MacBook Pro audio distortion

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Level 1

56 points

MacBook Pro audio distortion

My very new MacBook Pro is having sporadic audio distortion issues. This seems to only be affecting the internal audio - laptop speakers and headphone output. I don't get the issue with external audio hardware. A restart fixes it... until the next time. I initally tried a PRAM reset and then a re-install of the OS - not a full clean install though - I'd rather avoid that if poss since I have around 900GB of data on this laptop that would need re-installing. Any advice on how I might fix this issue or do I need to drop the MBP into my local Apple Service centre?

MacBook Pro TouchBar and Touch ID, macOS High Sierra (10.13.3), 16GB RAM, 1TB SSD

Posted on Mar 11, 2018 5:44 AM

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Answer 1

insch Author

Level 1

56 points

Mar 11, 2018 9:39 AM in response to insch

OK - now I think I have some more understanding of what may be going on. I'm working with Ableton Live quite a bit. I'm using that with external audio hardware though. Sometimes I will disconnect my laptop from the hardware but might have not quit Ableton. Maybe it is the case that Abelton is switching the internal audio sample rate of the Mac and that is then messing up playback for other audio on the laptop. I don't think what I'm hearing is actually regular distortion - more like digital glitching/misreading due to playing back audio at one sample rate through an audio system set to another. Not sure how to check this though but it's my latest theory. Any thoughts?

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Answer 2

AlexDale

Level 1

143 points

Mar 13, 2018 3:26 AM in response to insch

Hi Insch,

I think you may be right with the Sampling. I use Logic Pro X but have not had this issue, however, Ableton is slightly more power hungry. You can check your theory by closing Ableton before removing any external hardware. This will give your Mac a chance to return back to its standard Sample Rate before unplugging as Ableton controls the Sampling and not your external hardware.

Do you find your audio to be normal with the hardware connected? Could you also provide details on your hardware as well please?

If you can answer the above, I can try to assist.

A.

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Answer 3

insch Author

Level 1

56 points

Mar 13, 2018 1:39 PM in response to AlexDale

Thanks Alex

I'll do some more tests. I am using Focusrite Claret 2Pre with this setup.

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Answer 4

AlexDale

Level 1

143 points

Mar 14, 2018 3:12 AM in response to insch

Hiya,

Okay so yes I think the issue will lie with Ableton rather than the hardware. Try the closing Ableton before unplugging fix and let me know the results.

A.

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MacBook Pro audio distortion

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