Logic project playback caused monitor volume to go to maximum

[sal_akz]

Wonder if anyone else have ever come across this strange issue that has now happened twice in the last 10 days. During playback of my Logic project, and without touching any fader/knobs or my keyboard/mouse, the volume on my monitors suddenly went to the absolute maximum without warning. I am amazed my eardrums are still intact because it sounded like an explosion! To be clear, the faders in Logic did not move/change; the volume only went up on my monitors.

- In the first instance I was playing back a very large project (over 50 tracks, over 100 plugins) and I suspect (but can't be certain) Logic may have maxed out the CPU.  

- In the second instance I was testing a free plugin in a new project running just one Software Instrument track with just that one plugin! There was no CPU or disk overload.

In the past whenever Logic stopped playback because over CPU overload, I just got the usual message to increase buffer size etc. but I also noticed that the volume would go up noticeably (though not to the max) at the exact point of the playback stopping and the warning message coming up, but I just assumed this is what everyone experiences and is normal behaviour for Logic so I just put up with it. But the volume going max on my monitors is untenable and dangerous.

I am 99% certain it is not the monitors that are at fault because it only happens when I play back a Logic project. And it also doesn't seem like a resource/CPU overload issue because I have had multiple playback warnings in the last 10 days (in between the two "max volume" instances) without the volume going to the max on my monitors. It is also worth noting that in both instances I was using Software Instrument VST plugins that have looping/ongoing samples (one was a Kontakt instrument, the other just an acoustic guitar chord plugin) rather than a single sound.

Has anyone come across a similar issue? Any ideas on diagnosing the issue would be greatly appreciated. Could it even be a corrupted project issue?

FYI, I am using Logic Pro 10.4.8 (I need to be on macOS Mojave 10.14.6 and I understand I cannot use the later versions of Logic?) on an iMac 27-inch (Mid 2015, 3.1 GHz Intel Core i7, 24GB RAM, with a SSD) and my monitors are IK Multimedia iLoud Micro. I got in touch with IK Multimedia and they say it must be an issue with Logic. To be honest I think they are right.

[sal_akz]

Update: I mentioned "Could it even be a corrupted project issue?". I think this is not the case because I used the "Create a new empty project" option in the second instance.

[JakobP]

Seems like you're experiencing this old bug: Random White noise blast. If you're on 10.14.6 you can go to Logic 10.5.1, the OP in the link claims going to 10.5 solved it for him... What audio interface are you using ?

Edited September 15, 2022 by JakobP

[sal_akz]

Thanks for the suggestion JakobP. The thread you linked does seem like the issue I am having. I will try to source Logic 10.5.1 and give that a try.

I am using the IK Multimedia iRig Pro Duo as my audio interface.

[JakobP]

You're welcome, let's hope that solves it for you !

[guavadude]

I've had this issue. It's hard to track down. I HIGHLY recommend getting SigMod from Nugen. I keep it on my master, last in the chain set to +3db. Anything over that breaks the fuse and saves your speakers and ears. 

There used to be an old plugin Ice9 but it doesn't work past Mojave. You should be able to find that for free. 

[sal_akz]

Thanks for the suggestion guavadude. I have moved to Logic 10.5.1 and have not experienced the issue since, so hopefully that combined with SigMod should do the trick.

[sal_akz]

Update: Having moved from Logic 10.4.8 to 10.5.1, the problem resurfaced again. However thanks to the guavadude's eardrum-saving suggestion I had already invested in SigMod (what an excellent plugin!), the "noise" was nothing more than an ant burping on a distant planet for a fraction of a second.

The culprit is a specific plug-in (an acoustic VST from Ample), which bizarrely only causes the issue the first time it plays in my Logic session. To be fair to Ample, I do not know if its an issue with my template or some corruption of the project or the VST itself. But I can live with this setup.

Thanks everyone for your valuable help!