iMic & iBook (dual USB) problems

[Peter Gaunt]

When I record on my iBook using an iMic I get sequences of three clicks
somewhat less than a second apart every two or three minutes. These
occur with all sound apps I've tried (Sound Studio, Amadeus and CD Spin
Doctor). They occur with all sources. The loudness of the clicks is
louder with louder inputs. The inputs are not clipping. The clicks
occur whether or not I'm actually recording (i.e. they still occur if
I'm just monitoring the input).

The iBook is a 500MHz model, runs OS X 10.1.5 and has 192Mb RAM.

Griffin's site says this is a known problem with iBooks. They suggest
that a cure MAY be to connect the iMic to a powered USB hub (I use mine
plugged straight into the iBook). They suggest their own powered hub
(but then I guess they would).

I'm a bit dubious about their suggested fix. Is there anyone who has
had the same problem and found that a powered hub fixed it? If so,
which hub? I'm in the UK and Griffin's hub is available here.

--
Pete
====
*** Email is pete -at- dawnsun -dot- net

[matt neuburg]

In <050720030026104807%pete@email.in.my.sig> Peter Gaunt wrote:

> When I record on my iBook using an iMic I get sequences of three
> clicks somewhat less than a second apart every two or three minutes.
> These occur with all sound apps I've tried (Sound Studio, Amadeus and
> CD Spin Doctor). They occur with all sources. The loudness of the
> clicks is louder with louder inputs. The inputs are not clipping. The
> clicks occur whether or not I'm actually recording (i.e. they still
> occur if I'm just monitoring the input).
>
> The iBook is a 500MHz model, runs OS X 10.1.5 and has 192Mb RAM.
>
> Griffin's site says this is a known problem with iBooks. They suggest
> that a cure MAY be to connect the iMic to a powered USB hub (I use
> mine plugged straight into the iBook). They suggest their own powered
> hub (but then I guess they would).
>
> I'm a bit dubious about their suggested fix. Is there anyone who has
> had the same problem and found that a powered hub fixed it? If so,
> which hub? I'm in the UK and Griffin's hub is available here.

I had a similar problem and got from Griffin what seemed to me to be a
similar nonsense answer. Essentially they tried to blame my computer;
but this could not be correct, I reasoned, since other USB sound input
devices did not generate these clicks. My solution was to throw the iMic
in the wastebin. I now use an Edirol device for USB sound input, and am
very happy with it. You get what you pay for, perhaps. m.

--
matt neuburg, phd = [email]matt@tidbits.com[/email], [url]http://www.tidbits.com/matt[/url]
REALbasic: The Definitive Guide! 2nd edition!
[url]http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0596001770/somethingsbymatt[/url]
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[Peter Gaunt]

In article <20030705100151992-0700@news.la.sbcglobal.net>, matt neuburg
<matt@tidbits.com> wrote:

> In <050720030026104807%pete@email.in.my.sig> Peter Gaunt wrote:

> > When I record on my iBook using an iMic I get sequences of three
> > clicks somewhat less than a second apart every two or three minutes.

[snip]

> > I'm a bit dubious about their suggested fix. Is there anyone who has
> > had the same problem and found that a powered hub fixed it? If so,
> > which hub? I'm in the UK and Griffin's hub is available here.

>
> I had a similar problem and got from Griffin what seemed to me to be a
> similar nonsense answer. Essentially they tried to blame my computer;
> but this could not be correct, I reasoned, since other USB sound input
> devices did not generate these clicks. My solution was to throw the iMic
> in the wastebin. I now use an Edirol device for USB sound input, and am
> very happy with it. You get what you pay for, perhaps. m.

Yes, indeed but other devices seem /much/ more expensive and apart from
the clicks I'm happy with the iMic. I'm prepared to believe that the
problem lies with the iMic or at least the iMic/iBook combination
(since it doesn't occur with friends who have other Mac models).

What I'm really after is an answer to whether using a powered hub
really does cure the clicks. Someone, somewhere must surely have tried
it and found that it either worked or it didn't.

--
Pete
====
*** Email is pete -at- dawnsun -dot- net

[matt neuburg]

In <060720031431171804%pete@email.in.my.sig> Peter Gaunt wrote:

> In article <20030705100151992-0700@news.la.sbcglobal.net>, matt
> neuburg <matt@tidbits.com> wrote:
>

>> In <050720030026104807%pete@email.in.my.sig> Peter Gaunt wrote:

>> > When I record on my iBook using an iMic I get sequences of three
>> > clicks somewhat less than a second apart every two or three minutes.

> [snip]

>> > I'm a bit dubious about their suggested fix. Is there anyone who
>> > has
>> > had the same problem and found that a powered hub fixed it? If so,
>> > which hub? I'm in the UK and Griffin's hub is available here.

>>
>> I had a similar problem and got from Griffin what seemed to me to be
>> a similar nonsense answer. Essentially they tried to blame my
>> computer; but this could not be correct, I reasoned, since other USB
>> sound input devices did not generate these clicks. My solution was
>> to throw the iMic in the wastebin. I now use an Edirol device for
>> USB sound input, and am very happy with it. You get what you pay for,
>> perhaps. m.

>
> Yes, indeed but ... [snip] ...
> What I'm really after is an answer to whether using a powered hub
> really does cure the clicks. Someone, somewhere must surely have tried
> it and found that it either worked or it didn't.

Understood - It will indeed be interesting to find that out - Perhaps
that would have solved my problem too. But I find it difficult to
believe that it would have, since I was plugging the iMic directly into
the computer; why would a powered hub behave better than plugging into
the computer itself? This is all academic in my case, but now I'm
curious to see what answer(s) you'll get... m.

--
matt neuburg, phd = [email]matt@tidbits.com[/email], [url]http://www.tidbits.com/matt[/url]
REALbasic: The Definitive Guide! 2nd edition!
[url]http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0596001770/somethingsbymatt[/url]
Subscribe to TidBITS. It's free and smart.

[dotlyc@sympatico.ca]

In article <060720031431171804%pete@email.in.my.sig>, Peter Gaunt
<pete@email.in.my.sig> wrote:

> Yes, indeed but other devices seem /much/ more expensive and apart from
> the clicks I'm happy with the iMic. I'm prepared to believe that the
> problem lies with the iMic or at least the iMic/iBook combination
> (since it doesn't occur with friends who have other Mac models).
>
> What I'm really after is an answer to whether using a powered hub
> really does cure the clicks. Someone, somewhere must surely have tried
> it and found that it either worked or it didn't.

I've used the iMic on an iBook (first a 500 and now an 800) for about
two years now and it worked fine on both. Mostly, it's plugged into a
powered hub but I have occasionally used it plugged directly into the
machine. No clicks in either configuration. I've been pretty happy with
the sound quality too -- it's better than I was expecting.
I'm still using OS9 and do sound recordings primarily with Coaster,
although I've used Spin Doctor as well. Maybe the clicks have something to
do with OSX? (I have OSX on this machine, but have never tried it with the
iMic.)
I did discover that the iMic doesn't play well with my eMac. It's not a
matter of clicks, though -- the eMac seems to be temperamental with some
USB devices. It gives me grief about Palm syncs too.

--
[email]dotlyc@sympatico.ca[/email]

[Peter Gaunt]

In article <dotlyc-0607031147570001@10.0.1.2>, <dotlyc@sympatico.ca>
wrote:

> In article <060720031431171804%pete@email.in.my.sig>, Peter Gaunt
> <pete@email.in.my.sig> wrote:
>

> > Yes, indeed but other devices seem /much/ more expensive and apart from
> > the clicks I'm happy with the iMic. I'm prepared to believe that the
> > problem lies with the iMic or at least the iMic/iBook combination
> > (since it doesn't occur with friends who have other Mac models).
> >
> > What I'm really after is an answer to whether using a powered hub
> > really does cure the clicks. Someone, somewhere must surely have tried
> > it and found that it either worked or it didn't.

>
> I'm still using OS9 and do sound recordings primarily with Coaster,
> although I've used Spin Doctor as well. Maybe the clicks have something to
> do with OSX? (I have OSX on this machine, but have never tried it with the
> iMic.)

Griffin's site does say there were problems with OS9 (resulting in
clicks) but the upgrade to 9.2.2 cured it. If that's the case then it's
obviously fixable in software which just makes me even more dubious
about the powered hub 'fix'.

--
Pete
====
*** Email is pete -at- dawnsun -dot- net

[dotlyc@sympatico.ca]

In article <060720031709434150%pete@email.in.my.sig>, Peter Gaunt
<pete@email.in.my.sig> wrote:

> Griffin's site does say there were problems with OS9 (resulting in
> clicks) but the upgrade to 9.2.2 cured it. If that's the case then it's
> obviously fixable in software which just makes me even more dubious
> about the powered hub 'fix'.

I had OS 9.1 on the iBook 500 last year. The iBook 800 that I bought
this year has OS 9.2.2. Neither ever gave me any trouble with clicks.
I've used the iMic primarily through the hub on both machines. I know I
also plugged the iMic directly into the USB port on the iB500/OS 9.1. I
don't believe I've ever plugged the iMic directly into the USB port on the
iB800/OS 9.2.2

--
[email]dotlyc@sympatico.ca[/email]