You can make a difference in the Apple Support Community!

When you sign up with your Apple Account, you can provide valuable feedback to other community members by upvoting helpful replies and User Tips.

Looks like no one’s replied in a while. To start the conversation again, simply ask a new question.

NewPro User Author

Level 1

0 points

Intense FaceTime feedback after upgrade to 10.9

Hi Folks!

After the update to 10.9, a few days ago, I cannot make Face Time calls without terrible feedback on the other end.. I have tried turning the volume and internal microphone volume way down to zero and moving it up slowly in hope of making it go away. Then selecting the cancel ambient noise option in audio but the other person still hears a pronounced echo and feedback even with the my mic and speaker levels next to nothing..

I don't have any third party audio drivers on this system as I use my Mini for that, so everything is stock.

Before the update, FaceTime worked as advertised and I could turn the volume up to it's limits and literally walk around the house and talk to the person on the other end of the connection on a perfect audio and video connection. The laptop cancelled out well and there was no echo or feedback.

As of the update, that's all gone...

Does anyone have any ideas that might help this problem?

Thanks!

2012 15" MBP 2.2 i7 / 16Gb / 512Gb SSD

Posted on Oct 26, 2013 5:50 PM

49 replies

Teekert

Level 1

0 points

Dec 23, 2013 10:47 AM in response to NewPro User

Same here, completely unuseable starting from the Mavericks update. 10.9.1 makes it even worse.

NewPro User Author

Level 1

0 points

Dec 27, 2013 9:59 PM in response to NewPro User

Well, I think we finally have an answer... It's the new audio drivers within 10.9.2 for Face TIme Audio... Feedback and echo free...

I downloaded 10.9.2 from the devloper site and installed it with a restart.. Everything works smoothly so far..

I tried it out tonight and it works beautifully.. No feedback or echo after the first few seconds.. Works with full volume on a MBP with the internal mic.

I think this solves the issue..

Crossing my fingers and thanks to Apple for fixing this issue..

Dec 28, 2013 7:22 AM in response to NewPro User

Cool! Thanks for posting.

heycorky

Level 1

14 points

Jan 8, 2014 8:28 PM in response to scientificstick

Today I tried to use FaceTime on my MacBook Mid 2009

After updating to 10.9.1 build 13942

The Mic is very low to the receiver they cannot hear me.

Before the upgrade it worked perfectly.

This BS about reformatting and doing a clean install, who has time for that?

I am waiting for the ISSUE to be FIXED !!! It's so frustrating with these OS updates

and the hardware and software issues that don't work.

Apple Get IT Together please and fix the PROBLEM! ! ! !

Mar 2, 2014 12:11 PM in response to NewPro User

I installed the official 10.9.2 release this weekend and just did a test FaceTime call with my parents, who are on a 2008 iMac, a 2013 iMac and an iPad. Same problem when I FaceTime from my 2013 iMac running Mavericks, which didn't occur when running the prior OS version and which doesn't occur when I try from my iPhone 5. Very disappointing.

Mar 2, 2014 4:40 PM in response to NewPro User

Quick survey: How many on this post have ever installed a 3rd party CoreAudio manager/Digital Audio Workstation on their system? If so, what vendor and version?

If you're not sure, check in  menu>About this Mac>More Info...>System Report>and on the side bar Audio

Anything beside "Built-in" listed there?

Mar 2, 2014 10:12 PM in response to BornToBeMild

The upgrade didn't help for me either. I called my brother (he was on an iOS device - I was on my mac). He sounded perfect to me, but on his side, all he could hear was echos of everything he said, even when I turned my volume way way down. Earphones solved the problem, but this shouldn't be necessary. No other video conference software I have on this computer has this issue.

Mar 2, 2014 10:14 PM in response to Brian_Rowland

Regarding the survey, I have 4 things in my list of audio devices:

- Built In Microphone

- Built in Output

- Elements Organizer 11.0 (From Adobe Elements, which I have installed)

- Premier Elements 11.0 (From Adobe Elements, which I have installed)

Zeek78

Level 1

4 points

Mar 10, 2014 1:41 PM in response to NewPro User

i have a macbook air 2013, same problem here after upgrade to 10.9.2 facetime echo. Now i cant use facetime without headset. Before the update, everythig were fine.

NewPro User Author

Level 1

0 points

Mar 10, 2014 8:15 PM in response to NewPro User

A small frustration update.. With the release of the 10.9.2 public release, the good audio was broken again and back to where it was. The previous developer release seemed to fix the issue for me, but the final reverts back to the original feedback issue... My schedule didn't leave me well enough to find the driver set that changed. My apologies to the community and hope that it gets fixed someday.

One step forward, two steps back....

Reagrding Brian's question, there are no secondary audio devices present on this system. Thought of that first when I re-installed 10.9 from scratch to try and solve the problem.

Good hunting my friends.. Good hunting.

May 18, 2014 9:40 AM in response to NewPro User

Something I did seems to have fixed the problem. I just downloaded 10.9.3, so that is probably what it was. Install all the upgrades and hopefully it is fixed for you too 😉

May 23, 2014 3:29 PM in response to NewPro User

My MBP came with Mavericks, currently 10.9.3, so I can't go back to an earlier version, but my correspondents on FT have the same echo complaint when I use it. No problem if I use my iPod.

I will try using a headphone and mic.

May 23, 2014 4:32 PM in response to malcolmchisholm

Just plugged a headphone into the MacBook and the problem was solved. However, I'd prefer not to have to wear a headphone every time I FT with people. Does anyone know where the mic is on this laptop?

Zeek78

Level 1

4 points

May 25, 2014 11:18 PM in response to malcolmchisholm

Headphones will work, but should not have been necessary. I think there is a software bug somewhere, my macbook air 2013function now perfect after i reinstall osx from scratch.

Carciofo

Level 1

0 points

May 26, 2014 7:30 AM in response to Zeek78

All very odd, as the echo was only present with FaceTime for the remote users. All other applications which provide an equivalent service, such as Skype and Google Hangouts, did not manifest the problem. Still unsure as to what the issue was exactly but the solution does appear to be to completely re-install the O/S. I've spent some time on this with Apple support and this was the last resort before I was to take it back in, even installing the O/S over the existing one did not work. After erasing the HD and the re-installtion of OSX 10.9.3 I was able to recover all files and settings from a TimeMachine backup (using the migration tool). I'm now all back up up as before, minus the echo!

OS X Mavericks: Erase and reinstall OS X

The various other bits they had me do before reaching to the final solution were:

Isolating an issue by using another user account

OS X Mavericks: Start up in safe mode

About NVRAM and PRAM

Intel-based Macs: Resetting the System Management Controller (SMC)

Obviously only attempt the top solution with a complete backup in place.

Intense FaceTime feedback after upgrade to 10.9