How to Fix Cracking and Popping Sound ?

Hi there,

You might have better luck asking this question over in Apple Support Communities run by Apple Support.

The popping had been reduced drastically before I updated to Ventura. Now I get cracking anytime I use any music on social media. I produce music so you can imaging how annoying this is.

I am using an updated OS: MacBook Pro (16-inch, 2019) 

Hi there,

You might have better luck asking this question over in Apple Support Communities run by Apple Support.

Another voice to the chorus, running 12.6 on MacBookPro18,3.

Relevant console message: 3587 HALS_OverloadMessage.cpp:222 HALS_OverloadMessage: Overload due to HAL client proc exceeding io cycle budget

This stinks. Please do better, Apple.

I reinstalled everything from scratch without TimeMachine to try and get rid of this problem. I did this on the recommendation of some of the others on this forum and of the Genius Bar people. It was no mean feat as I have a lot of music and development software on my laptop. I initially thought that it had worked as I couldn't hear the glitches, but as I reinstalled some of the software and started working on development stuff again the problem returned. I find that in order to listen to music from the MacBook Pro speakers I need to close most other programs, including Docker, pressumably because it reduces some of the memory pressure. Honestly at my wits end with this.

Same issue on MacBook Pro (16-inch, 2021) M1 Max chip. Luckily this is just my work laptop for programming, but as someone who's produced a ton of music in the past and uses an older Intel MacBook Pro for DJing this is honestly ridiculous Apple. I mean, I'm really telling people who produce music or DJ to not get the latest and greatest M1 laptop because of an issue that's been around for 2 years. Very un-Apple and very sad because the M1 is a ***** in all other regards.

One way to bypass this enormous issue, which unfortunately will only apply to fairly specific use cases, but provide releif for some, is to use the iOS app BitPerfect, the app integrates with iTunes (Music) to ensure bit-perfect playback of audio files. When this app is running and doing it's thing increased CPU load will no longer cause pops and cracks in the audio stream.

Nothing else I've tried has come close to actually fixing the problem.

NOTE:

The app needs some updates, can be buggy on up-to-date OS, can freeze Music and BitPerfect altogether sometimes requiring restart, this seems to occur when switching between audio output devices.

Same issue on the 14'' M1 Pro chip MBP. It's really annoying that MBP always have quality control issues... My last MBP was the notorious butterfly keyboard one.

It's not even annoying or funny anymore. Basically, my M1 Max MacBook is useless now, I can't write music, can't perform music, I had to switch to desktop Windows machine for music production, and MBP is merely a horribly overpriced thing for Safari now. So so so disappointing. Wouldn't buy if knew this would happen.

Just to add - I actually use external speakers on my Macbook Pro M1 Pro chip - and they also pop. I recently replaced them because I thought it might be the device or a short in the cabling... but no. It's the device. I moved the same speakers over to my Windows desktop, and they didn't pop once. The pop is loud enough, and frequent enough (even when I'm not listening to audio) that I have to unplug them every night. Which for how expensive this device was, is inexcusable. I am require to use Apple products for work, but I'll never understand this obsession.

The problem still persists on my Macbook Pro M1 when using Mojo Chord connected with USB-C (but not with directly connected headphones). However, I recently got a used Mac Mini M1 and after connected the Mojo Chord to that I've had no cracking issues at all, so essentially switched using that for music instead of the Macbook which I use for work.

Both machines are running latest Ventura release, have Rosetta installed and have multiple Intel processes running. I have to assume it's something to do with the Macbook hardware or architecture. Maybe that's why they don't seem to be able to fix it with software updates.

I had a call with Apple a minute ago, and it seems that they are aware of this problem. They said you need to update your system and that they are already analyzing the problem. Hopefully, a bugfix will be published soon!

Same issue with MacBook Air M1, 2020. After a while, the crackling starts. Reducing the volume doesn't help at all.

I've been updating OS but the problem persists. It's surprising that the issue persists for 2 years now! You would think that either hardware or software it would be resolved by now.

2021 Macbook Pro, 16", M1 with similar, short crackle/pop/fart sounds at any volume, which has worsened to roughly every 1-2 minutes. Did anyone have a permanent fix by taking it to the Apple Store?

sudo killall coreaudiod

Fixed it! It should reload itself within a fraction of a second.