One way to deal with a “transient” audio interface tripping various apps on macOS is by creating a virtual multi-output audio device in Audio MIDI Setup (stock app). That device will be persistent, even when one of its output devices is lost.
In my case the interface was AirPods. It was incredibly annoying when various audio software would reset its output device whenever they disconnect or auto-switch to the phone. So, I set up a multi-output device that outputs signal to the pods along with the wired headphone port, and configured audio software to output to that virtual device. After that, there is no flakiness: when the pods are connected then they get the audio, if they aren’t then they don’t get the audio, nothing else needs to be changed.
Interesting! Can you give more details on how to build this virtual audio device? I tried creating one but it doesn't show as output in the Airfoil app, is there something special to do?
Ensure that at least one of the checked output devices is available and normally it should appear among physical outputs in any software, including Airfoil (unless it’s hidden in Airfoil settings). If it doesn’t appear, then I don’t know what’s going on.
I’ve never used Airfoil though. To be honest, I feel like routing audio through a multi-output virtual audio device might defeat the point of the app if it’s meant to play to wireless devices directly.
In my case the interface was AirPods. It was incredibly annoying when various audio software would reset its output device whenever they disconnect or auto-switch to the phone. So, I set up a multi-output device that outputs signal to the pods along with the wired headphone port, and configured audio software to output to that virtual device. After that, there is no flakiness: when the pods are connected then they get the audio, if they aren’t then they don’t get the audio, nothing else needs to be changed.