System Overload and sample rate issue - sudden onset

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Level 1

9 points

System Overload and sample rate issue - sudden onset

I've been getting great results from GarageBand and suddenly my computer shows an error message when i try to play recordings

"Error while trying to synchronize Audio and MIDI.

Sample Rate 41696 recognized.

Check conflict between GarageBand and external device."

after persevering, a message eventually comes up informing me the disk is too slow or there's a system overload

on another song file the error message has a lower sample rate - and this happens within a same song too..

Sample Rate 40718 recognized.

Check conflict between GarageBand and external device.

the error appears whichever song i open...and the songs are a mixture of sounds...some recorded guitar and vocals, harmonicas, bass guitar, electric guitar plus loops and a USB keyboards

other projects are just vocals and guitar recorded either separately or simultaneously

it sounds like the individual tracks of the song play at different speeds - - they didn't do this the day before yesterday when everything played fine

hope someone knows what this is about and maybe how to fix it

thanks

iMac (21.5-inch, Late 2012), OS X Yosemite (10.10.1)

Posted on Sep 30, 2015 6:49 AM

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Answer 1

CarlAVII

Community Specialist

Sep 30, 2015 1:03 PM in response to UncleSlacker

Howdy UncleSlacker,

When GarageBand produces an error regarding an inability to synchronize Audio and MIDI it can be a symptom of several issues. Fortunately, a simple solution may be to reset your Mac's SMC and NVRAM.
Resetting the System Management Controller (SMC) on your Mac - Apple Support
How to Reset NVRAM on your Mac - Apple Support

If you're still getting Audio and MIDI synchronization errors, it may be due to an issue with an external audio interface. One way to test this is to try setting your output device as Internal Speakers in System Preferences and GarageBand's preferences and removing any USB keyboards.

To change the system output device:

Open System Preferences
Click Sound
Click Output
Choose "Internal Speakers"

To change GarageBand's output device:

Open GarageBand's Preferences
Click Audio/MIDI
Set Output Device to Built-in Output

After changing these settings, restart your Mac and try opening a project in GarageBand to see if you still get the error. If you do, try reconnected devices one at a time and repeating until you get the error once more.

If you could get back to me with the following information we can start to pin this down:

What brand and model interfaces and/or usb keyboards are you using?
What version of GarageBand are you using?
This can be found under the GarageBand menu > About GarageBand
Did reconnecting the devices cause the error to reappear?

Looking forward to hearing from you so that we can get you back to making music!

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