Low mic sound in FaceTime on iMac Why?

[WizardHunt]

My sister has a 2007 iMac and when she uses FaceTime with me I can hardly hear her. We went thru the settings like sound and hit the input tab, and turned the volume on input all the way up, and the output volume for her side is set about just under 50%. She can not see the blue little squares light up when she talks. Yet if she taps near the camera it is extremely loud. What the heck is going on with her iMac? She is out of warranty and can not use Apple Care to solve this.

If she uses Skype there is no problem with sound, I can see and hear her loud and clear. It makes me think there is some setting in the preferences that is blocking her from broadcasting her voice. Again her mic is not muted, but very low in sound , so low in fact it is hard to make out anything that she is saying.

Her iMac is about 2 feet or less from her face. But I can chat on my iMac (2009 March) 6 feet away and she hears me fine. So what can this be?

Any ideas out there?

 

[Sylonien]

My mid 2011 iMac 27" is very quiet as well. My sister in Germany (iPhone 4) always complains that I'm very quiet. Always end up having to shout or put my face right up against the screen for her to hear me.

Question is, iMac mic quiet, Face Time or just her iPhone speakers' that are quiet?

Thinking of getting snow ball mic or something cause I can't be screaming all the time (plus of recording...).

 

[WizardHunt]

My mid 2011 iMac 27" is very quiet as well. My sister in Germany (iPhone 4) always complains that I'm very quiet. Always end up having to shout or put my face right up against the screen for her to hear me.

Question is, iMac mic quiet, Face Time or just her iPhone speakers' that are quiet?

Thinking of getting snow ball mic or something cause I can't be screaming all the time (plus of recording...).

With my sister iMac it's her mic or some setting I suspect but not sure what the heck is going on? Have you contacted Apple about your problem? My sister can not seek out Appe as her warranty is over. If you did a solution from Apple pst it here. Thanks.

 

[craig45]

Found this other thread that might help. There were two different thoughts in the thread. Hope it helps!

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/410734/

 

[Sylonien]

Interesting.

Well I gave it a flick. But shouldn't be blocked up since my iMac is pretty new and it was quiet from day one.

Wonder if it's something to do with the 'Use ambient noise reduction' function being ticked. Will give it try and record something tomorrow to see if the flicking made a difference and the noise reduction. Middle of the night now so can't make much noise.

 

[WizardHunt]

Interesting.

Well I gave it a flick. But shouldn't be blocked up since my iMac is pretty new and it was quiet from day one.

Wonder if it's something to do with the 'Use ambient noise reduction' function being ticked. Will give it try and record something tomorrow to see if the flicking made a difference and the noise reduction. Middle of the night now so can't make much noise.

I tried that already and it made no difference at all. Flicking the mic on my sisters iMac did not fix it either. Still baffled about this problem.

 

[Sylonien]

Tell you what.
I looked at the Mic input level when face time isn't running and it's much more sensitive. Even when I'm whispering.

And when I'm on FaceTime it's really quiet! I'm shouting and the input level doesn't move. Only when I tap the mic it responds a little. Seems to be FaceTime that's the problem.

I'm going to get a Blue Mic Yeti soon. Can't keep shouting. See if that resolves it.