Yes, I'm interest.
When the song is out of time, that sounds like Ableton lost the connection to the driver Core-audio.
Ableton interrupts the delivery of audio.
The audio-interface can't help out when audio is missing from the source.
You could make a test and play a few hours some songs from another DAW, Reaper and focus on dropouts ?

hey guys, thanks for the quick reply!!!

https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/zzpw9u0l … q&dl=0

here i bounced one moment on stage with a drop out. i included the click track for better reference...

in this example it happend that the drop out was pretty much still in the grid (quater notes) but other times it was completely messed up...

hope this helps

yes, that's what I mean , reproduce the fail with another DAW.
You can use Reaper for ever for non-commercial use.
After the 60 days nothing will happen.

I mean you don't need to build up exactly the setup as in Ableton, just put a song into reaper and play it in endless Loop until the test is done.
Because how should the audio driver have the ability to disturb your Ableton in that way to bring the project out of timing and make audio dropouts.
An audio dropout yes, this can happen thru the driver or the interface.
But inside a DAW functionality ? I highly doubt the RME driver can do a mess there.

You did a fresh MacOS install on a new computer, therefor Ableton is also a new version.
After 20 years there has changed a lot in the tech background.

Also the question, how is the interface connected to?
By USB ? And wich driver exactly did you install ?

Hey, so i downloaded Reaper and I’m doin some testing now…
Btw: firmware:  v55
Driver: v4.12
And i use the ff ufx+ with a usb3 (blue) to usbc cable

Like i said before: when i freshly installed OS on my mbp m1, i tried the kext driver first (because it has better performance) but unfortunately it had dropouts too…
So i tried the driver kit driver which i still use now

On the M1 Mac, the Thunderbolt connection works without issues. USB has problems on some of the Apple Silicon systems.

If you can get an Apple TB3 to TB2 adapter, install the Thunderbolt driver and use that instead of USB.

I can report very similar behaviour over here with macOS Sonoma on three different machines with UFXIII and the 4.16 driver.
MacBook Pro M1 Max
MacBook Pro M3 Max
Mac Studio M2 Ultra

The dropouts happen in several applications (Cubase, Final Cut Pro [huge stutters there], Kontakt 7, Kontakt 8)

When the dropouts occur, they manifest themselves as stutters (the audio is skipping back and play the last chunck of information or as a brief interruption).
This is NOT reported as a CPU spike in performance in applications (e.g. Cubase Performance meter or Kontakt performance meter). They all look like nothing has happened.

I can understand how this can be a crucial thing when dj'ing or playing live as the syncing is completely lost.
The same thing happens when you do screen recordings. When the dropouts happen you can kiss goodbye your video vs audio sync in applications like screenflow- let alone the sync with other cameras.

In Final Cut Pro, RME interfaces are not an option at the moment. After working on a project for over 15min continuous stutters start to occur- the only workaround is use a simpler USB audio interface - these never have issues.

It's very clear that this is an issue that affects RME interfaces with the new Apple Silicons (and as you can see from the systems that I can test, you're not going to be immune regardless of the M generation. And it probably has to do with the number of I/O.

I have tried any cable under the sun,  connecting the UFX III directly to a USB3 port (the Mac Studio has that, yes), all the fancy docks from Caldigit with the $150 Apple thunderbolt cables- nothing makes a difference.

I'd love to be corrected but I think this is something that needs to be worked out between RME and Apple - hopefully it is fixable without having to resort to switching to a Thunderbolt interface.
The UFXIII has been the best interface I've used ever and I've been using RME since the 9632 and Multiface II days.

Following this as I am currently experiencing all these issues and they are becoming a showstopper

Hello, currently i’m on Mac OS 14.5 Sonoma

Not sure where you are, but here in Australia you can get them at Amazon or from Apple. For example:
https://www.amazon.com.au/Thunderbolt-P … B06XPBTJTN
https://www.apple.com/au/shop/product/M … e-2m-white

Yes USB connection is the way to go, Thunderbolt is history.
Did you even try to connect the interface thru USB ?

In our Swiss online shop (we don't have amazon, but it should not be a problem to find this cable ) :

https://www.digitec.ch/de/s1/product/mi … l-21460632

No need for any adapters anymore

This cable often is simply called printer cable, look for USB 3.0

I see.
...if you can get a working adapter, and the cable.

Is this Thunderbolt 2 connector the same as Mini-Display-connector ?
May you find the cable easier when use this words.

https://www.amazon.com/Displayport-Answ … NGMHJ?th=1

I would try this :

https://www.digitec.ch/de/s1/product/pu … el-5655801

It is just a cable with two identical connectors.

There is no need to edit a protocol as your adapter has already the right protocol,

Requested is a cable from Thunderbolt adapter to the thunderbolt port of the interface, right ?
Thunderbolt2 to Thunderbolt2 no need for protocol change.

Thanks thats my whole point!!! As i have described in my first post i am using USB since the beginning but i just doesn’t work anymore since about 6 months! I have dropouts every 15-30min…
no matter what daw, how much cpu, which driver, or anything else! I have replaced every single cable in my setup and my MacBook Pro got even a fresh OS install…

And yes you’re right, mini display cables doesn’t work for tb2… even its the same connector

As Jeff mentioned a few posts above some apple silicone machines have problems with usb and i should use thunderbolt instead…

And this Saturday i have to play at a big wedding party with a not working interface again

Thank you very much for this suggestion!
Yes, I do use ChatGPT 4O and it already made some code for my purposes and I will try this tonight!
But honestly, I did put so many nerves and hours into that problem that I’m really close to selling my UFX+ and may be getting an UFX 3! And hoping this solves the problem even though it’s uses the same USB port than I have on my UFX +….

As a full-time musician, I would like to make and rehearse music and not deal with these problems!
Again, I play liveshows since about 15 years with my RME interfaces and I never had really a problem, but The last half a year was absolutely horrible ! That’s why I spend that money on a high class audio interface assuming it’s plug and play
Sorry for the moaning! I still love rme but …

Hello Daniel, thank you so much for the reply!

Yes, i tried every single port and it is a direct connection with a brand new cable!  usb c to "printer plug" (the usb port of the ufx+)
on my other usb c port from my macbook pro 14" m1 i have a decent usb hub connected (for all my midi devices)

and it´s pretty hard to verify where the dropouts come from cause they always happen within 20-40min... sometimes longer

i did a fresh install of macOS, i tried it with different daw´s, tried without external plugins without midi remote scripts, tried every single driver including older ones (kext and dkd), replaced the adat converter plus cables(!!!), replaced every single cable within my setup...

the only thing i can think of, that i havent tried, is connecting it via thunderbolt. (what jeff suggested)
but i recon it should work with usb 3... i am pretty confused, especially as a long time rme user
thanks for any help in advance!!!

This is getting a bit off the rails. THE UFX+ has TB and the Mac has TB, so it will work fine. RME is not making new TB interfaces but this one still has driver support.

You do need a Thunderbolt (1) cable. DisplayPort uses the same plug, but a DisplayPort cable will not work for a Thunderbolt connection.

I meant that the dropouts might not disappear, considering it's mainly a Mac issue.

I'm just giving my feedback that you are not alone. I have had the dropouts with MacBook Pro M1 Max (64GB ram) with multiple UFX+ and UFX III interfaces since upgrading to Sonoma last year. Despite many driver updates there have not been a dropout-free day since. Dropout frequency seems to depend on buffer size. Bigger buffer sizes seems to work longer between the stutter happens again. I have tried all possible cable and hub combinations (USB3 only) in all the ports to no avail. I have not really tried USB2 mode yet because I need MADI ports that are disabled in USB2 mode.
When the dropout occur then the orange mic icon in the mac menubar also flashes indicating that the driver loses connection with the system. Affects both recording and playback. UFX front panel USB recording function has the files intact so this may come to save your recording session. It also means that the interfece itself does not reset its clock or anything, just the connection with computer.
I have also tried full disk format and put a virgin Sequoia (at the moment the latest, 15.0.1) with absolutely no improvement.
Interestingly, I have had no problems with Digiface Dante, also an usb interface using the same driver.

Thanks for your answer.
If you are referring to Continuity Camera function between Mac and iPhone then I have turned this off and still the dropouts happen in similar interval. If you have any other suggestions then I would eagerly try whatever possible. Are there maybe some system log files that could help?

....some more input from my side:
when I initially bought the Digiface Dante, I was using it with USB2 cables. This just worked fine. But one day I ruined the Digiface USB3 connector and since the repair I´m using it solely with USB3 cable. This was the time, when dropouts became an issue.
Issues are the same, regardless which driver I´m using: I was running on kernel kit driver for the most time, and switched to driver kit driver right now. Dropout interval seems to be longer with driver kit driver.