I’m losing my mind. I keep getting the same error: ‘Error opening sound device’ when trying to play back through my connected Airpods.
It all worked fine for months, and suddenly, out of the blue, errors.
I already tried:
NOTHING is working. The software is unusable now.
How can I fix this?
Re-installing Audacity does not change any previously stored settings - these are saved independently of the application.
What are your settings - in Audacity and in the system settings of your Mac?
What Mac are you using, and what version of the operating system do you have?
Did you install any updates of the operating system / of applications since it worked last time?
What do you want to hear - the sound while you are recording, or do you only want to play back something you recorded before?
Audacity is known to not play well with bluetooth devices. Bluetooth can apparently temporarily disconnect in some circumstances. When this happens, Audacity does not automatically re-connect.
Did anything change with your setup around the time the problem started?
I did not change anything… The rescanning for audio devices always fixed the problem for me, until now.
I’m using an Apple M2 Pro, with Sanoma 14.6.1. I didn’t update in between my Airpods working and not working.
I’ve added screenshots for my settings in Audacity and on my Apple (in 1 image cause I can only upload 1)
I want to hear something I recored before, so the playback.
If the problem is not a mis-configuration or a result of some software changes - but a problem between Audacity and a Bluetooth device as indicated by @billw58, I’d do the following:
Make your recording, as usual
Export your recorded works (as WAV or AIFF)
Play the exported file using a different application (for example Music.app, or anything else)
If not satisfied, continue editing in Audacity
If satisfied, export again in the desired final format
However, I do not understand why Audacity should have problems to send the sound to a Bluetooth device. It should be the same whether the sound is sent to a physical loudspeaker (in your computer or connected via cable) or to a Bluetooth transmitter. The only part where Audacity is involved is the wires inside your computer; the Bluetooth transmitter should take care of the transport between itself and the Bluetooth device.
Maybe someone of the Audacity team could explain what is the difference? And, if there is, why the problem has not been resolved yet?
My understanding is that the difference is the wireless connection, and the way the bluetooth protocol works. As I said, apparently bluetooth can momentarily disconnect and then reconnect. When this happens Audacity does not automatically reconnect. As for why, or why it worked for a time and now doesn’t, I don’t know. It may have something to do wit the PortAudio interface. I do know that lots of folks have had problems using bluetooth audio devices with Audacity on Mac.
The simplest solution is to use wired headphones. USB headphones work fine for me, as well as headphones that plug into the Macbook headphone jack.
That workaround would make the Audacity app kind of useless 
I make soooo many little adjustments when editing my podcast, this would drive me crazy in a minute.
Every other app (Spotify, YouTube, you name it) works perfectly fine with my Airpods, I never have any issues whatsoever. Just with Audacity.
@billw58 But then it should work sometimes, right? It should be on and off if that’s the case? Instead of not at all…?
Again, this is just my understanding. I hope someone who really understands how Audacity interacts with bluetooth devices can chime in.
When the bluetooth device momentarily disconnects, Audacity stays disconnected until a re-scan of the audio devices.
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