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mfiske · Apr 10, 2000, 10:14 PM

I just recently installed Mac OS 9.0.4, hoping that this would finally solve the GURGLING NOISES caused to other sounds while the Apple Audio Extension and an iSub are installed. By this, I mean that almost 40% of all Appearance Sounds are skipped, and when playing snd files and dialing a modem, the "gurgling" becomes especially evident. This needs to be fixed, and fixed soon (meaning PRIOR to the next paid OS upgrade)...

disappointedly (as of late...),
Mark

wlonh · Apr 10, 2000, 10:19 PM

let me guess... you have VM enabled on your Mac, no?

disable VM unless you must use it

mfiske · Apr 10, 2000, 10:22 PM

Nope. It's off. I NEVER use it...

Mark.

Misha · Apr 11, 2000, 10:30 AM

Alas, Mark, I have the same problems with the iSub. In fact, I haven't used it in more than a month.

wlonh · Apr 11, 2000, 10:42 AM

Misha, what happened? i thought that there's been a fairly glowing review of it on some MacNN page... and it seemed that most were very happy with it, did 9.04 'break' it?

slboett · Apr 11, 2000, 12:13 PM

...been testing an iSub at home and I've found that games and CDs are fine, but if you play MP3s, it sucks. I even encoded songs at a high bit-rate (192) with bad sound on the bottom end.
I then went to help a client with the Monsoon mm1000 (under $200) hooked up to his G4. No comparison. The iSub looks cool, but the sound is not great. If you are into mp3s, get a proper set of speakers!

Scott

Misha · Apr 11, 2000, 12:17 PM

The iSub itself is great, Apple's software isn't.

The cracking and popping sounds became quite too much for me. h/k has told me that they are working with Apple on a fix, but it really only means that they keep telling Apple to fix the software, which Apple won't let h/k have/improve on.

mfiske · Apr 11, 2000, 05:34 PM

Screw it. I finally just unplugged the thing. Apple USED to release software MUCH less frequently, but at least (more so than now), it WORKED. Now, it would seem that I've spent $99 on a translucent door-stop that also doubles as a poor excuse for a USB subwoofer.

Mark.

bizzare · Apr 11, 2000, 05:44 PM

dude! invest in some Altec Langsing speakers. I have 4 speakers and 1 8" sub (item# ADA 880). Works perfect with my Dad's iMac and my PowerBook Pismo. Even with mp3s. The added bonus, is that it has Dolbly Digital Decoding built in. So DVDs sound totally awesome. But they're not really portable, sucks for PB users on the go.

Michelle Steiner · Apr 11, 2000, 05:55 PM

For what it's worth, I have not experienced any of the reported problems with my iSub and iMac. Maybe it's because I chose a grape iMac? I dunno..

--Michelle

Sturat · Apr 11, 2000, 06:58 PM

You know we all have it wrong. This is just a new form of plug n' play by Apple! Obviously they must be pushing to hard to get stuff out. Too early press and show releases are catching up to them. I wonder if we can return the iSub based on the fact it has NEVER worked as promised!

MAlan · Apr 13, 2000, 12:15 PM

I have been reading all these problems with OS 9.04 problems. I haven't upgraded personally. I do mulitrack recording with my iMac DV/SE but have to boot up in 8.6 to do it because of the sound latency. I was hoping 9.04 would fix these problems but it seems to have hurt more than it helped. From reading all these posts I've decided that Apple is not to be trusted with upgrades at this time. They as a company have lost their direction and are not putting out quality work. I'm not putting an upgrade to OS 9 on my machine until OS X comes out. I will also not upgrade to OS X until I have read a forum like this one for 1 month to be aware of the bugs that will be in that version. This is a strategy I feel I must take with Apple. I would encourage others to do the same.

I have had so many problems with OS 9 that I'm thinking about reverting to using 8.6 for more than just audio recording. Last night I was scanning many documents into the computer and it crashed every 7 - 12 times I tried. I'm tired of going through the whole diatribe of things you need to think about to debug a problem like this one.

For example some problem occurs where the Mac is crashing a lot. Here is the standard thought process.
1. Is it an extension conflict?
a. What did I last install?
b. Go through all extensions turning this one off but leaving that one on and so forth. Booting up with extensions off.
2. Check if Virtual memory is on. Is it good for that application but not this one.
3. Check the MacNN forums ...who has had this problem or that one. One person says "Oh never use VM". Another says "No you need VM for this app but not that one."

etc.

The process is quite maddening. I'm personally sick of it. They had better release OS X the right way with few bugs. And things better work the way they should or I might jump ship. I'll go over to the Linux world before sticking with this one the way it is going. Apple has got to stop offering garbage OS releases.

It is understandable to have a few bugs in software when it is released but to have practically everything not working ... (one guy said his computer was crashing when he was typing!)is ridiculous.

It is time that Apple hears these types of complaints from a large contingent of people so they stop doing things this way. How can we make Apple hear these complaints? Lets get organized and send them a clear message they will understand.