HomePod popping noise

Assuming you're all up to date on the latest OS...Inside the HomePod, on the amplifier board, there are four filtering capacitors inbetween the DAC and AMP chips. These capacitors are supposed to remove any DC from the DAC before being sent to the AMP then the subwoofer.

These capacitors tend to lose their capacitance over time, allowing more and more DC through, which gets amplified and causes problems like ticking / popping and in worse cases damaging components and the subwoofer speaker. There some protection built in that force restarts the HomePod if it detects too much DC (usually sounds like a death fart) but it doesn't always stop damage from occuring.

Obviously the preferred route is to get a warranty replacement. If you can't, and you're repair savvy, you will probably need to replace these four capacitors and sometimes a resistor next to the subwoofer connector to fix the DC issue and popping. Also check that your subwoofer speaker itself is still fine, there is an inspection port to see it's voice coil, and gently pushing the cone in and releasing should be perfectly smooth and quiet.

Greetings daverich07,

Here are a few steps to take, if you haven't already:

• Unplug your HomePod from power, wait five minutes, plug it back in and allow it power on.
• If the issue persists reset your HomePod via one of the methods described in the following article - Reset HomePod
• Should you still be hearing that popping, the next step will be connect with Apple Support for additional assistance. Here's their link - Contact Apple Support.

Thanks.