Resolved: reset audio to use new I/O device vs. internal

[mhschmieder]

I couldn't come up with a very good title to summarize the problem, as subject lines are so short here. But I knew for sure no one would see it if I buried it in my ongoing review of the RME Fireface UFX in the Recording forum.

Since upgrading from an RME Fireface 800 to the RME Fireface UFX late Thursday night, I have been unable to get audio to go to the new interface vs. through internal audio, except when using a professional application like Digital Performer or BIAS Peak Pro.

This specifically means all QuickTime, iTunes (which uses QuickTime) and Flash-oriented audio is only audible if I turn up my built-in MacPro speaker. I find it bizarre that even this works, as I could never have built-in audio and external audio coexist before.

I'm still used to how Audio Preferences and Audio MIDI Setup worked in Tiger; there are far fewer options to set in Snow Leopard. I went through every setting I could find, but didn't find anywhere to query or reset where computer-based vs. DAW-based audio goes.

Surely other people have run into this problem.

Maybe I need to find some Preferences file to trash, that the system may still be grabbing and trying to direct to the old device?

Maybe it's because I'm using USB for the new device and used Firewire for the old one?

Maybe I need to uninstall all the old RME software and even the latest Firewire driver, so there are no potential "hooks" in the system for the less-professional internal audio type stuff like QuickTime/iTunes/Flash to try to grab?

Thanks in advance for any help -- this is one of many technical problems I need to resolve very quickly (some of the others are related to my "day job" which is now creeping into my weekend and the supposed "vacation day" that I didn't really take but signed off for in advance), so I can't really spend a lot of time trying a lot of Google search strings at the moment.

I don't expect anyone to take time to do my work for me (research-wise); I just figured this problem might smell familiar to someone and have a quick off-the-top-of-the-head answer.

[cuttime]

Will option clicking the speaker icon in the menu bar allow you to make the switch?

[mhschmieder]

Awesome -- that solved the problem!

I'm not used to having any control up there, as that crept into OS X way after I started using Macs. I tend to explore more in places where I can find direct interfaces.

I suspect that when I installed the new interface, that feature reset itself to default. It USED to be available either via Audio MIDI Setup or Audio Preferences, or both. I didn't realize they had moved it to a simple drop-list on the speaker icon, and would NEVER have thought of randomly trying an OPTION key modifier on random GUI elements like that.

I suppose these are the sorts of things that spread by word of mouth... eventually.

As an example of how "word of mouth" rarely reaches me, I didn't know until 1998 that CTRL-C and CTRL-V were cut/paste on Windows. I came from Unix and other backgrounds, where those weren't the sorts of control sequences you typed "to see what happens".

Sort of like if your first job is at a nuclear reactor and the red button is the emergency shutdown override. You tend not to try red buttons "just to see what happens".

[cuttime]

I believe that opt-clicking menu items was a Snow Leopard development.