I have noise canceling headphones (Bose QC 35), that also have microphone built-in. If the microphone is active, noise canceling doesn't work, they just pass through ambient sounds (this is by design. I suppose, they did it so you wouldn't feel that you're in "vacuum" when you are talking). Anyway, the problem is that whenever I connect my headphones to macOS, the system switches from internal microphone to headphones' one. Therefore, noise canceling doesn't work, unless I go to system settings and switch microphone back to the internal one. This is very annoying, especially considering that I have to do that every time I connect headphones. Is there any way to force macOS to always use internal microphone, or not to use the specific headphones' one? **Update from 10/2017:** So I found out that "headphones' microphone is being used" only happens when Skype is running. But ever since I stopped using Skype (or having it running all the time), the problem was gone! This is not the solution for the original question, I'm just leaving it here for the future reference.

QC35's are linked to both my iPhone and my Mac but when I connect the headphones to my Mac (without pairing to my iPhone) the sound is choppy (brief & frequent loss in audio). Sometimes pairing my iPhone fixes the problem but not always. What can I do?

I have a bluetooth speaker and a couple of bluetooth headphones. I would like macOS to automatically use them for sound output/input when they connect. At the moment I have to go into Sound settings and manually select which speaker I want to use. How can I make macOS automatically output and input sound on the most recently connected bluetooth speaker/headphones?

For some reason, when Bluetooth headphones are connected to my macbook the volume control doesn't have any effect on the headphones volume. They seem to be stuck on full volume and doesn't change when I lower the volume. I've tried 'sudo killall coreaudiod' in the terminal but it doesn't change anything. Have restarted and re-paired the headphones but no joy. Any similar solutions haven't worked either. Anyone got any ideas? Thank you.

I have a pair of beats solo3 wireless headphones that used to work. 1) They still work when wired. 2) When connected to my phone over bluetooth, I can see the iPhone volume indicators change on the iphone when I press the volume buttons on the headphones. So it's definitely connected to bluetooth. 3) I tried resetting by holding power button and volume down button for 10 seconds. It didn't help. 4) Tried getting it to work with Apple Watch and iMac but it doesn't work with them. 5) I no longer get chime that I used to hear when the headphones are first turned on. 6) After fiddling with it some more, I was able to briefly get some sound out of one side at a very low volume. Then I got sound out of the other for about 5 seconds and then it cut out completely. So they are still not working but there seems to be a glimmer of hope. 7) After sticking the wired cable into the jack on the left can about halfway in while they were connected to bluetooth, I was able to restore sound do the right can. Still no sound out of left can. Very weird. Any other ideas or are these things toast?

I am a classical musician (cello, piano) and regularly teach online classes through apps such as Zoom, Teams, and FaceTime. The setup usually is: student on live call through the iPhone, music score on the iPad, and either me at the cello or at the piano. In the 2020-23 I used the Powerbeats Pro 1, then in 2023-24 I switched to the Focal Listen Wireless (PBP had a dead battery), and last week I switched to the new Powerbeats Pro 2. A huge problem I encountered with PBP2 is that they suppress my cello/piano playing so that my students hear only muffled inaudible garbling sounds. If I sing, no suppression is applied. Through ChatGPT interrogation, I learned that this could be due to the beam-forming mics alongside software calibration that considers musical instruments as something to suppress. As far as I knew, this was an option in apps, not a hardware thing: I could set up Zoom to use original audio for music lessons, and auto-suppression for business meetings. Now, even if I do that, the PBP2 take precedence. How can I solve this? The iPhone (iOS in general, I think) doesn’t allow separation of audio input and output—that is, once I have worn the PBP2 they will use their mic for input. Using an external mic is not a guarantee that iOS will let me use it instead of the earbuds mics. Teaching without earphones will cause return feedbacks. Is there any app or setting that allows input/audio separation on iPhone? Is there any modern bluetooth headphones that does not suppress this? Please notice that this effect is active even with ANC off—which is disturbing. I realise the market of classical music teacher teaching online is quite small for software/hardware developers to even care about it, but if you have any suggestion or even just a clear explanation of why this happens, I will greatly appreciate it. Thank you for your time.

When I connect a bluetooth headset (I have this with several headsets) it connects fine and sound goes over the headset. But after a certain time (sometimes 10 minutes, sometimes half a minute) the headphones lose sound. The headset stays connected an still appear when I check my bluetooth settings. Reselecting the headset in 'Sound' settings doesn't change a thing. When I turn them off and on again then it will work for a certain time again. Restarting doesn't change a thing and the following fix that I found for other problems also doesn't fix it: sudo kextunload /System/Library/Extensions/AppleHDA.kext sudo kextload /System/Library/Extensions/AppleHDA.kext Anyone have an idea how to solve this?

I have a new Macbook Air (2019 version) with macOS Catalina. My issue is that it keeps disconnecting the audio output I'm using. This has been occurring ever since I bought the mac 3 weeks ago, rendering it useless to play music. If I plug in my headset with minijack, I'll get to play music for about 1-5 minutes, before the Mac goes into some form of epilepsy mode, where I can observe in the audio settings that the audio output (in this case external headset) is removed and added very rapidly, sometimes naming the source "unknown", like every half second for about 2-3 minutes, before resuming to play music. If I physically take out the mini jack during this epilepsy mode, the Mac will play music from the internal speakers, which is now named "unknown". During this time I'm not able to change the volume, having to quit iTunes/Spotify to make the music stop. This occurs suddenly and without any obvious triggers. Its been happening 2 times while writing this post. It seems to happens regardless of external monitors, what programs are running, and happens on 2 different headsets with minijack and even with my bluetooth connected Airpods. Any ideas?

I have a 13" M2 MacBook Pro and an iPhone 14 pro which are both connected to my ATH-M50xBT2 Bluetooth 5.0 headphones with multi-point connectivity (I can connect to two devices at a time). The multipoint connection works as expected until I lock my Mac's screen or let it go to sleep. When that happens, my headphones are still connected to both devices, but my phone can't play sounds. For example, when I'm on the YouTube app, the play button doesn't start the video. This usually happens when one of the devices is playing something as the headphones can't play sounds from both devices at the same time. So when the Mac goes to sleep, it looks like it is hogging the headphones for no reason, preventing my phone from playing any sound. I know that one workaround is to have the Mac disconnect from Bluetooth devices when it goes to sleep, using this app for example, but I was wondering if there's another solution that doesn't involve disconnecting from Bluetooth.

Whenever I receive a call on my iPhone (15 Pro Max, iOS 18.4.1), and my earbuds (made by Tozo, if it matters) are connected, the call defaults to normal speaker audio, instead of using my earbuds. How do I make my phone use my earbuds when connected instead?

Older friend of mine uses a ReSound behind the ear hearing aid. These are equipped with a small volume up/down lever on the device itself, so he can tune the volume to match his environment. Usually, this works perfectly, but if he is in call on the iPhone, pressing either volume up or down is intepreted as a press on the side button, meaning the call is dropped. He's been using hearing aids for 30+ years and thus tuning the volume is second nature to him. Is there a way to stop this or change how the iPhone reacts to the button presses beyond contacting the developer of the hearing aid and asking them to push a new update?

Does “tune audio for” in HeadPhone Accommodations settings: - Balanced Tone - Vocal Range - Brightness Affect all sound including music such as the Apple Music app? Or does it only affect phone conversations? The *AirPods User Guide* does not specify.

I bought a pair of Sony WH-1000XM5 headphones and I started having problem of my Spotify app pausing after about 2s (same on YouTube, Deezer, ...) when I am in a meeting app (Zoom, Microsoft Teams, meet). It didn't happen when I was using a cable connected headset so the problem could be related to the Bluetooth connection. In my company, we need to stay on a Zoom call the whole working time and like to have music in the background, even on meetings. I can't find why it's happening and the songs pausing by itself is driving me crazy already.

I usually have Bluetooth headphones paired with an iPhone while I'm listening to music. However, now and then, I use the Voice Memos app or another app that requires a microphone. I only use those apps for a minute or so, then go back to listening to music through the headphones. The headphones have a mic, but I prefer to use the iPhone's mic with those apps. However, while the headphones are paired with the iPhone, the apps default to the mic on the headphones. Therefore, whenever I use those apps I disconnect the headphones (by turning Bluetooth off), then I connect them again after I'm done using the microphone. Is there a more practical way to do this? Is it possible to automatically shift to the iPhone's mic instead of the headphones' mic for selected apps?

Is it possible to connect two Bluetooth headphones to a Mac so both users can listen and talk? Both should be able to hear audio and speak into the Mac.

My headphone jack port works. Plugging in headphones though, may generate different sound results as stated here: https://support.apple.com/en-us/108351 , because it doesn't always recognises the headphones needs and doesn't always provide the same electrical output. My question is if there is any software or command-line way to set the voltage in advance. I'm having a hard time comparing headphone(s) and/or external speakers mixing because when I plug in the headphones, sometimes I get one result and sometimes another one. So every time I have to plug the headphone jack more than once to be sure I'm hearing the correct sound, volume and impact. This ruins the audio comparison, because my ears and my mind should switch from one sound to the other without "tests" in between. Macbook pro M2 with Sequoia, latest update. Sennheiser HD490pro (180 ohms), Audio-technica ATH-R70x (470 ohms).

My iMac and Macbook Air only have one 3.5 mm jack each. I would like to use this jack as an audio input source to record an electronic drum kit. I realize the proper way of doing this would be to get an audio interface, but I don't want to invest in one just yet. For now, I would like to plug in a 3.5mm cable to the output jack of the electronic drum kit and connect the other end to my computer to record the drum kit’s sound. This was possible with my old 2009 white MacBook. Can this be done in the newer models? I found this thread and tried using a cable with three rings. This cable has a built-in mic, so the computer is picking up on its mic, rather than the drumset's output.

Can an alarm sound in the headphone on iPhone, I don't care if it also sounds outside the headphones, but I think that having it come through the headphones would help me wake up, specifically wireless headphones How can I get alarms play through headphones?

I just connected a Bluetooth headset (Urbanears Plattan ADV Wireless) to my OSX Sierra Macbook for the first time, mostly without issue. Then I realised my "Play stereo audio as mono" setting (Accessibility -> Audio) wasn't being respected anymore. When I plugged in the optional cable, the output became mono, so I read up a bit on how Bluetooth works with sound. If I understood correctly, you basically have the choice between HSP, which is telephone-quality mono, and A2DP, which is high-quality stereo. Interestingly, a colleague claims his Bose Bluetooth headphones respect the "Play stereo as mono" setting fine, so likely the error is with this particular model. What I'm wondering is, is there a way to force the output from the Macbook to the headphones to be mono anyway (without switching to HSP, as that brings the quality way down)? I'd have thought the Accessibility setting would have taken care of this - eg. mixed the channels together _before_ sending the audio over to Bluetooth - but apparently something happens and I get stereo out anyway. Is it possible to circumvent this? I'm not a seasoned Mac user by any means, but I'm a developer and as such fine with digging around in the system, if that's what's needed. If not possible, anyone have some clarity to offer on why? (FWIW, this is an actual accessibility issue - I'm deaf in one ear, so I can't just stick to stereo and move on with my life. For now my options are either cabled, low quality, or only hearing half of the audio, neither of which is great.)

Like most people, I have (non-Apple) Bluetooth multipoint headphones that can simultaneously connect to two devices, and it will automatically play audio from either one of those devices (but never from both simultaneously). ### Case 1: connected to a PC (works fine) If I connect it to my PC (any modern Linux distro; same behavior on Windows) and my Android phone, everything works as expected: * I play something on the PC, and the headphones start playing it. Any audio from the phone is discarded. (Unless it starts ringing.) * I stop playing audio on the PC. The audio goes silent. A few seconds later, the headphones can start playing audio from the phone. ## Case 2: connected to a Mac (causes trouble) If I connect it to a MacBook and my phone, suddenly I'm unable to hear anything from my phone anymore. * I play something on the Mac, and the headphones start playing it. Any audio from the phone is discarded. (Unless it starts ringing.) So far, normal behavior. * I stop playing audio on the Mac. Or I end a video-call. The Mac is now silent. However, any audio from the phone is still being discarded. This is not what the user expects. * I turn off my headphones. Then turn the headphones back on. If I start playing audio from the phone immediately, the headphones do play the audio. However, if I pause the phone for a few seconds, or if I take too long to start playing, the headphones will again be captured by the Mac and will be busy playing silence. ### The question(s) Why does it happen? Why can't I use my headphones with my phone even though the MacBook is playing no audio? How can I solve this? Is there any workaround? ### Why it matters It is common to leave the MacBook at our desk while we take a break to go to the toilet or the kitchen. During this period, the MacBook is still hogging the headphones, even though there is nothing but silence. ### Non-solutions Asking the user to always close and restart the video call software (be it Teams, Zooms, or anything else) after each call is too much work and counter-productive. People have many meetings per day, and many chats as well. Asking the user to close and reopen the browser isn't worth the trouble. Dozens of tabs have to be reloaded. It's also counter-productive. Asking the user to close Spotify… Well, I wasn't even using Spotify anyway. Asking the user to close the app sending audio isn't helpful either. The user doesn't know. There is no indication whatsoever. Furthermore, there is no audible audio, it's silent, and no application is playing audio anymore. A workaround is to go to the Mac interface and manually disconnect the headphones. This isn't a good solution when we are already in the kitchen, far from the MacBook. ### Sleeping is a different issue It is pretty well known that MacBooks keep their Bluetooth enabled even during sleep, and they will keep connected the headphones even though the system is asleep. (I think it's stupid, but Apple will say it's different.) The Bluesnooze app is a well-known workaround for this case. Or you could use sleepwatcher to run a script to enable/disable bluetooth . This question, however, is not about sleeping. It's about the MacBook still awake, but not playing any audio. ### Related questions * https://apple.stackexchange.com/questions/451697/bluetooth-multipoint-playback-on-m2-macbook-pro-cant-play-on-other-devices (solved by noTunes ) * https://apple.stackexchange.com/questions/429465/prevent-macos-big-sur-fom-staying-connected-to-bluetooth-audio-device-when-put-t (sleep issue) * https://apple.stackexchange.com/questions/412743/stop-macbook-from-stealing-bluetooth-audio-focus-on-bose-headphones (sounds related, possibly a duplicate, but no good solution; also didn't show up when I searched, possibly due to the lack of keywords)