How to Fix Cracking and Popping Sound ?

If it's the same issue as in https://discussions.apple.com/thread/251814420, then my solution saved me a day :)

I'm having the same problem running Xcode 12.3 in Mac OS 11.1 on a 16" MacBook Pro (late 2019). After running a SwiftUI preview, or running an app in an iOS simulator, audio from other apps plays with a horrible stutter. For example, the audio track of a YouTube video playing through Safari, or a song playing in Apple Music. Whether it's going directly through the Mac speakers or through the headphone jack to my external speakers, the sound is unlistenable. I have tried suggestions I've seen online to change the Simulator's audio input and output settings in the I/O menu, and I've tried killing CoreAudio. None of these suggestions has fixed the problem. It obviously makes one's workflow much more difficult if you're trying to follow along with a tutorial video, something I've found myself needing to do a lot to learn SwiftUI development.

2018 Pro here, its an embarrassing noise.

Hey there, just posting my experience too. I've had my 16-inch 2019 MacBook Pro since February of 2020. Today, for the first time ever, I've experienced this awful crackling, distorted audio while following along to a Udemy React Native tutorial. I'm currently on v11.1 of macOS Big Sur and these are my specs:

• 2.6 GHz 6-Core Intel Core i7

• 16 GB 2667 MHz DDR4

• AMD Radeon Pro 5300M 4 GB

The following applications were open:

• Visual Studio Code v1.52.1

• XCode's iPhone 12 Pro Max iOS 14.4 Simulator v12.4 (940.20)

  • SimulatorKit 597.13.0.1

  • CoreSimulator 732.18.6

• Brave v1.19.88 Chromium: 88.0.4324.96 (Official Build) (x86_64)

  • One tab running my React Native expo browser dev tools on http://localhost:19002/

  • A second tab running the Udemy course

I tried to kill the coreaudio process as suggested in https://developer.apple.com/forums/thread/132423?answerId=656040022#656040022 but that did not resolve this concerning issue.

I didn't seem to have this issue on my former 15-inch MacBook Pro which was on Mojave. At the time, I could run Android Studio's Android Simulator and XCode's iPhone simulator without any issues, so I'm assuming this is just an OS flaw that apparently has made its away into Big Sur from Catalina unfixed somehow. This is completely unacceptable. I can get by in the meantime by using my iPad Pro to watch the Udemy course so that I dedicate my system resources to just the simulator(s) and Visual Studio Code, but I really think a "Pro machine" shouldn't be having this issue.

This also occurs when using SwiftUI previews. I have the latest Big Sur 11.1(20C69) and Xcode 12.4 (12D4e)

For me killing/restarting the core audio daemon [$ sudo pkill coreaudiod] (scroll below) did the trick.

Still a pain... Apple please fix!

i have the same Problem with my MacBook Pro 16" and Xcode 12.4 / Big Sur 11.2 :-( Please Fix this!

I confirm this is linked to XCode simulation. When working on physical device, no crackling sound is to be reported.

To keep it up this thread, @mskayyali's solution works fine:

Code Block 
sudo pkill coreaudiod

You may have to run it several times though.

MBP 16" 2020 maxed out, even killing the usual coreaudiod is not efficient here
Very weird, though I don't think it's a very bad bug to fix

Absolutely ridiculous that we overpay hundreds or thousands of dollars for Apple hardware, supposedly because it's higher quality, then issues like this come up which they refuse to fix. It's been happening to me since purchasing my 2019 MBP last year.

The only "solution" that works for me is to change the audio output in Simulator (under I/O) to something other than the Macbook Speakers.

Thanks y'all for the XCode tip. I was tearing my hair out while trying to watch a tutorial and having XCode open. That's really useful to know until they issue a fix.

am using big Sur 11.1 same issue. please fix it

Big Sur 11.3 (20E5186e). I thought they had fixed this by now?.. My guess is this is because of a "rat's maze of virtual pipes" in the bowels of CoreAudio? Is it known for certain that this is a software problem, or the DAC chip?

Solution:

Switching the Xcode simulator GPU fixed it for me

Code Block 
Simulator > File > GPU Selection > Prefer Discrete GPU

RIP Steve.

Hi
just discovered this:
Xcode 12.4
osx Big Sur 11.2.1
I had the usual cracking problem while programming and listening to music.
following some instruction I had also implemented a null audio driver in the simulator, but the problem persisted.
Now it is totally gone, in the exact moment I have modified the folder name of my projects from dev to dev.nosync
i have iCloud setup to sync either desktop and documents, and my dev folder is inside documents. avoiding the sync the the .nosync addition to the folder name has done apparently the magic.

A fix was suggested here: https://discussions.apple.com/thread/251814420

This happens to me on my 16-inch Macbook Pro (2019) on the latest Big Sur version as well. Especially it happens when I am building things in Unity and play audio at the same time. Indeed a very embarrassing thing for apple I would say.

Mar 18, 2021 at 7:29 PM
ORIGINATOR
Update to this problem:
Besides the speaker corruptions mentioned above after installing Big Sur, It has actually expanded and Warped the top and bottom of the case, likely from overheating the internal battery, which may have lead to the speaker issue as well. The Mac no longer sits flat on a desk top but now rocks on the bottom of the case and the top screen of the machine no longer completely closes either due to the deformation of the case after installing Big Sur! I am very upset about all this. Today I called Apple to have them send me a box to send in the machine to repair it for me. I have already had to prepay $640 for that job and estimate to fix machine C02R90KQG8WQ. The fan is running loudly and the edges of the screen are separating from the heat. I believe that all of this relates to installing Big Sur onto the Mac.

I also am experiencing this problem. Any solution for us?

This sound problem just started for me about a week ago while watching Youtube videos. Xcode is not running.

Catalina 10.15.7, iMac (27-inch, Late 2012), 3.4 GHz Quad-Core Intel Core i7, 32 GB 1600 MHz DDR3

Restarting coreaudiod fixes it temporarily for me.

My MBP13 with Big Sur 11.2.3 works just fine.

Same problem here with my macOS Big Sur 11.1, MB Pro 16in 2019 :(
Could anybody fix this issue?

Thanks dream_emulator

This fixed my problem on M1

Simulator > File > GPU Selection > Prefer Discrete GPU

Restarting coreaudiod also fixes it for me.

(MacBook Pro 16" 2.4 Ghz i9)

Hi. This is my fix:
Go to Sound Preferences -> Input -> completely reduce the microphone Input volume.

Adding my two cents here, I'm a Mac Pro Early 2009 user and I always have this issue on any macOS version newer than 10.14.3 specifically. macOS Mojave 10.14.3 works just fine and I don't have any audio issues there!

So, I recommend each Mac Pro Early 2009 user to stay on macOS Mojave 10.14.3. If you're concerned about security, and the apps you use are available on Windows or Linux, I recommend switching to those OS's for more security as Apple has stopped providing updates to the Early 2009 Mac Pro for quite a while.

Lastly, if you don't care about audio and just want the latest version of macOS for Xcode or anything that doesn't involve audio, go ahead and install Big Sur! Audio will still be there but it does get unbearably stuttery and distorted once in a while.

I have macOS Big Sur and this issue has been plaguing me since installing it on my MBP 16". The temporary solution, posted some time back in this thread, is to open Activity Monitor and search for the process coreaudio (it's called coreaudiod) and kill the process (Force Quit). It will restart automatically. This avoids having to reboot your Mac every time this occurs.

Infuriating is an understatement.