"Can't Render Audio" and Choppy Frame Skipping Playback with PP 25.2 Update

[KSEdits77]

Problem: Ever since updating to PP 25.2 (it may have started with 25.1) I get this "Audio Can't Render" (see attached image).  Also, the playback is terrible now, skipping frames, and latency issues even at 1/8 resolution. 

I do have knights of the editing table: excalibur, portal, anchor. Usually only anchor panel is opening, but it happens even when it is closed. I have aescripts: shortcakes, easify pro2, beateditor pro 2 (i think that's what it's called). They are always off.

Important to note:

I use both my licenses:
1) for my main laptop where no issues are happening

2) I remote into a parsec server onto a minimac 2024 16gb m4 pro chip. OS: sequioa 15.2
The audio can't render issue didn't happen before and is new to pp 25.1.

Steps Tried:

1. Audio Optimization:

• Rendered audio clips to WAV files and replaced them on the timeline

• Bypassed all audio track effects (DeNoise, DeReverb, EQ, Compression, etc.)

• Used only 1 audio track with no effects applied

• Rendered audio via Sequence > Render Audio

• Disabled “Play Audio While Scrubbing” under Preferences > Audio

• Increased I/O buffer size (512 → 1024 → 2048 samples)

• Verified sample rate was set to 48kHz

2. Display & Playback Optimization:

• Set playback resolution to 1/8

• Rendered video section using Render In to Out

• Disabled H.265 in Parsec client

• Enabled V-Sync in Parsec to reduce jitter

• Switched Chrome → Safari to reduce system load

3. Audio Output Workarounds:

• Created a Multi-Output Device in macOS Audio MIDI Setup with no outputs checked (to prevent audio playback)

• Assigned this “silent output” to Premiere’s Audio Hardware Preferences

• Premiere still failed to play timeline and threw “Can’t find audio output channel” error

• Tried routing to inactive devices (e.g. monitor HDMI audio) — temporarily resolved the output warning, but playback error returned

• Confirmed issue only happens in Premiere Pro 25.2+

4. Timeline Details:

• Timeline was 37 seconds long

• Included multiple short clips and a single WAV file on the audio track

• No video effects beyond Film Impact transitions

5. Behavior in Older Versions:

• No audio rendering issues or warnings occur in Premiere Pro 25.1 or earlier

• Same hardware, Parsec settings, and workflows tested in both versions
  
  
  I'm going to reinstall 25.0 for now. I hear some other people are having the same issue with the audio can't render and poor playback.
  
  
  Thanks in advance for any support. I do love adobe products in general and hope this can be fixed.

[Dani_V.]

Hi @KSEdits77,

Welcome to the Premiere Pro forums and sorry you're experiencing issues. Thank you for being thorough about all the steps tried.

Does the audio hardware sample rate match your sequence sample rate? Have you tried setting the audio input to "No Input" or "None". Also check if you have "High Quality Playback" selected if you right-click on the Program monitor and deselect that.

Is this happening with new projects as well or just older projects?

Regarding the videos on your timeline, what kind of video files or formats are you working with?

Have you tried uninstalling your extensions to see if there is a performance difference and ruling them out?

Hope we can help you soon,
Dani