Sound muffled without headphones, goes on speaker with headphones on, no sound on headphones.

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Level 1

6 points

Sound muffled without headphones, goes on speaker with headphones on, no sound on headphones.

Hello, everyone. I need help badly.

I'm running MacOS Big Sur version 11.3.1 on Macbook Air 13 inch 2017. It's been a few months since my Macbook acted strangely.

The sound is muffled, even on full volume.
When I put the headphone on, I tried plugging in original Apple Earpods and something strange happens, the sound goes back to normal. BUT there's no sound coming out of the Earpods. Same thing happens when I change with Sennheiser studio headphones and Sony earphones. When I unplug the headphones, it goes back to muffled.
I tried diagnostic log in - read in somewhere in apple community - and the sound goes back to normal volume and behavior, until I plug in the earphone!
Everything is normal when using Bluetooth speakers or earphones.

Any thought will help.

Thank you.

MacBook Air

Posted on May 14, 2021 10:41 AM

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Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

SergZak

Level 6

10,696 points

May 14, 2021 11:16 AM in response to mastabayu

Try plugging & unplugging the headphones repeatedly 20 times or so. When the plug is in the jack, twist the plug back and forth in the jack 20 times or so as well. You're basically trying to clear out any dust and/or corrosion within the jack on the MacBook. The jack contains an internal switch that switches the output from internal speakers to the plugged-in headphones.

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Answer 2

dominic23

Level 10

84,018 points

May 14, 2021 10:59 AM in response to mastabayu

Go step by step and test.

1. Reset PRAM: Reset NVRAM or PRAM on your Mac - Apple Support

Settings that can be stored in NVRAM include sound volume, display resolution, startup-disk selection, time zone,

and recent kernel panic information.

The settings stored in NVRAM depend on your Mac and the devices that you're using with your Mac.

2. Reset SMC: How to reset the SMC of your Mac - Apple Support Choose the appropriate method.

Quote:

Resetting the system management controller (SMC) can resolve certain issues related to power, battery, fans,

and other features.

3. Contact Apple.

Click inside the box to choose an option.

https://getsupport.apple.com/?caller=kbase&PGF=PGF63005&category_id=SC0245&symptom_id=23362

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Sound muffled without headphones, goes on speaker with headphones on, no sound on headphones.

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