Sound crackling and high CPU

[nmaxcom]

Hi!

I've recently noticed that my MBP (10.9.4) sound system crackles while I watch some youtube videos. It doesn't always happens, but when it does I've realized that the CPU fan also tends to make noise (like it's working harder).

I've checked the activity monitor and chrome task manager and everything seems just usual, except for high CPU usage when watching a youtube video, something that never happened before even watching HD.

How to fix this issue?

 

[simonsi]

Try another browser, Chrome on Mac is a known resource hog and will cause high cpu when using flash, whether that could be also the cause of the audio crackle Im not sure.

 

[nmaxcom]

Try another browser, Chrome on Mac is a known resource hog and will cause high cpu when using flash, whether that could be also the cause of the audio crackle Im not sure.

Well, I've tried Safari and it works good (using Flash).
In Chrome whether I use HTML5 or Flash it crackles when doing something that requires a bit of resources (like messing around with window sound, js scripts that change appearence etc).

I use Chrome in all my computers (even my cellphone), with a ton of addons that I use (some exist in Safari but not all).

Is there any way I can get to keep Chrome and get rid of the crackle?

After all the crackle has only appeared lately (i've tried rebooting and doing the tests with all other programs closed with no luck).

Am I alone with this issue?

 

[nmaxcom]

I've just learnt that Deezer and Spotify (native apps) they both crackle too...

Again, this didn't happen before. There must be something to be done (besides full system reset)!

 

[simonsi]

I've just learnt that Deezer and Spotify (native apps) they both crackle too...

Again, this didn't happen before. There must be something to be done (besides full system reset)!

Staring to sound a hardware issue. Yes it may not have happened before but that is the nature of faults.

 

[nmaxcom]

Staring to sound a hardware issue. Yes it may not have happened before but that is the nature of faults.

How is it a hardware issue if playing the same stuff from Safari sounds cristal clear?

 

[simonsi]

How is it a hardware issue if playing the same stuff from Safari sounds cristal clear?

But equally you have multiple software sounding crackly, hence my saying "starting to sound like".

 

[poiihy]

How is it a hardware issue if playing the same stuff from Safari sounds cristal clear?

One app using a lot of CPU, other app not.
When CPU usage is high, crackling starts. Right?

 

[zjazz]

I had similar problem on my first MBPR some time ago and for me it was the graphic card issue. For some reason it wants to switch back and forth from integrated to discrete when listening to music, and that will cause random crackle noises. So I used gfxCardStatus to prevent switching and it took care of crackle for me.

 

[nmaxcom]

But equally you have multiple software sounding crackly, hence my saying "starting to sound like".

If there's one app or process that makes the problem disappear, I don't see how that doesn't immediately discard a hardware problem.

One app using a lot of CPU, other app not.
When CPU usage is high, crackling starts. Right?

I haven't closely monitored CPU usage, but indeed the crackling goes up when for example I resize the window or other similar stuff that logically requires more muscle. Is it fixable?

I had similar problem on my first MBPR some time ago and for me it was the graphic card issue. For some reason it wants to switch back and forth from integrated to discrete when listening to music, and that will cause random crackle noises. So I used gfxCardStatus to prevent switching and it took care of crackle for me.

Will try that one!