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

Feb 6, 2016 9:22 AM in response to Nodilis

Having issues with a USB microphone, Blue Yeti. It just goes silent after a while during recording sessions, sometimes after 5 minutes, sometimes after 10 or 15, and other times its fine for a few hours before it just dies.


And if it does work, sometimes the audio just starts clicking and clipping all the time with no settings changed, rendering the eventual commentary track useless. Never had these problems on Yosemite, and this is a new microphone after the previous one developed a fault from sheer age. I'm now contemplating downgrading to a clean install of Yosemite because this is ridiculous. Core Audio is clearly buggered and possibly even the USB control system.


I've adopted previous OS upgrades early on and nothing broke, what is this rubbish?


El Capitan? More like El Catastrophe.

Feb 11, 2016 1:50 PM in response to AppleZilla

Well I found a fix for my NuForce UDac3 not being recognized. Hope this works for everyone as well. After much frustration and realizing the unit works fine on my windows computer.. I plugged a usb2 hub into the usb 3 port on my Mac then plugged my UDAC3 into tone of the usb2 hub ports. I then went into Settings/Sound and there it was! Recognized!

The hub i'm using is a cheap (Orico 4 usb hub) but now I'm in business.

I'd be interested to know if this works for others.

Oh yes sorry, I'm running a MacBook Pro (2015)with El Capitan 10 version 10.11.3

User uploaded file

Feb 12, 2016 4:06 PM in response to Nodilis

"El Capitan adds some security improvements that should make OS X more resistent to exploitation by malware, but it will also mean a change or end to some software utilities on which you may rely."


I am fairly certain all of these usb issues are related to changes in apple SIP (System Integrity Protection). I'm not computer savy enough to give it a try but you can boot into recovery mode and disable SIP, reboot and try your audio software. I bet this would solve the issue but who wants to run a system without security protection from malware.

Feb 17, 2016 2:43 PM in response to Nodilis

I think that I have found a solution, I have been having problems with my external DAC from the very start with el capitan, I ran a variety of diagnostic tests and discovered that the root of the problem is that apple's core audio is not fully class compliant with usb audio. I stumbled upon this software: http://www.usb-audio.com/ and it is now working fine. This software includes a rewritten driver for usb audio that works with class compliant devices, it solved all of my issues. They have a demo version that has a periodic beeping noise, but the full version in 49 EUR ($54.51 at time of posting) removes the beeping. It is rather pricy for what it is, but it is the only thing that has worked for me after days of scouring the internet for solutions.

Feb 21, 2016 1:29 PM in response to winchestermann

I have a Presonus 22VSL Audio Interface that not work with El Capitan 10.11.3 until today.

I use the Class Compliant Mode.app from the focusride side and after a restart my AudioBox 22VSL is back working in the system.

wonder why - i hope it helps


http://global.focusrite.com/answerbase/i-am-unable-to-use-my-scarlett-interface- as-an-inputoutput-device-on-os-x-1011-el-capitan

Feb 22, 2016 6:46 AM in response to Jan-Willem Arnold

I've tried an Inoteck USB 3.0 hub, the built-in hub on my Dell U2415, and an Amazon Basics USB 2.0 hub and none of them work. My Nuforce Icon DAC didn't work with any of those. 😟


For the time being, I bought an M-Audio Super DAC (which does work on El Capitan) I'm using purely as a DAC and then feeding analog to my Nuforce. DAC doesn't sound as good as the Nuforce, but at least I can enjoy my music again.

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El Capitan USB audio problems.

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