Solved: Mac Bluetooth mono low quality audio

-

It's utterly bizarre, but I wanted to document this for others. Normally my Mac outputs great Bluetooth audio, with a Creative Pebble Pro stereo set either side of my desk giving me great music while I work.

However...

Every now and then, the glorious high-def stereo changes to a VERY low-fi mono mix, reminiscent of Bluetooth headsets 20 years ago. 

  • Turning Bluetooth off and on again does nothing to fix things
  • Turning the speakers off and on again does nothing, ditto
  • Closing the Mac, ditto
  • Rebooting the Mac, ditto

At this point despair sets in, but there's a fix. In fact, two fixes. And they only take a few seconds. First method:
  1. Click on the Bluetooth icon in the top system bar
  2. Click on 'Bluetooth Settings'
  3. Click on the 'i' besides the speakers in your setup
  4. Click on 'Forget this device'
  5. Click on ''Forget this device' again when asked if you're sure(!)
  6. Find the speakers again (listed under 'Nearby devices') and click on 'Connect'
The second method is related to why all this happens in the first place. It seems that the low-fi mode is related to the Mac wanting to use the speakers as a microphone - that is, using the mic in the speakers themselves, rather than the microphone in the MacBook. In 'mic' mode, all audio is voice optimised and music then suffers, etc. 

So go to Settings/Sound/Input and set this to be your built-in or genuine plug-in microphone. This should also resolve the music issue, though good luck getting the selections and settings to stick!

Still, at least, that gives you two quick fixes. Let's hope Apple puts in a permanent fix so that the Mac 'remembers' what you like.

PS. If you like this feature and want to support my work then please do so here via PayPal. Thanks.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Wavelet - and better sounding speakers (and headphones) on Android...

-
Image
You may well be fairly happy with the audio output (speakers and headphones) on your existing Android phone. Or, like me, you may welcome an extra step up. Perhaps more bass/punch, clearer treble, or perhaps just a volume boost overall. Now, there have been various 'boost' utilities for Android in the past and they've been a bit patchy in how well they work. But Wavelet, discovered by Ted Salmon back in 2021, is a whole different kettle of fish, in that it works supremely well, with extra bass, clarity, and volume,   BUT has a very confusing interface. Which is why a brief tutorial is in order. The steps come from Ted in bullet point form, but expanded by me here and with screenshots, which will hopefully help. By the way, ignore the 'headphone specific' text in the app's title - it works perfectly well for speakers too. In fact, by definition, I'd say that it's really ONLY for speakers, since with headphones you've usually got plenty of natural i
Read more

Bluetooth keyboard incorrect PIN or password - SOLVED

-
Image
Just in case this helps anyone else, I had a nightmare today with my Bluetooth keyboard and my Android phone - but I used some common sense and found a geeky solution. In my case it was a ZTE Axon 7 running Lineage OS and a Microsoft Universal Folding Keyboard (UFK), but I suspect this cure will work for more general issues. The symptom was that when I tried to connect a previously paired keyboard I first of all got just the raw Bluetooth address shown and not the keyboard name. And then, when I tried connecting, I got an "incorrect PIN or password" error message. No chance to reenter a PIN and no amount of restarting keyboard or phone would fix it. The cure seemed to be to reset something in the phone's Bluetooth system, but what? The keyboard wasn't showing up as paired, so I couldn't 'forget' it. I tracked it down in the end. Settings, Apps, then 'Show system' on the '...' menu. Find and tap on 'Bluetooth extensions'.
Read more

Why the Apple iPhone 14 Pro Max is better than the 15 Pro Max

-
Image
Forgive the click bait(y) title, but there's actual evidence here, I promise. Note that I did write an article before availability, putting forward worries and concerns , but I've now had hands-on to confirm a few things and report back.  Cased (of course, read the blooming' article!) Pro Maxes - 15 and 14 (with XtremeSkin, Aged Oak , in case you're wondering!) In fact, it's the first time ever in the iPhone line-up/evolution that I seriously think the old 'Pro Max' model can be argued to be  better than the new one. (Admittedly, that I already own the old one [14 Pro Max] and didn't really want to spend over £1000 on the 15 Pro Max possibly helps my argument from a personal perspective.) (There's one big win for the new model, of course. Type C connectivity has been a long time coming - but this will take several generations to become established in iPhone/Lightning households and maybe I'll come back to this in a future article.) My observat
Read more