Here is the latest state and info, presented in its own thread.

We have been working on further improvements of performance and compatibility for the Apple Silicon world, especially in regard to USB 3 - UFX III, MADIface XT II, Digiface Dante, Digiface Ravenna and USB.IO.

RME now supports three (!) drivers or operating modes for macOS with Apple Silicon and USB 3:

- Apple's recommended DriverKit architecture

- Apple's former Kernel Extension driver (announced to be dead anytime but still working)

- Apple's own audio driver for Class Compliant mode

Due to a tighter OS integration, bigger buffers etc the latter is the last resort if the used computer model and macOS suffer from clicks and drop-outs - CC mode should work without such issues.

But in CC mode there was no Settings dialog and no TotalMix, which made it not very usable - fortunately this has changed. The latest DriverKit driver and firmware updates allow the UFX III, MADIface XT II, Digiface Dante, Digiface Ravenna and USB.IO to be used in Class Compliant audio mode while control of the hardware via Settings dialog and TotalMix is still there. The Settings dialog will show 'Apple CC' in the top right, instead of the DK driver version.

CC mode is not the final and best solution, though. It does not offer a choice of Safety Offset settings (they are fixed and higher than our Large setting, resulting in higher latency), there is no Diagnostics error counter, and no playback data visualization is available in DigiCheck NG. Still, if it is the only way a specific system works these points not count much.

With Digiface Dante and Digiface AVB we changed the way the convenience feature 'internal network port' was realized. Those interfaces now use a Class Compliant network port, so run on Apple's own, native system network driver (available since 10.11, on both Intel and Apple Silicon machines). Additional software (we used netifc) is no longer required. That keeps the system clean and clear, reducing possible culprits and making installation more easy.

In the last weeks we learned that in isochronous record mode (the only mode available with CC, our drivers default to Bulk mode for record), simultaneous and heavy usage of audio, TM FX level meters, MIDI and CC network can disturb audio transmission. The latest firmwares take care of this specific USB 3 issue, so we are ready to roll out the new versions next week on our website.

We also further improved the deinstallation in both Kernel (v 3.35) and DriverKit driver (v4.27) for the 'other' driver. This helps the user to remove the other driver, which unfortunately in the later OS no longer works by simply deleting something (it is either hidden or can not be deleted by simple user actions). Having both driver extensions, Kernel and DK in the system will cause havoc as they become active simultaneously. Therefore both drivers also show a clear warning in case the other driver extension is detected.

Current versions

DriverKit driver 4.27:
https://www.rme-audio.de/downloads/driv … ac_427.zip

Firmwares:
MADIface XT II: USB 3/2 323, DSP 61, CC 17

Digiface Dante: 68, CC 20

Digiface Ravenna: 55, CC 2

Fireface UFX III: USB 21 DSP 25 CC 47

USB.IO (DirectOut Modul): USB 10 CC 14

macOS Firmware Update Tool:
https://www.rme-audio.de/downloads/fut_madiface_mac.zip

Note on Digiface Dante and Digiface Ravenna: these units have no hardware switch to change between CC and normal mode, therefore did not support CC so far. Now they do, which also allows new applications, for example using them on Linux systems. This is possible as with these products Settings dialog and TotalMix are often not required - the whole configuration is done via Dante Controller or the webserver remote, from any remote computer.

The change to CC mode is performed through the Mac Firmware Update Tool, in an easy and quick way by selecting/deselecting the newly added CC mode option. When the firmware is on the latest state already, changing CC mode does not flash the whole firmware, but only changes the CC state. Note that CC is not part of the Windows FUT, and if flashed to CC mode the DF Dante and Ravenna is no longer recognized by the Windows driver. So to use them under Windows the CC mode needs to be disabled via the Mac FUT first. See screenshot below.