Crackling/popping noises when playing music on iMac.

I had this issue on a new Macbook Air 2024 (M3). For me, it turned out to be an intel app (Spotify). When I replaced it with the version for the M3 chip, the popping stopped.

The Configure Speakers thing is not in the Sound section of System Settings in Sonoma. You have to open the Audio MIDI Setup app in your Utilities folder. All Configure Speakers does is allow you to reverse your speakers. Some people have had luck with eliminating the popping by changing the Format frequency in this app to 88,200 Hz instead of the two lower numbers. I have no clue why that would work, however.

check to make sure mono audio is off which may cause audio problems. also check the enhancer settings. higher can cause the speakers to rattle. also are the speakers in good condition, check the drivers for any dry rot or cone rips which may have been causing the crackling

I agree, this is a really frustrating issue. Bought this Pro last year and it really should be fine.

For people looking for a quick fix (albeit an imperfect solution) when I altered the speaker balance to 100% left speaker in System Preferences it seemed to reduce the frequency of the crackling sounds. Honestly, at first I thought they were totally gone, but alas!

try changing the audio settings. if some settings are too high or low, it may cause the drivers to create feedback. check the settings or sometimes they say, try restarting the device. if none of that worked it may just be the audio file, the audio file has low quality or the devices speaker is damaged.

Absolutely - I just selected a video on YouTube on Chrome which played flawlessly. I then played the exact same video using Safari and....plenty of pops, clicks and so on. No other apps open, no changes to any audio settings, just played the same video in two separate browsers and the Safari playback had clicks and pops aplenty and the Chrome one didn't.

I have the same audio crackling problem for the past 2-3 weeks with my M1 Macbook pro 16" (bought around 2021-22) after i upgraded to Sonoma (not sure if that's the source of problem, though).

I used to do music on this mac and my friend told me to try checking on the Sonnox ListenHub I previously installed. Then when I open it (I guess it was installed long ago but I have not used it properly), all of a sudden, the crackling sound goes away whenever I play any audio again. I guess my situation might be unique because not everyone use Sonnox software. But I still want to share in case this helps someone.

Imaxian

I had the same problem streaming Netflix on Safari. Tried it on Firefox and problem solved. So it’s an issue somewhere cause when using Safari. Not tried other browsers.

Don't know how or why but can confirm that raising the format frequency fixed it for me

I'm also having the same issue, particularly bad when streaming on Safari. I'm just using the internal speakers on the Macbook Air (2024). I'm an Audio Professional, if this was happening in Ableton or any other DAW I'd say it relates to processor overload or buffer issues with my playback device but I'm literally streaming a single low res stereo audio stream on Safari with almost nothing else going on in the computer, it's hard to see where the issue is coming from.

I'm following your steps in System Preferences, but after I select built-in speakers, I don't see a "Configure Speakers" button anywhere. Has it changed recently? Is there another way to configure them?

14.06.2024

From now I have the same issue on MacBook Pro M1.

As it requested to do update to macOS Sonoma 14.5, I did it but with no result.

Shame on Apple to have such an issue after awesome WWDC24!

@Community User

Sorry bro, but your reply is useless. Don't be silly.

There is no any "Configure Speakers..." button for MacBook Speakers. The only thing that Apple allows us is to play around output volume and balance.

Probably it's because you don't have such a problem or/and you didn't try your suggestion yourself. Better answer "I don't know" or "Sorry guys, we didn't have reproduce the issue yet", or even nothing rather then shiposting "turn off - turn on" solution with reference to settings that doesn't exist in the system.

The problem is located somewhere in the core, for sure - the Crackling/popping noises are happening even if I play the Alert Sound Effect from the same Setting page.

This started happening to me last week on my iMac. I haven’t updated to Sonoma.

It happens when I’m streaming music on Spotify (app), when trying to edit audio on Adobe Audition or watching video in Chrome or Safari browsers.

Occurs both with internal iMac speakers and connected Air Pod Pro 2.

It’s making life very difficult!

Purchased my 2023 MacBook Pro M3 right before the New Years and started noticing the crackling sound about 3 months in. At first I thought it was just a steaming platform issue but became more noticeable when watching videos online. Has anyone found a fix to this issue? Is it worth going in to the Apple Store for a diagnostic?