Crackling/popping noises when playing music on iMac.

14.06.2024

From now I have the same issue on MacBook Pro M1.

As it requested to do update to macOS Sonoma 14.5, I did it but with no result.

Shame on Apple to have such an issue after awesome WWDC24!

@Community User

Sorry bro, but your reply is useless. Don't be silly.

There is no any "Configure Speakers..." button for MacBook Speakers. The only thing that Apple allows us is to play around output volume and balance.

Probably it's because you don't have such a problem or/and you didn't try your suggestion yourself. Better answer "I don't know" or "Sorry guys, we didn't have reproduce the issue yet", or even nothing rather then shiposting "turn off - turn on" solution with reference to settings that doesn't exist in the system.

The problem is located somewhere in the core, for sure - the Crackling/popping noises are happening even if I play the Alert Sound Effect from the same Setting page.

I'm also having the same issue, particularly bad when streaming on Safari. I'm just using the internal speakers on the Macbook Air (2024). I'm an Audio Professional, if this was happening in Ableton or any other DAW I'd say it relates to processor overload or buffer issues with my playback device but I'm literally streaming a single low res stereo audio stream on Safari with almost nothing else going on in the computer, it's hard to see where the issue is coming from.

The Configure Speakers thing is not in the Sound section of System Settings in Sonoma. You have to open the Audio MIDI Setup app in your Utilities folder. All Configure Speakers does is allow you to reverse your speakers. Some people have had luck with eliminating the popping by changing the Format frequency in this app to 88,200 Hz instead of the two lower numbers. I have no clue why that would work, however.

Purchased my 2023 MacBook Pro M3 right before the New Years and started noticing the crackling sound about 3 months in. At first I thought it was just a steaming platform issue but became more noticeable when watching videos online. Has anyone found a fix to this issue? Is it worth going in to the Apple Store for a diagnostic?

I started having this issue too around last week. M1 air MacOS Sonoma 14.4. It's so annoying. Have you found a fix yet?

im facing this too and on my non-Apple TV with AirPlay. This is absolutely annoying. Every track has crackling and popping and it’s getting on my nerves. Apple - please fix this issue as it’s stealing the joy of music

@Good Old Days

You are right about iMac and as all of us have the same issue on iMac and MacBook it means that it's more likely software problem and solution could be the same as well.

Since the issue occurs both with the built-in speakers and an external speaker, it's less likely to be a hardware problem specific to the speakers themselves. Instead, it could be related to software or audio settings on your iMac.

One thing you can try is resetting the audio settings on your iMac. To do this, you can navigate to "System Preferences" > "Sound" and then select the "Output" tab. From there, you can choose your output device (either the built-in speakers or the external speaker) and then click the "Configure Speakers..." button. Follow the prompts to reset the audio settings to their default configuration.

Additionally, you can try adjusting the audio settings within the music streaming apps themselves. For example, in Apple Music, you can try adjusting the audio quality settings to see if that makes a difference in the crackling and popping noises.

If the issue persists after trying these steps, it may be worth contacting Official Apple Support or visiting an Apple Authorized Service Provider for further assistance. They can perform diagnostics on your iMac to identify any underlying software or hardware issues and provide appropriate solutions.

I'm following your steps in System Preferences, but after I select built-in speakers, I don't see a "Configure Speakers" button anywhere. Has it changed recently? Is there another way to configure them?

None of that applies to my setup - I'm using the built in speakers on the MacBook Air only and it's only happening with streaming audio (so anything that's playing through YouTube on Safari, internet radio stations, Spotify and so on.

I believe this must be a software issue that has "popped up" recently. I have the problem whether I am playing music through the laptop speakers on my MacBook Pro or if I use bluetooth to different headphones. Played same songs on iPhone and on MacBook and crackling is only on the MacBook Pro whether speakers or headphones. If it was a speaker problem I shouldn't be able to reproduce it on different headphones, JLab and Beats and AirPods. What gives? Thanks for any updates or recommendations.

Have you guys tried sudo killall coreaudiod? That worked for me with AIVA

It's funny, because everyone is saying they have the problem when only using Safari, when I am using Chrome and still have this issue.

This started happening to me last week on my iMac. I haven’t updated to Sonoma.

It happens when I’m streaming music on Spotify (app), when trying to edit audio on Adobe Audition or watching video in Chrome or Safari browsers.

Occurs both with internal iMac speakers and connected Air Pod Pro 2.

It’s making life very difficult!