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The left/right channels drifting randomly is one thing (SoundSource fixes it), but it gets worse.. I've been trying to raise awareness of Apples horrible audio

The left/right channels drifting randomly is one thing (SoundSource fixes it), but it gets worse.. I've been trying to raise awareness of Apples horrible audio issues for quite a few years now. Driver re-starts and USB re-connects, for no apparent reason. [0][1] I have the issue on Mac Mini (2018) Intel, Mac Studio M1, Macbook Pro M2, so it's not device specific. [0] https://developer.apple.com/forums/thread/132423 https://developer.apple.com/forums/thread/132423 [1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=32163114 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=32163114 [2] https://developer.apple.com/forums/search/?q=Popping+Sound https://developer.apple.com/forums/search/?q=Popping+Sound

donatj 3y ago
I use an external DAC and encounter this crackling problem regularly. I have to unplug/replug my DAC to get it to go back to normal. I just thought it was a hardware problem with my DAC because it’s getting up there in the years, thought the caps might be going. Hmm…
- smcleod 3y ago
  I wonder if the clock source is getting out of whack with the DACs, it could be caused by extreme jitter.
- tmikaeld 3y ago
  I have 4 external all different sound cards and AMPs (USB), it's the same on all of them. There is no software remedy, only re-connecting physically works (temporarily)
  - donatj 3y ago
    Well dang. I have had intention on buying a new DAC largely due to the issue; for better or worse there goes that plan.
    - tmikaeld 3y ago
      I haven't tried Apple "certified" Thunderbolt devices yet, but others in the huge Apple thread [0] has and still experience cracks/pops.
    - knute 3y ago
      I also didn't realize that this problem was common, but I switched to using an optical toslink cable to an external DAC which seems to have fixed it for me. Although now the system volume control doesn't work, but I can work around that with the volume control on my amp.
      - ipqk 3y ago
        soundsource gives you the feature to control an external dac with the system volume. I bought it specifically for this use case.
  - Night_Thastus 3y ago
    This is not a perfect solution, but if it's possible - see if the apps in question have an option for 'exclusive control' over the audio device. If they do, then the app in question will pass the audio raw to the external device without the OS or any existing mixers interfering at all. Of course, no other audio will play - only that from the app with exclusive control. It's not perfect but it can help in these scenarios.
  - cwillu 3y ago
    “Amp” isn't an acronym
- formerly_proven 3y ago
  Sometimes happens on Windows and Linux, too. Could be a bug in the XMOS SDK, seeing how almost all audio interfaces use it.
- elSidCampeador 3y ago
  TIL! So far I'd been thinking that it was maybe an issue with my headphones (Bose QC45, connecting to the MBA M1)
- jbverschoor 3y ago
  Had crackling with slowdowns and kernel panics on M1. Was fixed with a motherboard swap
- elondaits 3y ago
  I had an external audio interface with occasional horrible bursts of white noise. I assumed it was the CPU not being fast enough, because there was a correlation between work and the bursts… but in the end it was a power supply that wasn’t powerful enough for all my hardware (although everything worked). I changed it, and the issue went away.
TwistedWave 3y ago
I have just reported a bug where high memory pressure could cause memory pages from the real-time audio thread to get swapped out, causing audio glitches. I am not hopeful for a timely resolution now...
- tmikaeld 3y ago
  There might be something to it, higher than > 60% memory pressure and the issue will get a lot worse and more frequent.
- mschuster91 3y ago
  > I have just reported a bug where high memory pressure could cause memory pages from the real-time audio thread to get swapped out, causing audio glitches. By any chance, is that problem related to the new Microsoft Teams and its incoming-call notification sound? Ever since the Sonoma update and the coinciding Teams switch it's glitching horribly.
  - zippergz 3y ago
    Not for me. I have this problem and I have never used (or even installed) Teams.
  - pinebox 3y ago
    > the new Microsoft Teams and its incoming-call notification sound I absolutely have this issue and would love to know more about any suspected causes.
- nonninz 3y ago
  I have this using Firefox on a 2019 Macbook Pro with 16GB RAM. If the laptop has not been restarted for a while, Firefox tabs will eat up more and more memory over time until it makes the mac kind-of unresponsive (*) and will need to get hard power cycled. The only signs that this is about to happen are two: 1. Any audio-emitting webapp will start to get very choppy, whether is youtube on FF, Google meet on chrome, or a slack call/huddle. Which is the problem I think you are referring to. 2. Switching workspaces animation will get very very choppy. Usually when this happens it's already almost too late. (*) this means that while the pointer is still moving smoothily, even from a BT mouse, there is no reaction to any click or keyboard typing.
conradfr 3y ago
I've definitely had the crackling on my M1 Ventura. Also I use an old AudioBox USB and it sometimes dies and needs the unplug/replug.
philistine 3y ago
Oh god, I thought my display was the problem, but it's the laptop! I'm so angry that Apple is to blame.
iamwpj 3y ago
I had crackling in my M1 MBP headphone jack, any variety of plugged in, USB/DAC all summer/early fall. I assumed it was an audio controller issue. And then it kind of dissipated, until there was a warm day in October. I had just watered the plant on my desk. All winter -- not an issue. House is cool and dry, but as soon as the humidity gets above 60% or so, I get crackling. Not sure what I'm going to do this summer.
pier25 3y ago
I've been using Macs for audio work since 2007 and never experienced these issues. Currently using a Motu M4 but I've used probably a dozen audio interfaces plus the built-in ones. Could this be an electrical issue? Are you bus powering your interfaces?
luckman212 3y ago
And get ready for macOS 14.4 where apparently Apple's decided that we're no longer allowed to kickstart coreaudiod (or any other LaunchDaemons) $ sudo launchctl kickstart -kp system/com.apple.audio.coreaudiod Could not kickstart service "com.apple.audio.coreaudiod": 1: Operation not permitted

donatj 3y ago

I use an external DAC and encounter this crackling problem regularly. I have to unplug/replug my DAC to get it to go back to normal. I just thought it was a hardware problem with my DAC because it’s getting up there in the years, thought the caps might be going. Hmm…

smcleod 3y ago
I wonder if the clock source is getting out of whack with the DACs, it could be caused by extreme jitter.
tmikaeld 3y ago
I have 4 external all different sound cards and AMPs (USB), it's the same on all of them. There is no software remedy, only re-connecting physically works (temporarily)
- donatj 3y ago
  Well dang. I have had intention on buying a new DAC largely due to the issue; for better or worse there goes that plan.
  - tmikaeld 3y ago
    I haven't tried Apple "certified" Thunderbolt devices yet, but others in the huge Apple thread [0] has and still experience cracks/pops.
  - knute 3y ago
    I also didn't realize that this problem was common, but I switched to using an optical toslink cable to an external DAC which seems to have fixed it for me. Although now the system volume control doesn't work, but I can work around that with the volume control on my amp.
    - ipqk 3y ago
      soundsource gives you the feature to control an external dac with the system volume. I bought it specifically for this use case.
- Night_Thastus 3y ago
  This is not a perfect solution, but if it's possible - see if the apps in question have an option for 'exclusive control' over the audio device. If they do, then the app in question will pass the audio raw to the external device without the OS or any existing mixers interfering at all. Of course, no other audio will play - only that from the app with exclusive control. It's not perfect but it can help in these scenarios.
- cwillu 3y ago
  “Amp” isn't an acronym
formerly_proven 3y ago
Sometimes happens on Windows and Linux, too. Could be a bug in the XMOS SDK, seeing how almost all audio interfaces use it.
elSidCampeador 3y ago
TIL! So far I'd been thinking that it was maybe an issue with my headphones (Bose QC45, connecting to the MBA M1)
jbverschoor 3y ago
Had crackling with slowdowns and kernel panics on M1. Was fixed with a motherboard swap
elondaits 3y ago
I had an external audio interface with occasional horrible bursts of white noise. I assumed it was the CPU not being fast enough, because there was a correlation between work and the bursts… but in the end it was a power supply that wasn’t powerful enough for all my hardware (although everything worked). I changed it, and the issue went away.

TwistedWave 3y ago

I have just reported a bug where high memory pressure could cause memory pages from the real-time audio thread to get swapped out, causing audio glitches. I am not hopeful for a timely resolution now...

tmikaeld 3y ago
There might be something to it, higher than > 60% memory pressure and the issue will get a lot worse and more frequent.
mschuster91 3y ago
> I have just reported a bug where high memory pressure could cause memory pages from the real-time audio thread to get swapped out, causing audio glitches. By any chance, is that problem related to the new Microsoft Teams and its incoming-call notification sound? Ever since the Sonoma update and the coinciding Teams switch it's glitching horribly.
- zippergz 3y ago
  Not for me. I have this problem and I have never used (or even installed) Teams.
- pinebox 3y ago
  > the new Microsoft Teams and its incoming-call notification sound I absolutely have this issue and would love to know more about any suspected causes.
nonninz 3y ago
I have this using Firefox on a 2019 Macbook Pro with 16GB RAM. If the laptop has not been restarted for a while, Firefox tabs will eat up more and more memory over time until it makes the mac kind-of unresponsive (*) and will need to get hard power cycled. The only signs that this is about to happen are two: 1. Any audio-emitting webapp will start to get very choppy, whether is youtube on FF, Google meet on chrome, or a slack call/huddle. Which is the problem I think you are referring to. 2. Switching workspaces animation will get very very choppy. Usually when this happens it's already almost too late. (*) this means that while the pointer is still moving smoothily, even from a BT mouse, there is no reaction to any click or keyboard typing.

conradfr 3y ago

I've definitely had the crackling on my M1 Ventura. Also I use an old AudioBox USB and it sometimes dies and needs the unplug/replug.

philistine 3y ago

Oh god, I thought my display was the problem, but it's the laptop! I'm so angry that Apple is to blame.

iamwpj 3y ago

I had crackling in my M1 MBP headphone jack, any variety of plugged in, USB/DAC all summer/early fall. I assumed it was an audio controller issue. And then it kind of dissipated, until there was a warm day in October. I had just watered the plant on my desk. All winter -- not an issue. House is cool and dry, but as soon as the humidity gets above 60% or so, I get crackling. Not sure what I'm going to do this summer.

pier25 3y ago

I've been using Macs for audio work since 2007 and never experienced these issues. Currently using a Motu M4 but I've used probably a dozen audio interfaces plus the built-in ones. Could this be an electrical issue? Are you bus powering your interfaces?

luckman212 3y ago

And get ready for macOS 14.4 where apparently Apple's decided that we're no longer allowed to kickstart coreaudiod (or any other LaunchDaemons) $ sudo launchctl kickstart -kp system/com.apple.audio.coreaudiod Could not kickstart service "com.apple.audio.coreaudiod": 1: Operation not permitted