Incoming audio heavily distorted after upgrade to Big Sur

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Level 1

6 points

Incoming audio heavily distorted after upgrade to Big Sur

Since upgrading to Big Sur, the incoming audio on conferencing software (such as Google Meet and Skype) is heavily distorted such that it's impossible to understand what the other person is saying. Incoming video and outgoing audio/video seems to be fine. The distortion is not continuous, it switches in and out every couple of minutes. I'm using a MacBook Air "Core i5" 1.4 11" (Early 2014) which updated itself from Catalina to Big Sur automatically (with no issues) over the weekend, but now I'm trying to have meetings on Monday, it's a disaster! Any ideas?

MacBook Air 11″, macOS 11.0

Posted on Nov 16, 2020 9:56 AM

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Answer 1

sln118 Author

Level 1

6 points

Nov 26, 2020 2:09 AM in response to sln118

Update: I'm no longer suffering these problems as badly as I was immediately after upgrading to Big Sur. I believe that it may be a CPU load issue, and I understand that Big Sur does a lot of housekeeping for several days after installation which may have impacted on overall performance. I also reduced the microphone input sample rate from 48 kHz to 44.1 kHz (in Audio Midi Setup), and switched to using Chrome for any web-based conferencing. I now get the occasional audio stutter, but mostly when I'm listening to someone and clicking on other apps/windows at the same time. Skype now seems to be OK too.

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Answer 2

Nov 20, 2020 5:09 AM in response to sln118

I'm also experiencing the same issue!! Apple support told me reset the SMC https://support.apple.com/en-gb/HT201295, reset NVRAM or PRAM https://support.apple.com/en-gb/HT204063 and to try safe mode https://support.apple.com/en-gb/HT201262

I've tried this a few times (MacBook Pro 2019 1.4 GHz Quad-Core Intel Core i5) but it didn't work for me but it's worth a try in case it works for you.

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Answer 3

Nov 24, 2020 5:00 PM in response to foodaholic

I will try that but I don't see how that would work. It seems to be getting worse as time goes on.

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Incoming audio heavily distorted after upgrade to Big Sur

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