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.

[MA225]

Hi folks,

Thank you for your inputs so far.

This seems to be a hardware related issue that was also reported on Apple's forums. Here's a relevant thread that proposes some possible solutions which you may find useful, so feel free to check it out if you haven't already. Some of the fixes include:

• Typing the following into the terminal: xcrun simctl shutdown all then sudo killall coreaudiod.
• Changing the sampling rate to 44.1 kHz or 48 kHz.
• Deleting the com.apple.audio.DeviceSettings.plist and com.apple.audio.SystemSettings.plist files, then restarting the device.

More details can be found in the aforementioned thread.

Hope this gets sorted out soon, take care!

[MA225]

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.

[StarryK]

Bump!  I have Sonoma (NOT in beta) and this has been happening to me.

I've done a clean re-install (followed directions from this website) and checked to see if it was my system but CPU and RAM usage are at a minimum.  

Spotify please fix and release an update?

[Eni]

Hey folks, 

Thanks for getting in touch about this here in the Community. 

@_stephane, sorry for the delayed reply. Could you let us know if you're still experiencing this? 

Would you mind checking if your audio drivers are up-to-date? 

On another note, sending us a video of the issue happening would come in handy. You can attach it to your next response by using the Insert Video option in the post editor. You can also upload it to Google Drive and share the link with us (make sure the video has the permissions for anyone to see it).

We'll be on the lookout for your replies.

[_stephane]

After upgrade to the official Sonoma 14.0 I don't have this issue anymore (23A344). Also using the latest Spotify for macOS 1.2.23.1125.g920a7ada

[Eni]

Hi @_stephane, 

Thanks for getting back to us and letting us know. 
 

Great news! Give us a shout if it starts misbehaving again, we'll be happy to help. 

Have a great day 🙂

[Haflidip]

I am running 14.1.1. on my MBP 2018 Intel, an the sound from Spotify.
Does not matter if i am using the app og through browser.

[Maria]

Hi there @Haflidip,

Thanks for posting in the thread!

Just to confirm, are there any updates available for your device's sound drivers?

Also, does the same thing happen if you connect your Mac directly to a Bluetooth speaker?

We'll keep an eye out for your reply.

[Haflidip]

Hi.

There are no specific updates for sound drivers on Mac to my knowledge, my Mac Book Pro is running on newest available system - 14.1.1

- Sound is good playing on my Sonos via Airplay - but controlling volume is bad, responds lete and is all over the place…..up and down

- Sound is bad playing on my Bose Quiet Comfort Bluetooth headphones

[marcolopespt]

Something must have changed on spotify streaming protocol that has broken a lot of devices.

This has been affecting Google NEST owners for quite a while now...

I am experiencing popping/crackling random noises on my Google nest devices.

https://www.googlenestcommunity.com/t5/Speakers-and-Displays/Strange-popping-sound-in-my-nest-mini/m...

[chopperdog]

I began having this problem after upgrading from my Intel Xeos-based Mac Pro to the Apple Silicon Mac Studio running Sonoma (latest version).  After a couple of hours the music begins to distort like an old phonograph record with a dirty needle. The only thing that fixes it is stopping the playlist and restarting it.

Please fix this, Spotify!

[AlejaR]

Hey @chopperdog,

Thanks for your reply here.

In this case, would you mind trying to reinstall the app to see if you notice any difference? By doing that the app can be up-to-date and you can make sure the cache is not leading to this inconvenience. You can see the steps for a clean reinstall here.

If you continue experiencing this behavior, would you mind sending us a video recording of this behavior? You can attach the video in your next reply in mp4 format, or you can also upload it to YouTube or Google Drive and make it public, so we can visualize it.

Lastly, please send us the exact Spotify version you're running on your computer.

Keep us in the loop!

[aeryen]

https://share.icloud.com/-----/

Here is my attempt at recording this popping sound. 

Not sure if the video above works, if it does you can hear it starting at around 10s mark of the song (13s of the video?).

The song is 'lantern - piano version' by Adam Weikert. This is the song which I can consistently hear the noise at the same spot of the music. It's only on the right channel, and only specific notes have that popping noise.

The song goes like this: 2 3 #4 6.  2 [b7 6] 5 #4.  The [b7 6] is where the noise can be heard.

(Sorry for the background noise, you can also hear some noise from my kitchen.)

My system is M3 16inch Macbook pro.

Mac OS Sonoma 14.3

Spotify Version: Spotify for macOS (Apple Silicon) 1.2.30.1135.g02fef27a

Format is set to 96,000hz in MIDI settings.
The noise is audible in both High Quality and Very High Quality in Spotify Setting.
The same noise does not exist in other apps, webpages or Spotify iOS version playing on my iPhone.

The same noise is audible in both the speaker of the laptop, the AirPod Pro and cabled Earphones.

[aeryen]

Hello. Anyone still here?

[Eni]

Hey @aeryen, 

Thanks for sending us this info and sorry for the delayed reply. 

Unfortunately, we weren't able to open the video you sent because of security reasons. Could you try to send it again? You can attach it to your next response by using the Insert Video option in the post editor. You can also upload it to Google Drive and share the link with us (make sure the video has the permissions for anyone to see it).

We'll be waiting for your reply.

[aeryen]

Sorry for the problem.
I have made some new recordings and uploaded them onto Google Drive.

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1BKfpJDfyxrprgPiBSgAwUunfsCTNKpvs?usp=sharing

[Ivelina]

Appreciate the cooperation, @aeryen!

Do you hear any crackling/popping sound even when you're listening to other songs and content on your MacBook? If that's so, feel free to send us some links or another video so we can take a listen.

Hope to hear from you soon.

[aeryen]

I'll go find some other songs.

As I previously mentioned. It's not in all the songs, just some of them. And strangely this problem is never present on the iPhone.

Hang on while I go find some more.

[aeryen]

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1BKfpJDfyxrprgPiBSgAwUunfsCTNKpvs?usp=sharing

I have added 2 more songs to the google drive. I have marked the second which you can hear the pop sound in the file name.

(Let me know if you find them hard to notice, I'll try record again.)

Overall I find that it's very hard to notice it and record it. Especially when the song is complicated and has a lot of layers.

It is most noticeable when the song has only piano and is relatively slow pace.

I have created a playlist here: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1t8ddjXi53Ay51PFh4hFtA?si=d331a8e5df8a4359

This playlist contains all the songs I have found that has pops. But I wonder if all of them are due to the same bug or some of them are just issues present in the original files uploaded by artists.

[migo33]

Just to clarify, this issue also happens with other apps such as Apple Music, YouTube and even during a Zoom call.

[marcolopespt]

Anything like the pop that happens with Spotify streaming on the Google Nest Devices? https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/uiam0xxitgfsyw5hsefet/2023_11_19_09_20_23_1.mp3?rlkey=k3y8pbwrn0f70ez...

[aeryen]

I was worried this might be the case. I think everyone in this thread is talking able multiple different issues.

The first example I uploaded was trying to show exactly the opposite, in that example, the same song does not have those popping defects when playing in iTunes/Apple Music. It's also not present in Youtube Music. Spotify is the only one that has the problem.