latest updates for the Duet and Duende, including Firmware for the Duende.

The same setup worked perfectly on my MacBookPro c2d 2.33ghz, on that setup i had NOT updated to the latest version of anything yet it was great! I had the Duet chained to the Duende on a fw400 slot, and i used an expresscard FW800 adapter for the external hard drive.

Anyone got the Duet & Duende both working on a new Mac Pro i'd love to hear how you are doing it!

Cheers
Steve

Seems i must have got confused during my first tests because i did them again...

Taking out the external hard drive makes all the difference!

The Duet and Duende both play nicely together as long as the Maxtor Onetouch III is NOT plugged in! I must have been too hasty originally and not tested this properly the first time round.

However i'm not quite sure what to do about it as my entire sample library is on the Maxtor and i would like to keep using it as its very fast raid0 (2 discs as 1 drive).

So my new question - is anyone able to use an external fw800 drive with their Duet OR Duende on a new Mac Pro?

Best,
Steve.

Edited by franjipane (02/07/09 12:17 PM)

Quote franjipane:

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The same setup worked perfectly on my MacBookPro c2d 2.33ghz... I had the Duet chained to the Duende on a fw400 slot, and i used an expresscard FW800 adapter for the external hard drive.

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Hi
The ExpressCard gives you a second FW channel - which is essential.

So you need a PCIe FireWire 800 card to put in one of your Mac Pro's slots, which will give you a second FW channel - it doesn't matter how many inbuilt FW PORTS you've got, they're all on one channel unless you add a PCIe (or ExpressCard) to give you the additional bandwidth.

Hi Paul, thanks for the reply.

So basically the reason why audio is sometimes fine for a while and then turns to mush is that every FW device is on one channel?

Slight mistake on Apple's part IMO.

Any recommendations on what card to get and how to split the devices?

Cheers
Steve.

The Duet is a bit fussy regarding what else is using the FW bus. Mine does the same thing if my old MOTU 828 is plugged in also. It will also do it if I have 3 of my external HD's plugged in. But its fine if there is only 2! Regardless of whether the other drives are actually sending data back & forth or not
Mildly irritating. But the Duet sounds so nice & clean, I can forgive it that one niggle..

Paul

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Paul

I looked around and could only see 3 cards, i wasn't sure if the Lacie and Belkin ones were actually right. Is PCI Express the same as PCIe? I lost track of this kind of thing years ago!

Anyway i think this is the one http://www.amazon.co.uk/Sonnet-Technology-Tango-FireWire-ports/dp/B000X4QZ DY/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1246541612&sr=1-1

The Sonnet website actually states its for Mac Pro.

Still annoying as i'd already waited a few days for fw400 - fw800 cables to arrive only to find out the £2150 mac can't manage all 3 devices haha.

Quote ~Paul:

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The Duet is a bit fussy regarding what else is using the FW bus. Mine does the same thing if my old MOTU 828 is plugged in also. It will also do it if I have 3 of my external HD's plugged in. But its fine if there is only 2! Regardless of whether the other drives are actually sending data back & forth or not
Mildly irritating. But the Duet sounds so nice & clean, I can forgive it that one niggle..

Paul

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Yea it really is fantastic for the price (and size), i've even found it responds well to clipping the inputs at the end of mastering. I know it shouldn't sound good but it does.

Single channel FW (as I have on my IMac) is pants. I wish I'd known about the need for 2 channels when I'd bought mine.

Update, i now have a fully working set up with no issues in 2 days of solid audio work. here's what makes it work in case anyone is trying the same setup.

I bought a Sonnet Tango express 800 card (link below, mine was from amazon £70). Plug the Duende directly into the mac, then plug the hard drive and Duet into the sonnet card.

Basically any other combination kills the duende link or distorts the duet massively.

And for the record, Apogee support responded to my query, entered into a discussion about it and agreed that a 2nd FW channel from a sonnet card would be the best thing to try, but SSL support DID NOT REPLY, and that really vexes me. That is something i expect from a massive, faceless manufacturer, not a company like SSL, for shame.

http://www.sonnettech.com/product/tangoexpress800.html

Lastly, the 8-core mac pro is an absolute beast, i can't believe how insanely powerful this thing is, regardless its still annoying having to shell out an extra £70 for a 2nd fw channel. booo to Apple.