Crackling/Clipping Noise on Macbook

[MA225]

Crackling/popping/clipping/stuttering issue that I've seen in different forums. Can't find a fix for the mac. Just started noticing it today. 

Please help!

Macbook running macOS Catalina v10.15.6

Retina, 12 inch, 2017.

[RoyPowers]

If it's a hardware problem, why is only Spotify affected? Like multiple others in this thread are mentioning, the problem only happens when we listen music on Spotify, other programs don't make the crackling/clipping noise. 

Tried the solutions nevertheless, but those aren't resolving the issue. Again, it's only Spotify with the problem.

[advaitruia]

Im hearing popping sounds from my macbook pro M1 2021 speakers while listening to music on Spotify. This issue is only limited to Spotify and doesnt appear on any other apps (youtube, zoom, google meet etc)

[Alex]

Hey there @advaitruia,

Thanks for the post.

You can try following the troubleshooting steps from this post by @Yordan.

Let us know if that helps.

[c3a]

checking in — currently on the 14" mbp m1 pro, still affected by the issue. 

none of the solutions by Yordan's post seem to have improved the situation. no software updates or anything pending either ; this is extremely frustrating... might have to switch over to Apple Music for a while as there's no issue there.

[migo33]

I am having the same issue on a MBP 14" M1 Pro. None of the above worked (terminal command doesn't work, com.apple.audi... don't where it is and couldn't find this file). And where can I change to 48Khz? Spotify app only shows low, medium, high etc.

[romado77]

Apparently it's massive problem with M1. I've just got M1 Pro (MacOS 12.3.1) and experience same problem.

[DesignByAdrian]

Find the Audio MIDI Setup application and choose your internal speakers in the sidebar, then the "format" in the middle of main window.

Sadly, this didn't work for me anyway on my m1 Pro.

I only experience this in Spotify, not in Safari or games.

[aerosteelzero]

I have a MPB 14" 2021 too. Same popping. Any advice appreciated. 

[KimScott71]

Having the same annoying problem. You'd think it was a Rice Krispies commercial! At the moment, to test it out, I'm listening to music on YouTube through the browser and there isn't a single crackle. Same when I listen to Spotify through the browser. No crackles. I also frequently do Zoom calls, and there are never any crackles. JUST in on the Spotify app installed on a 2021 MacBook Pro 14" that I just purchased a couple of months ago. Running macOS Monterey v12.3.1. Just updated a couple days ago (problem was happening before that too) and there are no available updates as of today.

[AlejaR]

Hey folks,

Thanks for your replies in this thread 🙂

In this case, we recommend following the steps proposed by @Yordan. This seems to be a hardware related issue that was also reported on Apple's forums. You can read more about it here.

If you need anything else, the Community is here for you.

Cheers!

[c3a]

> none of the solutions by Yordan's post seem to have improved the situation.

please take the time to read what we post.

[RifRaf]

Can confirm, none of these solutions worked for me either. Currently listening on spotify web player and haven't heard any cracks yet. 

Device: Macbook Pro M1 14inch - Monterey 12.3.1

[maxvaillancourt]

Another report here: MacBook Pro, 14", M1, Monterey (12.3.1). Same clicking and popping. CPU is not maxed out at all. Hearing clicks and pops on both the desktop app and the web player.

[mactabby]

I also have this issue, on a brand new M1 MBP, but it occurs in Apple Music as well for me.  Reports on Apple's developer forums agree it is across different apps including YouTube, and point at memory pressure being the issue, so software not hardware.  Coreaudio gets overloaded and Spotify skips a 'cycle'.  There are error reports in the console log every time it happens.

All of the fixes mentioned above are temporary and the problem apparently comes back, and gets progressively worse. The best you can do is not have any memory-intensive applications running while you're using Spotify.  As I use it while I'm working, that's a bit of an issue for me.

[michahell]

Same issue here. Other audio sources do not have this problem, for instance, MS Teams meetings never have this crackling occur nor does sound from Youtube in chrome for instance.

[Upasako]

Need to throw my number in here too. 14" M1. Crackling.

[dangermango]

I'm having this issue as well, posted fixes don't work. Rebooting helps briefly.

[dwr_]

I have same issue on my MacBook 14" M1.

Up until recently I didn't experience the same issue when using head phones, but now I am hearing the crackling even with my AirPods Max. Only workaround I have is to connect the AirPods to my phone and play from the iOS Spotify app instead.

So far, I have not experienced the sound with any other application, e.g. Teams, Youtube or similar. Haven't tried Apple Music though.

[KATATAT]

USING THE WEB APPON MAC STOPS THE CRACKLE!!

[singervienna]

Hi Julian!

Unfortunately the last few updates for Monterey have not changed anything.

It must be an apple (core audio) issue but it would be great if Spotify could give apple a bit of pressure on this because you are a player big enough to make them hear us.

The same problem occurs in Zoom, brave bowser, and a few other apps. As soon as I use a wrapper like sonarworks sound ID or Sonnox's Listenhub or premix's Decibel the problem disappears immediately. So those software application seem to grab the zeroes and ones that represent the audiostrems and buffer them a bit for the processing they apply before they hand the stream over to the selected audio device. So this must be a buffering issue. Maybe Spotify can implement such a buffer themselves or talk to the folks at apple about this. I have tried to reach Apple but I'm just one guy, you know...