Just to add - I actually use external speakers on my Macbook Pro M1 Pro chip - and they also pop. I recently replaced them because I thought it might be the device or a short in the cabling... but no. It's the device. I moved the same speakers over to my Windows desktop, and they didn't pop once. The pop is loud enough, and frequent enough (even when I'm not listening to audio) that I have to unplug them every night. Which for how expensive this device was, is inexcusable. I am require to use Apple products for work, but I'll never understand this obsession.