Usb Audio Problem El Capitan

Question

Level 1

5 points

Usb Audio Problem El Capitan

Hi,

on my Mac Mini (Mid 2011) I´ve upgraded to El Capitan. Everything works fine except usb-audio. I have an usb-audio device (Creative X-Fi) connected to the mini and to active speakers. The device occurs and also sound can be played through it. The problem is that I can not adjust the volume any more. Not via system settings nor via the device itself. It was working all fine with Yosemite until now :-(

Any suggestions?

Kind regards

Steve

Mac mini, OS X El Capitan (10.11)

Posted on Oct 4, 2015 2:16 AM

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Answer 1

Jan 15, 2017 11:26 AM in response to one_rarehair

I've exactly the same problem (helium voice is a nice description). It is quite annoying and I am thinking about using a old iBook with 10.3.

I am on a late 2008 using El Capitan and can't upgrade. I would love to go back to snow Leopard but too many soft and my Canon printer don't want it.

A solution would be nice!

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Answer 2

Oct 4, 2015 1:43 PM in response to iOS_Steve

I'm running a mac mini 2011 (server version). I use Screenflow and QuickTIme with an H1 Zoom mic to make screencasts for a range of software. Everything was fine until the upgrade to El Capitan. Now its sounds as though I am on Helium or in a BeeGees tribute act.

I get raised pitch, crackling and looping echoes.

This has basically trashed my workflow on three Macs. I know - I should have backed up and done all that but nothing was reported for a few days and this issue is still not widely reported, you have to dig for it - and why would you unless you already suffer from it?

Any chance of a bug fixing upgrade please Apple?

I think that its a USB 2 device centred issue, but then, I'm not an expert.

The H1 was cheapish and just worked. It would be nice to get that functionality back again.

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Answer 3

Yolshi

Level 1

0 points

Oct 20, 2015 10:13 AM in response to Geezering

Hi!

I've solved the problem by switching mic to 48kHz upon connecting it to the mac. Guess it will help you too.

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Answer 4

apnewton

Level 1

4 points

Oct 25, 2015 3:30 PM in response to Geezering

I have the same issue (helium voice with glitches and repeats) but with a brand new late 2015 27" iMac and Zoom H1 USB mic for iMovie voicover.

Snowball mic works fine.

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Answer 5

apnewton

Level 1

4 points

Oct 26, 2015 1:04 PM in response to apnewton

Yo Ho. Problem fixed. I changed the Zoom H1 Frequency to 48kHz / 16bit and all is good. Thanks for the tip Yolshi.

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Answer 6

Oct 28, 2015 5:03 AM in response to apnewton

I tried Soundflower and that works too. So fortunately t looks as though the problem has gone away. That's a relief, thank you everyone for contributions - thought I was stuck at one point!

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Answer 7

iOS_Steve Author

Level 1

5 points

Oct 31, 2015 7:04 AM in response to Geezering

Sorry but the problem still exists for me. I can not use the volume control of the device. Changing the settings for the mic did not change anything. Any more suggestions? I was hoping for the latest service pack but this also did not change anything :-(

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Answer 8

Oct 31, 2015 8:11 AM in response to iOS_Steve

Have you tried Soundflower? - it worked for me and its free as well.

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Answer 9

Nov 4, 2015 2:00 PM in response to apnewton

I have the same problem using Zoom's H4n. High pitch voice and repeats. It was working fine until the update to El Capitan.

I also tried recording through Quicktime, FCPX (voice over), Quicktime 7, and iShowU HD Pro with similar results.

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Answer 10

Jan 4, 2016 10:27 PM in response to Yolshi

My issue still persists. My H4n doesn't even appear to be connected. It just gets stuck on the "Please Wait" screen. Any ideas? I tried both 44.1 and 48 with no difference. I can't access files stored on it in Storage mode either.

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Answer 11

iOS_Steve Author

Level 1

5 points

Jan 23, 2016 2:15 AM in response to one_rarehair

Hello everybody,

again my problem still exists. The control of the usb audio device does not work anymore. To make it clear, I do not want to install any additional software. I´ll expect Apple to maintain the basic usb functionality of their OS with the same quality I was used to. Otherwise I could have chosen microsoft crap software!

I am really disappointed especially that there hasn´t been an official answer regarding these problems from apple.

Kind regards

Steve

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Answer 12

Marzoa

Level 1

15 points

May 31, 2016 4:55 AM in response to iOS_Steve

Exactly same Helium-voice like problem here.

I have the very same problem with both, the integrated microphone of an USB Creative Webcam and the microphone of my Bluetooth headphones.

OSX 10.11.5 "El Capitan" here on a Late 2012 Mac Mini. Both devices, the cam and the headphones, used to work perfectly under Yosemite.

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Answer 13

Marzoa

Level 1

15 points

May 31, 2016 5:17 AM in response to Marzoa

I was testing this with iMovie, and I just have realized that my bluetooth headphones' microphone is not being shown in such app, so I was recording with the camera built in mic in both instances.

So I can't tell whether the bluetooth headphones' microphone is working or not, but I can tell that the USB Creative Webcam has those helium-voice like problems that it hadn't before El Capitan screwed everything.

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