El Capitan USB audio problems.

I just installed EL Capitan on my Late 2012 Mac mini. I have connected NuForce Udac2 DAC to usb port and it constantly disconnects from computer. I can't play any audio thru DAC. Tried changing midi settings, reseting Pram nothing changes. On windows PC dac is working without any problem. Everything worked OK in Yosemite.


There is obviously some problem with USB audio in EL Capitan.

DO NOT UPGRADE to EL Capitan if you have some USB audio cards important for work.


This problem came up in beta releases and still Apple did not fix it. This is a HUGE let down for me, especially considering how many people use Dacs or usb speakers these days.


I guess there is no difference between Apple and Microsoft these days. Everything that is released is not a finished product.


Guess I'll have to wait for 10.11.X for a fix...

Again, awful job Apple.

Posted on Oct 1, 2015 11:53 AM

Reply
333 replies

Jan 3, 2016 10:11 AM in response to rokko102

I am in the same boat as everyone else. I spent a lot of money on what i thought was the best hardware and software combination , ie max performance to weight in a Macbook Pro, and now it can't even run the simplest Audiobox USB device. This should be straightforward fix, especially considering it worked before the El Capitan Update.


When will this be resolved Apple!!!!?

Jan 3, 2016 10:49 AM in response to rclark82

Just so everybody knows, I returned my macbook pro and got my refund.


I'm relieved to be honest. Windows is fine and I don't spend so much time seeing it as an "experience" - I.e. I'm faffing around less and getting on with the job at hand.


I can take the money and get a high spec windows desktop instead.


I'll NEVER buy Apple again. The entire experience was largely (there were brief moments of "nice interface, nice load times) terrible.


It feels good to be rid of it.

Jan 6, 2016 8:50 AM in response to Nodilis

Hello everyone.


Just an update.


As everyone else I was experiencing some serious problems with USB audio. (Mac Mini 2012 / Presonus Audiobox iOne to be specific. The problem wasn't present on my Mac Pro 2009. Because it's USB2 only I assume).


A few days ago I did a fresh El Capitan installation on my computers... to my surprise I haven't experienced a problem after that.


I know a clean install is time consuming... but at least in my case I made a clear difference.


Let me know what you think.

Jan 6, 2016 9:39 AM in response to rokko102

rokko102 wrote:


Hello everyone.


Just an update.


As everyone else I was experiencing some serious problems with USB audio. (Mac Mini 2012 / Presonus Audiobox iOne to be specific. The problem wasn't present on my Mac Pro 2009. Because it's USB2 only I assume).


A few days ago I did a fresh El Capitan installation on my computers... to my surprise I haven't experienced a problem after that.


I know a clean install is time consuming... but at least in my case I made a clear difference.


Let me know what you think.


That has been my general experience with most problems people are experiencing in this forum. I am not saying that there are no bugs - there is no such thing as bug-free software. I am saying that most of the problems somehow lead back to conflict with old and incompatible software.


Before committing to a clean install (which, as you said, is time consuming), people can do so in a separate drive or partition to first see if the problems do go away. Also, it is crucial to note that it if one does a clean install and then just reimports everything from, say, a Time Machine backup, one is negating the benefit of said clean install by reimporting the problem again!

Jan 7, 2016 5:41 AM in response to Nodilis

Today the replacement DAC PCB arrived for my home built music box to replace the DAC that stopped functioning because of EC.


Happy to report that this one works.


The relevant chipset: XMOS DAC 32bit / 384KHz, PCM5012.
The DAC: http://www.yuan-jing.com/dacs-decoder/dacs-board/xmos-usb-audio-32bit-384khz-dac -decoder-board-pcm5102-tda1308-headphone…

For me this is a solution that comes at a cost of 55 USD and some hours work - which I don't count. I had to order this in the dark whether this solution would work, and mainly selected the device based on its modern chipset. It would be so much preferable when Apple could communicate about supported protocols.

I am almost sure all this is related to USB-1 speed and/or the version 1 usb audio protocol. For the record, I did a clean install of EC when it was released.

Jan 7, 2016 7:49 AM in response to Democratizer

Hi everyone!

My problem actually was as simple to solve as to swap the USB cable into another port on my iMac!

Blushing for my stupidity of not figuring it out on my own... 😟


Anyhow - Optoma NuForce customer care is doing good job:

1. My enquiry in Facebook was being replied to rather quickly. The communication nice and polite.

2. My enquiry in optoma.com site was responded to in promised 2 working days. And solution eventually given.


The NuForce DDA-100 is a fantastic device! The follow-up model Optoma NuForce DDA-120 must be even better.


Cheers!


PS. Here's what Optoma outsourced customer care wrote:


Afternoon


We have found problem similar in the pass and we found to fix this issue customer will need to select a different USB port and continue to cycle between the USB ports until a connection is established


Kind Regards


(name deleted)

ASP Administrator

Optoma Europe Limited

Jan 9, 2016 10:13 AM in response to Luis Sequeira1

Are you saying that doing a clean install has solved this USB Audio/DAC issue in more situations than Rokko102's? I've been considering doing a clean install lately as my mid 2012 MBPro has been getting a bit buggy lately. In my experience, clean installs have often cleared many problems, though I haven't had to do this on the MacBook yet. Knowing that a clean install has worked in more than one case would be just enough motivation for me to sort through 4 years of files and start over.

Jan 16, 2016 1:18 PM in response to Roger_CWB

The Hifiman HM-101 USB uses a chip called PCM2702E.


The PCM2702E datasheet: http://www.ti.com/lit/ds/symlink/pcm2702.pdf


says:



INTEGRATED USB INTERFACE: Full-Speed Transceiver Supports 12Mbps Data Transfer

Fully Compliant with the USB 1.0 Specification


I suspect, but nothing has been communicated, that USB 1 devices and/ or devices that support usb audio version 1 are no longer supported.

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El Capitan USB audio problems.

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