How to set AVAudioEngine input and output devices (swift/macos)

Question

I've hunted high and low and cannot find a solution to this problem. I am looking for a method to change the input/output devices which an AVAudioEngine will use on macOS.

When simply playing back an audio file the following works as expected:

var outputDeviceID:AudioDeviceID = xxx 
let result:OSStatus = AudioUnitSetProperty(outputUnit, kAudioOutputUnitProperty_CurrentDevice, kAudioUnitScope_Global, 0, &outputDeviceID, UInt32(MemoryLayout<AudioObjectPropertyAddress>.size))
if result != 0  {
   print("error setting output device \(result)")
   return
}

However if I initialize the audio input (with let input = engine.inputNode ) then I get an error once I attempt to start the engine:

AVAEInternal.h:88 required condition is false: [AVAudioEngine.mm:1055:CheckCanPerformIO: (canPerformIO)]

I know that my playback code is OK since, if I avoid changing the output device then I can hear the microphone and the audio file, and if I change the output device but don't initialize the inputNode the file plays to the specified destination.

Additionally to this I have been trying to change the input device, I understood from various places that the following should do this:

let result1:OSStatus = AudioUnitSetProperty(inputUnit, kAudioOutputUnitProperty_CurrentDevice, kAudioUnitScope_Output, 0, &inputDeviceID, UInt32(MemoryLayout<AudioObjectPropertyAddress>.size))
if result1 != 0  {
    print("failed with error \(result1)")
    return
}

However, this doesn't work - in most cases it throws an error (10853) although if I select a sound card that has both inputs and outputs it succeeds - it appears that when I am attempting to set the output or the input node it is actually setting the device for both.

I would think that this meant that an AVAudioEngine instance can only deal with one device, however it is quite happy working with the default devices (mic and speakers/headphones) so I am confident that isn't the issue. Looking at some solutions I have seen online people simply change the default input, but this isn't a massively nice solution.

Does anyone have any ideas as to whether this is possible?

It's worth noting that kAudioOutputUnitProperty_CurrentDevice is the only property available, there is not an equivalent kAudioInputUnitProperty_CurrentDevice key, due to the fact that as I understand it both the inputNode and outputNode are classed as "Output Units" (as they both emit sound somewhere).

Any ideas would be much appreciated as this is very very frustrating!!

Thanks

Answer 1

So I filed a support request with apple on this and another issue and the response confirms that an AVAudioEngine can only be assigned to a single Aggregate device (that is, a device with both input and output channels) - the system default units create effectively an aggregate device internally which is why they work, although I've found an additional issue in that if the input device also has output capabilities (and you activate the inputNode) then that device has to be both the input and output device as otherwise the output appears not to work.

So answer is that I think there is no answer..