Mac OS Sierra and DAC problems?

[afgverhart]

Udo Besser, the CEO of AVM, informed me that Apple is working on a solution. So I will keep you posted.

[Benoit Mahe]

So, as the fix may never come, I found a workaround, but it's a bit complex:

• Virtual Box with Ubuntu (no X) in headless mode (and bridge network)
• MPD daemon running on ubuntu, configured with Alsa to use the DAC
• Cantata on OSX, connected to the MPD daemon.

I configured virtual box to use 512M or RAM, may be it will work with less, didn't try.

 

Resources:

https://www.virtualbox.org/wiki/Downloads

https://linus.nci.nih.gov/bdge/installUbuntu.html

https://superuser.com/questions/1106174/boot-ubuntu-16-04-into-command-line-do-not-start-gui

https://www.musicpd.org/doc/user/config_audio_outputs.html

https://github.com/CDrummond/cantata/wiki/Previous-(Google-Code)-Downloads

[NOMBEDES]

Apple hates audiophiles.  They have made Billions off of iTunes, but deep down inside their cold, code driven hearts they hate us.  They are bloodless, they don't enjoy music except as an entry on their accounts receivable ledger. They don't enjoy sex because it can't be monetized in a family-friendly environment.  Every update that is spewed from Cupertino is just an excuse to damage the free flow of music through our assorted DACs.  One update kills W4S DAC-2, the next update is unwittingly targeted against some other innocent.

 

A History:  (This is a true story.....in respect for the dead the names have been changed.  In respect for the living the story is represented as true)

 

Jane graduates from CalTech.  She is smart, she received excellent grades and she is very technically adept, she can code with the best of them.  She did the right internships, checked all the boxes with the right professors and mentors.  She applied to several tech companies and, upon graduation, she accepted a job at Apple.

 

Jane's first assignment at Apple is to work on OS X whatever.  The new update to the existing operating system.

Now she is on her own.  As a junior member of the team, she knows she must contribute something.  Even if the customer has no need or desire for an upgrade, Jane has to change something, improve something, do something to justify her employment.

 

Well multiply Jane by 1001 and you get the picture.  Young engineers and coders who have never heard of Miles Davis, who think music is some thin screech supported by a computer generated bass line emitting from a .27cent ear bud and you can see why the so called updates to our operating systems are, for the audiophile, much more trouble than they are worth.

[AudioDoctor]

This is why I switched to an Aurender in my main system.

 

[afgverhart]

According to the CEO of AVM Apple will fix this in the next Sierra release.

[afgverhart]

On 15-7-2017 at 11:19 AM, afgverhart said:

According to the CEO of AVM Apple will fix this in the next Sierra release.

Well, I am able to use USB audio output with Mac OSX Sierra 10.12.6 again, but Roon still is unable to connect to my DAC/preamp when set to exclusive/integer mode.

 

I am now considering to install Mac OSX El Capitan on a SD card and boot the Mac Mini from that card. This will be an audio optimized version of El Capitan with only Roon Server installed. This way my OSX installed on the hard drive can remain up-to-date (to check if future versions of Sierra or High Sierra solve my issues) and I will have a working 'audio mac' available by booting from the SD card.

[afgverhart]

On 13-7-2017 at 2:18 PM, Benoit Mahe said:

So, as the fix may never come, I found a workaround, but it's a bit complex:

• Virtual Box with Ubuntu (no X) in headless mode (and bridge network)
• MPD daemon running on ubuntu, configured with Alsa to use the DAC
• Cantata on OSX, connected to the MPD daemon.

I configured virtual box to use 512M or RAM, may be it will work with less, didn't try.

 

Resources:

https://www.virtualbox.org/wiki/Downloads

https://linus.nci.nih.gov/bdge/installUbuntu.html

https://superuser.com/questions/1106174/boot-ubuntu-16-04-into-command-line-do-not-start-gui

https://www.musicpd.org/doc/user/config_audio_outputs.html

https://github.com/CDrummond/cantata/wiki/Previous-(Google-Code)-Downloads

I have considered your solution as well, but think this might be too difficult for me.

[Benoit Mahe]

Updated to Sierra 10.12.6, no luck. I see my Schiit DAC in the system report as a USB Audio Interface, but cannot select it as output. So, same behaviour.

[RunHomeSlow]

3 hours ago, Benoit Mahe said:

Updated to Sierra 10.12.6, no luck. I see my Schiit DAC in the system report as a USB Audio Interface, but cannot select it as output. So, same behaviour.

 

 

Have you shut down your DAC and unplug it from the MAC,

Shut down the MAC, Open the MAC, plug the DAC. Look At Audio Midi Setup in utilities if it sees it

try another USB plug like mine it is plugged alone in a USB3 even if it is DAC usb2

 

You can try resseting you PRAM of the MAC, it puts back default settings for audio i think.

 

Restart MAC

When your hear the 'bong' at Startup

Hold together those 4 keys on keyboard...

ALT - CMD - P - R  you will hear another Bong louder, don't let go of the 4 Keys

you will hear a third bong... now let go, it will start like usual.

 

[NOMBEDES]

Step one.  Move all your music files off of your computer.

Step two.  Buy a dedicated music gizmo.  There are many to choose from.

 

Step three.  Thank me later.

[Benoit Mahe]

5 hours ago, RunHomeSlow said:

 

Have you shut down your DAC and unplug it from the MAC,

Shut down the MAC, Open the MAC, plug the DAC. Look At Audio Midi Setup in utilities if it sees it

try another USB plug like mine it is plugged alone in a USB3 even if it is DAC usb2

 

You can try resseting you PRAM of the MAC, it puts back default settings for audio i think.

 

Restart MAC

When your hear the 'bong' at Startup

Hold together those 4 keys on keyboard...

ALT - CMD - P - R  you will hear another Bong louder, don't let go of the 4 Keys

you will hear a third bong... now let go, it will start like usual.

 

 

Unfortunately I already tried that.

 

I see a lot of USBAudioError like this one in the Console:

 

USB Sound assertion in /BuildRoot/Library/Caches/com.apple.xbs/Sources/AppleUSBAudio/AppleUSBAudio-308.7/AppleUSBAudioDevice.cpp at line 280

 

 

[RunHomeSlow]

1 hour ago, Benoit Mahe said:

 

Unfortunately I already tried that.

 

I see a lot of USBAudioError like this one in the Console:

 

USB Sound assertion in /BuildRoot/Library/Caches/com.apple.xbs/Sources/AppleUSBAudio/AppleUSBAudio-308.7/AppleUSBAudioDevice.cpp at line 280

 

 

 

If it is cache, you can surely trash it. System will make new one. Is yout DAC buggy with A+ only? Or with sierra... you can try the high sierra public beta to see if it cures it...

[Benoit Mahe]

I gave up.

I now use my Raspberry Pi2 with Hifiberry digi + (coaxial output) and Volumio.

Works like a charm.

[afgverhart]

I haven't given up yet. Installed MacOS El Capitan on an SD card together with Roon Server. Works perfectly: full USB functionality including exclusive/integer mode in a Roon. So I can now dual boot the Mac Mini: El Capitan for audio from SD and Sierra for the other stuff from HDD.

[kamotepie]

Are there any updates? I'm running macOS Sierra 10.12.6 and I'm losing hope that this will ever be fixed.

[afgverhart]

No updates yet. Maybe (hopefully) High Sierra will solve this issue.

[kamotepie]

Thanks. Sadly, what I have resorted to is to go back to El Capitan. Which was a pain at first since it's not in my Purchases list. I had to talk to Apple and they agreed to cover the cost of restoring El Capitan on my macbook. Hopefully High Sierra has resolved this. And next time, I'll use a partition before updating. 

[GregWormald]

Whatever you do, make sure you do a complete backup before updating to the new iTunes. It was very buggy on my computer and lacks some of the most essential connections to my iPhone.

 

I was able to downgrade, but only because I had a backup.

 

Greg

[kamotepie]

I don't use iTunes anyway, but hearing and actually experiencing these bugs are very annoying. Something you wouldn't expect from a company such as Apple. It feels like they're forcing stuff on our throats. Proprietary stuff. Quite annoying.

[afgverhart]

I have decided to slightly change my setup. As I am using a headless Mac Mini i7 with two hard drives, I decided to stick to Sierra on the one drive (planning to update to High Sierra when then becomes available) and on the other drive I have now installed El Capitan (instead of running it from an SD card). This setup works flawless and I can choose which OS to boot from. So if High Sierra would solve the issues, I would be able to continue using that version. I make regular backups from Roon to be able to restore my latest Roon database in 'the other OS' as I obviously had to install Roon in both OS's on both drives.

 

Edit: additional advantage is that by having both drives backed up by Time Machine, I always have a full system backup available being able to restore both installations.

[afgverhart]

Anyone tried High Sierra already? And did it solve the issue with USB DACs?

[GregWormald]

According to my research (Google mostly) High Sierra has no benefit unless you have straight SSD drives (not Fusion drives) and even then it's buggy, and has many incompatibilities with current software.

I'm not upgrading until it's useful.

 

Greg

[Gonzbull]

On 9/27/2017 at 2:19 PM, GregWormald said:

According to my research (Google mostly) High Sierra has no benefit unless you have straight SSD drives (not Fusion drives) and even then it's buggy, and has many incompatibilities with current software.

I'm not upgrading until it's useful.

 

Greg

Not true at all. If you have a Fusion drive you can’t take advantage of Apples new file management system but all the other new features are still available. 

As for incompatibility and bugs, the same has been for all Initial OS releases. 

I personally never update to the initial release as my computer runs my studio which pays the bills. 

[afgverhart]

On 31-5-2017 at 1:23 AM, afgverhart said:

Udo Besser, the CEO of AVM, informed me that Apple is working on a solution. So I will keep you posted.

Well, I can confirm that Mac OS High Sierra solved the USB DAC issue for me. My AVM V30 now works correctly over USB with Roon running in integer exclusive mode!

[stephenjl]

I use an Audio Research DAC 8. It has had its firmware upgraded to work with new Macs. I use a 2011 Mac Mini. Yesterday installed High Sierra. Killed my music. the ARC DAC 8 is not recognised at all. Nothing. Zip. Donut. Total fail from Apple. 

Anyone got any ways to make my music play again?

thanks