External USB DAC audio dropouts on Ventura and M1

I have found a temporary solution for this specific device setup. I'm running an M1 Max Macbook with the Fireface UFX III, and for over 8 months the problem was persistent. I finally tried running the UFX III in USB 2.0 mode through a singular port on the device with no connection adapters and my dropouts have been nonexistent. From what I can deduct, the issue seems to stem from USB 3.0 and Thunderbolt 4 functionality.

It looks like Sonoma might fix this issue. In addition I updated to the latest Ventura update this evening; the issue is not occurring so far! This was driving me nuts, hope is around the corner!

The laytest Ventura update is Ventura 13.6 (22G120) - the discussion below points towards the recent fixes in Sonoma on page 16.

https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/audio-stutters-with-usb-dacs-on-macbook-m1-pro.42001/page-16

My Mac M2 Max is always connected to USB C and my SSL audio interface is connected to the Hub. Everything was going great before I upgraded my Mac to Sonarma. After the upgrade, I started experiencing audio dropout when my Mac connected with studio monitors, and it was very frustrating for me being a professional audio engineer.

I was looking for a solution on Google and tried everything but all efforts were in vain.

Finally, I took out the interface dongle from the HUb and put it directly into Mac, and boom!! my issue got resolved.

I do not know whether the problem is my hub or the hardware of software but one thing is sure I started experiencing these dropouts only after the upgrade.

Hope it helps anyone with the same issue.

Can confirm plugging the interface into more machines the following.

M1 - Big Sur - functions properly.

M1 - Monterey - functions properly.

I7 - Ventura - functions properly.

I7 - Monterey - functions properly.

M2 - Ventura - dose not work.

M1 - Sonoma - dose not work.

M1 - Ventura - dose not work

This seems isolated to only Apple silicon machines running Ventura or later.

Please patch this Apple!

"SOLVED" My Gaming Speaker LG GP9 supports UAC 2.0 32bit 192khz

It seems to me that macOS simply doesn't support all the features of UAC 2.0

The dropouts disappeared after setting UAC 1.0 and without the need to disable WiFi and Bluetooth, but I was restricted to 24bit 96khz

This problem does not exist on Windows and Linux

Same issue here. Random audio dropouts. Usually two in a row with about a second delay in between. I use minimeters, and the dropouts do appear on the waveform it shows of the audio playing, and minimeters uses system audio so this is not an app specific or speaker/interface issue.

I've also noticed that the Ableton Live CPU meter maxes out at the exact moments the audio drops out.

I have a screen recording that shows this (no audio unfortunately), but I don't know the best way of posting that here

We have (tentatively) avoided any dropouts since switching our audio interface (Audient ORIA) from a USB-C port to a USB-A port on the rear of our Mac Studio. Whether this is an issue with the Thunderbolt port, the Thunderbolt driver, or a USB issue, it is abhorrent that it hasn't been solved. In any case, I hope this helps someone else too.

Hello austinzippy,

To help resolve this issue, start by starting the Mac in safe mode. Safe mode can help resolve many issues. Depending on the results you receive, follow the additional steps from the article:

How to use safe mode on your Mac - Apple Support

Thanks for using the Apple Support Communities, and have a great day!

Same issue on my M1 Max and not just Ventura specific. I had the same issue on Monterey though it seems worse on using Ventura. I am a professional audio engineer and it is quite annoying and looks less than professional around clients. I am glad to not be alone though not happy for anyone that is experiencing this also but this confirms for me it's a system issue and not specific to my setup. Apple please resolve this. Seems so backward to have worse performance in the fast lane of modern tech... really? I plugin a standard pro usb DAC with no special drivers using Logic Pro and I am fully up to date with the latest software.Dropouts happen with the system audio as well as with Logic. Please fix it already Apple engineers... thank you!

I have the same issue here. I just bought a Volt 276 unit and I tested it on my m1 Mac Book Pro 16 and the audio cut offs were driving me crazy. I changed all the cables, usb ports, and charged the unid separetely and the issue persisted, specialy when i was playing the guitar with backing audio. I tested the same with another unit i have, an Audient iD14MK2 and this issue never happened.

searching on Universal Audio forums i found many people complaying about this and claiming it is an issue with compatibility eith m1 + chipsets and some audio interfaces. This issue needs to be solved by apple. Its a shame…

I just installed MacOS 14 Sonoma and it seemed to have fixed the issue (so far).

Same issues for me, which are also reported extensively elsewhere. RME UC, 2021 M1 14" MBP, constant audio dropouts (and I've tried every possible connector, adapter, dongle, hub). Seems particularly bad while using Adobe Illustrator, particularly with an external monitor ... but the problem is consistent and those factors only make it worse.

But ... this is important: this Community area isn't the place to report these issues/bugs. It needs to be reported directly through the Product Feedback process for the complaints to have any impact on future fixes.

I have the same issue on different Macs:

MBP M1 Max 16", 64GB Ram, 4TB SSD. Sonoma latest Update.

Constant Audio Dropouts and Glitches with different Audio Interfaces: RME Madiface XT via USB (RME Driver), DiGiCo UB Madi via USB (Core Audio Driver), Waves Soundgrid via CAT (Sonnet 10G Thunderbolt or Apple USB Thunderbolt 3 to TB2 to Ethernet)

I normally record with Nuendo Live 2 or 3. With the latest Updates there are randomly "Audio Dropouts", which cause the Application to stop the Recording. Really frustrating, if you want to record a Live Show with 64 Tracks and after the show you see the record stopped at 30 Minutes or so.

I also tried different DAW like Logic Pro, Reaper, Pro Tools. All have the same issues with Audio dropouts and glitches.

Second one is a MacMini M1, 16GB, 1TB SSD, Ventura latest Update. Everything with the same Issues like the MBP.

Third one is a 2014 MBP 15,4" running Big Sur 11.7.10. Running perfectly, no Issues.

This is frustrating, that I cannot use my actual Mac safely for my work in Audioproduction but have to use my 10 year old Backup computer for recordings...

Apple makes no official position to monitor these forums for fixing issues. You must file a radar (compliant) and then it goes into a database and gets assigned to an engineer.

I am a hobbiest and don’t depend upon this functionality for my livelihood but can expect others to be livid that these new Macs can’t play back digital audio through USB without hiccups.

I went back to listening to music via headphones through a DAC and did not get dropouts this weekend. But it was not for more than an hour and with multiple stops. I am not comprehensively stating the issue has vanished for me, more time to tell.

M1 Pro laptop with 17.5