I don't think that it's either of those things you mentioned.
I'm working on a Mac (OS Mojave) with a 4 GHz processor and 32 GB of memory. I'm not the most technically astute guy in the room, but I'm pretty sure my rig has enough oomph to run Univeral Control (but correct me if I'm wrong!).
And I make sure that my phone is powered off or at least not in the same room with me when I'm trying to record.
If you or anyone else has any other trouble-shooting suggestions, I would totally appreciate it.
Thanks!