Final Cut Pro 12.4 audio dropouts when exporting with Voice Isolation

Question

Final Cut Pro 12.4 audio dropouts when exporting with Voice Isolation

I’m experiencing audio dropouts in Final Cut Pro 12.4 that appears to be caused by Voice Isolation.

The audio plays normally in the timeline, but after exporting, I get occasional very short gaps/dropouts (a split second). If I disable Voice Isolation completely, the exported file is clean. I’ve tested Voice Isolation at both 50% and 25%, and the issue still occurs. I’ve also tested both H.264 and HEVC exports with the same result.

Even sending to Compressor didn't make any difference.

Has anyone else experienced this with FCP 12.4? Is there a known workaround?

Thanks for your help.

MacBook Pro 16″, macOS 27.0

Posted on Oct 6, 2026 9:07 AM

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Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

Joe Redifer

Level 2

204 points

Oct 13, 2026 2:46 PM in response to Julian Liurette

Over on Reddit someone found a workaround. On clips that you have Voice Isolation enabled, put them into Dual Mono mode, not Stereo. Seems to fix the exports.

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Answer 2

Oct 14, 2026 8:03 PM in response to Joe Redifer

I just tried that fix on a new project and it works. Without that, when I kept the channel as stereo, I got a short gap in audio always in the same spot. When in dual mono, it's all clean. Not super practical but it works for now. Thanks for pointing this out from Reddit. Feel free to share the Reddit link in case there's more that come out of that discussion.

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Answer 3

Oct 11, 2026 1:53 PM in response to jeffascough

Same here. Actually, I've discovered https://auphonic.com/landing which is pretty amazing in the meantime, while Apple fixes this.

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Answer 4

terryb

Level 4

3,850 points

Oct 9, 2026 9:12 AM in response to Julian Liurette

Are you applying any other audio effects? In some situations Compression effects can cause what sounds like dropouts or pumping at cut points.

I've never experienced dropouts except during playback if the drives and/or CPU are overworked and can't keep up with Voice Isolation, but is fine when rendered. But you're running into the opposite: timeline playback is fine but the render is broken. Strange. Paste an https://etrecheck.com report here using the "Additional text" button below in your reply.

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Answer 5

Oct 9, 2026 7:15 AM in response to Julian Liurette

Hi(bonjour),

Did you try to export audio track only as wav? Emptying cache ?

Michel B.

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Answer 6

Oct 9, 2026 5:35 PM in response to BenB

Others are reporting this as well on FB and Reddit:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/FCPXUsers/posts/28788389147512549/

https://www.reddit.com/r/finalcutpro/comments/1wyi99z/124_glitchy_audio_on_export/

Even edits that I exported with 12.3 and below, when exported with 12.4, have glitches now. Such a strange behaviour. You would think audio isolation ai would get better, not regress.

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Answer 7

Oct 10, 2026 8:08 AM in response to Julian Liurette

Yes, having the same issue. Only since the latest update. At the moment, I'm turning off the VI. It seems the only way to fix it. I am applying EQ and Compression to the vocal track along with some gain. But I've been doing this for years without issue.

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Answer 8

terryb

Level 4

3,850 points

Oct 10, 2026 1:43 PM in response to Julian Liurette

Oh that's really disappointing. I haven't used VI in 12.4 yet. Only one room is running 12.4, the other two will stay on 12.3 until this gets fixed.

If you're experiencing this, please report it to Apple Feedback. The more who report the more likely it will be fixed quickly. Final Cut Pro->Provide Final Cut Pro Feedback... or Feedback - Final Cut Pro - Apple

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Answer 9

Oct 14, 2026 10:11 AM in response to Joe Redifer

Thanks for pointing this out. I'll try at some point it but it's not practical when you've already edited your project and now need to convert all the audio configuration from Stereo to Dual Mono, deactivate one channel (otherwise there's no voice isolation option on 2 channels) and adjust levels to compensate for losing a channel. Anyway, when I get a chance, I'll see into it but for me so far, I just don't use Voice Isolation or I use Auphonic.

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Answer 10

Oct 8, 2026 4:33 PM in response to Julian Liurette

I just tried and could not replicate it, but perhaps I'm exporting it differently. My only export options available are "destinations" that I have made in Compressor. I don't even know how to export a file the way people without Compressor do.

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Answer 11

Oct 14, 2026 3:15 PM in response to Julian Liurette

You don't have to deactivate a channel, you just need to select one, enable Voice Isolation, select the other, do the same, Done. But yeah... it's easier to do when you're building the project, not after.

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Answer 12

BenB

Level 6

13,968 points

Oct 9, 2026 4:53 AM in response to Julian Liurette

I use it daily for TV productions, not seen this behavior before. I'd want to hear the original audio before venturing a guess as to what's happening.

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