I am also a new SONICA user on Mac OSX 10.3.1
I am getting the exact same error message when I run DVD's with 5.1 surround sound
I am currently using the M-Audio VLC Edition (v0.4.3) for my dvds. and it plays 5.1 sound perfectly but it is a pretty antique app when it comes to the VLC features nowadays.
VLC is an amazing app, I hope you's can fix this audio bug soon
This is my error message with the M-Audio Sonica:
"coreaudio debug: system has [2] device(s)
coreaudio debug: device [0] has name [Built-in Audio]
coreaudio debug: device [0] has [1] streams
coreaudio debug: supported format: [44100][lpcm][30][4][1][4][2][16]
coreaudio debug: device [1] has name [Sonica]
coreaudio debug: device [1] has [1] streams
coreaudio debug: supported format: [8000][lpcm][12][4][1][4][2][16]
coreaudio debug: supported format: [11025][lpcm][12][4][1][4][2][16]
coreaudio debug: supported format: [12000][lpcm][12][4][1][4][2][16]
coreaudio debug: supported format: [22050][lpcm][12][4][1][4][2][16]
coreaudio debug: supported format: [24000][lpcm][12][4][1][4][2][16]
coreaudio debug: supported format: [32000][lpcm][12][4][1][4][2][16]
coreaudio debug: supported format: [44100][lpcm][12][4][1][4][2][16]
coreaudio debug: supported format: [48000][lpcm][12][4][1][4][2][16]
coreaudio debug: supported format: [88200][lpcm][12][4][1][4][2][16]
coreaudio debug: supported format: [96000][lpcm][12][4][1][4][2][16]
coreaudio debug: supported format: [8000][lpcm][12][6][1][6][2][24]
coreaudio debug: supported format: [11025][lpcm][12][6][1][6][2][24]
coreaudio debug: supported format: [12000][lpcm][12][6][1][6][2][24]
coreaudio debug: supported format: [22050][lpcm][12][6][1][6][2][24]
coreaudio debug: supported format: [24000][lpcm][12][6][1][6][2][24]
coreaudio debug: supported format: [32000][lpcm][12][6][1][6][2][24]
coreaudio debug: supported format: [44100][lpcm][12][6][1][6][2][24]
coreaudio debug: supported format: [48000][lpcm][12][6][1][6][2][24]
coreaudio debug: supported format: [88200][lpcm][12][6][1][6][2][24]
coreaudio debug: supported format: [96000][lpcm][12][6][1][6][2][24]
coreaudio debug: supported format: [48000][cac3][12][6144][1536][0][2][16]
coreaudio debug: getting device [1]
coreaudio debug: stream format: [44100][lpcm][12][4][1][4][2][16]
coreaudio debug: setting format: [48000][cac3][12][6144][1536][0][2][16]
coreaudio debug: using format: [48000][cac3][12][6144][1536][0][2][16]
coreaudio debug: device buffer size: [0]
coreaudio error: failed to set buffer size: [nope]
coreaudio debug: reverting to format: [44100][lpcm][12][4][1][4][2][16]"
Thanks VLC!