Ik keep getting this error whilst scrubbing through timeline after 25.2 update "Can't render audio
Premiere Pro can't render your audio due to high CPU usage. Try using fewer audio effects, simplifying your timeline, or increasing the 1/0 buffer size in Audio Hardware Preferences"
Tried all options mentioned. After a while the audio stops coming through
Same issue myself, never had this problem before. After importing a video file, my CPU spins up to like 70% and just sits there. My waveform looks like it processed a tiny amount then stopped:
The first time I opened the project and tried to add the file, it said the storage wasn't fast enough or something similar. I cleared the cache and re-imported it as a different name. It spun up the CPU for like 5 minutes then it stopped, but the waveform never generated.
In ProcMon it looked like it was slamming some temporary audio file the whole time.
System specs:
Premiere Pro Version: 25.2.1 (Build 2) Windows Version: Windows 11 Pro for Workstations 24H2 (Build 26100.3476)
Same issue here in version 25.2. In the rendered video, there's no sound in the first audio track. What temporarily worked for me was moving the audio clips to another track with the same settings.
Honestly, it's pretty disappointing that this hasn't been fixed after almost two weeks. This kind of bug really shouldn't take this long to address.
I am also in the same boat. I am on an M4 Max Mac studio with 128gb of ram. I have tried solutions posted here and am continuing to have the same problem repeatedly.
Can you try using ffmpeg to see if the video file has any corruption? I have a particular video file that got corrupted when copying it off my SD card the first time. Then I have a 'good' copy of the same exact file. The corrupted one caused this issue same with the latest version of Premiere only, and the "good" copy of the file has no issues.
To check if a video file has any corruption even if it plays, you can use this ffmpeg command. I would be curious if it reveals a pattern. If the error.log file it outputs is empty, there aren't any issues.
Possible workaround 1, if the command above reveals file corruption:
I was able to get Premiere Pro to at least import the bad file by using this FFMPEG command to remux the video (just repackages it without re-encoding), which didn't fix the underlying stream corruption, but apparently fixed enough of the header stuff where Premiere imported it without causing the problem.
ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -c copy output.mp4
The output video still shows errors when doing the other ffmpeg error log command, but there are fewer and they are different. So it might be worth a try if you don't have access to a 'good' copy of the video.
I highly suspect the problem is down to an apparently new video engine/converter mentioned in the update: "Completely rewritten support for MKV (H.264/AAC) files to improve compatibility and performance"
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I also found that I was getting issues with Premiere using at on of CPU when loading media, and even more-so with the bad file. The high CPU usage at least seems to becaused by the new settings under Preferences > Media Analysis & Transcription. Disabling "Analyze all imported media to visually search your projects" and "Automatically transcribe clips", so you can try disabling those.
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Potential workaround 2 to try, for some issues (like I couldn't get it to generate a waveform in the timeline) - We're basically going to use an old version of Premiere to just create the metadata files for the video clips:
Without a project open, go to Preferences > Media Cache > Enable "Save .cfa and .pek media cache files next to original media".
In the same menu next to "Remove media cache files" click "Delete", then select "Delete all media cache files" (this one is apparently only available if no project is open).
It will restart Premiere. DO NOT open any projects, just close Premiere Pro 2025
Launch a previous version of Premiere Pro such as 2024 from last year - DO NOT open any projects yet
Go immediately to Preferences > Media Cache > again Enable "Save .cfa and .pek media cache files next to original media" and hit OK. (You shouldn't have to delete the Media Cache files again since I believe they're shared)
Create a blank new project and import any clips that were causing problems, or just any clips you'll need. Let it create the .pek files, and any other metadata files, that should now appear next to the corresponding media files.
7. After Premiere Pro 2024 finishes generating the files, close it and re-open your project in Premiere Pro 2025.
Same issue for me been going on about 2 weeks on PP 25.2.1 (build 2). MPB M2Pro 32 GB memory. Incredibly basic timeline with only interviews from native Sony FX30 files - one channel of audio and a music track. It seems to start when I speed up or scrub through the timeline. Then gets increasingly worse with very garbled audio (mono tracks glitch in stereo in my headphones) before gettting the message that PP can't render audio to due high CPU usage. No other apps running. Just have to keep relaunching the app.
@JuiceBoxG Would you be able to try the things I mention in this post here? (It's the one right above yours)
I haven't confirmed it works for everyone but it works for at least one video file I was having issues with. I also have a Sony camera so it might be semi-related to that too
I've never used ffmpeg and not familiar with usage. I briefly checked it out, but seems like a rabbit hole I don't really have time to explore unfortunately. FWIW, I have 4 different timelines with 4 or 5 interviews (files) each and they all are experiencing the issue, so it doesn't seem like *a* corrupt file - more like a software issue imo. Had no issues with fx30 media in previous builds. I could be wrong, just not sure. Thanks though!
I was having audio drop outs in the previous version. Playback has been the same in the new version, only this time it shows the error indicating the drop in playback. I am able to work around this issue for now, but it is definitely a very real issue.
Finally hit wit's end on this audio issue and reinstalled 25.1. Though I received the attached alert when opening my project, nothing seems to be adversely affected. For now, everything is back to normal with a properly responsive timeline and my MPB's fan isn't kicking constantly. 25.2 is a botch - hopefully an update comes sooner than later. For now reverting to 25.1 is my recommendation.
No solution yet. I am running an M4. My solution was to go back to 25.1. Problems solved. Except I get some notification about color management on the ones created with 25.2. Not a big deal for these, though. My concern is more with the audio than the video. The audio wasn't even coming through the main mix while using the Audio Mix window. All the track volumes worked, even a submit, but not the final mix track. Yet the sound was still coming through when it did work. That's a really messed up bug.
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