You can make a difference in the Apple Support Community!

When you sign up with your Apple Account, you can provide valuable feedback to other community members by upvoting helpful replies and User Tips.

Looks like no one’s replied in a while. To start the conversation again, simply ask a new question.

User profile for user: Barnold377
Barnold377 Author
User level: Level 1
4 points

Audio file in logic, playback choppy

Hi, Since I updated my mac to OSMonterey, every time I import an audio file into logic, it gets wrecked. When I playback the audio file in logic it sounds really choppy, like the cursor is jumping or skipping all the time. The audio files are fine when I listen to them in the finder on my mac, but as soon as I put it into logic, it gets wrecked. Buffer size doesn't change the problem, there is no system overload.

I tried converting the audio file from m4a to wav, and the wav file works just fine. Visually, the wave file is larger than the m4a file in logic, so I wonder if it's a problem with importing the audio.

I just don't want to have to convert all my audio files all the time if there is a simple solution.

I am really confused and annoyed lol. Couldn't find any help when I googled.

MacBook Pro 13″, macOS 12.1

Posted on Jan 15, 2022 6:36 PM

Reply
Question marked as Top-ranking reply
User profile for user: Radarhus
Radarhus
User level: Level 4
3,042 points

Posted on Jan 16, 2022 9:09 AM

Hi there, it seems to be an issue with how Logic internally converts .m4a files to non-compressed audio. As you say above, if you convert to .wav first, there's no problem afterwards. M4a is a lossy compression format, akin to mp3. Before Logic can use the file and stream the audio, it needs to convert it to uncompressed audio internally, and that's what actually happens when you drop a m4a file into Logic. Perhaps, the algorithm it uses to convert the file from lossy to uncompressed audio is causing the choppy sound you experience. At least, that's how I understand the issue (which might not be exactly correct, so please don't take it at face value).


This being said, a follow-up question: is there a particular reason you must use samples / audio files in m4a format, which (at least in theory) is designed to sacrifice the quality of sound to reduce file size?

View in context

Similar questions

1 reply
Question marked as Top-ranking reply
User profile for user: Radarhus
Radarhus
User level: Level 4
3,042 points

Jan 16, 2022 9:09 AM in response to Barnold377

Hi there, it seems to be an issue with how Logic internally converts .m4a files to non-compressed audio. As you say above, if you convert to .wav first, there's no problem afterwards. M4a is a lossy compression format, akin to mp3. Before Logic can use the file and stream the audio, it needs to convert it to uncompressed audio internally, and that's what actually happens when you drop a m4a file into Logic. Perhaps, the algorithm it uses to convert the file from lossy to uncompressed audio is causing the choppy sound you experience. At least, that's how I understand the issue (which might not be exactly correct, so please don't take it at face value).


This being said, a follow-up question: is there a particular reason you must use samples / audio files in m4a format, which (at least in theory) is designed to sacrifice the quality of sound to reduce file size?

Reply

Audio file in logic, playback choppy

Welcome to Apple Support Community
A forum where Apple customers help each other with their products. Get started with your Apple Account.
Learn more Sign up