Sound suddenly muffled

Question

Level 1

8 points

Sound suddenly muffled

Hey guys,

I have a problem with the speakers on my iMac.

The audio was completely fine till yesterday (I'm not sure when exactly), out of nowhere, it started sounding very muffled. I don't know how else to describe it, it just sounds very, very bad (but it sounds ok through headphones).

I have checked the preferences and everything looks good, I restarted it but nothing really has seemed to work.

It seems to be a hardware problem, are the speakers blown? Or can it be some wire not connecting right?

(The iMac is a 27" Retina 5K late-2015 with macOS Sierra, if it helps at all)

Thanks in advance

Inês

iMac with Retina 5K display, macOS Sierra (10.12.6)

Posted on Feb 2, 2018 11:43 AM

Reply

Answer 1

den.thed

Level 10

90,946 points

Feb 2, 2018 12:39 PM in response to Inês.

Is it from just one Application like Safari or iTunes...?

Try the audio from different Applications like Safari, iTunes, iMovie, QuickTime or Garage Band.

(sometimes just opening and closing Garage Band can reset the Audio MIDI setup to default and fix problems)

In addition to resetting the SMC, it might also help to reset the NVRAM.

see > How to reset NVRAM on your Mac - Apple Support

Reply

Answer 2

Feb 4, 2018 6:55 AM in response to Inês.

You definitely need to uninstall MacKeeper and CleanMyMac3. Not sure if it caused your audio problem but they were both installed the day you started having the problem.

You also don't need two ad blockers in Safari.

Reply

Answer 3

rkaufmann87

Level 10

148,458 points

Feb 2, 2018 11:54 AM in response to Inês.

Please reset the SMC (may take 2-3 attempts) and retest. The instructions are in:

How to reset the System Management Controller (SMC) on your Mac - Apple Support

Reply

Answer 4

Feb 2, 2018 12:27 PM in response to Inês.

Have you tried several source material?

Some audio/video sound have the sound adjusted down, look for volume control on the file itself and see if it is 100%.

Have you installed anything lately that might be altering your sound output?

Possibly the speaker horns inside the Mac have accumulated dust?

Lastly the speakers on an iMac point down to your desk, look to see if there is something under your screen that could be affecting the sound that comes out. A clear hard surface best reflects the audio, any soft sound absorbent materials underneath will muffle the sound.

Peter

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Answer 5

rkaufmann87

Level 10

148,458 points

Feb 4, 2018 6:53 AM in response to Inês.

Well we can look for obvious issues. Please follow the directions below:

Please post an EtreCheckreport of your system. We can then look for obvious issues. Please click the link, download the app and run the report. Once you have the report, please copy and paste it as your reply to this post.

Reply

Answer 6

rkaufmann87

Level 10

148,458 points

Feb 2, 2018 12:21 PM in response to Inês.

Try Use safe mode to isolate issues with your Mac - Apple Support and then restart normally.

Reply

Answer 7

Inês. Author

Level 1

8 points

Feb 2, 2018 2:14 PM in response to rkaufmann87

Ok, I did this, here's the report:

EtreCheck version: 3.4.6 (460)

Report generated 2018-02-02 22:10:28

Download EtreCheck from https://etrecheck.com

Runtime: 2:15

Performance: Excellent

Click the [Lookup] links for more information from Apple Support Communities.

Click the [Details] links for more information about that line.

Problem: Other problem

Description:

Audio from speakers sounds muffled

Hardware Information: ⓘ

iMac (Retina 5K, 27-inch, Late 2015)

[Technical Specifications] - [User Guide] - [Warranty & Service]

iMac - model: iMac17,1

1 4 GHz Intel Core i7 (i7-6700K) CPU: 4-core

16 GB RAM Upgradeable - [Instructions]

BANK 0/DIMM0

8 GB DDR3 1867 MHz ok

BANK 0/DIMM1

Empty

BANK 1/DIMM0

8 GB DDR3 1867 MHz ok

BANK 1/DIMM1

Empty

Handoff/Airdrop2: supported

Wireless:
en1: 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac

Video Information: ⓘ

AMD Radeon R9 M390 - VRAM: 2048 MB

iMac 5120 x 2880

Disk Information: ⓘ

APPLE HDD ST1000DM003 disk0: (1 TB) (Rotational)

[Show SMART report]

EFI (disk0s1 - MS-DOS FAT32) <not mounted>
[EFI]: 210 MB

(disk0s2) <not mounted>
[CoreStorage Container]: 999.35 GB

Recovery HD (disk0s3 - Journaled HFS+) <not mounted>
[Recovery]: 650 MB

APPLE SSD AP0032H disk1: (24 GB) (Solid State - TRIM: Yes)

(disk1s1) <not mounted>
[EFI]: 315 MB

(disk1s2) <not mounted>
[CoreStorage Container]: 23.55 GB

(disk1s3) <not mounted>
[Boot]: 134 MB

USB Information: ⓘ

USB30Bus

Western Digital My Passport 25E1

My Passport 25E1 disk3: (2 TB)

EFI (disk3s1 - MS-DOS FAT32) <not mounted>
[EFI]: 210 MB

My Passport (disk3s2 - ExFAT) /Volumes/My Passport : 2.00 TB (1.36 TB free)

Western Digital Elements 107C

Elements 107C disk4: (3 TB)

My Book (disk4s1 - Journaled HFS+) /Volumes/My Book : 3.00 TB (76.29 GB free)

Broadcom Corp. Bluetooth USB Host Controller

Apple Inc. FaceTime HD Camera (Built-in)

Thunderbolt Information: ⓘ

Apple Inc. thunderbolt_bus

Virtual disks: ⓘ

Macintosh HD (disk2 - Journaled HFS+) /
[Startup]: 1.02 TB (375.49 GB free)

Physical disk: disk1s2 23.55 GB Online

Physical disk: disk0s2 999.35 GB Online

System Software: ⓘ

macOS Sierra
10.12.6 (16G1212) - Time since boot: less than an hour

Gatekeeper: ⓘ

Mac App Store

System Launch Agents: ⓘ

[not loaded] 6 Apple tasks

[loaded] 184 Apple tasks

[running] 95 Apple tasks

System Launch Daemons: ⓘ

[not loaded] 40 Apple tasks

[loaded] 175 Apple tasks

[running] 102 Apple tasks

Launch Agents: ⓘ

[not loaded] com.adobe.AAM.Updater-1.0.plist (Adobe Systems, Inc. - installed 2017-01-31) [Lookup]

[failed] com.adobe.ARMDCHelper.cc24aef4a1b90ed56a725c38014c95072f92651fb65e1bf9c8e43c37a2 3d420d.plist (Adobe Systems, Inc. - installed 2017-03-28) [Lookup]

[running] com.adobe.AdobeCreativeCloud.plist (Adobe Systems, Inc. - installed 2017-01-31) [Lookup]

[not loaded] com.adobe.GC.Invoker-1.0.plist (Adobe Systems, Inc. - installed 2018-01-30) [Lookup]

[running] com.epson.Epson_Low_Ink_Reminder.launcher.plist (EPSON - installed 2017-02-17) [Lookup]

[running] com.epson.ecrp.launcher.plist (Seiko Epson Corporation - installed 2017-05-12) [Lookup]

[loaded] com.epson.esua.launcher.plist (Seiko Epson Corporation - installed 2017-07-20) [Lookup]

[running] com.epson.eventmanager.agent.plist (Seiko Epson Corporation - installed 2017-02-17) [Lookup]

[running] com.epson.scannermonitor.plist (Seiko Epson Corporation - installed 2017-02-17) [Lookup]

[loaded] com.google.keystone.agent.plist (Google, Inc. - installed 2017-09-28) [Lookup]

[loaded] com.oracle.java.Java-Updater.plist (? 1851bd4 72ac4dde - installed 2018-01-24) [Lookup]

Launch Daemons: ⓘ

[loaded] com.adobe.ARMDC.Communicator.plist (Adobe Systems, Inc. - installed 2017-03-28) [Lookup]

[loaded] com.adobe.ARMDC.SMJobBlessHelper.plist (Adobe Systems, Inc. - installed 2017-03-28) [Lookup]

[loaded] com.adobe.SwitchBoard.plist (? 68cad67 0 - installed 2016-12-11) [Lookup]

[running] com.adobe.adobeupdatedaemon.plist (Adobe Systems, Inc. - installed 2017-01-31) [Lookup]

[running] com.adobe.agsservice.plist (Adobe Systems, Inc. - installed 2018-01-30) [Lookup]

[loaded] com.adobe.fpsaud.plist (Adobe Systems, Inc. - installed 2017-12-14) [Lookup]

[loaded] com.google.keystone.daemon.plist (Google, Inc. - installed 2017-10-13) [Lookup]

[loaded] com.mackeeper.MacKeeper.MacKeeperPrivilegedHelper.plist (KROMTECH ALLIANCE CORP. - installed 2018-02-01) [Lookup]

[loaded] com.macpaw.CleanMyMac3.Agent.plist (MacPaw Inc. - installed 2017-05-12) [Lookup]

[loaded] com.malwarebytes.HelperTool.plist (Malwarebytes Corporation - installed 2017-05-27) [Lookup]

[loaded] com.oracle.java.Helper-Tool.plist (Shell Script e3fefdd2 - installed 2017-09-06) [Lookup]

User Launch Agents: ⓘ

[running] Autenticacao.gov.pt.plist (Agencia para a Modernizacao Administrativa - installed 2018-02-02) [Lookup]

[loaded] com.adobe.GC.Invoker-1.0.plist (Adobe Systems, Inc. - installed 2018-02-02) [Lookup]

[loaded] com.macpaw.CleanMyMac3.Scheduler.plist (MacPaw Inc. - installed 2018-02-01) [Lookup]

[running] com.spotify.webhelper.plist (Spotify - installed 2018-02-01) [Lookup]

User Login Items: ⓘ

iTunesHelper Aplicação (? 0 - installed 2018-02-01)

(/Applications/iTunes.app/Contents/MacOS/iTunesHelper.app)

WDDriveUtilityHelper Aplicação

(/Applications/WD Drive Utilities.app/Contents/WDDriveUtilityHelper.app)

CleanMyMac 3 Menu Aplicação (? 0 - installed 2017-04-25)

(/Applications/CleanMyMac 3.app/Contents/MacOS/CleanMyMac 3 Menu.app)

EOS Utility Aplicação - Hidden

(/Applications/Canon Utilities/EOS Utility/EOS Utility.app)

com.adobe.SwitchBoard.monitor.plist MachInit - Hidden

(/etc/mach_init_per_user.d/com.adobe.SwitchBoard.monitor.plist)

Mach Init items are deprecated

Internet Plug-ins: ⓘ

AdobeAAMDetect: 3.0.0.0 (installed 2017-01-31) [Lookup]

FlashPlayer-10.6: 28.0.0.137 (installed 2018-01-24) [Lookup]

QuickTime Plugin: 7.7.3 (installed 2018-02-01)

AdobePDFViewerNPAPI: 17.012.20093 (installed 2017-11-15) [Lookup]

AdobePDFViewer: 17.012.20093 (installed 2017-11-15) [Lookup]

Flash Player: 28.0.0.137 (installed 2018-01-24) [Lookup]

PepperFlashPlayer: 28.0.0.137 (installed 2018-01-09) [Lookup]

JavaAppletPlugin: Java 8 Update 151 build 12 (installed 2018-01-24) Check version

Safari Extensions: ⓘ

[enabled] Adblock Plus - Eyeo GmbH - https://adblockplus.org/ (installed 2017-11-20)

[enabled] AdBlock - BetaFish, Inc. - https://getadblock.com (installed 2017-11-15)

3rd Party Preference Panes: ⓘ

Flash Player (installed 2017-12-14) [Lookup]

Java (installed 2018-01-24) [Lookup]

Time Machine: ⓘ

Time Machine not configured!

Top Processes by CPU: ⓘ

6%
mdworker

2%
WindowServer

1%
kernel_task

1%
trustd

Top Processes by Memory: ⓘ

1.06 GB
kernel_task

285 MB Google Chrome

265 MB WindowServer

251 MB Google Chrome Helper

244 MB Google Chrome Helper

Top Processes by Network Use: ⓘ

Input Output Process name

232 KB 71 KB mDNSResponder

12 KB 19 KB apsd

13 KB 7 KB netbiosd

4 KB 3 KB assistantd

1 KB 1 KB ntpd

Top Processes by Energy Use: ⓘ

5.28 WindowServer

3.04 Creative Cloud

1.16 Autenticacao.gov.pt

0.54 EEventManager

Virtual Memory Information: ⓘ

11.23 GB
Available RAM

8.56 GB
Free RAM

4.77 GB
Used RAM

2.67 GB
Cached files

0 B Swap Used

Software installs (last 30 days): ⓘ

Adobe Flash Player:
(installed 2018-01-09)

Adobe Pepper Flash Player:
(installed 2018-01-09)

Blackmagic DaVinci Resolve: 14.2.1 (installed 2018-01-28)

MacKeeper:
(installed 2018-02-01)

AdwareAnalyzer:
(installed 2018-02-01)

Google Earth:
(installed 2018-02-01)

Install information may not be complete.

Diagnostics Events (last 3 days for minor events): ⓘ

2018-02-02 10:37:09 CleanMyMac 3.app Crash [Open]

Reply

Answer 8

Inês. Author

Level 1

8 points

Feb 2, 2018 12:56 PM in response to PeterBreis0807

Hey Peter,

I have tried several audio files, youtube, iTunes,... It's all sounding the same.

I don't think I have installed anything at all lately. The speakers might have accumulated dust, although I don't think it would be enough to cause this. And it was very sudden, wouldn't the dust make it change gradually?

I don't have anything under it, either.

Thanks

Reply

Answer 9

Inês. Author

Level 1

8 points

Feb 4, 2018 6:30 AM in response to Inês.

Any ideas of what it could be?

I think I'll have to take it to guarantee but I'd like to exclude every other possibility before doing so, as it will probably take about a month and I need it for work.

Thanks!

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