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Apple has not fixed the macOS audio left/right balance bug for nearly 10 years

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Re: Apple has not fixed the macOS audio left/right balance bug for nearly 10 years

#31

Post by 15457345234 »

NoPedantsThanks wrote: post #11
madaxe_again wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The audio balance on Apple computers changes randomly, and has done so for at least a decade. https://apple.stackexchange.com/questions/79384/audio-balanc...

I use my Macs for audio a lot, including with headphones, and have never experienced this in 20 years.

This is one of those things that make you question reality somewhat as I know, from seeing countless videos and having some familiarity with the topic, that macs dominate desktop music production - I've never seen a producer or a DJ using windows, ever. This is apparently because the USB audio stack on mac is so streamlined that the buffering is minimal, i.e. you can basically apply realtime audio effects and mix 'live' using a USB output sink, i.e. that you can DJ with it.

Now apparently there's a game-breaking bug? For 10 years? And it's a really really big deal?

Hmm.

Re: Apple has not fixed the macOS audio left/right balance bug for nearly 10 years

#32

Post by andrelaszlo »

izacus wrote: post #15

And I don't think it'll get better, with Sonoma I'm seeing more and more audio switching bugs and weird behaviours when I connect headphones. At least this balance bug disappeared, although it was plagueing me on my previous MacBook.

Same. The annoying thing that used to happen with bluetooth headsets, where macos suddenly decides to use them for input as well as output and the audio quality drops noticeably (full duplex, bitrate, blabla), now happens even when the microphone isn't selected.

It really sucks. I'm not using a regular bluetooth headset, these are my hearing aids and my only way to get decent sound in meetings. Switching to mac last year was a mistake.

Re: Apple has not fixed the macOS audio left/right balance bug for nearly 10 years

#35

Post by formerly_proven »

donatj wrote: post #18
tmikaeld wrote: post #14

The left/right channels drifting randomly is one thing (SoundSource fixes it), but it gets worse.. I've been trying to raise awareness of Apples horrible audio issues for quite a few years now. Driver re-starts and USB re-connects, for no apparent reason. [0][1] I have the issue on Mac Mini (2018) Intel, Mac Studio M1, Macbook Pro M2, so it's not device specific. [0] https://developer.apple.com/forums/thread/132423 […

I use an external DAC and encounter this crackling problem regularly. I have to unplug/replug my DAC to get it to go back to normal. I just thought it was a hardware problem with my DAC because it’s getting up there in the years, thought the caps might be going. Hmm…

Sometimes happens on Windows and Linux, too. Could be a bug in the XMOS SDK, seeing how almost all audio interfaces use it.

Re: Apple has not fixed the macOS audio left/right balance bug for nearly 10 years

#36

Post by cm2187 »

sammorrowdrums wrote: post #13
madaxe_again wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The audio balance on Apple computers changes randomly, and has done so for at least a decade. https://apple.stackexchange.com/questions/79384/audio-balanc...

Yep, I’ve very much discovered and confirmed this behaviour independently, I was so shocked to learn that it was a known issue. I know it’s silly but it helped me with imposter syndrome to see such a major OS that prides itself on seamless “it just works” experiences tolerate bugs like this. That and the fact if you airplay a movie to Apple TV it thinks you want it to cast over the top of it with random advert videos…

But a lot of those bugs are basic functionalities, it is just that they are not the path Apple wants you to take.

For years now, and across iphone models and iOS versions, my iphone randomizes the artwork of the mp3s in the music app (ie display the wrong album cover). I see people complaining about that in forums but I guess if you are not using Apple Music they don't care.

I don't seem to be able to copy files from my iphone onto a windows desktop. Tried several cables, the transfer fails after a few GB. I guess if you are not syncing your files through iCloud they don't care.

A bug recently corrupted the iphone mail app. It wouldn't sync mails anymore, in fact would display old mails from the wrong account (I have multiple setup). I only fixed it by deleting the accounts and recreating them. That's using ActiveSync. But I guess if you don't use an apple email they don't care.

Another bug on my ipad. The USB-C DAC often fails to be recognised. Tried several DAC. I thought it was a hardware problem (usb port damaged), except that few hardware problems are resolved by rebooting. But if you don't use apple wireless headphones they don't care.

These are basic functionalities, but not using the main path which happens to be the most profitable to Apple. Apple's reputation for quality is inconsistent with my experience of their products.

Re: Apple has not fixed the macOS audio left/right balance bug for nearly 10 years

#38

Post by 4dm1r4lg3n3r4l »

anon22981 wrote: post #26

I’m not sure if a bug or a feature, but on two different iphones I’ve had the issue where the volume suddenly aggressively goes up or down without me pressing the volume button. Has happened at least in netflix and youtube. Always when I’m actively using the phone. Might an ill fitted case or something, but those phones had different cases. Anyone know if this is some bug or am I being dumb?

With iOS 17 I started experiencing something similar. Whenever I use Control Center to decrease volume to zero, two out of ten times or so it moves it back to 15-20% (seems random). I have no idea if an app running in the background is causing this, or the OS, but is very annoying...

Re: Apple has not fixed the macOS audio left/right balance bug for nearly 10 years

#39

Post by rogual »

shiroiushi wrote: post #33
trilbyglens wrote: post #8

It's almost like apple doesn't actually care ;)

Why should they? Are these people going to abandon their Macs because of these bugs? Obviously not, so why should Apple spend any money at all fixing them?

In the Jobs years it was because the person at the tob intrinsically gave a shit about making a good thing.

But you're right, it certainly seems that's the kind of game Cook is playing. Better than Windows, but no better, and keep the extra money.

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