Plays Thru Mac Studio but NOT Studio Display Speakers

Zenith Core 2.2.4
Mac Studio M1 32 GB Ram

Network not the issue - working fine.

Networking Gear & Setup Details

Nighthawk AC1900

. None

Connected Audio Devices

Zenith III - PS Audio Directress

Number of Tracks in Library

16808 tracks

Description of Issue

Problem is that it doesn’t play music through Mac Studio Display Speakers even though it recognizes the Apple Studio computer and plays through the speakers in the Studio computer itself. However, if I go into System Settings and change the Sound to play through the Studio Display Speakers (which it recognizes in System Settings … it sees it as connected via USB), and if I change it to select the Studio Display Speakers, there is no sound.

It will play YouTube sound through the Studio Display Speakers just fine. However, nada when trying to pay Roon through the Display Speakers.

I spoke with 2nd Tier Tech Support at Apple, and they said it is recognizing the monitors in the Display, which is why I can play YouTube through it. They are insisting that there is nothing wrong with the my hardware setup, and referred me back to Roon for further investigation.

Is this a known issue, or is this something new to your database? I couldn’t find an issue when I looked because my issue is not that it won’t play through the Studio computer. It does play through the Studio PC. It just won’t play thru the Display Speakers.

Both Display software and Computer Software are up to date as of today.

Please advise. Thanks.

@Richard_Levy, can you post a screenshot of your Roon’s Settings → Audio page so we can see what Roon is showing for available audio output options?

Let me just update the situation. Not exactly sure why or how, but upon restarting the system, sound did come out of the Mac Studio Display Speakers! The good news is that I see that it works. The not so good news is that I don’t have any idea why it suddenly started working.

Also, in addition to that issue, I have trouble playing Roon through two different DACs that are hooked up directly to the USB port on the Studio M1 Max. The computer recognizes both a Schitt Modi DAC and also a Sonata USB DAC. And what’s more, if I go into my System Settings on the Mac and try to play sound effects through both of those devices, they both play the sound effects just fine. They just don’t play any music from Roon through the DACs into the headphones that I can use to hear the sound effects in the System Settings.

The fact that the Mac Studio plays the sound effects through both DACs certainly seems make it seem less unlikely like a Mac Studio/Ventura issue. Would you agree?

Yes, I am flummoxed by the fact that the first problem I had disappeared (the not being able to get Roon to play through the Display Speakers, now suddenly not an issue). But actually, I was hoping to route the sound into a DAC and the into an Integrated amp and and speaker/headphones … and also bypass the DAC in the Studio altogether. Would like to solve that, even though my main listening area with it’s direct connection to my music server (the Innuos) is my main source of listening and is working fine.

So does anyone have any thoughts on two DACs which are recognized on the Mac Studio but only playing sound effects and not music from Roon? That is currently the more pressing of the problem. I would gather that System Settings should allow all output settings to work. Previously, on my other computer, all I had to do was change the setting for choice of output. It would be rather unfortunate to lose that ability.

Glad to hear that your Studio Display is working now. Have you Enabled either or both DACs in Roon’s Settings → Audio tab? Are the DACs showing as potential endpoints there?

Yes, again, I am not entirely sure what I did to get the modi DAC working, but certainly I had enabled a device and found the Modi in the endpoint drop down, and not only had it enabled it but also changed the selection in System Settings from Display Speakers to the Schitt DAC for the computer output. And, I do believe that I had to also change the settings in Roon’s Settings/Audio to disable the selection for the Display Speakers.

Unfortunately, have a number of things that changed all at the same time, computer and OS. In the old scenario, everything was easily recognized and I could switch between endpoints easily. Now, it seems that I have to spend an hour or more each time I swtich trying to figure out what has happened to make it stop working (and I haven’t really figured that out yet). The Schitt was recognized last night and worked before I called it a day. But this morning I decided to move the DAC from underneath my work desk to the corner of the table top, and now I am back to square one trying to get it to work.

I recall I had to disable the Studio Speakers completely in Setup/Audio to get the Modi to work, which I never had to do in my previous computer. I could switch endpoints from the controls on the main play screen in Roon. That’s not working anymore. Also, when lost the Schitt operability after I moved it to the table top, and rebooted my computer, the sound was no longer coming out of the Display Speakers but was coming out of the pc again. I must admitt I am finding this quite a hassle over my iMac remote control usage. The differences however are both a completely different OS and a completely firmware setup because on the iMac, there were only two ways that I listened in that particular room (through the computer speakers or through the Modi DAC into an integrated amp etc). But with this new setup, there are three options for the output: speakers built into the computer, speakers in the Studio Display or into the DAC pluged into USB on the computer. Also, just having received the Studio combo, I am using a different setup in “Sound” and have choices that I didn’t have before. I also am wondering if Studio is losing track of what is chosen as operational if the computer is rebooted with a “Sound” setting that is other than the Studio Display Speakers (remember that I found that I had to disable the Display Speakers to get the Schitt DAC to be fully recognized and operational when last I got it working. Should I not be able to get everything recognized as endpoints and just switch between them? Or, might the chip in the Studio Display be dropping the Sound selection for the Studio Display Speekers because the computer is rebooted in a different Sound selection in System Settings.

Something is definitely different than my previous experience under 1.8 and my iMac Roon usage. I no longer can switch between endpoints in my office. Incidently, the other endpoints, such as my DirectStream on the network, or my KEF system on the network, or my Home Theatre setup (all of which are hardwired to the network all of which are hardwired to the network) are all endpoints that are not only operational, but can be switched and off successfully from the endpoint selection on the main play screen.

At the moment it’s a bitch switching from one to other, and for the moment, I seem to have lost the Schitt DAC again, and have tried to repeat the steps to get it operational but have come up empty. All I have at the moment are the Studio Display Speakers.

Sorry for the length. Must go to work and so bring these comments to a close. Any thoughts or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

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