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Audio issues?

C

chatoyer

macrumors regular
Original poster
Using a 16" MBP M3.

Anyone else experiencing audio issues with AirPods Pro 2s? Can barely connect. Very choppy when it does.

I must be doing something wrong?
 
And just like that, seems to be resolved. I'm blaming some random interference. Or maybe it didn't like my music.
 
Further followup. I believe it is an issue with SoundSource 5.7.0. After I quit it, no issues running audio through to the AirPod Pro 2. Will be in touch with the developer.
 
chatoyer said:
Further followup. I believe it is an issue with SoundSource 5.7.0. After I quit it, no issues running audio through to the AirPod Pro 2. Will be in touch with the developer.
Click to expand...
I fixed it by going to the Soundsource app, Settings > Audio > Latency, move slider to More Reliable. I never had to do it before, but it looks like they made some changes requiring more permissions for their driver.
 
Ah - nice find - thank you!

That improved things a bit, but hasn't corrected it entirely. I'll keep at it.
 
chatoyer said:
Ah - nice find - thank you!

That improved things a bit, but hasn't corrected it entirely. I'll keep at it.
Click to expand...

It looks like Soundsource made some changes, needed more permissions for (ARK) whatever that is, maybe something like drivers? I rolling back to 14.7 for now.
 
So, I went on a wild goose chase to fix my audio issues. I checked the “Kind” of processes running in my activity monitor and discovered that core audio was being run as an “intel” app instead of Apple Silicon. Turns out, I had a Zoom and Microsoft Teams plugin in /Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/HAL. I deleted them, restarted my computer, and voila! The core audio is now using the “apple” version, and my audio is back to normal. Oh, and I also had the Logitech Mx mouse and keyboard running via Bluetooth, so I switched them to a USB dongle to reduce the number of Bluetooth devices.
 
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SoundSource 5.7.1 has be released with the following in the release notes: "Audio playback to Bluetooth audio devices should be greatly improved, fixing regressions introduced in SoundSource 5.7.0". The update also came with an update to ARK.

Will be testing this week to see if things have improved.

Interesting find, @henryae9. I may check on all that myself if things do not improve.
 
chatoyer said:
SoundSource 5.7.1 has be released with the following in the release notes: "Audio playback to Bluetooth audio devices should be greatly improved, fixing regressions introduced in SoundSource 5.7.0". The update also came with an update to ARK.

Will be testing this week to see if things have improved.

Interesting find, @henryae9. I may check on all that myself if things do not improve.
Click to expand...
I installed 5.7.1 and still had a lot of distortion on both Bluetooth and worse via speakers. It sounded just like when you have a blown speaker, very distorted. I don't know if it's Soundsource or Sequoia.
 
chatoyer said:
SoundSource 5.7.1 has be released with the following in the release notes: "Audio playback to Bluetooth audio devices should be greatly improved, fixing regressions introduced in SoundSource 5.7.0". The update also came with an update to ARK.

Will be testing this week to see if things have improved.

Interesting find, @henryae9. I may check on all that myself if things do not improve.
Click to expand...
I would like to disclose that I am guilty of always restoring from "my previous device" or a Time Machine backup every time I upgrade or change my computers, which has happened multiple times since I started using Apple products around 2008. I know it’s highly recommended to start fresh when buying a new device to avoid issues like this—where you’re unsure if the problem is due to a bug in the new OS or old files and processes causing conflicts.

Using the Etrecheck-generated report, I deleted everything the report flagged as an issue on my system, as well as everything in the library associated with old, previously installed apps that had remained. After doing so, my computer feels like new—everything is noticeably faster and more responsive.

I haven’t experienced the Bluetooth audio/AirPods issue again, but I did reduce the load on Bluetooth by using a USB dongle, which doesn’t hurt but likely wasn’t the problem, as I wasn’t having this issue on Sonoma.

From my research in forums and Reddit, it seems Bluetooth issues have been well-documented since the introduction of Apple Silicon. These problems appear to be caused by multiple factors—such as 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi interference with Bluetooth, potential USB 3 cable interference, or high CPU usage—rather than one exact cause. In my case, I’m sure the audio being processed via Rosetta 2 and phantom processes consuming CPU were significant contributing factors.
 
I can reliably reproduce distorted audio over Bluetooth with Airpods Max, both in Intel and M series Macs. Easiest way is to test the "boop" notification sound in Settings. If you play it over Bluetooth vs built in speakers and listen carefully, it's very harsh and had clicking noises at the start and finish. Historically, Apple has had issues playing very short bursts of audio over Bluetooth (1 second or less) whereas longer audio streams are fine.
 
Just got the Airpods Pro 2 firmware update. No difference -- still getting audio crackling via any bluetooth device if it's a short (< 1 second) sound. Opened a bug in Feedback Assistant that hasn't been touched in 2 weeks now.
 
Takuro said:
Just got the Airpods Pro 2 firmware update. No difference -- still getting audio crackling via any bluetooth device if it's a short (< 1 second) sound. Opened a bug in Feedback Assistant that hasn't been touched in 2 weeks now.
Click to expand...
Installed SS v5.7.4 on Sonoma still problems including distortion using Apple Music, with boost off and excluded in the SS app. Rolled macOS back to v5.6.4 using the non-ARK driver and sound is perfect again. I imaging they are still working out the bugs on the new ARK driver.
 
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I'm not using Soundsource. I have Airpods Pro (USB-C) connected to my mac, and was watching YouTube when they suddenly went all choppy. I have no idea what happened. I put my headphones into the case, turned bluetooth off on my mac, then turned it back on and everything was working.
 
thejadedmonkey said:
I'm not using Soundsource. I have Airpods Pro (USB-C) connected to my mac, and was watching YouTube when they suddenly went all choppy. I have no idea what happened. I put my headphones into the case, turned bluetooth off on my mac, then turned it back on and everything was working.
Click to expand...
Yeah, I have the same issue. Youtube seems to cause the issue but once it starts, it's system wide, choppy, metallic audio.

The airpods pro 2 that i have work fine with my phone. Apple even replaced them for me but the issue persists on the mac.

Between that and SoundSource, I'm really ****ing over Apple at the moment.
 
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Schnauzer World said:
Soundsource 5.7.5 was released on 12/5/24. Anyone try it yet?
Click to expand...

I have installed SoundSource 5.7.5 on 15.2. There is intermittent latency of several seconds and stuttering using bluetooth headphones on FaceTime and Zoom. This doesnt occur after Soundsource is uninstalled. I have had to keep it uninstalled and cannot recommend it until it has been fixed. Very disappointing.
 
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brilliantthings said:
I have installed SoundSource 5.7.5 on 15.2. There is intermittent latency of several seconds and stuttering using bluetooth headphones on FaceTime and Zoom. This doesnt occur after Soundsource is uninstalled. I have had to keep it uninstalled and cannot recommend it until it has been fixed. Very disappointing.
Click to expand...

and they haven't addressed it on their website and are continuing to sell the product.

really ****** behaviour from Rogue Amoeba.
 
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brilliantthings said:
They are plainly denying that there’s an issue. Completely disingenuous. It’s a terrible look for what is otherwise regarded a fine company.
Click to expand...
Yeah, go the same response.

I temporarily rolled back to Monterey and the ACE version and sound is perfect like before. The new version on Sonoma and Sequoia has problems and distorts sound especially on Apple Music.
 
Rogue Amoeba just hacks into Core Audio, it's sketchy by definition. There is a reason you have to lower Security Policy from "Full Security" to "Reduced Security"
 
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