Sound card pops randomly

YES!
Mine does this too.. It's normally in my case if it's inactive for a few minutes, and then a sound plays... It will go pop before it plays the sound (the sound plays fine and doesn't pop again until I stop things for a long time)... And even then it doesn't happen every time

Josh

This popping is a major issue and seems to have been affecting mac users for a long time without any sort of technical response from Apple.

Same thing here....

Same here on a brand new MacBook Pro 4,1.

I am really upset by all these little bugs ignored by Apple. Come on, audio out works even on a eeePC...

BTW, onboard speakers and USB speakers seem to work fine, it is just audio out.

I've noticed this when I launch, say, Quicktime when I'm going to play a movie. I don't believe it it the sound card, but rather simply the internal speakers turning on after "auto-sleeping." I don't believe this is anything to be worried about, as this happens with many types of speaker setups.

See I don't have external speakers or headphones being used....

Mine is the internal speakers that pop all the time! It's driving me nuts

Maybe your problem comes from the Power Setting, sometimes the audio seems to turn on/off, and it pops at the beginning of a track, not in the middle.

Mine is different, it is more like the one anothertime reported. And the good news is that my laptop seems to be OK. Well, I have quickly tried with a headphone and the audio out is good. It is also good with the internal speakers and a little USB XT system.

My conclusion is that is the jack of my primary audio system. It is weird, beacuse this jack is good and the audio system works fine with a Powerbook and other stuff. Anyway, that jack does not work with my MacBook Pro. I don't know why, but if it is just that one, it doesn't really matter, I will change it... The audio out of the MacBook Pro works with everything else. My excuses to Apple ^_^

This problem has annoyed me enough that I've done a bit of troubleshooting.

The symptoms of my problem are similar to those of the original poster (anothertime) -- with one caveat: it's hardly random.

It is absolutely reproduceable.

I do not believe that onboard audio is affected. If it is, it's not obvious to me. External audio (headphone/speaker jack) is a definite, however.

I've tried this with several types of speakers and headphones, all with the same result.

The popping sound occurs the first time audio is sent to the external device, and Exactly thirty (30) seconds after audio output ceases, a slightly softer audio pop is detectable as the audio (presumably) shuts down.

Then, the next time output is directed to the external audio, another pop is detected as the output begins.

Lather, rinse, repeat. Any time audio output is dormant for 30 seconds, this occurs.

Even the volume up/down keys (and the sounds that go with them) will trigger this phenomenon.

I have a number of other Macs (portables as well as desktops), and this issue is definitely unique to my new late-2008-MBP.

I have it too.

MBP5,1

Innerspace Media wrote:
[. . .]

I have a number of other Macs (portables as well as desktops), and this issue is definitely unique to my new late-2008-MBP.

OK, the plot thickens.
The above statement was true, but is no longer.

I recently sent in my 17" MBP for service related to the Nvidia Graphics problem... and now that it's back, it's displaying the same 30s audio "sleep" symptoms: light pop upon audio "sleep", and slightly louder pop upon waking.
Another point of interest is that it's also noticeable with the onboard audio on the 17"; however, with external speakers/headphones, the "pops" are not as jarring on the 17" as on the 15".

I hadn't even tried the headphone jack to i saw this thread and i have it too. The pop as the audio goes back to sleep is almost inperceptable but the pop before a sound is definately noticeable. At least again it seem like Apple could fix it with a software path not a hardware repair. I'm sure leaving the audio hardware on affect battery life but would i assume be worth it for a critical audio user. Maybe tie it into the Battery life/performance setting in the power features?

Same problem on my late '08 MBP. Happens exactly the same as Innerspace Media describes it. Pops on initial start of audio and when no audio is fed to the jack, exactly 30 seconds later a softer pop. I thought about taking my computer into the Apple store but it is such a zoo down there that they would never hear the popping. It's very annoying – especially when searching for new music on iTunes where there isn't a constant audio feed.

I'm hoping for a fix in the next update. Seems likely the audio driver is at fault.

same problem here... I don't hear a pop on the audio out but I definitely hear it when an audio file starts being played after the speakers were previously idle

Just got off the phone with apple and they say that the 10.5.6 update seems to have re-aggravated this issue... but he did recommend antipop (http://www.macupdate.com/info.php/id/29024) which he can not guarantee fixes the problem but it is reported to work. I will give it a try and let you guys know... if anyone else wants to try it out let us know if it works!