How to Fix Cracking and Popping Sound ?

Same here. What can I do?

To fix the dropped frame/crackle audio problem /applications/utilities/audio MIDI Setup Set the sample rate to 48,000 Hz.

This should fix the problem. It fixed mine.

The same issue started to crop up on my brand new 2021 Pro Max with Big Sur. And it has been two months of this on Safari.... 😒

same random cracks for a MBP 2021 16“ M1Pro macOS 12.3. Changing the MIDI settings doesn’t do the trick. Affected are the Apple Music App as same as the Spotify App, neither dependent on the song or podcast. YouTube in Safari is also affected, but not YouTube in latest Firefox or Chrome. The cracks are random and I was not able to reproduce them at the exact same time in a song or video, with cracking sounds up on every 2-3 seconds. The issue was not present in the first 2 weeks of using and started out without a macOS update or something else changed on the system. Really annoying…

Hi, same on MBP2021 16 Monterey 12.2.1 (21D62) Apple M1 Pro. Spotify

Same issue. 1 month old MacBook Pro 2021 16 inch M1 Pro. Hearable with Spotify, notifications,...

I can reproduce the cracking issue with macOS 12.2.1 on the following devices with internal or external audio hardware:

• MacBook Pro 2021 16" M1 Pro
• MacBook Pro 2020 13" M1
• MacMini 2020 M1

(I can't reproduce this issue on a MacBook Pro 16" 2019.)

In the console, I see something like this every time it happens (coreaudiod):

Audio IO Overload thread: 2ac774 inputs: '<private>' outputs: '<private>' cause: 'Unknown' prewarming: no recovering: no

Using a setting at or below 48khz reduces the issue but i expect that it don't happen at all; very annoying when working with audio files.

Hello same on MBP2020 13 Monterey 12.2.1 (21D62) Apple M1 Pro. Apple TV (problem only when viewing in full screen)

Same problem here with a brand new MBP2021 14 M1 Pro. I'm very disappointed. I was using a MBP2015 13, and it was reliable, the reason why so many musicians like macOS.

After trying a lot of tricks (safe mode, relaunch of coreaudio, setting audio rate to 48kHz...etc.), I finally found one that seems to work on my computer: Switching off “Set date and time automatically” in System Preferences. https://cdm.link/2019/02/apple-2018-glitch/

Hope it will help some. But hey, Apple, WTF?!?

Also experiencing random audio playback quality degradation/distortion. When it happens it does so for all audio both online and local using various apps (Music, Youtube, preview etc). The only solution for me is a reboot. Am on a new Macbook Pro M1 Monterey 12.1 I honestly did not expect this from a machine which costs £2K and am very disappointed. My old MBP 2009 which I still use is more stable than this new one.

Just adding my voice to the crowd here - brand new 2 week old macbook pro 14 inch with the recent monterey update that came out last week - crackling on youtube and spotify on chrome every 10 mins - I never had any problems with sound on my 'ole faithful 2014. I can't bear safari so I never use it. Hoping this is a software issue that can be rectified in future updates. As the previous poster said - I'm super disappointed - never expected this from a £2k machine.

the same problem on the 16-inch on m1 pro 1TB 16 the laptop is a little over two weeks and has become very common to pop, maybe everything is fine, but then all of a sudden begins to crack called today in support together booting in safe mode came in-app MIDI included speakers to the test and where the clicks are clearly seen they also may not be, but after several attempts they will appear again, sorry prior to this, the crack was during playback in Spotify and YouTube, but after reinstallation of Monterrey are now cracking more and when sending a message in telegram. it's a shame very much there is of course a small hope for a new update , but it is illusory

Have the same problem here.. New MBP M1 12.2.1 (21D62). VERY annoying. Anyone have an external sound card that can see if it work with that? The one I have isn't supported with the M1 =/

Experiencing this same issue. Able to run audio without problems using external Scarlett 4i4 interface, but any audio playing through speakers natively can experience pops from any audio (chrome, spotify, facetime, etc). Brand new MBP 14", M1 Max, 12.2.1.

I have the same issue on a Macbook Pro M1 Pro 2021 16", 16Gb ram, Monterey 12.2.1 . I didn't notice the popping at the beginning but now it's happening everywhere when listening through the speakers. I can't believe so many people have this issue and apple is doing nothing about it.

I have the same issue, tried

• safe mode,
• relaunch of coreaudio,
• setting audio rate to 48kHz,
• Switching off “Set date and time automatically” in System Preferences. ))

nothing helped me. Monterey, 12.2.1 MacBook pro 16, m1 max

Same problem. Brand new 2021 MBP M1 max, 12.2.1. Ran Premiere Pro in January and edited a 15 minute long 4K wedding video without issue. Just yesterday Logic Pro became unusable. Crackling started suddenly and seemed to get exponentially worse with every playback, even if just listening to a single recorded track at a time. Turned off “set date and time automatically” in System Preferences like someone a few posts up suggested and it seems to be resolved. For now. Unacceptable by Apple that we are a year into thread with no answer from them.

Yes. I have the same problem.

MacBook Pro (16-inch, 2021) Monterey 12.2.1.

Until recently I've been using my Focusrite audio interface for everything but I noticed when I unplugged it that all Apple-created audio [so Apple TV, QuickTime videos etc] has terrible crackling and popping on when using the native audio engine.

If I play the same QuickTime videos through VLC they're fine – so it's not a hardware problem. As far as I can see I can't reinstall Quicktime without reinstalling the whole OS which I am absolutely not going to do.

I guess the only thing to do is wait until Apple release a new software update which will hopefully overwrite the broken component.

Assuming they notice it's broken of course. Has anyone at Apple ever responded to any of these threads?

…additional info: The problem disappears when I use headphones… but also disappears when I use VLC or YouTube etc. So what's that?

2021 MBP: Clicking/Popping only with Apple TV playing Music during Shows. Turning off "Set Date and Time Automatically" did not fix this issue.

APPLE WAKE UP!!! This is becoming embarrassing!

Here's what worked for me:

1. (Menu Bar): Go > Computer > Macintosh HD > Library > Preferences > Audio
2. Delete the com.apple.audio.DeviceSettings.plist and com.apple.audio.SystemSettings.plist files
3. Empty trash
4. Shut down the laptop and wait 30 seconds
5. Turn it back on

After having tried many solutions, this has worked!

For future reference, the issue I was experiencing was with the "Spoken Content" accessibility feature starting to glitch and pause the audio.

I could see multiple instances of the coreaudiod process outputting the following in Console.app:

coreaudiod	 Audio IO Overload thread: 5debaa inputs: '<private>' outputs: '<private>' cause: 'Unknown' prewarming: no recovering: no
default	09:13:49.765045+0100	coreaudiod	     CAReportingClient.mm:508   message {
    HostApplicationDisplayID = Unknown;
    cause = PageFaultsOffIOThread;
    deadline = 30204924;
    "input_device_source_list" = "";
    "input_device_transport_list" = "";
    "input_device_uid_list" = "";
    "io_buffer_size" = 512;
    "io_cycle" = 789;
    "io_page_faults" = 0;
    "is_prewarming" = 0;
    "is_recovering" = 0;
    "issue_type" = overload;
    lateness = 198;
    "other_page_faults" = 47;
    "output_device_source_list" = Unknown;
    "output_device_transport_list" = Bluetooth;
    "output_device_uid_list" = "C:output";
    "sample_rate" = 48000;
    "smallest_buffer_frame_size" = 512;
}: (
    1829656068372
)

Monterey 12.3 Update solved my Issue it seems. No more crackling at the start of youtube videos as well as in Apple TV Fullscreen.

🙏

First, there's a 12.3 update? That might have saved me time had I known!

So, I think I've just fixed it on my end too. I tried this (which didn't work immediately) and then added a step or two, thanks to Apple support. First, this...

1. (Menu Bar): Go > Computer > Macintosh HD > Library > Preferences > Audio
2. Delete the com.apple.audio.DeviceSettings.plist and com.apple.audio.SystemSettings.plist files

When I did that, I couldn't find either of those .plist files. In fact, I didn't have an Audio folder at all.

However, the Apple Support chat helper did suggest those same ones.

He also recommended deleting the com.Apple.soundprefs.plist from the main "Preferences" folder (not in "Audio" but one level above).

I then emptied the trash and tried playing Apple Music. Got pops and the support guy suggested rebooting into Safe Mode and trying again. Why Safe Mode? Because it not only turns off extensions temporarily, but rebuilds some caches that could be corrupted.

In Safe Mode, there were no pops. And, in fact, for the first time I heard the speakers on my 2021 Macbook acting as they should... and they're incredible. Very good.

I then rebooted again as normal and it seems to be working great.

Hope that helps anybody who was still seeking!

It just happened to me again on MacOS 12.3. The update did not fix it