2011 15" MBP Stutters Audio

[NeXTLoop]

I'm stumped by this one. I have a Quad-Core i7 15" MBP with 8GB of RAM. It has a 750GB Western Digital Scorpio HD running at 5400RPM.

Whenever I play a song that has a moderate to aggressive beat and base, the song starts stuttering. It will just pause for about half a second numerous times throughout the song. This happens regardless of whether I play the song in iTunes or Quicktime, and happens with any song that meets the criteria. While the computer is struggling with the song, the machine's overall performance completely tanks. Spinning beach balls left and right. If I lower the volume to half, or lower, the problem goes away. My buddy has this machine, but with an SSD drive. His has no problem with any kind of music.

My theory is that the volume causes enough vibration in the unibody frame to trip the Sudden Motion Sensor, causing the HD to park its head for a split second. Does that sound likely? Any other ideas?

 

[troublesolstice]

have the same issue
had it even worse in snow leopard
i don't think i've had the issue when i had my mbp plugged into an external
every time its happened to me has been when i've been using the mbp with the lid up. super annoying problem when it occurs, i think only a reboot can fix it. thankfully it doesn't often anymore. 2011 15 inch 2.3 i7 and 5200 hd here
anyone have any clue whats causing the stuttering?

 

[alphaod]

My iTunes library is stored on an external drive. The throughput isn't very high. Sure it lags a bit if I try to scroll too fast through my library, but it never stutters when playing music.

Anyways, before we decide if you are having a drive issue… let's look at some other factors:
1) How much free space do you have?
2) How much RAM do you have on your computer? How much free RAM do you have?
3) Install a monitoring program like iStat Pro; play some music. What does your CPU usage and such look like?

Now while we're on the computer, open up Disk Utility (Applications—Utilities—>Disk Utility). Click on the volume that your iTunes library is stored on: On the bottom there is a line that reads "SMART Status"—What does that read? Does it say "Verified" or something else?

 

[NeXTLoop]

Mine does not go away with a reboot, resetting the PRAM, or deleting iTunes & Quicktime preferences. HD is fine, SMART status is "Verified," and I have 8GB of RAM, 4+ of which is free. CPU usage is normal (happens with only iTunes, Mail and Safari open), fans are normal speed, and I have over 500GB of HD space free.

Mine is also with the lid open, using the built-in speakers, with iTunes Library stored on internal HD.

 

[alphaod]

Are your sure your files are not corrupt? (ie: the music files themselves)

I'm not sure how your acquired your music, but if possible I would re-rip the CD or re-download the music from iTunes/Amazon, etc. Sometimes it's just bad files if you're saying it only happens on music with an aggressive beat and bass which sounds like you're testing the same song over and over again.

 

[troublesolstice]

are you using lossless files too, op?

 

[alphaod]

are you using lossless files too, op?

All my music is lossless and I do not have stuttering issues.