Issues with track loading, playback, and crackling sound (Mixon 8, 2019 macBook Pro)

Ok, we’ve more or less talked about the possible cause of the, ‘Crackling sound in headphones,’ but the other serious issues still exist.

I am eagerly awaiting a response, as I have gigs scheduled this weekend. The possibility of these issues occurring during a session is extremely stressful—I’m sure you can understand my concern.

Is there any update from the team regarding these problems? Even an update on one of them would be helpful.

I hope the ‘Track refusal to start’ issue is under review, as I’ve recorded the problem and sent it along with a capture of the sample process from the Activity Monitor. Additionally, I was hoping to hear whether I submitted the correct sample process from the Activity Monitor, as I am relatively new to using that tool.

Looking forward to hearing from you soon.

For context, I first reported this issue already on 23 December 2024.

Here you find the issues again:

Hi @DJ_Big_Blender, sorry for the delayed response. As mentioned, some of our team members were off for the holidays.

Unfortunately, the engineering team has not yet been able to replicate the specific issues you have described and shown in videos. The team will continue troubleshooting this though and I’ll report here when I have more news.

Because the team hasn’t been able to replicate your issues, this makes me suspect that it’s something specifically related to your MacBook, macOS and the combination of other software you’ve installed on it. Have you uninstalled all unnecessary apps and checked your remaining hard drive space lately? Have you done a virus and malware scan recently? What about managing Startup Items, Resetting NVRAM and SMC, running Disk Utility-First Aid and performing Hardware Diagnostics? Given the age of your MacBook and since you’re experiencing several unusual issues that appear to be performance related, perhaps it’s time to consider a factory reset of your MacBook, a fresh macOS installation and a fresh djay install. I hope that helps!

As for the headphone crackling issue, did you try the steps I shared above. This seems to have solved a similar issue for another user:

Hi @Slak_Jaw. Thank you for your response.

Unfortunately, last weekend I still encountered the same issues, and it was extremely humiliating and frustrating. I think you can imagine. When you asked me to run and send the outcome of the Activity Monitor last week, I did so. I expected to receive more detailed insights and guidance based on these results.

Unfortunately, I haven’t received any follow-up from Algoriddim on this, despite specifically asking for it, which is disappointing. Could you please ask the team to review this again and provide a response?

Instead of that, I’m now receiving a new set of troubleshooting steps. I can assure you that I have already checked all of these:

  • Virus and malware scan: all clear
  • Disk Utility: all good
  • Resetting NVRAM and SMC: done recently
  • Nearly 500 GB of free drive space
  • No unnecessary apps installed, only official DJ software
  • Hardware Diagnostics: no issues found
  • Recently checked by an official Apple Authorized Service Provider and found 100% fine

We all know the MacBook is still powerful enough to handle the most demanding video tasks, so loading and playing a few simple music files should not be an issue. This MacBook is dedicated to DJ-ing and has only official apps installed.

To be honest, I am now seriously considering switching to alternative software if this issue persists.

To be completely sure, I now have another appointment with my Official Authorized Apple Service Provider to recheck the laptop, but this will cost me €99.

I hope this clarifies the situation and provides insight into the steps I’ve already taken on my side. I look forward to Algoriddim’s further assistance on this matter.

I also have a Macbook Pro 2019 and I use it to make a lot of audio themes. Among other things, I also use DJay Pro on the MacBook. And no matter what hardware I use, I have no problems with dropouts. It must be your Macbook or a special configuration.
Even if it is time-consuming, I would try a new installation.
Good luck!

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You’re welcome @DJ_Big_Blender. Sorry to hear you are still experiencing these issues. Thanks for the additional info. It sounds like you are doing all the right things here so I’m not sure what else to suggest. Below is specifically the response from our engineering team and I have shared your new information above to see if that helps with the troubleshooting.

  1. Track refuses to start: our work / test macbook is an intel 2019 Mac, so the exact same one. We never had this issue and don’t really know what could cause it… we can’t pump the memory further up than 1.3 GB with normal usage.
  2. Same goes for slow track loading
  3. We can repro the pre-cue crackles when setting master out to MacBook speakers and pre-cue out to controller pre-cue.
  4. Sudden stop: We’ll try some Automix tests with very long SC tracks.

Not exactly sure what they are saying here especially with 1and 2.

Btw; I mostly use .m4a files. Could that make a difference for loading / processing?

And still no answer about the dump from activity monitor,

Also I think this could be related don’t you think?

Oh, .m4a files are really not a good basis.
Can you try converting some of the files to MP3? And then test with them.

Hi @MichaFalki,

That’s an interesting statement. I’m curious—do you personally dislike .m4a, or is your response based on actual experience or technical knowledge?

I ask because .m4a is an official format introduced by Apple as a follow-up to MP3, and it’s widely supported. I’ve used it for years without any issues, and both Traktor and RekordBox process these files flawlessly. Could you share more insights on why you think it’s not a good choice?

Btw;
Of course, I’ll test it further, as there’s a chance that DJay just doesn’t handle .m4a that well.

Sorry, I made a mistake. I was thinking about a Microsoft codec. But try it anyway, e.g. with MP3, WAV or FLAC.

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Thanks @MichaFalki. I couldn’t quite place it, but now it makes sense, thanks for the clarification! Such mistakes can happen. I understand now you were thinking of a different codec.

At the moment, I’m already testing with MP3, WAV, or FLAC, but at first sight, it doesn’t seem like it’s the cause, as you suggested. Appreciate your help.

@DJ_Big_Blender, can you please confirm that you have tried the steps above and if they solved the headphone issue or not? Thanks!

I’m currently trying all these options and will report back as soon as I know for sure.

  1. I’ve requested further details on the analysis of the sample process…
  1. The below topic was assigned to NathanielAlgo. He should be reaching out to you soon…
  1. Please get back to me as soon as you can regarding the aggregate audio potential fixes above. It would be great to solve this and determine if it is a contributing factor or not to the other issues you’re experiencing.
    a. EDIT: can you confirm if the other 4 issues you’ve been experiencing only occur when you’re splitting your audio between your Mac speakers and DJ controller?
  2. Please also share the results of your appointment with Apple Service when you can.
  3. As for the .m4a files, this shouldn’t be the source of your issues, but I have passed this onto engineering just in case. Thanks again!

Hi again @DJ_Big_Blender,

  1. From the engineering team regarding the sample process you shared: “I don’t see anything unusual in the sysdiagnose.”
  2. In addition #3 and #3a above, can you please try the following:
    a. Check if you can reproduce the “track refuses to start”, “slow track loading”, “playback stuttering” and “unexpected playback stop” issues with the built-in audio interface only (i.e. “none” for monitor output). Thanks!

Of course, I don’t split to a laptop when performing live. The headphone issue only occurs at home when splitting audio between the MacBook (for the main output) and the Mixon (for the headphones).

I’ve tested the drift correction/MIDI setting. While I’m still a bit cautious to say the issue is completely resolved, it definitely seems to help reduce the problem.

The other issue mainly occurs live when everything is mapped to the Reloop.

So:
3. ‘Great’ to hear that you’re also experiencing the crackling noise when Aggregated.
3a. The other four issues probably only occur when everything is mapped to the Reloop, but I haven’t paid very close attention to this, though.
4. I’ll hope to have an answer this thursday.
5. I’m indeed experiencing the same issues with MP3 files as well.

Thank you to the team for going through the Sysdiagnose dump. I had hoped they might find something there that could provide a good clue.

By the way:
Why doesn’t DJay produce its own log, error, or crash files that I could share to provide more insight? Many software programs include this feature, often alongside a debug mode.

You’re welcome. Thanks for the follow up @DJ_Big_Blender.

Regarding #2 above, please also test the 4 issues with no DJ hardware connected and output through your Mac speakers only. No pre-cueing output.

djay does automatically produce crash reports. You never mentioned that you experienced crashes. If that’s in fact the case then these reports would definitely help. Please send me a DM with your djay account user name and email address so the engineering team can access the reports.

You’re right, I haven’t experienced any crashes at this point. Good to know that crash reports are automatically generated. However, I thought that something like an error report or log file might still be helpful at this stage to provide more insight into the issues.

@DJ_Big_Blender, okay thanks for confirming. Please send me your djay account info in a DM so I can pass it onto engineering anyway.

Can you please also share a screenshot of your Audio Devices settings when you are DJing live with the Reloop Mixon 8 Pro? Thanks!

First, I wanted to share the MIDI/sound settings that seem to work. Both device-clock-sources have the same sample frequency (48 kHz), and what seems to work right now is this:

  • When the clock source is set to Loudspeakers, I have Drift Correction enabled for the Reloop.
  • When the clock source is set to Reloop, I have Drift Correction enabled for the Loudspeakers.

I don’t know exactly what these two settings/sources do or whether both need to be set, but both configurations seem to work crackle-free at the moment in the headphone.

What in Algo’s experiences are the best settings for this?