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tttxx Author

Level 1

10 points

Sound stuttering after Mountain Lion install

Dear community,

after having installed OSX Mountain Lion my sound startet stuttering whenever there is rapid movement on my screen.

This includes e.g. window movement, scrolling through image loaded websites or video playback (flash player, quicktime).

A restart didn't help. I'm using stereo output, not digital.

I have connected a second monitor but the problem persists after disconnecting it. Movement on the second monitor also causes the sound to stutter.

My GPU Diode temperature is at 85°C (there is some bug that keeps the GPU under load while a second monitor is connected AFAIK), but I guess it was the same under Snow Leopard.

In Snow Leopard the sound output was always perfect even under heavy load or heavy HDD I/O.

Any ideas?

iMac (27-inch Mid 2011), OS X Mountain Lion

Posted on Jul 28, 2012 5:48 AM

Top-ranking reply

chilblane

Level 1

5 points

Posted on Jul 28, 2012 3:22 PM

I am also having this issue as well.

I opened Activity Monitor and noticed that during the stuttering, coreaudiod jumps in CPU usage, often past 5%. I have also noticed graphics lag when this occurs if I'm doing something like watching full-screen video or gaming.

I'm currently experiencing this on mid 2011 iMac 27" as well as a 24" iMac 2009 model I use at work.

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1,223 replies

harkan

Level 1

4 points

Mar 14, 2013 1:41 PM in response to tttxx

Looks like 10.8.3 was released with a fix for:

A fix for an issue that may cause audio to stutter on 2011 iMacs

Can anyone confirm if this actually fixes the issue?

kallisti

Level 1

15 points

Mar 14, 2013 1:45 PM in response to harkan

Try reading the thread. thats why it exists

harkan

Level 1

4 points

Mar 14, 2013 1:50 PM in response to tttxx

I have been reading the thread. People had reported improvements using the beta builds and I wanted to see if anyone saw an improvement with the official release.

kallisti

Level 1

15 points

Mar 14, 2013 1:55 PM in response to harkan

are you seriously hesitating to update your machine?

Mar 14, 2013 2:51 PM in response to harkan

Good question, unfriendly response, beats me why.

Morgan R

Level 2

228 points

Mar 14, 2013 3:40 PM in response to harkan

I can confirm that the audio skipping issue has been resolved with the 10.8.3 update.

Early 2011 iMac.

Mar 14, 2013 3:50 PM in response to Morgan R

This is the OS they should have released back in July. After like 14 betas of the software, it should be perfect. Graphic performance is back on par, system runs cooler/smoother, and as many others are discovering, audio stutter is fixed.

Damage is still done though, Apple will have a minority share in my household from now on. Possibly starting with the Galaxy S IV. The phrase too little too late is unfortunate but entirely all too true here.

harkan

Level 1

4 points

Mar 14, 2013 4:06 PM in response to Morgan R

Thanks for the update.

DEFMAD

Level 1

0 points

Mar 14, 2013 4:33 PM in response to tttxx

Has anyone who was getting the audio stutter plus frame rate issues/lag while playing games (specifically WoW) confirm that the 10.8.3 update fixes the gaming lag and mouse curser lag problems that came with the audio stutter?

I don't want to upgrade back to mountain lion if it doesn't fix it.

harkan

Level 1

4 points

Mar 14, 2013 7:20 PM in response to DEFMAD

I was able to play WoW tonight after upgrading without any sound issues on a 2011 iMac. I used to get stutter throughout the game and Vent would cut in and out. It was fine tonight.

DEFMAD

Level 1

0 points

Mar 14, 2013 8:45 PM in response to harkan

Thanks, that's great news! What about the heating/fan problems? In ML the fans were making my 2011 iMac heat up, would you or anyone else with this issue as well know if this has been fixed too?

Mar 15, 2013 6:36 AM in response to tttxx

I was delighted to see an OS update waiting for me last night; I installed 10.8.3 and had absolutely no problems. In fact, I put it to the ultimate test and logged into WoW - the audio stuttering problem appears to have been FIXED by this update! /cheer

dokt

Level 1

4 points

Mar 15, 2013 6:45 AM in response to deluxeczech

fantastic! I am installing this update now. Only thing that worries me is it says in the update (norwegian->english) "...machines released in 2011", while my iMac is a 2012 model... hoping for the best.

Mar 15, 2013 7:28 AM in response to dokt

Yes, I saw that too. However, my husband has a 2009 27" iMac (with ML installed) and he had the audio stuttering problem too. So I'm only half-buying that. :-)

Otrax

Level 1

0 points

Mar 15, 2013 7:46 AM in response to tttxx

I have a 2008 macbook pro and the sound stuttering persists even after the 10.8.3 update! Whenever I open itunes, spotify, soundcloud, youtube etc. it skips as if it were a cd player being dropped on the ground. I cannot listen to music at all like this.

One more note: It's worse when my volume is maxed out.

Can anyone help with the OLD macbooks?

Here's my computer's info:

Processor: 2.93 Ghz Intel Core 2 Duo

Memory: 8 GB 1067 MHz DDR3

Sound stuttering after Mountain Lion install