Error Opening Sound Device - Catalina

Audacity Help Forum macOS
1

I’ve been using Guitar Rig 5 and Audacity together for almost a year and have never had a problem until upgrading to macOS Catalina. But now Guitar Rigs gives a message saying “Error while opening sound device. Please check the playback device settings and the project sample rate.” and Audacity crashes occasionally.

Based on kind feedbacks from NI team, here are some things that may help troubleshoot this issue:

  1. Could it be the case that you used ‘Software playthrough’ in Audacity?
  2. Confirm the request for microphone permissions when requested.
  3. Whitelist Audacity and its plugins in System Preferences.

I assume the main reason for this is macOS Catalina is not happy to let 3rd party apps modify the file location in particular file directory.

Also when updating Audacity from 2.3.2 to current version (2.3.3), some leftovers may cease it from working properly. Try run a clean uninstall with this [Advertising is not permitted on this forum]

Moderator note: I split this off into its own separate thread - the subject is not the same as the thread where you tacked this on.

2

How do you Whitelist Audacity and its plugins in System Preferences with Catalina?

3

Currently you have to use a workaround, such as launching Audacity from a Terminal window, and then, when prompted, giving permission for the Terminal to access the mic. For more details, see: https://forum.audacityteam.org/t/audacity-2-3-3-under-macos-10-15-catalina/54279/1