System sound is included with microphone sound when using external mic

[sloppyjoe2020]

Hi All,

When I'm on an IP call (Zoom, Teams etc.), if I have any local sound playing, everyone on the call can hear that sound when I'm using an external headset with microphone (plugged in through headphone jack).

This happens with various different programs and with multiple headsets.

This does not happen when using the built-in microphone and speakers.

This is not the mic picking up the sound of the playback.

The internal sound and my microphone are being combined and sent as input sound (when an external mic is connected).

This behaviour did not happen on my older Macbook Air 2016.

I've searched quite a bit and can't find an answer to this. I've looked through the OSX settings and can't find anything that applies to this situation. I've also tried the IP Calling settings and there is nothing about this issue in there.

Its super annoying if I'm multitasking and forget to mute myself.

Any help you guys can provide would be great. Thanks in advance!

Catalina 10.15.7 on a Macbook Air 2020.

 

[brianmowrey]

That's weird. You usually need to toy around with 3rd party software like Soundflower to get your outputs routed into your imput. But only because Apple doesn't want to give us a utility to do it ourselves. What shows in syspref>Sound>Inputs?

 

[cdcastillo]

I noticed this with zoom and iTunes. I solved it by pausing my music while on a meeting/class.

 

[sloppyjoe2020]

Hi,

Thanks for the replies!

This is what my Prefs / Sound / Input looks like when the external headset is plugged in:

I noticed this with zoom and iTunes. I solved it by pausing my music while on a meeting/class.

Yeah that's exactly the problem. I've had a few instances when I'm in a meeting where stuff plays (for example embedded videos on a site or in an e-mail) and everyone can hear it. Super annoying and unprofessional.

To me this is totally a bug but so far I haven't heard anything from anyone on the Apple Forums about it. Good to know that its not just me though.

Any other thoughts on input would be appreciated!

 

[brianmowrey]

Giving it extra thought, it doesn’t require your Input settings to be messed up at all. Since I and O are both using the same jack it’s can just be run of the mill sound card bugginess. Already tried P/NVRAM reset?

 

[sloppyjoe2020]

Thank you for your input! I tried a P/NVRAM reset today and the problem persists.

If anyone else has a MBA 2020 and is reading this, I'd love to know if you are facing the same problem. That'll help determine whether the problem is mine or is a general hardware bug. From @cdcastillo's feedback it sounds like its a hardware bug but I'd love more confirmation about that.