Mini Speakers drop out although song keeps playing in Music
I have had Apple HomePod Mini speakers for a while (2 sets paired using Home App) and I am used to issues after software updates. However, after working pretty consistently following the latest update, my speakers are back to either not working at all or drop out around 9 seconds into a song on my iMac. The song keeps playing and the speaker shows as connected, but there is no sound coming from the speakers. Sometimes, returning to the start of the song or skipping to the next song restarts the playback sound, but then it eventually drops out. I have tried restarting, unpairing and then re-pairing the speakers, but I don't understand why they just won't work. BTW, this is in regards to my desktop Apple Music; everything works fine on my iPad Music App.
Has anyone else had this issue and more importantly, found a fix?
Thanks
iMac, 24-inch, M1, 2021
Ventura 13.2.1
iMac (24-inch, M1, 2021, 2 ports)