iMac Pro Imac Pro Sound Glitches

[mikehalloran]

Well it finally hit me today. Working in Logic X for a couple of hours when playback started glitching, and distorting. Base iMac Pro (8 core, 32gb, Vega 56) running High Sierra 10.13.6.

Sounds like a sample rate sync issue, memory leak or both but you beat me to the punch.

Followup on this it appears that there was some sort of issue with audio interface (or possible user error by me) where the sample rate in Logic was set to a value that isn't supported without the interface and this was causing the freakout. At least I think so as the issue hasn't repeated itself since then. Anyway if something changes I'll post here again.

A number of apps that I use like to reset the sample rate including older versions of Finale and Dragon Dictate. UAD, Digital Performer and Logic have these issues, too.

Some of it is better recently, notably Finale, but I must still be careful.

 

[T_Oscura]

What happens in Console when the glitching starts? I suspect it's the same event that's causing issues with Mac Mini and Macbook Pro users.

Here's my thread about it:

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/audio-interface-issues-with-2018-macbook-pro.2159141/

For me, internal speakers were fine, external USB 2 interface had constant audio dropouts until I disabled Wifi. Thunderbolt interfaces should be working fine. The dropouts happened every time the world clock synced with the Apple servers.

 

[Shane Thomson]

Since day one my iMac Pro has had weird sound glitches where the sound breaks down as if it was recorded on too high volume (the volume level doesn't change), basically the sound is like it is going through distortion filter in a same sense you could compare the sound of acoustic guitar to distorted electric guitar. It doesn't matter if it is external speakers or the internal, it happens the same. It will stay like this until change from external output to internal or vice versa depending which one you had on when the problem occurred and I remember few times you had to switch it back and forth few times before the problem went away.

After upgrading OSX the phenomenon became rarer and while it sometimes still breaks (and stays broken until the output switch), now I hear loud "cracks" popping every now and then but the sound returns to normal after that. The "cracking" sound is bit like if someone moved the audio jack in and out when the speakers are on.

Since the error appears on both internal and external speakers I think we can rule out faulty cable or even faulty connector on computer. This has to be some sort of sound chip or software problem. Has anyone else run into this? If yes how did you solve? I can't reproduce the error and sometimes it happens often, sometimes it can take long time for it to happen again.

I'm experiencing the same with my iMacPro - the terminal command doesn't work for me either - will lodge a ticket with Apple.

 

[mikehalloran]

How often do you reboot?

 

[Shane Thomson]

Once or twice a day. Possible causes I can think of: changing from headphones to internal speakers or vice versa which messes with the Audio Hardware mapping in Premier and Audition. Or Screenium installs Synium (or Soundflower?) which might also muck with it. Right now I have set both Audio Hardware prefs in Premier and Audition to same settings and it seems Ok. It's an intermittent problem so I can't quite figure it out.

 

[neveralull]

My brand new iMac Pro has sound glitches right out of the box. I wouldn't have spent $5,000 on such a *** computer (which I bought mainly for recording music), if it couldn't even handle basic sound. Starts glitching when a program such as Band-in-a-Box or Digital Performer has been up and running for awhile. Once the sound glitches, it keeps glitching on all applications, including iTunes and YouTube. Sometimes restarting the music application fixes it, but sometimes takes a reboot.

 

[luispedrofonseca]

I just recorded a video of the sounds crackle I get on Unity 2019.1 and up when it recompiles. Weirdly I can't replicate it with older versions of the software, as you can also see in the video.

Can someone with the same problem try it out?

@neveralull

 

[timefreedom]

I too have had issues since the purchase of my iMac Pro in May of 2018. This must be fixed by Apple!

Two things that I have heard, and not sure if they are effective or not, are as follows:

1.) Turn off "Set Date and Time Automatically" update (preferences/Date & Time)
2.) Turn off "Set Timezone Automatically Using Current Location" update (preferences/Date & Time)

I just set the 2nd one today. These may have some benefit, but apparently not a complete fix and in a short time (hours) the issues re-surface.

Also, I will re-direct audio output to the Homepod I have and that seems also to fix things, at least temporarily.

My issue seems to somewhat resolve when I do a reboot. But this fix is short-lived (usually only hours). Within hours I have the glitchy audio back. Apple today, when I spoke with a support rep, indicated they didn't have anything in their database about this - how can this be? This has been reported now for over a year.

I spent an ungodly amount of money on this computer. Crazy me, I expect audio to work right.

I have 128 GB Ram, and 18 core processor.

 

[neveralull]

I just recorded a video of the sounds crackle I get on Unity 2019.1 and up when it recompiles. Weirdly I can't replicate it with older versions of the software, as you can also see in the video.

Can someone with the same problem try it out?

@neveralull

I haven't tried it out with Unity, but I'm getting similar sound problems. Except in my case, it is constant, where yours seems to come and go every few seconds.

 

[timefreedom]

I just recorded a video of the sounds crackle I get on Unity 2019.1 and up when it recompiles. Weirdly I can't replicate it with older versions of the software, as you can also see in the video.

Can someone with the same problem try it out?

@neveralull

I have issues that are similar to this, but they often are MUCH worse - not subtle, but the glaring, cannot work, and must reboot variety. Rebooting is the only surefire remedy for me and it is short-lived.

 

[neveralull]

Here's another problem I've noticed with the sound. When I am running a program that uses sound such as Digital Performer, and then I switch to YouTube - the sound coming from YouTube is duplicated a fraction of a second later - as if there are two computers playing the same YouTube channel simultaneously, except off by a fraction of a second. When I exit from Digital Performer, then the YouTube video plays normally.

 

[ok delta]

You don't need to reboot, just change the output between internal and external. The glitch happens in the "soundcard" and it happens regardless of which output you have on. Anyways this is not solution to the problem which Apple should fix.

I think it is a problem with the T2 co-processor as it was reported to have some problems and it is also responsible for sound. Now lots of Macbook Pro users are reporting similar problems (that being a computer that has more consumers buying)... it also has T2 co-processor. Glitches on my computer can't be reproduced, at least I can't figure out a pattern how to create them but it happens while doing different things from using premiere to watching movies with VLC, watching youtube or listening spotify.. all of these have cause the problem to occur

[doublepost=1566920935][/doublepost]two weeks on the phone with apple and them being on my computer my sounds still not back so now they are paying for it to be sorted

 

[HMB2]

My iMac Pro is doing the same thing.
As ref:
This machine (purchased 2019) is a replacement for a previous iMacPro (purchased 2018). Previous machine was returned to the Apple Bay Street Store for repair of this same audio issue 4 times. They could not reproduce problem it in the store. Problem occurrs only after machine is left on for 24+ hours in my experience.

Quite annoying that Apple has not bothered to address this issue when it clearly is happening to many others.

Both (the returned unit and this unit) were full loaded 2.3Ghz 18-core Intel Xeon with full memory and SSD storage upgrade.

Problem stops when you insert a headphone jack. Why would that be??

 

[BeatCrazy]

Any updates for this issue?

I see it commonly on YouTube (playing a 10 minute video will have sped up/audio video - entire video runs through in about 2 seconds literally).

Also in the Music app - I can play a song from Apple Music and instead of 3 minutes, the entire song zips through in 2 seconds.

A reboot fixes it for a day or so. I normally leave my iMac Pro on 24/7. Mojave did not fix this issue.

 

[timefreedom]

I just wanted to chime in because I've been experiencing this problem since I bought my iMac Pro in July.

I edit a lot of video and it seems to happen most when I'm in Premiere or After Effects and I'm listening to any other audio like Youtube, Spotify, and Sirius. I can sometimes snap it out of it when I click back and forth to the explorer window and Premiere. It can be really irritating, so I'm glad I'm seeing people talking about it.

I posted a reference video on Youtube a while ago that I will link to..

I have exactly this same sound issue with my iMac Pro.

This is a thread on Apple Discussion Communities that I started in August, 2019. This thread on MacRumors started in June of 2018. So we're 1.5 years into this with no resolution. This is TOTALLY UNACCEPTABLE on Apple's part. I thought this machine was their "flagship" product when I bought it (I'm sure many of the people here in this thread invested well north of $10,000 USD on their iMac Pro, as I did)

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/250552737

This audio issue is well over a year old at this point and there has been no apparent resolution from Apple, or worse, even an acknowledgment that there IS an issue. This to me at this point looks like a classic case that a good attorney could win on with a class action suit. Apple has repeatedly had people do the same stuff without any resolution to the issue as evidenced by ongoing issues that we are all still experiencing. I would be willing to participate as a Plaintiff as this computer cost a ton of money and while I like Apple, their level of attention to this matter has been a LOT wanting.

Aug 13, 2019 8:04 AM in response to timefreedom

Here are two examples of when things have been running all night and in the morning I try and use the computer without rebooting:

https://www.loom.com/share/6a81215fcf634d05b8dd266408f960ef

https://www.loom.com/share/a7435f27a9ac4a52a35c6ad8b57d82f7

This is when things are so "glitchy" that you can see the audio advancing itself as if it was in a super fast forward mode.

The only remedy I have found thus far for this is to reboot, which I now do each day.

Any updates for this issue?

I see it commonly on YouTube (playing a 10 minute video will have sped up/audio video - entire video runs through in about 2 seconds literally).

Also in the Music app - I can play a song from Apple Music and instead of 3 minutes, the entire song zips through in 2 seconds.

A reboot fixes it for a day or so. I normally leave my iMac Pro on 24/7. Mojave did not fix this issue.

I have also updated to Mojave, without affect. I have seen many do this as well without resolution. In some cases people are bringing machines in and getting replacements - and those too have the same sound problems. To me this strongly suggests there's an inherent issue that is baked-in and Apple doesn't want to acknowledge it as that would mean expensive recalls (this is the only rationale to me that seems to make sense at this point. They can't claim they don't know - that's BS).

 

[BeatCrazy]

I have also updated to Mojave, without affect. I have seen many do this as well without resolution. In some cases people are bringing machines in and getting replacements - and those too have the same sound problems. To me this strongly suggests there's an inherent issue that is baked-in and Apple doesn't want to acknowledge it as that would mean expensive recalls (this is the only rationale to me that seems to make sense at this point. They can't claim they don't know - that's BS).

Yeah, frustrating. I'm wondering if it's even worth trying to get a replacement. I have AppleCare+ for another 12 months, so maybe I'll wait until the macOS 10.16 release to see if it gets fixed, then open a ticket.

 

[timefreedom]

Yeah, frustrating. I'm wondering if it's even worth trying to get a replacement. I have AppleCare+ for another 12 months, so maybe I'll wait until the macOS 10.16 release to see if it gets fixed, then open a ticket.

The item that I am seeing on boards that keeps popping up is the T2 chip, which apparently is responsible for audio, among other things. If that indeed is the issue, they'll need to do a board replacement or a complete machine replacement. If that chip is faulty, I don't think software will fix that issue.

 

[BeatCrazy]

The item that I am seeing on boards that keeps popping up is the T2 chip, which apparently is responsible for audio, among other things. If that indeed is the issue, they'll need to do a board replacement or a complete machine replacement. If that chip is faulty, I don't think software will fix that issue.

Agreed, it's all signs pointing to the T2. But since a reboot always fixes it, I would think it could be fixed via software. It's like a buffer overrun or something. The behavior is so consistent for me when it misbehaves.

 

[mmomega]

Just came across the thread, audio issues happening on mine as well.
OnBoard speakers going in and out, airpods issue, facetime + random bluetooth issues.
Everything else seems as perfect as it can be but the audio interruptions.

From reading the thread, the options don't seem to have anything to do with anything, from the base model to the maxed out model. We are all having the same issue so the problem lies outside of the CPU/GPU/SSD size.
This is my main office work machine and am contemplating swapping it out with my home iMac so I can potentially put some time in to actual troubleshooting when it isn't interrupting my job. Then if I need to take it to Apple it shouldn't be as big of a hit if I already have a machine in place.

*****
Reading on several other sites that disabling Handoff in Sys Prefs then restart actually fixed all of their bluetooth issues and most of not all of their audio issues.
Going to try this on the iMac Pro tomorrow and make several FaceTime w/ Airpods Pro calls as this combo of Bluetooth and audio will 100% cause glitches.
Reporting back later.

 

[mmomega]

Disabled Handoff in System Preferences, restarted the iMac Pro and ...

2 Hours in this morning and no Bluetooth mouse glitches / hangs / etc .... yet.

Also no glitchy Bluetooth audio yet. I have kept a single AirPod Pro in my left ear with YouTube playing in Chrome.
This normal would drop audio at minimum 1-3 times per 10 minute video. So far, zero audio drops.

I have not tried FaceTime or internal audio yet, I plan on trying that later this afternoon.


Just a once-over on my hardware:
iMac Pro 18-Core - 64GB RAM - Vega64
Apple Space Grey Keyboard - bluetooth
Logitech MX Master 2s mouse - bluetooth
AirPods Pro - bluetooth
BenQ 32" 4K Monitor connected via USB-C
Running 10.15.2 Beta (19C46a)
Not sure the version it shipped with when I purchased but it has been happening as far back as I can remember.

Currently on WiFi until I run new Cat6a to my new office, then it will be hardwired.
WiFi is UniFi AC Pro Access Points 2.4Ghz and 5GHz on single network.

Hoping this helps others that may be struggling with this annoyance.

 

[BeatCrazy]

Disabled Handoff in System Preferences, restarted the iMac Pro and ...

Any updates?

 

[mmomega]

Any updates?

I have experienced a sinlge little "hiccup" with audio over the last week. With around 6 hours a day with the airpods in connected to the imac pro. Prior to disabling handoff, I would get 5-6 issues per hour easily, either with the mouses "skipping a beat" or a small pause in audio when watching a video, phone call or Facetime call.
Now these issues have essentially all disappeared, for me.

Everything else left the same and no changes in daily behavior, just disabling Handoff.

 

[freshj]

Any updates to this? I have it on an iMac Pro. Happened with 10.13, then an interval update seemed to fix it and it went away for a year. I've now updated to 10.15 and it's back.

 

[iLocalize]

This really ticks me off. Have owned and operated at least 25 iMacs to then get the iMac pro, and have had this popping sound issue since day one. I missed window of 1 year warranty, but Apple should pay to fix this in all our machines. Apple has really stooped to a new low with this.

Anyone find a solution as of yet?

 

[freshj]

Someone mentioned above disabling Handoff. After doing that I have not had the issue for about 2 weeks so far. Not convinced this is the solution, but so far seems to be working.