Please Help ! The sound coming out of my Mac suddenly became muffled and very low

[Joeynagu]

Hello guys ! I really need your help.

Earlier today, I was using discord through google chrome to play among us with some friends. Suddenly, I noticed that the sound coming out of the mac internal speaker became very low and muffled.

The sound is like the sound coming out of earphone when you connect your earphone to your mac, leave the earphone on the desk, and put the volume to the max .

I have tried to unsuccessfully fix this issue by

-Restarting my laptop

-Restarting NVRAM / PRAM

-Log in with other account

-Messing up with the sound settings

-Plugging and unplugging earphone (it sounds totally fine with earphone)

I tend to believe the issue is software rather than hardware because :

1. This exact "low volume" issue happened few weeks ago, when I was using discord app. But strangely. the volume was only low for the discord app (all other apps are fine). I tried to fix it but I gave up and used discord website instead. Now the same (though more severe problem, the volume is low when I tried to play movies, games, music / other apps, not only discord) started again while I was using discord.
2. I tried to check my audio through Audio MIDI setup -> Configure Speakers -> Test Left and Right Speaker , I think the result of the test sounds fine and not muffled (?) ( I cant say I am 100% sure as I dont have 2nd mac to compare what "normal" is )

I really need your help guys :") . MBP 2014

Thank you soo much !

 

[alexbzzz]

Hi,
I have also, like you, had the pleasure of cursing Apple for about 2 hours today when I realised I have the same problem. For me it was the most idiotic cause you can imagine, something truly Apple and of course not shown or documented anywhere.

Solution:
If I listen to Apple Music streaming songs from their customised ‘For You’ playlists, Sound Check option is getting triggered automatically even if you have it Off in Music settings. Of course it does not show you this anywhere. But you can test it this way: trigger Siri, wait a few seconds, and close Siri. You will have clear audio for 2 secs until Sound Check comes on again.
If I listen to Apple Music songs downloaded in Music, the problem is solved. Also if I set in Audio MIDI setup 44100Hz instead of 48000 the audio is a bit better, because everything Apple Music is 44100.

So no way to fix it but at least you know why. Not thanks to Apple of course.

Edit: it has been this way for 7 years!!

Kirkville - Apple Music Radio Normalizes Music Volume with Sound Check

Are you really hearing the music the way it was recorded when you listen to Apple Music Radio?

kirkville.com