randomly mute the bluetooth mic on hedset

I have spent about four hours with Apple Support on the phone, cumulatively. The developer contact eventually admitted that

• The headset muting spontaneously issue is a bug with Monterey.
• They may fix it someday.

I've been having this problem too (Trekz Air and Aeropex) and I've figured out my problem. Looks like if you reduce the mic input level setting to zero then the Mac tells the headphones to mute. I had my Zoom audio settings set to "Automatically adjust microphone volume" which causes it to reduce the mic input level to zero whenever it thinks you are not speaking, which triggers the headphone mute. I have disabled this option and now I don't get the constant muting. There is a similar setting in Microsoft Teams (Devices --> Automatically adjust mic sensitivity) which you also need to disable.

Motleyii wrote:

I've been having this problem too (Trekz Air and Aeropex) and I've figured out my problem. Looks like if you reduce the mic input level setting to zero then the Mac tells the headphones to mute. I had my Zoom audio settings set to "Automatically adjust microphone volume" which causes it to reduce the mic input level to zero whenever it thinks you are not speaking, which triggers the headphone mute. I have disabled this option and now I don't get the constant muting. There is a similar setting in Microsoft Teams (Devices --> Automatically adjust mic sensitivity) which you also need to disable.

@Motleyii is a genius. This fixed my problem! (And I was ready to buy new headphones!)

Give this a try: boot into Safe Mode according to How to use safe mode on your Mac and test to see if the problem persists. Reboot normally and test again.

NOTE: Safe Mode boot can take up to 3 - 5 minutes as it's doing the following; 

• Verifies your startup disk and attempts to repair directory issues, if needed

• Loads only required kernel extensions (prevents 3rd party kernel/extensions from loading)

• Prevents Startup Items and Login Items from opening automatically

• Disables user-installed fonts 

• Deletes font caches, kernel cache, and other system cache files

Hey masoud_soroush,

Thanks for the information. One thing you can do is to try and isolate if it is a software issue or a headphone issue by using safe mode.

How to use safe mode on your Mac

Have a good one.

I have the problem with 2 different headsets (a Poly and an Aftershokz) on two different computers. It only started to happen after I upgraded to Monterey. Seems clearly a problem with Monterey. I filed a bug here: https://www.apple.com/feedback/macos.html

Neither headset randomly mutes when attached to my Android phone.

Thank you for reporting this. I can confirm this exact behavior with my pair of Sennheiser CX 6.00BT (bluetooth) earbuds. These worked fine for 5 years, until Monterey (v12.0.1).

Additional details:

• In Google Meet, they will randomly go into Mute mode (continuous "boop, boop, boop" sound on this model)
• I am NOT muted in Google Meet -- just the headphones have gone into mute mode
• Only experienced in Google Meet so far (but have not tried with Slack, Zoom, etc)
• Maybe mic related, because this has not happened automatically listening to other audio...

... however, I can reproduce the same behavior listening to regular audio. Putting the volume down near zero causes the headphones to start "boop,boop,boop" mute mode, then will power themselves off in a few seconds if the volume is not raised back up!

Detailed steps:

• Start listening to audio
• Use volume slider in Mac to lower volume to almost off (or all the way to zero)
• Headphones start "boop, boop, boop" as if they've been instructed to mute
• Raise the volume slider back up (there is lag)
• If this happens "fast enough" the audio will resume as normal
• Otherwise, the headphones power themselves off after a few seconds

I don't know why the headphones power themselves off after a few seconds of the volume being near zero. It's as if the Mac is instructing them to mute, then power off.

So, listening to audio is tolerable, as long as I don't lower the volume "too much", but meetings are impossible.

Any advice is most welcome, thanks.

Our company makes a mute button for online calls (MuteMe) and I can 100% confirm this is a bug in macOS Monterey. We have had hundreds of users reach out to us to complain about this particular issue and after some extensive testing across dozens of devices and headsets, there is an issue with how macOS Monterey handles mute.

A simple way to reproduce the bug is by taking your volume slider for your input device when you're connected via Bluetooth down to zero and you'll see the output audio cut out.

Here are simple steps to reproduce with apple software and any input/output headset.

1.  Connect any Bluetooth headset to the computer.
2. Open default "Audio MIDI setup" application which is a default macOS application. 
3. Find the headset you connected via Bluetooth and find the input pane it might show up as two separate devices.
4. Play any audio source including playing a clip from youtube. 
5. Go back to the "audio MIDI setup" application and click the mute checkbox next to the slider on the input pane. 
6. At this point the output will be muted; what should happen (desired behavior) is the input should be muted but it should not impact the output. What is happening is it is not impacting the input but muting the output. 

I really hope someone fixes this, we have just started telling our customers to go ahead and leave feedback on the macOS page.

The login window will have Safe Mode in the upper right hand corner:

If you have a wireless BT keyboard with rechargeable batteries connect it with the charging cable to make it a wired keyboard to assure you'll get to the right login windows

Hello masoud_soroush,

After reviewing your post, it seems like you are using a wireless headset on the MacBook Pro and the mic mutes and will not unmute.

Does the headset disconnect from the Mac?

Are you using the mic on the headset or the internal mic on the Mac?

If you use the mic on the Mac does it work on calls?

Take a look at the Resetting the headphones to factory default settings section.

https://assets.sennheiser.com/global-downloads/file/13908/PXC550II_Manual_EN.pdf

Please don't hesitate to let us know if you need additional assistance.

Thank you for using Apple Support Communities. Have a nice day.

I have the same problem with Aeropex by Aftershokz after update to Monterey. Indeed please provide solution quickly, because it is really frustrating!!! I already reset the headphone. Restarted the computer, tried everything in systems preferences, but the problem still exists.

Hello Apple Support team, Is there an update on this issue? I use my Macbook Pro for work and it impacts my Webex and Google meeting web meetings. I have to dial in for each of my web meetings, because the audio on my Macbook is unreliable since I upgraded to Monterey 12.0.1. Thank you

I have the same problem with Aftershokz Air headphones after updating to Monterey on my MacBook Pro 2020. Please provide a solution quickly, because it is really frustrating!!! I already reset the headphone. Restarted the computer,

tried everything in systems preferences, but the problem still exists. Work calls are unable to be done and productivity is being effected. Thank you

Exact same issue here. I work in IT as well and am evaluating Monterey before we deploy it to the rest of our customers. I have been using a Plantronics Voyager bluetooth headset for over a year now without any issues. I upgraded my M1 MacAir to Monterey and now, several times during a call, my Plantronics goes on Mute. I have to manually press the mute button on the headset to turn off the mute. It's really strange...as if the mac is telling the headset to mute itself. Sometimes I can talk for several minutes without issue....but most of the time it is muting so frequently that I have to switch to a wired headset which works fine. I have not tried a headset from a different manufacturer yet.