Macbook Pro 16 inch speaker periodic pops

Spinnn wrote:

Hi. Anyone using Cycling '74 Max 8 on the new Macbook Pro 16-inch? I'm getting strange audio from Max 8. Simple sound generators produce audio which is kind of glitchy... it is not stable.

Verify your software is up to date:

Combo update macOS 10.15.3 https://support.apple.com/kb/DL2030

To trouble shoot further you can:

Try a SafeBoot https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201262

Takes noticeable longer to get to the login screen, does a 5-15 minute disk repair before it fully boots up, and certain system caches get cleared and rebuilt, including dynamic loader cache, etc. Login and test.

This will tell you if third party interference; extensions etc are not loaded in safe boot mode.

macOS automatically activates the discrete GPU for certain apps, you can see which apps open are using it under:

activity monitor --> energy pane --> graphics card column

If it says "yes", that app is causing the GPU to be activated.

For what it's worth, I've been working on a reproduction starting from a fresh install of the OS. A fresh install of macOS does not reproduce the issue. You need to install and use GarabgeBand to reproduce. But it only takes a few minutes of futzing around in GarabgeBand (it doesn't seem to matter too much what you do... could be working with WAV files, or MIDI), to reproduce the issue.

I agree that I think it's a buffer issue. Specifically I think the buffer is emptying periodically, which causes the speakers to run out of audio to play. When they run out they go silent. That silence however, is very brief (probably measured in single digit milliseconds), and when the sound comes back, it sounds like a pop noice. But that's just speculation.

Going forward I'm only going to update https://discussions.apple.com/thread/251130317 with whatever findings I may have.

Check out this thread. https://discussions.apple.com/thread/251163041, I think his user has the exact same issue you have (and I have). Also that thread has a link to a recording of the issue, which matches my issue (and maybe yours too).

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/251163041

I don't have any solutions, but it would be interesting to know if we're all experiencing the same issue. Here's another thread that I think is on the same issue

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/251130317

Yup, same issue here. I tried safe mode and there is no sound at all, from the internal laptop speakers. I can still select other output devices, however.

I'm still chatting with Apple Support about this. Our next appointment is this weekend.

Not yet. I was on with Apple support for a bit this morning, and we're still working on it. We're looking for possible 3rd party culprits. Do you use Native Instruments software, or a Focusrite audio interface?

Thanks.

I appear to be having the same problem. I am using Digital Performer 10. During playback it keeps popping and distorting, its really strange. This is a new MacBook Pro 16".

I ran the same files same version of Digital Performer on my 2012 MacBook Pro and have no issues. Very strange indeed.

All Macbook Pro 16 inch seems to have a popping issue when watching videos or on Youtube. No solution from Apple to fix these weird audio issues so far unfortunately.