Audio Stops at same point in the song. Starts only after muting an Aux

[sidelinerecords]

Good Afternoon,
I'm using a Mac Studio (2022) M1 Ultra with 64GB
Protools 2024.6 (although the problem has been happening since 2024.3)


I've got a session that stops playing audio at the exact same spot every time. I have two Aux Tracks (One for Instrumentation and one for Vocals) sending to the Master Bus. Once the audio cuts out, if I mute the Vocal Aux, the instrumental plays.
I've tried systematically deactivating/removing tracks and plugins. When the audio returns, I make a note and try the process again. However, I cannot replicate the "fix" (the next time i try, it's another track or plugin that brings all the audio back).
I've tried removing all routing/routing each track to the master bus
Removing the master and auxes
Consolidating the clips
Committing tracks
"Save as Copy"
Importing session data
Printing the aux tracks
Updating plugins
Exporting tracks... nothing has solved the problem.


In addition, i notice that the master Bus meter only shows dots for where the peak of the audio is (not the rest of the meter line as the ballistics are firing).

Also gain reduction meter on Fabfilter Pro DS for one of the tracks get stuck (which promted me to make sure all the plugins were up to date).



Seeing if anyone else ran into something similar. As i'm typing I'm thinking of other troubleshooting options to try. Any additional things to try would be helpful.
Thanks

[sidelinerecords]

If I deactivate all of my vocal tracks, the instrumental audio comes back.
When I reactivate those tracks, it'll al play for a moment, then cut out. I noticed that any plugin on my master bus the meters are maxed out.

[albee1952]

Hmmm, something accidentally side-chained from a vocal track? Make all the plugins on the vocal tracks inactive and test. If that allows playback, re-activate plugins one at a time until you find the culprit(fingers crossed)

[Darryl Ramm]

Not sure this could cause all the issues, but look out for plugins in demo mode, yes even if you think they should all be correctly licensed.

Do a quick test: Open the session with all plugins disabled (shift open) and see if that plays through OK.

And you have already trashed prefs right? Always a good idea to start troubleshooting by trashing prefs.

Edit: and another quick test suggestion when faced by stuff like this, try suspening all automation: click SUSPEND in Window> Automation.

[sidelinerecords]

Thanks for the input. Still working this out...
I've tried that method. When the audio comes back, and I remove what should have been the problem, the audio stops in the same place again and I cannot recreate the problem by removing the same plugins/tracks combination. It's always a different plugin (regardless of type or manufacturer) and/or different track.

[ToxicGandhi]

Have you found the culprit? I've been dealing with this exact issue yesterday and it turned out to be somehow corrupted clips on the timeline, so I ended up deleting them and redoing the work. So far everything works but the idea of sound just disappearing (with a loud click that is) is scary.