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Every time I listen to music on iTunes or VLC, I notice that the process coreaudiod causes an unusually high CPU usage (5% or more).

Are you having the same issue? What's the reason for such a high CPU usage?

  • Recent OS X updates have not changed this observation. Restarting (or killing the process so it respawns) doesn't fix the problem. After a couple of seconds, CPU usage of coreaudiod goes above 5% again.

  • It's important to note that using line out makes the problem go away and coreaudiod's CPU usage goes down to 1%-2%.

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seems to be a reported issue. mvgfr-geek.blogspot.com/2011/02/… Also issues with coreaudiod locking up/glitching blog.erikphansen.com/weird-os-10-7-lion-audiovideo-problems – lemonginger Sep 13 '11 at 14:59
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yeah, i read those, none of the fixes fixed the issue... – Haytham Elkhoja Sep 13 '11 at 16:19
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I'm having the same issue. Mac OS X 10.7.2; coreaudiod is using 8% CPU constantly. Issue goes away when I plug in the headphones. 2.4GHz Core 2 Duo MBP. I've read somewhere that Parallels could be under suspicion - anybody here using Parallels? – Scott Lowe Oct 30 '11 at 18:46
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I experience the same too when I play through the speakers, I'll try the headphones. Thanks for sharing the tip, Haytham. – Global nomad Nov 20 '11 at 9:13
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This problem still persists in 10.7.3. When listening to the radio, the coreaudiod is up at 10%! – gentmatt Feb 18 '12 at 9:00
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3 Answers

up vote 2 down vote

This appears to be a know issue, and hopefully will be fixed in an update in the future. For now though, there are one or two things you could try (it goes without saying that make sure all software is updated to its highest stable version)

  • First of all, restart your computer.
  • Second of all, install Onyx. Install and open, and click on the 'Cleaning' tab. Under that, make sure, on the 'System' section, that the 'Audio Components' option is checked. Click execute, and let it do it's thing.
  • Then open Disk Utility, select your startup volume, and repair all disk permissions. Let it run, then close all apps and restart again.

I hope this helps relieve the problem in some way, but I cannot guarantee it, having not been afflicted with it myself, however this is the course of action I take whenever my CPU usage is higher than I would expect it to be due to a process.

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This is not a solution in any way, shape or form. – Haytham Elkhoja Dec 28 '11 at 11:24
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CPU went from 8 to 120 % and was constantly fluctuating. Deleting Library/Preferences/Audio did not work for me but the instructions from All Maxwell did the trick. – Yves_T Apr 11 at 16:51
up vote 2 down vote

Seems like creating the folder Library/Preferences/Audio worked for at least some people. Have you tried it?

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The user just copied /Library/Preferences/Audio/ from another computer. I also had the issue on my previous Mac though. If it worked for someone, can you upload the plist files somewhere? – Lauri Ranta Dec 31 '12 at 10:18
up vote 0 down vote

This could be audio plugins that run under core audio.

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While this seems reasonable at first, it does not explain why "plugging in earphones or external speakers makes the problem go away". – gentmatt Jan 24 at 12:37

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