Here we go again, same problem as in November. My USB DAC works just fine, macOS can play system audio through it, but it does not show up under settings → audio. Worked just fine before the system update (on 26.3), but now it’s borked again. Last time enabling full disk access was what did the trick, I turned it off and on again, also restarted my mac, to no avail. Also using rosetta2 does not help.
If anyone knows any other tricks, I’d be glad to hear them!
Hello @Leon_Reich
Since you’re running macOS, the behavior you’re seeing is consistent with the newer, stricter Local Network permission controls in the recent macOS releases.
Please try the following steps:
Once these permissions are refreshed and the system restarted, your audio devices should reappear.
Please let us know if the issue persists after these steps, and we’ll continue from there.
Hi, @vadim
No luck here, but I also don’t see how network permissions would change roon ‘seeing’ my DAC which is connected via USB, not the network. All my roon ready network devices work perfectly fine, it’s just the USB DAC which roon does not show. (On my mac roon is just an endpoint, so no server issues here.)
Hi @Leon_Reich,
Had you just updated MacOS to 26.3.1 when you encountered this?
For context, Roon requires local network access because it relies on the loopback ethernet interface to reach Apple’s coreaudio on the local machine. Roon requires full disk access because it depends on local macOS APIs and permission scopes to enumerate and expose USB audio devices.
It looks like you have the same setup as your previous post, with your server hosted on a NUC and the Mac running the GUI/RAATServer (Roon). Toggling local disk access and local network permissions didn’t help this time.
According to broad reports, the latest MacOS update (26.3.1) has slightly changed USB enumeration and entitlements. Apple has tightened third-party access to USB/CoreAudio device info.
The workaround for now is to either install Roon Server on the Mac itself or to plug the DAC into the machine running Roon Server.
The team will need to investigate this further. What is the make/model of USB DAC with which you’re having issues?
Can you please share a screenshot of Roon Settings → Audio as well as your MacOS Audio Midi Setup utility showing the USB DAC?
We’ll watch for your reply. Thank you!
Hi @connor,
I didn’t check roon working right after the update, and there have also been roon updates since, so I’m not 100% sure if that’s the cause.
Sadly, I don’t want to run roon server on my mac, since that’s what I have my NUC/ROCK for, and plugging the DAC in directly is also not an option, since my roon server is in another room and not on my desk.
My DAC is a miniDSP Flex 8, works fine in macOS, shows up under the midi settings, just roon not recognizing it. Also under Windows 11 it works perfectly fine too, also with roon.
Thanks for sharing screenshots.
Most likely the issue here is how miniDSP is being identified.
Can you please execute following commands in mac terminal while it’s connected and share with us the output:
system_profiler SPAudioDataTypesystem_profiler SPUSBDataTypeioreg -p IOUSB -l | grep -i "miniDSP"Also, can you please share with us logs from your Roon remote on mac ?
The folders with logs should be accessible by those paths:
after you gather logs please upload them here .
Thanks
system_profiler SPAudioDataType returned this:
Audio:
Devices:
miniDSP Flex 8:
Default Output Device: Yes
Default System Output Device: Yes
Manufacturer: miniDSP
Output Channels: 2
Current SampleRate: 96000
Transport: USB
Output Source: Default
MacBook Pro Microphone:
Default Input Device: Yes
Input Channels: 1
Manufacturer: Apple Inc.
Current SampleRate: 48000
Transport: Built-in
Input Source: MacBook Pro Microphone
MacBook Pro Speakers:
Manufacturer: Apple Inc.
Output Channels: 2
Current SampleRate: 44100
Transport: Built-in
Output Source: MacBook Pro Speakers
Leons iPhone Microphone:
Input Channels: 1
Manufacturer: Apple Inc.
Current SampleRate: 48000
Transport: Unknown
Input Source: Default
system_profiler SPUSBDataType returns nothing
ioreg -p IOUSB -l | grep -i "miniDSP" returns this:
| | +-o miniDSP Flex 8@01112000 <class IOUSBHostDevice, id 0x1000047fc, registered, matched, active, busy 0 (40 ms), retain 40>
| | | "USB Product Name" = "miniDSP Flex 8"
| | | "USB Vendor Name" = "miniDSP"
| | | "kUSBProductString" = "miniDSP Flex 8"
| | | "kUSBVendorString" = "miniDSP"
I have uploaded the log files you asked for.
Ok, the last time my DAC ‘disappeared’ it took only a restart of roon, or my mac, I don’t remember, but then it got recognized again, so I didn’t think about it further. I have restarted roon and my mac a number of times over the weekend, nothing. Now I sit at my desk again, DAC got recognized and works just fine. I have no idea what changed.
This is in some way worse than something not working, because it working intermittently makes it way harder to tell what’s going on.
Interesting to note though that together with my USB DAC, System Output and MacBook Pro Speakers also vanished from the list of audio devices, and are now back.
Thanks for confirming that.
We would like to ask you to try another experiment regarding this matter.
First, please quit Roon completely on your Mac, then connect the miniDSP to your Mac. Next, please download and install Roon Bridge from our Downloads page, and run the application. Finally, try connecting to your Roon Server from your phone or iPad remote to check if you can see both the Mac and the miniDSP listed in your audio devices.
After you have done this, could you please compress the logs from your /Users/your_username/Library/RoonBridge/Logs folder and upload them to our Logs Storage.
If you notice that the miniDSP drops again, please note the exact time it happens and let us know. Additionally, if you spot any specific triggers for this behavior, such as your Mac entering or exiting sleep mode, please share that information with us as well.
Thanks.
Did all that, logs are uploaded, roon bridge also works, sees the miniDSP Flex 8 just fine. If I run into this again I will be sure to post right away.
Thanks for your help!
Do we understand correctly that Roon Bridge is fully functional for you, even when running both Roon Bridge and Roon Remote simultaneously on your Mac? Are you able to control your local outputs exactly as expected?
Thank you.
Yup, exactly that. When I hit play on my iPhone, with roon closed and only roon bridge running on my mac, I hear music through the USB DAC. Works also with roon open and roon bridge also open.
When I play through roon bridge, with roon closed, and then open roon, and then quit roon bridge, audio drops out a second, and then roon takes over, no problems in either constellation.
Thank you for confirming the solution to you of this matter!
However, the reason why Roon’s built-in RAAT server is failing to detect your devices remains unclear.
Would you mind trying to reinstall Roon (excluding Roon Bridge) on your Mac to see if its native functionality is working correctly for you?
Thank you.
Yes, sure. I can try that.
Should I just delete the roon app and reinstall, or are there some hidden files and folders that I should remove manually for a super clean reinstall?
This is a massively breaking change for me. Not being able to use a Mac with connected USB DACs with a Roon Core renders my Roon subscription useless as I cannot play music.
I understand a Tahoe release triggered the issue, but it is still possible to enumerate USB devices in Tahoe - otherwise there would be no point in USB devices. This is a Roon client issue.
Please can you tell us when it might be fixed so I can make the decision whether I need to move to another playback/media management solution?
There is no permanent error, so there is no permanent fix.
It works again, but I have no idea why it stopped working for a few days, and even less of an idea why it works again now. There were no os updates to my knowledge the last few days, so really it’s a mystery. But it’s certainly not something being permanently broken, could just be an issue with my specific setup.
But as you can see, the roon team seems to be interested in the cause of the erratic error, which I highly appreciate.
I’m just chiming in as another person affected by this. For me, though, it’s not just a USB DAC that doesn’t work. It’s literally any local sound option on my local mac (which is not the machine running the server). I can’t even play out of the mac speakers, as they won’t appear in the menu. Roon was working for me before 26.3.1, and now it doesn’t.
I’m working through all the suggestions in the thread. Not really going to pitch a fit, though - it’s clear Apple locked something down and the team just needs time to work through the issue. Happy for all the work you all are doing.
edit: I launched RoonBridge on the local mac running 26.3.1. The Roon program was able to see the audio devices on the computer it was running on via that RoonBridge. So it’s been working like this a few days.
Thanks for updating.
For the cleanest possible installation, we recommend also deleting the RAATServer, RoonServer, and Roon folders located in your /Users/your_username/Library/ directory.
Important: Please ensure you have a recent backup of your Roon database before proceeding, as deleting the RoonServerfolder will completely erase your current database.
Please let us know if this clean reinstall helps resolve the issue for you. Thank you for your continued collaboration!
@alex_h: I reinstalled roon cleanly, as per your instructions. As my audio devices reappeared for no apparent reason before I did, I can’t say if the reinstall would have fixed it, but I can say that it didn’t bring the problem back.
Since roon bridge seems to work for you @Michael_Miller, it would be interesting to see if a clean roon reinstall on your machine would fix it, assuming the problem still persists when you are not using roon bridge.
Just to have a visible “solution”:
If you have the same problem, try installing and running roon bridge on your mac.
