USB DAC constantly becomes unrecognized

[MrSquished]

I have an external Audio DAC connected via USB and set as my default audio player, connected to an Amp and headphones.

For close to a year that worked perfectly for the most part. But the last few months it becomes unrecognized and then the sound defaults to my speakers. The solution is to simply disconnect the Audio DAC's usb connection and reconnect it right away.

Then the sound output instantly becomes the Audio DAC all of a sudden.

How to stop this from happening?

 

[dave_the_nerd]

Depends on why it's happening. I have a similar setup w/ a Focusrite 2i2 USB, and have had similar issues for two reasons:

Occasionally when I borrow my monitor for a Pi or Playstation, when I plug it back in, Windows will select the "new" device as the audio output (Displayport audio.) That's not really avoidable, afaik. But if you're toggling back and forth between video inputs or using a KVM, that could be confusing it.

Also, for a while I had a loose USB cable that made my DAC disconnect once in a while. (I'd just be watching a movie or something and all of a sudden my headphones would cut out and the monitor's speakers would start handling playback.) It was the "unplug it and plug it back in" fix until I replaced the USB cable. No issues like that since.

 

[Valantar]

Have you tried uninstalling the DAC from device manager and reinstalling it? Might clear out any software/driver issues.