Mac Studio & Rode NT-USB Mini Support Issue

Question

Mac Studio & Rode NT-USB Mini Support Issue

Why is my RODE NT-USB Mini Mic not working right at all on my M1 Max Mac Studio but works just fine on my older 2020 M1 MacBook Pro 13"???

When creating a Voice Memo, GarageBand recording, or anything else on my M1 MacBook Pro using the NT-usb Mini, it sounds perfectly fine. When attaching it to the M1 Max Mac Studio I get about 10 seconds or less of normal sounding recorded input until it begins to repeat 1 seconds worth of the most recent microphone input on a loop with added crackling sounds, starting at about 10 seconds the entire recording. I have plugged the mic into the Mac Studio with direct USB-C cables along with dongles.

I've already spoken with RODE and we have updated the mic's firmware and it is fully updated to the latest along with restoring it to factory settings and restarting everything and making sure the mic is the primary input device, as well but it will still continue to loop audio, sound crackling, and not work right at all on the Mac Studio.

It works perfectly fine on the M1 MacBook Pro.

Help please!

- Brian

Mac Studio

Posted on Aug 30, 2022 12:40 AM

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Answer 1

Sep 20, 2022 8:04 AM in response to brianrocksoutloud

I have the same problem.

It works fine on M1 MackBook Pro, but it doesn't work on my Mac studio.

At first, the sound was recorded as intermittently broken.

Then, after installing the RODE Connect program, repeated voices at 1 second intervals enter the input.

Even after uninstalling the RODE Connect program, the problem persisted. (After the RODE Connect program updates the firmware, repeated voices are input at 1 second intervals)

Anyone have a solution?

How can I go back to before the firmware update?

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Answer 2

Oct 25, 2022 6:01 PM in response to David Sica

So something I've gotten back from RODE in their research and tested myself is that it works on my M1 Max Mac Studio but ONLY ON THE 2 THUNDERBOLT 4 USB-C PORTS in the back and NOT any of the regular USB-C ports around the rest of the computer, which is why on my 2020 13" M1 MacBook Pro I can use it fine on either of the two ports because those are both Thunderbolt ports. This also means for the M1 Max Mac Studio that we can only have one display being used while using this mic VS the M1 Ultra Mac Studio's front 2 USB-C Thunderbolt 4 ports and it's 2 Thunderbolt 4 ports on the back.

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Answer 3

Oct 26, 2022 9:38 AM in response to brianrocksoutloud

That is interesting information. A little clarification though that both Mac Studio models have 4 Thunderbolt 4 USB-C ports in the back but only the M1 Ultra model has Thunderbolt 4 USB-C ports on the front, the M1 Max model are "Two USB-C ports (up to 10Gb/s)" rather than "Two Thunderbolt 4 ports (up to 40Gb/s)" from the tech specs on Apple site.

In any event, it's not reasonable to have to plug the mic into a Thunderbolt 4 port, that's way overkill for the bandwidth required, it should work fine in any of the USB-C ports or the USB-A ports (in fact they give you a USB-A cable).

I just ran some more testing since I recently updated to Ventura and thought maybe the new OS would be an improvement. I can confirm the front USB-C ports and the USB-A port in the back both exhibit this faulty behavior however the back TB4 ports, as suggested, do NOT exhibit this behavior and appear to work fine in my limited testing (recording 1-min samples in Voice Memos).

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Answer 4

jonice

Level 1

8 points

Oct 19, 2022 12:05 AM in response to brianrocksoutloud

Do you have tried connecting to the thunderbolt 4 port on Mac Studio? and of course, you need USB-A to C adapter since the thunderbolt port uses USB-C.

I also have a similar issue where Mac Studio M1 Max does not work properly if connect to a USB-A port.

Additional info:

Rode NT-USB Mini. Firmware v2.1.2
macOS Monterey 12.6

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Answer 5

Sep 3, 2022 12:26 PM in response to brianrocksoutloud

I’d like to know also, works on my 16” M1 Pro machine but have same problem on my M1 Max Mac Studio. I also contacted RODE with same steps but no resolution yet. Still waiting to hear back from RODE on next steps.

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Answer 6

Oct 20, 2022 9:32 AM in response to jonice

This was the correct answer for me.

I also have the Rode NT-USB Mini and got my Mac Studio today, as I had the same issue I googled it.

Switching from USB-A to USB-C with an adapter and connecting it to one of the four Thunderbolt Ports did the trick for me.

Thanks for your help!

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Answer 7

Oct 22, 2022 3:51 PM in response to RobinZero

I received a replacement from Rode and didn’t update the firmware and it “works” better in the Mac Studio but just determined it’s creating bad audio artifacts periodically (every 20-30 sec) but works 100% ok on my M1 Pro MacBook Pro. Not really an option to connect to one of the 4 TB4 ports on the back because those are all in use. Waiting for Rode tech support feedback.

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Answer 8

Oct 25, 2022 6:01 PM in response to RobinZero

So something I've gotten back from RODE in their research and tested myself is that it works on my M1 Max Mac Studio but ONLY ON THE 2 THUNDERBOLT 4 USB-C PORTS in the back and NOT any of the regular USB-C ports around the rest of the computer, which is why on my 2020 13" M1 MacBook Pro I can use it fine on either of the two ports because those are both Thunderbolt ports. This also means for the M1 Max Mac Studio that we can only have one display being used while using this mic VS the M1 Ultra Mac Studio's front 2 USB-C Thunderbolt 4 ports and it's 2 Thunderbolt 4 ports on the back.

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Answer 9

Oct 25, 2022 6:04 PM in response to jonice

So something I've gotten back from RODE in their research and tested myself is that it works on my M1 Max Mac Studio but ONLY ON THE 2 THUNDERBOLT 4 USB-C PORTS in the back and NOT any of the regular USB-C ports around the rest of the computer, which is why on my 2020 13" M1 MacBook Pro I can use it fine on either of the two ports because those are both Thunderbolt ports. This also means for the M1 Max Mac Studio that we can only have one display being used while using this mic VS the M1 Ultra Mac Studio's front 2 USB-C Thunderbolt 4 ports and it's 2 Thunderbolt 4 ports on the back.

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Answer 10

Oct 22, 2022 3:58 PM in response to David Sica

Was the exact same for me.

But yeah, I'm interested what their support will have to say. For me it was definitely a connection issue, the mic itself is fine I guess.

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Answer 11

Oct 22, 2022 6:15 PM in response to RobinZero

I was connected to USB-C when I was encountering this issue, but it was in the front port.

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Mac Studio & Rode NT-USB Mini Support Issue

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