Pro apps (Logic Pro, Ableton) bypass the mixer entirely using Low-Latency (HAL) mode . They request exclusive access to the driver, which forces coreaudiod to route the stream directly without mixing. This reduces latency from ~30ms (safe mixing) to ~5ms (direct).

Apple’s proprietary audio drivers are seamlessly integrated into macOS.

Booting into Safe Mode clears system caches, including audio component caches that might be corrupted.

If you are having audio issues, it is almost never a "driver" problem in the Windows sense—it’s usually a permissions issue or a hardware fault.