Audio Out: Yeti USB Device has no Sample Rates, music cursor is frozen

I have a Yeti Blue microphone, 15+ years old, with a headphone jack, configured as the default Sound Output device on my M1 MacBook Air, via a USB-C to USB-A hub in tandem with a 1x10 USB-A hub… It works in all other apps (well, often Finale required an un-plug and re-plug).

In Dorico’s Preferences > Play > Audio Device… > Audio Device Setup…, choosing this Yeti, the Sample Rate popup menu shows no selections, and also nothing appears if I try to type decimal digits into it. According to another answer, this lack of Sample Rate is causing the problem I’m having: Although the Yeti’s headphone output sounds as expected if I play notes on my MIDI controller, if I click Play or Record, the green music cursor does not move, so no sound and no recording.

Is there a way to fix this? Thank you.

P.S. I use the hubs and Yeti’s Sound Output for headphones in this way because I find it very convenient to have only one (USB-C) connector to unplug when I take my MacBook Air with me in a hurry, as I often do. If I had to remember to unplug a headphone cable too, it would not last very long!

Hi Jerry, would you please do from Dorico’s menu Help > Create Diagnostics Report and post the corresponding zip file here? Thanks

Here you go.

Dorico Diagnostics.zip (2.5 MB)

In case it helps, during the two minutes before creating the report, I did the following:

• Change Audio Device from Yeti to Built-in.
• Change Audio Device from Built-in back to Yeti.
• Hit the green button to Play. (Failed to move the green music cursor as usual.)
• Hit the green button to Stop.
• Click Create Diagnostic Report..

Both playing and recording works as expected with Built-in Audio.

Hi Jerry,

thanks for the data. Dorico detects your Yeti properly but something goes wrong when connecting the output stream (from the audio processing) to the out ports of the Yeti.
I have no idea how this can happen but try out following: In the Dorico Preferences dialog go to the VST Plug-ins tab and scroll all the way down. There click Reset Audio Engine Data and restart Dorico. Then try again with the Yeti.

Thank you, @Ulf . I tried Reset Audio Engine Data, and then relaunching Dorico as you suggested, but it did not fix the problem. I tried it twice, first with the Yeti selected when quitting, and second with Built-In selected when quitting and changing it after relaunch. The second time I also clicked the Clear Audio Engine Cache button. Dorico still plays as expected with Built-In, but not with the Yeti.

Hi @jerrykrinock , sure, would have been too simple that solution. :wink:
On the other hand, you need to clarify something for me. In the log files the Yeti’s name comes as “Yeti Stereo Microphone”. As a microphone I’d expect only input ports to turn up then, but it also reports output ports, as if it also has built-in speakers or like a connector for external speakers or headphones. Please clarify this. Because Dorico does not use input ports (like microphones), only ever outputs (like speakers).

Yes. The Yeti Stereo Microphone has a headphone jack, which I have headphones plugged into. It is both an audio input and audio output device. I searched for Yeti Blue Microphone and, yes, these are still being manufactured. The design has been substantially unchanged for 20 years.

Thanks for confirmation, @jerrykrinock .
But it looks like Dorico is getting confused over the available ports and tries to set values that are out of bound.
Can you please do the following?

  • Start Dorico and create a new project from piano template
  • Go to Edit > Device Setup and switch back and forth between Built-in Audio and the Yeti
  • Create a fresh diagnostics report and send me that one.
    Thanks a lot

Could this be something similar to the feedback loop that occurs when one inadvertently enables both input and output on a MIDI keyboard?

Not in this case, I think. Dorico (or the audio engine) in this case tries to use output ports, that even don’t exist. The question is more, where are those ports that maybe beforehand existed? Where are they gone, or did they never exist?

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Did it, no surprises. Some detail:. I quit and relaunched Dorico. The template I found and used was: Solo > Solo Piano. The Audio Device was initially set to Built-in Audio. I changed it to Yeti Stereo Microphone, waited a few seconds for the beachball to clear, changed it back to Built-in Audio, waited another few seconds for the beachball, then closed the Device Setup window, then finally clicked Create Diagnostic Report. Here it is:

Dorico Diagnostics.zip (1.9 MB)

I have a third Audio Device available in that popup menu, Microsoft Teams Audio. I tried it. It has one available sample rate, 48000, and the music cursor proceeds as expected if I click Play or Record, but of course there is no sound when using Microsoft Teams Audio,.

Then please do something more fundamental:

  • Open the Dorico Preferences dialog
  • Got to the VST Plug-ins tab and scroll all the way down.
  • Click the Reset Audio Engine Data button
  • Apply and close and restart Dorico
  • Try once more selecting Yeti as an output
  • Send a fresh diagnostics
    Thanks

Regarding your fourth step, the Apply button is not enabled after clicking Reset Audio Engine Data (implying there is no change to apply), so I just clicked the Close button.

Anyhow, after relaunching Dorico and changing to Yeti, the problem is still the same: no numbers available in the Sample Rate popup menu, and the music cursor does not move when clicking Play.

Here is the new Diagnostic Report:

Dorico Diagnostics.zip (2.0 MB)

Thank you for your persistence. I know you’ll explain it sooner or later.

SHORT VERSION OF RESOLUTION: The problem only occurs with one of the USB ports on this particular 2020 M1 MacBook Air, although the “bad” USB port works perfectly fine with all peripherals.

LONGER VERSION

This 2020 M1 MacBook Air has two USB-C ports. Since I was not going to be at this location tomorrow at 11:00 AM, I disconnected and reconnected my USB hubs and the Yeti to ensure that I could reproduce the problem. Actually, I was going to use a different USB-C hub. I discovered that, with either hub, although the Sample Rate popup for the Yeti is still empty and will not accept numbers typed in, if I connect my hubs to the Mac’s other USB-C port (the one closer to me), then the music cursor moves during Play and Record as expected. In other words, since I don’t care about Sample Rate, the problem is gone. If I connect back to the Mac’s farther-from-me “bad” USB-C port, then the problem is back again. But it’s not like the port is not working because, as I explained earlier, I get audio output from the Yeti from any other app, even in Dorico if I play on my MIDI keyboard. The problem has always been that, although I hear audio, the music cursor does not move and the Sample Rate popup is not populated.

t works exactly the same after a macOS update and restart – I have a “good” USB-C port, and a “bad” USB-C port. The “bad” one sounds for all apps, even Dorico, except for moving the music cursor. By the way, I also have other stuff coming through my hubs to either USB-C port: my MIDI controller (keyboard), a 2 GB SSD for Time Machine, and power is delivered from my AC “mains”. All of this works in either USB-C port.

I’ve read the Apple specs and searched forums. I cannot find any mention of one USB-C port being any different than the other one.

Finally, I got a new 2024 M3 MacBook Air last week. It also has two USB-C ports. There is no problem when using the new M3 MacBook Air – Dorico works with my hub and Yeti mic/headphones in either USB-C port,

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Good to hear that you could fix it yourself. :smile:

Actually, there is no news since you kindly had the meeting with me. I just wanted to post the resolution in case it happens to anyone else. Still a mystery how it could output audio through that USB port but the music cursor not work. The missing sample rate is not the problem because the sample rate is still missing even when it works, on both ports of my new computer. But it will be someone else’s mystery now :slightly_smiling_face:

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Some years back a friend brought his laptop to me for assistance. He had installed a USB modem on it which initially had worked fine for quite some time. At holiday time he unplugged the modem and stored the laptop away. When he returned, the modem was not being detected. He brought it to me to see if I could help diagnose the problem and hopefully fix it. First thing we did was to try it plugged into other computers of various sorts. It worked every time. Back to his laptop. Eventually we discovered that it worked, but only when plugged into the USB port which it occupied when its software was installed. Somehow the operating system and/or installed modem software was remembering the exact physical “path” to where the device was installed and only looking there rather than looking for the device “anywhere on the USB bus”. Since then, I have always tried apparently non-functional devices in all available ports of the relevant type when diagnosing why there has been an unexplained cessation of operation.

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