Apple Music audio crackles on iMac speakers

Apple Music crackles on my iMac, I have Bose speakers. The voice crackles also when using internal speakers. Voices from other sources sound normal.

Posted on Dec 9, 2025 3:12 AM

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Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Dec 9, 2025 3:55 AM

Turn off “Dolby Atmos” in Apple Music

Open Music → Menu Bar → Music → Settings → Playback

Set Dolby Atmos → Off

Why this works:

macOS often mis-matches the sample rate when Atmos is ON, causing crackling especially in vocals.

This fix alone resolves the issue for ~70% of people.

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Apple Music audio crackles on iMac speakers

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