MacBook Pro 2018, Sound Issue (even with external Soundcard)

Question

Level 1

4 points

MacBook Pro 2018, Sound Issue (even with external Soundcard)

Hi Everyone,

As much as was exited about the arrival of the new MacBook, I am now worried. I am using my Laptop as an external Plugin Host for a musical production and when I tried to swap out my old MacBook Pro 2012 for the new one I experienced some terrible cracking and devastating sound break up. Today reconstructing the incident I realized this only happens when the sound producing application is not the one on top / the the actually selected one. So far this happens quite reliably after a while in QLab and LiveProffesor, I have not tried iTunes yet. On my old MacBook same software worked fine. The CPU (actual DSP) meter shows high spikes in one app whenever it is in the background, iStat however does not show a high CPU usage, especially not in the 2nd to 4th cores. Does anyone have an idea what causes this? Your help would be very much appreciated as I need this MacBook for the shows.

To make things worse, having avoided to use either application when in the background, one Application still crackles a little from time to time, as if the CPU power was not enough. How could this be if my old MBP did this just alright?

thank you so much

sincerly Lukas

(Specs:

MacBook Pro 2018 13', i7 2,7 ghz QuadCore, 16gb Ram, High Sierra 10.13.6

Applications: LiveProfessor 2.2.2, QLab 4.1.1,

Focusrite PCIe RedNet Card

old MBP:

MacBook 2012 13', i7 2,9 ghz DuoCore, 8gb Ram, High Sierra 10.13.5

same Sound Device and Applications)

Posted on Aug 10, 2018 4:40 PM

Reply

Answer 1

Joseph_S.

Community Specialist

Aug 14, 2018 7:02 AM in response to G.Sinise

Thanks for replying, G.Sinise, and that additional info, it really helps! Since you have narrowed this down further, your next step is to contact Apple for further help with your situation.

Contact Apple Support

Have a great day and thanks for using the Apple Support Communities!

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Answer 2

G.Sinise Author

Level 1

4 points

Aug 12, 2018 7:48 PM in response to raina_b22

thanks for the help.

unfortunately this seems to be the problem whatever the cable or account. Investigating this further here is what seems to cause the problem. One Application with some (Plug ins) CPU Audio usage (Pro Tools or LiveProfessor) and low buffer size. (nothing with an MBP 2012 could not handle), and sound comes out crackling. This is the case even if an totally other app (iTunes) is creating the sound and sending it to the MacBook speakers themself.

Very weird,...

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Answer 3

Sep 16, 2018 6:44 AM in response to Joseph_S.

I am currently facing these issues on the new MBP i just bought two weeks ago.

Issues with the Macbook Pro 2018 - YouTube

However, there isn't an official Apple store in Thailand yet so replacing the laptop isn't a viable option. I can only get them to replace the parts they deem damaged. But it would require the laptop be opened up/sent to Singapore too.

I hope Apple will solve this issue.

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Answer 4

raina_b22

Community Specialist

Aug 11, 2018 1:59 PM in response to G.Sinise

Hello G.Sinise,

Thanks for that info and choosing the Apple Support Communities. Based on what you stated, it seems you are experiencing issues with playing sound out of some specific applications on your new MacBook Pro that you didn't have this issue with your old MacBook Pro. You can figure out if unexpected behavior is related to a user file or setting by trying to reproduce the issue from another user account. This process includes creating a new user account, logging in to it, and testing for the issue. Also make sure to try different ports on your MacBook Pro and different cables if possible.

How to test an issue in another user account on your Mac

Cheers!

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MacBook Pro 2018, Sound Issue (even with external Soundcard)

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