Spotify desktop app causes recurring CoreAudio client timeouts and audio dropouts on macOS 26

[IlyaM]

Hello,

I am experiencing recurring audio dropouts and clicking sounds when using the Spotify desktop application on macOS.

The issue sounds like a very short section of audio is missing, as if several samples or one audio buffer were dropped. It normally happens approximately once every 1–3 minutes.

System information

• MacBook Pro 16-inch with Apple M3 Max
• macOS 26.6
• The issue was also present on previous macOS 26.x minor versions
• Spotify for macOS (Apple Silicon) 1.2.94.583.g60394bd5
• External audio interface: Tascam US-2x2
• The issue also occurs with the MacBook’s built-in speakers
• Tested at 44.1, 48 and 96 kHz

Important observations

The problem only occurs in the Spotify desktop application.

I tested YouTube and other browser-based audio playback for more than 10 minutes without hearing any dropouts. Spotify playback through a browser also does not appear to cause the same problem.

The issue occurs both with my Tascam US-2x2 and with the MacBook’s built-in speakers, so it does not appear to be caused by the USB interface, USB hub, cable or audio device.

I also reproduced the issue without SoundSource or other third-party audio-processing software active.

Troubleshooting already performed

I have tried the following without success:

• Restarting the Mac
• Restarting CoreAudio by terminating coreaudiod
• Completely reinstalling the Spotify desktop application
• Resetting all audio-related system settings
• Testing different sample rates: 44.1, 48 and 96 kHz
• Testing the Tascam US-2x2 through USB
• Testing the MacBook’s built-in speakers
• Disabling third-party audio-processing software
• Increasing the process priority of Spotify
• Testing playback under both low and high system load

None of these actions resolved the issue.

CoreAudio logs

The audible click consistently coincides with a CoreAudio HALS_OverloadMessage reporting a client timeout.

A representative log explicitly identifies the Spotify client:

HALS_OverloadMessage: Overload possibly due to client timeout.

Audio IO Overload thread: 1c6e91
prewarming: no
recovering: no

cause: ClientTimeout
HostApplicationDisplayID: com.spotify.client
HAL_client_IO_duration: 5064166
scheduler_latency: 3500
output_device_transport_list: USB

A second occurrence from the same session:

HALS_OverloadMessage: Overload possibly due to client timeout.

cause: ClientTimeout
HostApplicationDisplayID: com.spotify.client
HAL_client_IO_duration: 3224083
scheduler_latency: 4458
output_device_transport_list: USB

The issue also occurs at 48 kHz:

HALS_OverloadMessage: Overload possibly due to client timeout.

cause: ClientTimeout
HostApplicationDisplayID: com.spotify.client
HAL_client_IO_duration: 10091958
scheduler_latency: 29666
io_buffer_size_other_client: 128
sample_rate_other_client: 48000

The same type of timeout is recorded when using the built-in speakers:

output_device_uid_list: BuiltInSpeakerDevice
overload_type: ClientTimeoutStart
num_continuous_silent_io_cycles: 1
HAL_client_IO_duration: 5068333
deadline: 3261383
scheduler_latency: 8083
smallest_buffer_frame_size: 32
io_cycle_usage: 1

This event is immediately followed by recovery:

output_device_uid_list: BuiltInSpeakerDevice
overload_type: ClientTimeoutEnd
num_continuous_silent_io_cycles: 0
HAL_client_IO_duration: 3154208
deadline: 3262407
scheduler_latency: 2208
io_cycle_usage: 1

The ClientTimeoutStart event reports one continuous silent I/O cycle, which matches the short audible dropout.

The scheduler latency is very low, and the logs report no I/O page faults, suggesting that the Spotify audio client itself is occasionally exceeding the CoreAudio I/O cycle deadline rather than simply waiting for CPU time.

Expected behaviour

Spotify should continuously play audio without dropping an audio buffer or exceeding the CoreAudio client deadline.

Actual behaviour

The Spotify desktop application periodically exceeds the CoreAudio I/O cycle deadline. CoreAudio records a ClientTimeout, produces one silent I/O cycle, and an audible click or short dropout occurs.

Could you please forward this report to the macOS desktop/audio engineering team and investigate Spotify’s CoreAudio callback timing on macOS 26.x?

I can provide additional complete CoreAudio logs or capture an Audio System Trace in Instruments if required.

Thank you.

[Paula_Vi]

Hi there, @IlyaM 

Thanks for reaching out and welcome to the Spotify Community!
 

We really appreciate all the extensive troubleshooting steps you've already tried and all the detailed info provided, it is very helpful! 😊

Just to confirm, is this happening with all playlists, all albums/artists or all songs? Does it happen with podcasts too?

Have you tried changing the audio quality and volume options in the app settings? Also, check if the Auto Adjust Quality and the Normalize Volume options are turned on.

If the issue persists, try disabling the Hardware acceleration and restarting the app by going to the upper left corner in the desktop app (as shown in the image).

You can also try the troubleshooting steps suggested in the top answer of this thread (if you haven't tried them yet).

If none of this works, send us a video/screen recording of the exact moment where the audio drops out so we can pass all these details to the relevant team to investigate further. 

You can attach the video to your next response by using the Insert Video option in the post editor. You can also upload it as an unlisted video to YouTube or to Google Drive and share the link with us (make sure the video has all the permissions for anyone to watch it). 

We'll be on the lookout for your reply!

[sebastripz]

Same issue. Auto Adjust Quality and the Normalize Volume options are turned on. Turning off the hardware acceleration didn't work. 

[AlejaR]

Hey there @sebastripz,

Thanks for your reply here and for the info shared.

We're investigating this audio issue on Mac more in depth in this thread. We suggest you reply there with the info requested by @Ivelina here. Questions will be posted in batches there, so make sure to subscribe to it to get notified as soon as new posts are made.

If anything else comes up in the meantime, the Community will always be here for you.

[dmpratt]

Hello, just wanted to provide some additional information because I too am having issues with Spotify and CoreAudio, but my setup is a bit different. Might help figure this out. Here's the short description and logs from both event, plain silence and static sounding noise.

I use Spotify with Airfoil. It captures the audio and sends it out to multiple speakers around my house. This has worked well for years, but over the past maybe 4-6 months I've noticed intermittent drop of music or severe degradation of the quality of the sound. Like it's fuzzy, bass is full of static. My logs show similar issues to IlyaM. This can happen in 5 minutes or not for 2 hours. It seems to work longer when I have my Mac playing the music along with the remote targets. Another reason I believe this is caused by Spotify is the fact that I do not experience this issue with Apple Music. I've had sessions run for many hours with no buffer over/under runs, not errors in the logs, and most importantly, no glitchy sound. Would love to get this fixed. Spotify is my primary source of music, play lists, and I love the fact that I can control it from my phone and watch, even when streaming all over the house.

Thank you!