You can set it to disable lower-quality codecs by default. Consider using Toothfairy If you’re tired of navigating through menus, Toothfairy may be a good option. The specific “problem app” in question may surprise. Just try to find anything that allows you to speak or dictate. In other cases, you may need to do a bit more digging. You may also want to go into the Security & Privacy menu to see what apps have access to your microphone. Just select which apps have permission to use your microphone. You may be able to find some of these apps in System Preferences > Security & Privacy. That’s why we recommend weeding through the apps that use your microphone Depending on your specific setup, the culprit of your lower-quality audio connection could be something entirely different. That may be the case for you - just go to System Preferences > Keyboard > Dictation and turn dictation off (or toggle on and off.)Īlso, check the microphone that’s listed in Dictation, switch it to the internal microphone.īut, as you may know, Dictation certainly isn’t the only app or system setting that uses a microphone. In the reader’s case, it was the native Dictation feature that caused macOS to switch to the lower-quality codec. Essentially, you’ll want to find and kill apps or system functions that use a microphone. One of the most effective solutions is an unlikely strategy that a reader stumbled upon. Kill apps or system settings that are listening in If you don’t, you may need to pursue some of the other solutions below.
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It’s worth noting that if your Mac doesn’t have a built-in microphone to switch to, use another microphone that is not connected to your Bluetooth headphones. If you have the volume icon in your menu bar, you can option-click it and change the default input device to the baked-in microphone.
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It’ll say, for example, MacBook Air Microphone or MacBook Pro Microphone. Select the Input tab and make sure that the input device is set to the Mac Microphone. You can do that by going to System Preferences -> Sound. One of the easiest ways to deal with this is to simply switch the microphone input to the built-in microphone on your device. Even if the headphones use AAC codec when they’re first connected, they can switch to a lower-quality codec if you open an app that uses microphones. This commonly happens when using AirPods. Don’t use the microphone Go to the Sound preferences menu and make sure that the input device is set to the built-in Mac microphone (if applicable).įirst thing’s first: check to see if your Mac defaulted to using your headphone mic as the input device. But there are a couple of workarounds that you can use to force macOS to use AAC whenever possible. Unfortunately, there aren’t many easy, native ways to prevent Bluetooth devices from defaulting to the lower-quality codecs. Some users may not notice the drop in quality, but that doesn’t mean that it isn’t happening. It’s also why more in-depth attempts to fix the audio quality, such as terminal commands or resetting the SMC, won’t alleviate the issue. That’s why a good pair of Bluetooth headphones will often sound worse when connected to a Mac than an iPhone. This typically happens when macOS thinks you’re going to use the built-in microphone on a Bluetooth device (actually the device’s external microphone). It’s Apple’s preferred codec and is objectively higher-quality than the SCO or SBC codecs.īut occasionally, Bluetooth-connected devices will “fall back” to the SCO or SBC codec. Most modern Macs try to use the AAC audio codec with audio devices. Why do Bluetooth headphones often sound worse when you connect them to a Mac? In a nutshell, it’s because of the audio codec. It’s because macOS defaults to a lower-quality audio codec. You might notice a drop in audio quality when connecting Bluetooth headphones to a Mac. That’s why we recommend weeding through the apps that use your microphone.Kill apps or system settings that are listening in.What causes this drop in audio quality?.