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MacBook and Motorola S9-HD Headphones.. Horrible Audio

Sorry if this is a repost, but i searched the forums with no luck finding these model headphones.
I have a pair of Motorola S9-HD headphones that i use with the MyTouch 3g flawlessly, and i have used them with my previous blackberry too with no issues, but when using them with my MacBook, i get overly compressed music (it sounds terrible). It does not matter if im watching a DVD, using iTunes, Pandora, etc...

I am just coming back into the mac world after a few years of windows ****, and the headphones even worked fine with windows... is there an issue with apple's stack in snow leopard?

any suggestions would be wonderful!

Thanks!

MacBook, Mac OS X (10.6.2)

Posted on Nov 19, 2009 3:01 AM

Reply
16 replies

Jan 21, 2010 7:09 PM in response to Phil Kinsman

Bump.

Thank you Phil! For anyone wondering why they can't get computer audio out to their Bluetooth headphones (in my case the Ericsson HBH-DS205), make sure you scroll down in the output window under the Sound Prefs. I kept choosing Bluetooth Headset because I didn't see the Bluetooth Headphones...it was the last option. When I chose Headset, I could get iTunes audio (it did sound horrible), but no audio from other apps like Firefox. Problem solved if you choose Headphones! Thanks again.

Feb 27, 2010 2:56 PM in response to brad162

I am recently having issues with the headphones part of the bluetooth connection with a Macbook Pro 10.5.8.
It was working properly up until today and I cannot seem to figure out what happened. The headset still works but audio is terrible and just as others have said not usable on other applications. The computer recognizes them and pairs properly, it is just that I am not getting any sound.

They work properly for my iPhone 3GS and I have tried rebooting, reseting (On/Off), and entirely reconnected the head phones.

Any suggestions?

Thanks,
Dave

Feb 28, 2010 8:59 AM in response to brad162

Hi,
I have had exactly the same problem with the same system(MacBook Pro, Mac OSX (10.6.2) and Motorola S9-HD headphones. I used them last night and put the computer to sleep, but this morning my Bluetooth was missing. It's missing from the system preferences and the wireless device list is gone from the sound preference list. I can't find the primary software program and I think it's because of these headphones I bought from Apple. I really need help here because I can't even use my Mighty Mouse. I write books and I'm getting my second Graduate degree. I am very upset about this.
Michael

Mar 5, 2010 8:43 AM in response to Phil Kinsman

I get sound through the headsets if I select Headset (Mono), but when I change it to Headphones (Stereo) it keeps cutting in and out. At first I didn't get any sound when I selected Stereo, so I've gotten a little further. I am only a few feet from my Macbook, but it sounds like they're cutting in and out, or loosing the signal. Any thoughts? They work great with my phone.

Mar 5, 2010 6:03 PM in response to Macintuxman

This is exactly what's been happening to me. Every time I had to use the "set up Bluetooth device. Then it would it would play the audio in mono. When I first got them I got stereo and the sound was great. Then some time went by and one day I got up and found my Bluetooth "was not available. I found a way(throught the forum) how to reset the PRAM and it came back. I had scheduled phone support before I solved the problem, but I asked the guy from Apple support if he'd heard anything about the problems people were having with the S9-HD headphones. He did'nt know much about it, but suggested I go here, http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3964?viewlocale=en_US to find out how to reset my hard drive for MacBook Pro. Now I did this, and it really didn't seem to help. At this moment I am getting stereo, but what I discovered there are a sequence of steps and conditions you must follow to get them to work properly. First you have to go into Bluetooth preferences and select Motorola and "headset" even though it says not connected. Select "headphones" not "headset" in sound preferences. Then you turn on the headphones, select stereo, and then a passcode form shows up and you put in "0000" and wait a minute and the stereo comes through. In the past it's taken me 15 minutes of screwing around to get them on. I just did it and it took 1 minute, 30 seconds. Now, I don't know if that's going to work for you, but for some reason I'm waiting for "the other shoe to drop". I've had these things about 5 weeks and I'm just now getting them to work right. I wouldn't pair them to my iPhone until I could them to work reliably with my MacBook. It's been two days and so far so good, but it's also been a pain for the last month or so. Well good luck!
Michael

Mar 8, 2010 1:39 AM in response to brad162

My issue is a little different, my Stereo Audio is totally fine, it's just very "digitized" per say.. or it sounds like over compressed music. but still in Windows or with the blackberry/iphone/ipod they sound beautiful.

I think im going to give up on the issue as i just think it's an issue with the BT in snow leopard as it was totally fine in leopard.

Mar 25, 2010 9:22 AM in response to brad162

I'm having problems with the S9-HD and Leopard 10.5.8

When using it as headset the sound is just horrible, using it as Headphones is a little better, but is nothing compared when using it with my blackberry (really great sound), so I think is a problem with Apple, Is there any way to configure A2DP settings for the device?

Do you know if these problems happens in Snow Leopard too?

Any hints to get an acceptable audio signal?

Thanks!

Apr 14, 2010 12:06 PM in response to brad162

I have snow leopard OS X 10.6.3 and I'm having major issues with these headphones. Every time I turn on the headphones it wants to use Mono audio as the default. This works, but it gives me horrible (mono) audio and no controls from the headset (play/pause, track skip). When I try to change to Stereo in system preferences, I lose all sound, I gain the ability to use the skip track buttons on the headset, but still cannot use the pause/play button. Apple is really blowing it on their bluetooth drivers!!

I should note that every once in a blue moon I am able to get stereo audio to work (maybe once in every 50 tries). When it works it sounds great! but this whole thing is so unreliable that its not even worth trying most of the time. Anyone have additional advice they can provide on this headache?

Jun 12, 2010 8:16 AM in response to brad162

I got these headphones just last night and experienced the similar problems with them as well.

Audio quality was terrible, the headphones defaulted to headset mode, connection was not possible to headphone mode. The one time headphone mode did connect, audio cut in and out every few seconds.

I haven't found a comprehensive answer but from a few different posts found a solution that worked for me and thought to share.

First, turn off your WiFi while changing settings. Then turn off both BT headphones and BT connection on the computer. Turn both BT back on then go to:
Applications>Utilities>Audio MIDI Setup
Make sure that your Default Output and System Output are set to the same Motorola S9-HD.
There are two in the drop down lists - one to represent the headset and the other to represent the headphones but they are not marked to specify which is which. You'll have to toggle through them in both drop downs to get them to match up, but once you do you'll have great audio in all applications and no (or minimal) cutting out.

At this point you can turn your WiFi back on and adjust EQ settings in iTunes for optimal sound.

Hope this helps!

Jul 3, 2010 12:10 AM in response to bklynation

Hello,

I have been looking for 5 hours on the web and I have not found a way to connect these moto headphones to my Macbook Pro.

Like others have said, it connects in stereo but the sound comes on and then after 10 seconds goes off and then it repeat the cycle. The time varies between one gap and another.

I also look at Moto website in the official support and forums

Anybody?

Jul 15, 2010 4:04 AM in response to brad162

Try to remember that there is more than one amplifier to set. For instance, headphones like S9 and the s9hd allow for two modes, headset or headphones. Make sure your comp or device knows which one to use. Next, remember that there is a volume control on the headphones regardless of which mode you use. Third, remember that your mac has a volume control. Whenever you mix two volume controls, you get amplification feedback. You need to figure out which one is causing it (more noticeably), then reduce the output of that amplifier. When you alter the volume from within an application like itunes (with the slidebar or the equalizer) you are adding a third amp layer. Drop the pre-amp a little, crank up your comp volume to increase signal strength and drop the volume a little on your headphones. Remember, the comp amp is a translation of the amplified sound into a signal for your device, and that signal is variable across both planes (Freq and amplitude). The headphones catch that signal, then translate it into their own signal and pass it to the amp to once again amlify the sound (again modifying it) based on the volume and any other settings your headphones allow.
I've had a similar problem with a wired set of headphones before. I made adjustments in both directions on both amps, and came up with a decent sound. If you want to get the best sound without all that worry, get the bt transmitter that you can plug into the sound output (a wired connection) and pair the headphones with that. It cleans up the sound quite well, then retransmits it more powerfully and maintains a signal with the headphones. I got one for around $20 US. Works great. In short, remember what your dealing with when you pair your headphones. You wouldn't put the mic 2 inches from the speaker with both of them turned up full blast, would you? You would if you were me, or if you were just flat out looney, or pyro or something; but you wouldn't do that to your mac. Just keep that in mind. Also note, BT (bluetooth) is highly suceptible to interference. Microwaves in the middle of the home, wireless routers, other RF electronics that operate on similar freq... If you get static or broken sound, its interference. Try to find the busted transformer or microwave. Good luck. ( PS I wouldn't rule out cordless phones either).

MacBook and Motorola S9-HD Headphones.. Horrible Audio

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