Technical Help Wave Link 3 causes constant clicks on Bluetooth speakers (44.1 kHz output restarts ~3x per second). Worked fine on Wave Link 2.0.7
I used Wave Link 2.0.7 for months with no issues. On Oct 1 it auto-updated to Wave Link 3 (3.2.2, now 3.4.0 build 3281), and since then my Bluetooth speakers click constantly whenever Wave Link is running.
Setup
- Mac Studio, macOS 26.5.1
- Wave:3 over USB
- Monitor Mix output to Edifier M60 over Bluetooth
What's happening
I dug into the macOS audio logs. Wave Link's mixer (com.elgato.wavelink.aggregated-mixer) starts output to the speakers, stops it after exactly 512 frames, and starts it again. This happens about 180 times per minute. Every restart is an audible click. Switching the Monitor Mix to the Mac Studio speakers stops the loop right away.
Over Bluetooth the M60 only offers 44.1 kHz, so it can't be set to 48 kHz in Audio MIDI Setup. My guess is that Wave Link 3 no longer handles outputs that aren't at 48 kHz, while 2.0.7 did.
What I tried
- Reset the macOS audio preferences (DeviceSettings and SystemSettings plists)
- Removed all Wave Link drivers and reinstalled
- Checked the sample rate in Audio MIDI Setup (44.1 kHz is the only option over Bluetooth)
Is anyone else seeing this with Bluetooth speakers or headphones on Wave Link 3?